Last night, I went to Times Square.

I was greeted with throngs of screaming teenagers, like, dying over one Gossip Girl arrival after another. Inside was worse, paparazzi (and PR) pushed and shoved and threatened to escort us out if we - standing at a whopping 5’4” - didn’t get out of their way to take the perfect shot.

But after waiting forty-five minutes for Leighton to sing, I wasn’t going anywhere. When she did come on stage, well, who knew white leggings painted with blue and yellow fallopian tubes even existed? I spent a minute wondering where the bangs came from, then I turned on the camera and watched Carter Baizen try and boogie his way past Rufus onto the stage.

And then, after one song, I escaped, kind of devastated I’d skipped Fred Perry’s birthday celebration with a civilized Friendly Fires performance in lieu of the violent teenage mob.

It’s hard to believe that the term “fast fashion” wasn’t even in our vocabulary just a few years ago. Stores like H&M, Zara and now Topshop - which operate on a business model based on getting new shipments in stores and in front of our grabbing hands more often than Little J changes her lipstick - have totally changed the way most people (young people) shop, making retailers like Gap and J.Crew seem boring because they only get the regular number of shipments in per year.

According to the AP, at least two brands - American Eagle and Abercrombie + Fitch, are planning on getting more clothes in at a much faster rate starting this month: AE plans on getting new shipments every two weeks, and A+F plans on shorter lead times, too.

So is more clothes at a faster rate the key to the return-shopper’s heart? We think it has more to do with what you’re buying and where - After all, how many versions of the ribbed gray tank top does A+F think a girl really needs?

This week, Banana Republic launched their Monogram line, which was supposed to be a little more classic but not more pricey than their trend-oriented career wear.

Now, American Eagle is doing sort of the same thing.

They’ve just launched a website called Martin + Osa, which has a bunch of I’m-grown-up-really outfits, that cost basically the same amount as actual AE.

Who is this stuff for?

We’re guessing college kids who have their first jobs - the same college kids who were just wearing their AE Aerie tank tops to early morning lectures.

We have to admit, it seems like a very smart strategy - sort of like Hilary Duff insisting her tween fans will grow with her as she does more adult roles (or ok, at least more adult photo shoots). Guess we’ll see if it works… though we do wonder if it overlaps with Madewell.