Is it really an heirloom? Or, do you fear death?

"I will not be passing on Banana Republic to my children. Sorry." - [Redacted]

My beautiful, gorgeous friend who I love very much pointed something out to me on Monday. Brands are marketing their clothing as heirlooms. In her words: "I will not be passing on Banana Republic to my children. Sorry."

I did some digging. Indeed it’s true. Right now, J.Crew, Banana Republic, and Dôen (+ likely many more) are claiming that their sweaters, dresses, and jackets are save and give-on worthy. The idea of an heirloom often justifies a big spend. Say, if you’re buying a high-luxury good.

Okay, I have a wild take about this. We’ve moved away from our hyper-optimism Americanness into a more, dare I say it, French adjacent (maybe), headspace. Everyone is thinking about “the end” (of the world) which naturally leads us to think about our ends, which is why these brands don’t think it’s absolutely insane to sell 20-45 year-old women pieces that will outlive them when they are still quite far from death. Okay, the simpler idea is that calling it an “heirloom” ups the sense of quality, as I previously mentioned, and that makes people feel more comfortable spending on something. With everything so expensive, it’s a nice message: don’t worry, this isn’t just for you, it’s for whoever comes after you! when you die!

But because it’s Friday and because I am rewatching The Sopranos (remember the opening credits. Tony. Robbed. (It’s good to be in something from the ground floor. I came too late for that and I know. But lately, I’m getting the feeling that I came in at the end. The best is over.) and because I’m thinking about Job The Play and Civil War the movie, I just think it might reveal something larger about where our young people are at— atmospherically.

We’re in our dazed, romantic, thinking, maudlin “era” as people say. We’re looking out the window. We’re wistful for a future we don’t have. We’re thinking about our (children?) and how happy they’re going to be in our ragged, made not in America, grey sweaters.