anthropologie, and why I shouldn't shop there

First founded in 1992, the brand is designed to follow customers of its parent company, Urban Outfitters, into the next stage of their life.[2] Founder Richard Hayne moved Anthropologie away from the focus of Urban Outfitters, which targeted hip and mode trends. Rather, this new concept was designed to appeal to 30- to 40-something affluent professional women with total family annual income above $200,000. [3] Picturing an ideal audience, the corporation targeted sophisticated women wanting unique, one-of-a-kind designs. This marketing technique is often compared to that of Kate Spade, selling a lifestyle rather than products.[4] Thus, Anthropologie became a pioneer in retail, becoming the first corporation to intentionally avoid advertising.

Actually, this really kind of pisses me off. Do they think twenty-somethings want to dress straight out of Urban Outfitters? Occasionally Anthropologie does skew a little old, I admit, but I also don't think it's dressing 40-somethings. No, instead it's praying on the poor grad students who have taste but don't want to dress a teenager until they're 30! (I do shop at Urban Outfitters but somehow I'm not so into Victorian-Goth at the moment, which is practically all they have in the Valley Fair store right now).

neighbor lady?

Usually I really like Anthropologie's names for things. "camelot boots" or "dancing butterfly sandals" or "azure skies eyelet blouse" or some such nonsense, they always conjure up an image that, more often than not, is better than the item of clothing itself. But someone had an off day recently:

neighbor lady?

I don't want to look like a neighbor lady. A neighbor lady is single, middle aged, childless (or widowed and children have left home), and invites you over around Christmas when you're six and gives you a cookie and a little decoration for your Christmas tree that she sewed herself. I have good memories of neighbor lady, but I have no desire to BE neighbor lady.

Further troublesome points: why is it black? Is neighbor lady in mourning? Why does it look like it belongs to a pregnant woman? How on earth is it "the most popular on the block?" Finally, and perhaps most troublesome of all, why does neighbor lady have pockets for lollipops and bandaids? Surely it's for the children "on the block". . . but why do I have the strange feeling that the items in the pockets are actually. . . for herself?