Though funds are often tight, college kids still seem to take meticulous care when it comes to selecting our wardrobe. Students want to look good, feel confident, and try to catch the attention of friends and potential partners.

While it’s sensible for us to care about our appearance and style, it should also be a priority for ourselves to be knowledgeable about the brands we are buying. Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) has been among the most successful retail chains since it opened in 1892 with a target market of 18 to 22 year olds. Along with its offshoot brands, A&F has over 300 stores in the U.S. and is expanding globally. It continues to maintain steady competition with its rival retailers, American Eagle and Aeropostale, despite having slightly more expensive retail.

A&F is currently run by CEO Mike Jeffries and has been under his leadership since 1984. Since then, A&F has seen some notable changes in employee regulations and marketing strategies. In October 2012, Bloomberg News first reported on Jeffries’ unconventional standards for his cabin crew on Abercrombie’s Gulfstream G-V Jet. The male models that work as stewards aboard the company jet are required to wear Abercrombie-branded polo’s, jeans, boxer briefs, and flip-flops as part of their uniform, as well as a spritz of cologne. This information then came to light as a result of a lawsuit that claimed Jeffries fired his own jet pilot in order to replace him with a much younger man.

In response to the criticisms of his practices, Jefferies had this to say about his marketing strategy:

“In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids… We go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong.”

Currently, though it offers XL and larger for men, A&F Co. does not include clothing larger than a size ten for women. There have been various occasions where A&F has been forced to remove “offensive” T-shirts, such as in 2004 when there was a line of shirts featuring the phrase, “It’s All Relative In West Virginia,” alluding to incest, and again in 2009 with the A&F back-to-school collection. The humor tees had phrases, such as “Show the twins,” picturing a young woman with her blouse open to two men. Two other shirts A&F removed after protest had the phrases “Female Streaking Encouraged” and “Female Students Wanted for Sexual Research.”

An even more controversial piece of Mike Jeffries’s legacy is A&F’s periodical, A&F Quarterly. Initially running from 1997-2003 and having exclusive 2008 and 2010 releases, A&F Quarterly received criticism for its sexually graphic pictures and “malicious intent” to a target audience of 18 to 22 year olds. Featuring nude photos of both male and female models, along with photos simulating group sex, the periodical has been deemed obscene by those who have protested the publication. Several former A&F models have revealed that many of them did not want to be sexually exploited or photographed in such a way, but participation was encouraged by the threat of job loss.

This article isn’t an attempt to change you or force you to shop at a particular place. What should be taken away from this article is the idea that you should know something about where you shop. Ask yourself; why am I purchasing this merchandise? What am I supporting? Is this clothing really expressing who I am? Am I doing this because it’s popular or culturally expected?

Never be afraid to worry about how you look or what you wear; it’s natural to treat yourself to something which you believe looks good on you and you feel is worth it. The only thing I ask you to do is to think carefully about all of the factors involved in what clothing you buy.