Urban Outfitters - Blog

01/31/13 12:40PM

Get It Together: Stupid Wraps

Thanks to Buzzfeed, someone is finally taking wraps to task for being basically the most disappointing food ever. So in 2013, can all the snack bars, airlines, delis, gas stations and all the other places that are the natural habitat of the dreaded wrap, just get it together and get some bread already? And no panini, either. Sandwiches. We want sandwiches. K. Thanks.—Kate

From Los Angeles

01/31/13 12:31PM

Style Icon: Marianne Faithfull

Marianne Faithfull is an incredible woman who definitely left her mark on the fashion world in her heydays of the 1960s, but she still manages to influence me when I'm choosing what to wear everyday. You may know Marianne Faithfull as one of Mick Jagger's many girlfriends, but she actually is a remarkable musician who serves as fashion icon for tons of girls. She quickly became the face of the swinging sixties, especially with her perfect blonde fringe and creative and colorful outfits. Although Marianne is now 66, here are some things you can wear that I think she probably would've worn back then, too. Time to channel your inner '60s rock and roll goddess! - Maddie

Marianne loved her fur coats.

Ecote Fuzzy Faux Fur Coat

Marianne in a lovely bell sleeved dress.

Staring At Stars Lace Bell-Sleeve Dress

She even put heart shaped sunglasses on the map!

Melting Hearts Sunglasses

She also always had the perfect, 1960s doe-eyed makeup.

NYX The Curve Eyeliner

Marianne, on the left, used to wear tons of cute flats and sandals with all of her outfits.

Kork-Ease Myrna Sandal

01/31/13 12:19PM

Get It Together: Catfishing

There's been a lot of catfish talk recently, what with the Manti Te'o scandal and all, and I'm consistently surprised by all these stories that are coming out. Actually, the most surprising thing of all is that a show like Catfish even exists in this day and age. How are so many people being duped? I mean, maybe it's not that surprising because humans get lonely, yo, and will maybe turn a blind eye in the hopes of finding true love, but still! Don't let yourself get catfished! Protect your heart. Unless you're really into Nev because, let's face it, he's pretty hot and if having a tragic online affair is what it will take for him to show up at my doorstep, then I'm down.—Katie

Skype
Unless you are really old or really young (like, 2 and below or 96 and above), you should know how to use Skype. If someone tells you that they can't Skype you, they are lying because literally every computer in the entire world has a webcam now and even if they don't, you can go to the store to buy one of those whack-ass attachable ones for like, $13. If you are truly trying to lay the foundation to a beautiful, online relationship, you gotta use Skype. No exceptions.

Phone Calls
Okay, if you've decided not to listen to me and you have a partner who won't Skype and you're forging ahead anyway, you at least need to talk on the phone. If they have a weird voicemail, or never answer, or sound suspiciously like your 15-year-old neighbor, abandon ship. Nothing good will come from this.

Texting
Oh, so you tried to call them and it rang 40 times before going to something that sort of sounded like a voicemail but wasn't? That's not suspicious at all! If you're still determined to make this happen, give them a little text to see if they'll meet up with you. While they're busy texting you back to say they're too busy to meet because they're shopping in Paris, you get Nev on the phone, and you get him quick. There is literally no way this is going to work out in your favor, so you might as well have your 15 minutes of fame immortalized on MTV.

01/31/13 11:58AM

The Strokes: "One Way Trigger"

Apparently all of those rumors about The Strokes releasing a fifth album were true, because now the band has just released a new single: "One Way Trigger." Not going to lie, it took me a few listens to get used to the song's mellower sound, but, nevertheless, I'm happy one of my favorite bands is releasing more music! The song is fast with awesome guitars, like any good Strokes song, but this time with a huge overlying electronic sound. If you're digging this softer sound of the Strokes, go ahead and download the new track on their website. - Maddie

01/31/13 11:57AM

Early Color Photography of Paris

Curious Eggs put up this really cool post highlighting old color photographs of Paris in the early 1900s. They're interesting to look at since most of the photographs from that time are in black and white, and it's easy to forget that people back in the good ol' days weren't actually colorless, soulless humans. It's totes like Instagram for early 20th century Parisians.—Katie

01/31/13 09:57AM

Skeetwood Mac

2Chainz + Fleetwood Mac. I would pay, like, $10 million dollars to see Stevie and 2Chainz on stage together.—Kate (Via The Hairpin.)

From Los Angeles

01/30/13 05:17PM

Space 15 Twenty x UO x Vans Present: House of Hearts

All things Valentine's Day are upon us, but the one I'm most excited for is the latest pop-up shop that will be hitting Space 15 Twenty (1520 N. Cahuenga Blvd) on February 1. The shop is called "House of Hearts," and is being curated by an artist you may find familiar, Curtis Kulig, whose "LOVE ME" message has been seen in major cities like Los Angeles, New York City, and Tokyo. On February 1, you'll be able to meet Curtis (who might I add, is also an incredible photographer) in person at the opening party for the pop-up, which is a love-themed shop and polaroid show all in one. That Friday evening, you'll get to see his new shoe collaboration with Vans, get your nails done by Minx Nails, hear a DJ set by Aska from ESP, AND see Sky Ferreira perform live—one of my personal favorite new artists! Be sure to RSVP on Facebook, and email RSVP@Space15twenty.com, since this one will be big! - Maddie

01/30/13 04:08PM

Puppy Bowl IX

In honor of the Puppy Bowl airing on February 3 (yeah, same day as that other bowl), Discovery put up this puppy cam! Puppies! Of course the little idiots are sleeping right now, but that's not going to stop me from creepily watching them anyway. The actual puppy bowl is also sure to be a delight, especially since they added hedgehog cheerleaders this year. Squeeeal.—Katie

From Philadelphia

01/30/13 03:31PM

Get It Together: Get Your First Grown-up Job

Meet Mary Grace Clark, our college recruiter who will give you the A to Zs about getting your foot in the (figurative) door. Here we talk resumes, cover letters and how to stand out.

Interview by Ally Mullen

[I mean just LOOK at her! Mary Grace has it all together. Trust every word you read below.]

Hi Mary Grace! So what do you do here at URBN Inc.?
I'm the college recruiter and I hire interns for all of the URBN brands. I work in the talent development department, which handles our entry-level college recruiting program as well as all our training programs here at URBN.

What do you do on a day-to-day basis?
My responsibilities consist of a lot of prescreening and sourcing. The volume that our team gets is really heavy. For example, our summer intern posting we probably had over 1500 applications, so my job is to make sure that I get the hiring managers the best candidates—you want to send them the top 2-3 for every position.

[Now fry like bacon, you little intern piggies, fry!!!]

Where do you find most of your candidates?
I do a lot of traveling to different college campuses, giving presentations, talking about opportunities. I travel to our stores to find out who the strong store associates are that are interested about getting into corporate, and I tell them what we have to offer. I do a lot of interviews. It's a lot of communication. I think the biggest thing for me is making sure the hiring managers are content and that everybody is pleased with the talent that they're seeing.

What is the first step somebody should take when they're deciding to apply for a job?
For our company, we like the candidates that know which brand they relate to the most and which brand they want to work for. At least be able to speak to the company and what we're doing and things like that. I think that's probably the most important thing. Even building your resume and cover letter around the position that you're trying to go for—tailor what you're going to be sending in to show that you're a good fit for the specific position that you're applying for.

[Leonardo Da Vinci's resume writing skills were flawless.]

How would you describe a perfect resume?
Speaking for mostly entry-level, we're not expecting you to have a ton of experience. We want to be able to glance at it, see where you went to school and just quickly take a peek at whatever relevant work experience you might have. It's nice to see people with leadership experience and volunteer activities and anything like that that will show that you're involved and doing other things to keep busy and be a well-rounded candidate. Easy to read, one page, and make sure you highlight the most important things which are more than likely your education, obviously your name and email. You get so many resumes from people who don't even have their email address or contact information on there!

What should a cover letter be about?
The idea of it is really to give whoever is reviewing the resume a quick snapshot, a paragraph or two, of what they're going to see on your resume. Highlight a couple important things as to why you would be suitable for whatever you're applying for, like why you want to work for our company, why the position that you're going for is a good fit for you, what skills you have that lead us to believe that you'll be able to do this job, and anything you think we should know about you as a candidate. I'd say this is for UO specifically as a company, but we like quirky things that might make you giggle or laugh on there. It doesn't have to be overly serious—we're a creative, artsy company so any way you can describe yourself in that way is ideal.

[Hey, you never know.]

How important do you feel that networking is when applying for a job?
Networking in general is a really important concept. I think a lot of the time it's a lot of peoples' way in. Having a good network is helpful in terms of what you might do and what your next thing might be and once you've got your foot in the door, you can recommend others. That's a lot of what recruiting is like—whom else do you know? When we find somebody great, we want to know who else is in their network that might want to come and work here.

Should people be discouraged if they don't know anyone in a company?
Absolutely not. It's something that some people do have but it's not to say that you're never going to get in someplace. I think it's an important thing but nothing to discourage candidates if they don't have an in somewhere. Outside of that it's an important concept just to get yourself out there. The more people you know the more opportunities you might have.

What is something that would make an applicant stand out among the others?
It’s the little quirky things that make you known for something. It's nice to be remembered by something. We appreciate humor here as well—I think that's something that goes a long way and I think that's something that people appreciate. I remember this kid, he was last year's graphic design intern, a lot of people put hobbies on their resumes but he put food that he liked and all these different random quirky things that just stood out. He said this guy likes spaghetti but he doesn't like syrup. So just somebody like that that just took a little bit of a different approach. It doesn't always have to be so serious and so corporate and so boring, try to make it exciting! We look at so many resumes so the ones that do something a little bit different we certainly remember.

[Not the type of standing out we were talking about...]

Do things like fonts and nice paper help at all? Does that help or is plain paper also okay?
I'd rather see something a little more funny and a little less serious, especially for us. I would say that a lot of people would disagree if they didn't work here. They might want to see a very formulaic booklet handed to you. I don't think it's necessary. It's not one of those things where if you don't have it you'll be crossed off the list, it's the things that make you stand out a little bit more – even a graphic designer, if they have a regular resume but they have killer experience it doesn't matter if it's not fancy or beautiful.

If you land an interview, when is the appropriate time to follow up, what should you say, and hand-written or email?
I think that the traditional follow-up is a handwritten letter, but I've never heard anyone say, “Oh my gosh, I got an email from this person.” I think either are fair game, I get a lot of handwritten letters but I get a lot of emails too and I think as soon as you can, to be honest, is appropriate, once the interview's over either later that day or the following day, send a follow up email and thank them. Typically people will reiterate what they learned and why they think they'd be good for whatever position they're interviewing for.

["It's been 25 minutes since the interview... should I email him yet or will that look to desperate???]

From Philadelphia

01/30/13 03:10PM

Girl Power: It's Ladies Night

If the '80s launched hip-hop, then the '90s launched the female-rapper. Here's a legion of ladies who didn't take shit from anybody, wore whatever they wanted and who should definitely be on the soundtrack for your next girl's night out.—Kate

TLC: Yes, what about your friends? T-Boz, Left Eye and Chili knew that central essence of girl power is being there for your girls, and also wearing really awesome poufy hats or occasionally silky pajamas.

Lil Kim: Before Lil Kim jumped on the plastic surgery bandwagon, she was a seriously cute Biggie Smalls' protege with a dirty mouth and a penchant for pasties. The color scheme alone in this video is enough to make it a classic.

Da Brat: Sadly, not many people seem to remember Da Brat, even though she was the first female rapper to have a platinum-selling album. This video is just amazing, from her motocross suit to riding the hood of a semi-truck like the total bad-ass that she was.

Missy Elliot: The combo of Missy and Timbaland is unstoppable. Just watch this video, and you'll instantly understand where Nicki Minaj got pretty much her entire act. Also, music video budgets in the '90s were apparently HUGE.

Ladies Night: And finally, here is where it all comes together. What girl from the '90s doesn't remember "It's ladies night what/Must be Angie on the mic"? And then Angie Martinez went on to have hits such as...um... Anyways, the scuba-diving scene in this vid is my favorite. Can you imagine sitting on a beach, and Lil Kim comes up out of the water wearing flippers? No.

01/30/13 02:47PM

Bon Qui Qui Spring 2013 T by Alexander Wang

Bon Qui Qui is back n she gonna cut you if you try n steal somethin' from the Spring 2013 T by Alexander Wang Collection. -Ally

From Philadelphia

01/30/13 12:10PM

Rose Dawson

Rose Dawson, née DeWitt Bukater, taught me how to feel feelings at the age of 10, and that crushing on a cute, jobless artist is totally okay and probably necessary. Before Titanic was released, I was a mere husk of a human being, destined to live my life as a soulless worm. But then Titanic happened and Rose Dawson taught America how to live, so let's take a little look back on one badass, imaginary lady.—Katie

I know, Rose. I know. Being 17 is so hard. And you couldn't even Tweet your feelings.

Don't do it, Rose! Jack is right behind you! You're about to embark on the most beautiful love affair of all time!

Have I tried whispering "To the stars" to some men on occasion? Yes. Did it work as well as when Rose said it to Jack? No. Forever waiting for my romantic, car-in-the-hull-of-a-ship makeout sesh.

Rose Dawson, teaching America that even classy broads can throw up the bird every once in a while.

Sometimes I hope that there will be a point in my life where I can use this quote, in context, because it is so boss. Like, it will be a cold day in hell before Leo and Billy Zane start vying for my attention (or any two guys, let's be real), but I can dream. ROSE TAUGHT ME TO DREAM.

Oh, no big deal, just going to jump from this moving lifeboat to a sinking ship to be with my crush. That is some determination, Rose. Actually, that's a horrible life philosophy, but Rose is teaching us that love is real, y'all. Real and dumb.

Why did she jump? BECAUSE SHE LOVED YOU, JACK! SHE LOVED YOU AND YOUR '90S BOYBAND HAIR. Loyalty.

I would be crying too, my friend, if 1997 Leo DiCaprio passed away on my watch. No time to be sad, though, because now you're off to ride horses in jeans. Jack was just the catalyst that made sweet angel Rose embrace the badass woman within.

To sum up, Jack is basically that cute guy in your freshman English lit class [Ed. Note: Jordan Catalano anyone? -Ally] who smells like weed and smokes cigarettes down on the quad and drops out after two semesters to "travel the world" and "experience life", but it's totally normal to spend 75 years pining away for him because I mean, did you see his face? Worth it. I don't blame you, Rose.

01/30/13 11:49AM

Team Art: '90s Pop Divas Coloring Book

Team Art Delights makes a coloring book filled with '90s pop divas and I need it. They also make other coloring books, including one titled "Boy Bands" which speaks to my soul on a very personal level. It's stuff like this that convinces me Etsy is the greatest website to ever exist.—Katie

01/29/13 12:39PM

Get It Together: Chris Brown

LOL JK, that will never happen. -Ally

From Philadelphia

01/29/13 12:03PM

Trend: Unicorns

Unicorns are wonderful, imaginary creatures, and we should all be thrilled that they're popping up on everything from T-shirts to iPhone cases. Unicorns may be hard (okay, impossible) to find in real life, but thankfully easy to find on clothing. Rainbow hair, don't care.—Katie

UO Unicorns iPhone 5 Case
When I glance at this quickly it almost looks dirty, but in reality it's just cute li'l unicorns hanging out with some balloons. Nothing wrong with that.

Cooperative Applique Unicorn Flat
I'm going to throw in an emoticon here: XD Because that is the emotion these shoes make me feel and I don't think words are able to convey that properly.

Gift Card Charm Necklace
The most majestic necklace I've ever seen.

Junk Food Haters Gonna Hate Unicorn Tee
No one could hate you while wearing this beautiful unicorn shirt. When you wear this, you should also throw in some Unicorn Hair Extensions so you'll be perfectly coordinated.

Urban Renewal Fuzzy Unicorn Necklace
Actually, just kidding. This is the most majestic necklace I've ever seen.

Truly Madly Deeply Galaxy Unicorn Boyfriend Tee
Unicorns + space = the most perfect and Tumblr-y T-shirt in existence.

01/29/13 11:58AM

Fallen Broken Street

It doesn't matter what side of the equator you're on, right now a felt hat is a desirable object. I've been using mine to protect my head from the strongest of sun rays (that hole in the ozone layer above Australia is no joke), while those braving sub zero temperatures (hey, it's an excuse to drink hot toddies!) could use something to shield from blizzards and combat brain freeze. My favorite new millinery find is Australian label Fallen Broken Street, launched by model David Frim and photographer Justin Crawford, two surfers from Sydney's Northern Beaches. What started in 2011 with knitted beanies has evolved this season to include options like a floppy Carly Simon-worthy style called the Little Hippy; a compact topper named the Cove; an adorable sailor cap dubbed the Slipway; and the Dingo, a modern update on the classic Australian outback hat, minus the dangling corks. Hats off to you, boys! -Natalie

From Philadelphia

01/29/13 11:51AM

Vine App

So, there's this new video-sharing app for Twitter called Vine and it makes short little videos (they even have sound), kind of like .gifs. Neat! Our very own Twitter team put up a "Vine" featuring some work puppies, and I'm curious to see if more people will follow suit. I wish the app allowed you to put a filter over the film because I'd take so many beautiful supermodel-y shots of myself, preferably with a fan blowing in my hair.—Katie

01/29/13 11:36AM

A History of Girl Stuff: Light As A Feather, Stiff As A Board

"Light as a feather, stiff as a board" is a slumber party staple and an age-old rite of passage for teenage girls. If you haven't at least attempted to summon the powers of levitation, you're doing your sleepovers wrong. To begin, one girl lays flat on the floor while the other girls surround her, placing one or two fingers underneath her. Then all the girls chant "light as a feather, stiff as a board" over and over, as they try to lift the middle girl off the floor. Eventually, she'll be as "light as a feather" and will be easier to lift, even rising a bit on her own. It's totally real guys. But how exactly did this whole thing start? - Hazel

1600's: The practice of LAAFSAAB (whoa, long abbreviation) was actually prevalent among young girls during the Great Plague of London. A naval administrator named Samuel Pepys saw four young girls lift a young boy who was lying straight on his back, claiming him dead. Pepys was so struck by it (aka creeped the fuck out, amirite?) that he wrote about it in his diary.

Photo by Georgina Mascolo

1862: In the book The Magician's Own Book, or the Whole Art of Conjuring by Arnold George and Frank Cahill, a game of LAAFSAAB is described as having been played successfully at a large party in Venice using the heaviest man at the party. No confirmation on whether or not this was a rad slumber party.

1940: Boarding school girls were keeping the magical LAAFSAAB alive during the '40s. An English boarding school teacher who saw the game being played was recorded as saying, "Whether by self hypnosis or not I do not know...it was more like real magic than anything I have ever seen." Dude, get with the program. It IS real magic! Duh! *insert major eyeroll here*

1996: This moment in history saw the creation of the best on-screen portrayal of LAAFSAAB in the movie The Craft. The movie, which tells the story of four teenage girls who discover the powers of dark magic and witchcraft, shows how this game should really be done. Levitation rules!

Today: Girls are still playing this game at slumber parties and the like. It's crazy that girls have been playing this game since the 1600s but then again, it doesn't seem that crazy, considering how all teen girls are attracted to magic and mystery and witchcraft to begin with.

From Los Angeles

01/28/13 03:34PM

Sara Lyons Art

I'm obsessed with these teeny, tiny stickers by artist Sara M. Lyons. They're just so goddamn cute! Imagine how fun they'd look stuck all over your cell phone! I wonder if there'd be enough to sticker my entire bedroom...—Katie

01/28/13 03:33PM

Internet Explorer "Child of the '90s"

Internet Explorer! You've been doing so good at making yourself relevant again! We're so proud of you! This video is making me feel so nostalgic. Almost nostalgic enough to use IE again. Well played.—Katie