Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.
Another reason why Girls might make you cringe: The clothes are specifically chosen based on their gosh-what-was-I-thinking? quality. The show's writer-director and 2012's arbiter of cool, Lena Dunham, explains, "We are very conscious about what the girls are wearing. We spend a lot of time talking about that outfit you can't believe you wore but you know you spent three days dreaming up." [NY Times]