The Future of Looking Good

New styles? Again? Didn't we just go through this last year?

Well, yes, but keeping up on this stuff is important, we promise. True, you may be able to get by on selling the basics season after season, but playing it safe has its risks. For one, the longer you neglect keeping up on style trends, the greater your chances are of becoming that bewildered, out-of-touch person yelling, "those darn kids with their tweeters and Xboxes, why don't they want to buy my promotional hoop skirts?"

No one wants to be that person, waving his or her fist in the air, mumbling about rock candy and how no one appreciates premium whalebone ribbing in skirts anymore. So do yourself a favor and take a look at what some industry experts on style are talking about in different areas of apparel fashion for 2010.

T-SHIRTS
With T-shirts, look for fabric experimentations that create vintage or aged looks to continue increasing in popularity. "Treatments such as burnout and distressed fabrics are becoming more mainstream," said Margaret Crow, marketing director for S&S Activewear, Bolingbrook, Ill. She added also that slub fabrics were becoming more common in T-shirt composition.

"Slub" refers to cotton that has become twisted and bunched during the weaving process. Previously considered a waste product, slub fabrics are seeing more use in apparel today because of how their wavy, striated threads can be made into fabrics with distressed appearances and textures. How distressed the fabric appears can vary depending on designer intent, but the fabrics will typically have some degree of a rougher, more vintage feel.

At bottom, first image from left: S&S Activewear's Colorado Trading Soybu Ladies' Slub Short Sleeve T-shirt is made with slub cotton, as well as bamboo, soy and spandex. (800) 523-2155
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