American Eagle Snowboarding

I was sitting in class the other day and an acquaintance of mine sat in front of me and his shirt caught my eye. It saidAmerican Eagle Snowboarding circa 1977. I have been snowboarding for twelve seasons now and I am pretty sure that AE has not been involved in snowboarding since then. Actually, I am pretty sure the only way they are involved in boarding is through sponsorship of high profile events. I guess they must have seen Burton's ruling since 77 ads a while back and figured that since their company has roots in 77 as well, nobody would notice.

The thing is, in 1977 snowboarding was small enough that they would have been remembered for their presence in the scene. Their involvement probably involved trying to ban borders from resorts like Park City, Alta and Taos. And when the former resort finally allowed boarding (only due to the Olympics) they decided maybe they should go along for the ride.

In an internet search for AE snowboarding the closest thing I could find to AE boarding equipment was the American Eagle helmet pictured above. Clearly this is not the American Eagle they want to be portrayed as.

I have a lot of resentment for AE. I hate the way they have bastardized vintage t-shirts. I love finding quirky shirts from thrift stores or vacation destinations. But they have nearly ruined it. I have a really cool Leroy's Minnows T-shirt that I got from Leroy's store in Cass Lake Minnesota. It is the style AE would love to copy, but it is legitimate. I even saw Leroy at the store. That magic can't be contrived by a chain store.

A Jimmy's Surf Shack shirt, if not from his surf shack, is only cool if it is found as a lost relic from someone's vacation that has ended up in the thrift stores. A find like that is charming due to the imagination of the finder. When it is contrived and mass produced like AE tends to do, the only dreaming involved is the lucid dreams of a money hungry corporate marketing team.

Down with American Eagle and their lobotomy fashions for the sheeplike masses that are too blinded to find their own wardrobe.