By Tiffany Schmidt
Staff Writer

It’s Saturday morning, and a group of my friends invite me for a girls night out.

I offer an immediate “yes!”, and before I know it, I am searching for a great outfit and contemplating the perfect hair style for this occasion. Suddenly it dawns on me that I have nothing to wear and only a couple hours until I am to be fully suited in my ‘night on the town’ attire. What to do?

I immediately jump in my car and drive to the nearest mall to start my frantic search. Yes, I am one of those young women that walks through the mall at an extreme pace, as if on a secret mission. I dart in and out of various stores looking for something—anything!—impressive.

Store after store offers the same boring, suburban, expected items; and if I purchase one of these mundane outfits, it’s likely that at least one of my friends will be wearing something far too similar for comfort.

It’s at this point that I realize my only option for a unique and trendy outfit is to go shopping in Downtown Seattle. I do not have enough time for such a trek. I am defeated.

Why do mall stores have to be so boring?

I understand that they are usually trying to accommodate a certain clientele. Their target demographics are middle-aged women, and high school students. However, there are plenty of us that are, for one reason or another, stuck in suburban Washington and do not want to dress like these 40-somethings and teenagers.

For example, Urban Outfitters—one of Downtown Seattle’s best stores—now has a location in Alderwood Mall. While it’s nice to have such a great store up north, the shop appears to have lost its edge.

Urban Outfitters is just one example of a store compromising itself, and changing its selections to fit a more bland and expected style. It’s as if they want the intimidated, non-urban citizen to feel more comfortable stepping inside their doors.

Instead of staying true to their original principles, major stores are giving into peer pressure and becoming more like the stores they are surrounded with.

So next time I am in a shopping time crunch I may rethink my plan, perhaps borrowing something from a friend who had previously shopped downtown is my best option. Or maybe the stores will simply realize that they need to stay true to their image and become consistent in their products. Either way I will undoubtedly find something to wear that is not safe-suburban style, and I will continue to support these stores, but only when I am in the 5th and Pine vicinity.