Fashion Bug
Fashion Terms — the Apparel Search fashion terminology directory
Fashion Bug carries two meanings in this directory. It was the name of a long-running American women's clothing chain, selling affordable apparel including plus sizes from hundreds of mall and strip-center stores. It is also the everyday phrase: to catch the fashion bug is to catch the enthusiasm — the sudden urge to follow, wear and talk about fashion.
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A
�fashion bug� is a person who places a lot of emphasis on
fashion and is always sure to follow the latest trends. Although
the term seems somewhat dated, a more modern interpretation
could translate to the term �fashionista,� but that term tends
to evoke an image of a fashionable woman who is chic and
sophisticated. One could certainly say that the Carrie character
in Sex and the City is a fashion bug, but Apparel Search
believes the word fashionista would be a better description of
Carrie.
Fashion bugs, always concerned with the latest styles and brands, are eager to update their wardrobes every season to incorporate the latest styles or colors. A fashion bug would be among the first in the crowd to wear lace or those black rubber bracelets that Madonna wore during the 80s when she first emerged on the music scene.
The Apparel Search team believes that the term �fashion bug� could on occasion (but not always) suggest a more negative connotation, unlike the term �fashionista, � which is often used in the industry to describe a woman who always looks stylish and has a cosmopolitan vibe.
The Fashion Bug term was written by Regina Cooper July 2009
You may also wish to read "What is a fashionista?"
Have
you ever been to the
Fashion Bug
store? The Fashion Bug store is a division of Charming Shoppes,
Inc. Charming Shoppes, Inc. is a leading multi-brand specialty
apparel retailer primarily focused on plus-size women's apparel. They
are the parent company of four distinct store brands � Lane Bryant,
Fashion Bug, Catherines Plus Sizes and Petite Sophisticate Outlet.
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A Name From the Mall Era
For shoppers who came of age in American suburbs in the 1980s and 1990s, Fashion Bug was a fixture: bright stores in strip centers and malls, frequent sales, and a size range broader than many competitors offered at its prices. Chains of that era have mostly closed or been absorbed, which is why the name now reads as retail history — a reminder that the directory records companies and phrases alike, including ones whose stores are gone.
The Phrase Lives On
The everyday phrase needs no store to survive. Stylists, bloggers and boutiques still use catching the fashion bug to describe the moment a casual shopper becomes a follower of trends — the conversion every fashion marketer hopes to cause. The two meanings together explain why this small entry earns its place: one documents a retailer, the other a piece of the language.
Common Questions
What was Fashion Bug?
A United States women's apparel retail chain that sold affordable clothing in misses, plus and junior sizes for decades before its stores closed; its name remains a familiar one in American mall history.
What does it mean to catch the fashion bug?
To become suddenly enthusiastic about fashion — the phrase borrows the idea of catching a bug, an infection of interest that spreads from person to person.
Is Fashion Bug the same as a fashion disaster or a fashion diva?
No: those are separate entries in this directory. A fashion disaster is a failed outfit; a fashion diva is a person with a commanding fashion presence; Fashion Bug was a retailer whose name plays on the enthusiasm phrase.