We Can Do It!

Women are different than men—we just are. You know, sugar, spice, everything nice, all that stuff. We think differently. We process information differently. We love sappy chick flicks, which is why men must suffer through so many of them (and we are sorry about this, kind of). One of the biggest differences, if your promotional campaigns haven't picked up on it yet, is that our bodies are completely different than a man's. From our flawlessly cut and colored hair to our perfectly pedicured toes, we are different. We like it that way and more than anything, we'd like our promotional apparel to be stylish, trendy and always accentuate the positive.

Dollars & Fashion Sense

So, what is hot this season? It can be distilled down to a just a few words: sexy, elegant and athletic. In this tough post-recession era, the message that designers are sending to the world via the latest fashions is that women are strong. It is almost a hearkening back to the WWII-era superwoman, Rosie the Riveter. But there is one vital difference—today's strong female warriors may be supporting the family due to layoffs, battling to keep their homes or just plain busy from being everything to everyone, but they aren't putting on denim shirts or wrapping their heads in bandannas. 2010s' superwomen are wearing this year's "cut-to-fit-their-bodies" feminine styles and are still sexy and strong.

"[It] is all about mixing the extreme with the elegant," said Alisa Buckner, merchandise and marketing director for Dunbrooke, Independence, Mo. Explaining what the industry should be looking for in order to keep up with the styles for the 2010 spring/summer season, Buckner continued, "As we emerge from the global financial crisis, we can expect to see a new standard of fashion. This spring it is about classically inspired, but with a serious mixture of sexy looks paired with athletic and delicate style."