5 Things Juicy Couture Contributed to the World
Last week, we learned some news that would have devastated us 10 years ago: Juicy Couture is closing all of their US stores. This is the end of an era, though for most, that era has since changed into form-fitting yoga pants. Love them or hate them, Juicy tracksuits were seriously comfortable. So as an homage to the velour and terry cloth getups so loved by celebrities and commoners alike, here are five things Juicy Couture contributed to the world.
1. The Comfort Couture Movement
For a better part of the 2000s, pajamas were considered outerwear. But you can’t blame those of us who partook: like I said, Juicy sweats were so dang comfortable. And when paired with Uggs, it just didn’t get much better. Celebrities were photographed wearing Juicy tracksuits everywhere from the gym to the grocery store. In J.Lo’s case, it also made perfectly acceptable video music attire. The question wasn’t “Why are you wearing sweats?” but rather, “Which color will you wear today?”
2. Expressing Yourself On Your Bottom
Which came first: JUICY or PINK? These brands sparked a movement of sprawling words and phrases across the derrieres of women. As copycats are wont to do, the style took off and over a decade later, people are still broadcasting messages on their behinds.
3. Regina George’s Mom
Simply billed “Mrs. George” on IMDb, Amy Poehler’s character fit the bill for the Juicy lifestyle: cool and comfortable, but without trying too hard (while trying SO hard). She was a cool mom. And cool moms wore Juicy.
4. Fancy Zipper Pulls
A zipper was just a zipper, until one day it wasn’t. You could fake the terrycloth, or the velour, but if you didn’t have that tiny ‘J’ dangling from your zipper, the jig was up. There are few things I enjoyed more than zipping myself into that hooded cloak of conformity and acceptance. (I was a brat; it said so across my buttocks.)
5. Wit-firmations
Juicy used to do witticism-affirmations, or wit-firmations—and they did them well. I was the prime target market for phrases like “Keep it Juicy,” “No Rest for the Juicy” and “Viva la Juicy” and used to tack their magazine ads on my wall in high school. I dug their attitude. Maybe they could have revamped their image and saved their stores from closing by posting images of those wit-firmations on Facebook rather than the same picture of Dave Franco over and over. Not that I’m complaining.
Don’t worry, you can still get your Juicy fix if you need to—the brand is still for sale internationally and at Kohls. In the meantime, reach into the depths of your closet, pull out your matching track suit and suit up for old time’s sake. Extra credit if you pair your outfit with some Uggs.
