As a millennial adult who was once a bratty teenager, I have not-so-fond memories of being a heinous little bitch to my long-suffering mother in a variety of now-closed retailers, from Party City to Bed Bath and Beyond. That said, I never thought Forever 21—that dogged bastion of brightly colored, somewhat shoddily constructed, and definitely non-biodegradable cargo pants, “going-out tops,” and other Y2K ephemera—would join the list of stores we’ve loved and lost over the years. Sadly, though, that does seem to be the case, with the fast fashion chain filing for bankruptcy this week for the second time in six years.
As Forever 21 begins “winding down its U.S. business while searching for a potential buyer for all of its remaining assets” (which…are said assets just a pile of discounted belly chains?), I can’t help feeling a little emo about its demise. Where are the teenagers of today supposed to spend their allowance and/or wander around aimlessly eating Auntie Anne s pretzels and getting yelled at by sales associates for coming perilously close to getting mustard on the merchandise? But then again, do I actually want Forever 21 and its fast-fashion peers to keep peddling the same semi-trendy dupes destined to end up in landfills and grow the fashion industry’s climate footprint? Not necessarily.
Still, I feel weirdly nostalgic about the time I spent trying on age-inappropriate tube tops with my friends and screaming at my mom at Forever 21. So, in honor of that time—and all the fashion-related mixed blessings—that the chain gave us, here are five more Vogue staffers’ fondest memories from their Forever 21-frequenting years:
“When Forever 21 introduced men’s pieces in my college years, they fast became my go-to for going-out tops. I remember buying a black sheer button-up that I wore practically every Friday night. I wore it to the ground; it disintegrated after about a month.” —Christian Allaire, senior fashion style writer
“While I can’t recall a specific piece of clothing I bought at Forever 21, I did learn something important from shopping there. One day, I wanted to grab an item that was far out of reach. An employee presented me with a hook that looked like something stolen from Little Bo-Peep, but no—the long wooden pole with a metal hook on the end was used to fetch hangers high up on a wall. I was amazed by the prop that instantly made every item in the store reachable. A decade later, living in an apartment with no closet space, I remembered the Forever 21 hook... and I’m now the proud owner of one to help me reach the tippy-top of my hanging racks.” —Margaux Anbouba, senior beauty wellness editor
“I was an Irish teen with a dream of looking like an Olsen twin and a fixation on the ‘jegging,’ a style that had yet to hit the island of Ireland, but which I’d read about in the copies of Seventeen that my aunt would bring back from New York. The shopping pages were populated with said jean-leggings, as well as ‘flirty and flattering’ longline prairie tops from Forever 21.
My first IRL experience came later in my teens, on a family trip to Orlando, where on a rainier day we forwent Universal Studios for the Florida Mall. I followed its map straight to Forever 21, and loaded my fitting room with jeggings in every denim wash. Choice paralysis ensued. The return time at the family meet-up spot, Cheesecake Factory, came and went. I slid into the booth an hour later, my white jeggings in the acid yellow F21 shopping bag. I was docked an Oreo cheesecake that I had also obsessed over from errant references on Nickelodeon TV shows, and the wash of jeggings I came to regret.” —Anna Oliva Cafolla, news editor
“I went through a phase where my go-to daytime look was an extra-long (and unnecessarily tight) paper-thin tee, paired with low-rise flares and platform sandals. Many of these tees were sourced from Forever 21, and my favorite was in the prettiest shade of butter yellow. You could say I was of the times—and also ahead of them.” —Leah Faye Cooper, digital style director
“My memories of Forever 21 are stored right next to the place where I keep my first kiss (Geoffrey at a bat mitzvah at Le Poisson Rouge) and first time wearing a scandalous bathing suit (bikini). That is to say, the store is a place for life’s great transitions, for girls becoming ladies, ladies becoming young women, young women deciding they don’t particularly care about anything beyond the perfect going-out top. The ethics of the place are dubious, and certainly in the landscape of fast fashion, we must celebrate when another giant falls. But rest in peace to Forever 21, whose crinkling neon yellow bags I can almost still hear.” —Maya Layne, entertainment associate
