The Sky's the Limit with Women's Wear

Sure, women love to shop in malls or online for filling in their wardrobes. But, ironically, if you were to stroll through a mall on any given day and look at what's being worn while shopping, you will begin to see how many promotional garments women shoppers are sporting. Everything from tourist-destination T-shirts, to breast cancer awareness tank tops, to tops and caps showing allegiance to a favorite team or band, and of course, myriad corporate wear with beautiful embroidered logos.

New offerings reflect the trends in retail. Horacio Gonzalez of Expert Brand explains, “The latest fashion trends in promotional women’s wear include apparel that offers a fashion cut with feminine contour, as well as fabric with a super-soft feel.”

Expert Brand, he adds, has taken basic styles that users have come to know, and has custom-tailored them to be fashion-forward. Its TriTec™ (Performance Tri-Blend) garments for women have a fashion cut, as well as a performance tri-blend fabric with a super soft feel, according to Gonzalez. Pieces such as the women’s TriTec™ Racerback Tank (AB260), Women’s TriTec™ (Performance Tri-Blend) Deep V-neck T (#AB262), and the Women’s TriTec™ (Performance Tri-Blend) LS Scoop Neck T (#AB361) also feature a drop tail back for extra coverage for fashion-forward embellishment.

“Soft fabrics with great stretch and recovery are driving a lot of movement in women’s wear,” observes Mark Seymour of Next Level Apparel. “Our perfect blend Tri-Blend collection is selling strong with the (#6760) dolman and (#6730) scoop neck leading the way. They offer a great fit and can be used in all applications from casual to corporate. The blend of cotton-poly-rayon creates an exceptionally soft hand with a cool vintage heather vibe.”

For a solid color look, Next Level Apparel offers a unique sueded jersey fabric that has a distinctive brushed finish and a velvet soft feel, according to Seymour. “I love to see the look on customers' faces the first time they feel this fabric, it is truly the softest tee ever,” he shares. The company just added (#6840) women’s sueded V-neck with a medium crossover V with plenty of room to print and embellish. “This new medium V neckline is also trending for us with similar in profile to the scoop neck,” he says.

Similarly, Eric Rubin of Blue Generation sees women’s fashion trends moving towards cleaner styling, lighter weight fabrics and fabrics of visible and texture interest. Heather knits have been particularly popular this year from fashion to athletic wear. “We are also seeing strong growth in women’s T-shirts," he notes. In 2016, Blue Generation introduced a collection of heather T-shirts and polos in an array of colors including a feminine shade of heather red and the company is planning  to increase the color selection for next year.

Delta Apparel offers its 30/1’s Junior Racerback Tank (#1333), a combination of cotton and Spandex, featuring side seams for a curved silhouette, soft fabric bound neck and armholes, and double-needle bottom hem, in 13 fashion colors. Suitable customers for this style include fitness clubs, yoga studios, spas, athletic clubs, and university and company stores. They could also be used for companies that sponsor employee health and fitness initiatives.

Meanwhile, Kavio is bursting with numerous fashion-forward new styles for juniors and women.

Its women’s Static Jersey Print Raw Edge Long Sleeve with Pouch (# WJP0649X) features a flattering scooped neckline, a static-like all over print in bold colors for a stylish flair, contrasting raw edge details and a front pouch for a casual style. Made of cotton-poly sheer jersey, it is available in seven colors.

Kavio’s Sheer Jersey Scoop Neck Raw Edge Shark Bite Tank (#WJP0655) has a scooped neckline featuring raw edge details and a drapey shark-bite hem, which “adds fun and flirty movements to give your casual style a chic boost!”  It’s made of cotton-poly sheer jersey and is available in eight colors and junior sizes.

For Juniors, Kavio is emphasizing its bohemian-fresh Static Jersey Print Scoop Neck Raw Edge V Fringe Tank (#JJP0646) featuring a scooped neckline with raw edge details, an all over static-like print in bold colors . Made of cotton-poly sheer jersey and offered  in seven colors.

Also new is the Jersey Striped Back High-Low Slit Hoodie Tank (#JJP0630), a striped-back hoodie featuring a high-low hem and side slits. This tunic tank is an easy-to-layer piece for comfort. Made of cotton/poly sheer jersey for a relaxing comfortable fit, it's available in six colors.

Likewise, Bella + Canvas has several new casual summery styles for women. The Flowy Boxy Tank (#8880) is described as a fashion-forward tank in a soft and flowy poly-viscose blend. The cropped and boxy silhouette, round neck and elongated arm holes make this style suitable for layering. It's offered in a variety of solid, neon and striped colors.

In the woven area, says Rubin, Blue Generation’s crossweave blouse is an eye catcher with a feminine Y placket and soft touch fabric. The slight textured weave in a lightweight fabric makes it particularly fashionable. “Our knits, cotton, blended and polyester moisture-wicking polos in several different weights, textures and price points are all offered in both classic button plackets and V-necks,” he says. “In woven shirts, our most versatile ‘Superblend Poplins’ and cotton/poly/spandex blends, offered in long, short and 3/4 sleeves make up the lion’s share of the business. This fabric is also available in a variety of silhouettes including camp shirts and swing shirt style for those needing a little more room. The color card is also most extensive in our classics; many are  available in 26 hues, and the widest size selection. The classics offer the customer a simple choice to use as a backdrop to proudly display their logo. Everyone from the mailroom to the boardroom can use a classic shirt!”

Classics are still in style as well. “Expert Brand’s women’s 1/4 Zip Training (#AI309) and women’s 1/4 Zip Pullover (#AU305) are both classic styles that have been strong contenders in our overall product offering,” emphasizes Gonzalez. They can be paired with most bottoms and have a classic fit. Examples of end uses for these classic styles include corporate events and promotional giveaways, as well as marathons and races.

A highlight in Sierra Pacific Apparel’s FeatherLite collection is its women’s FeatherLite® Twill Shirt in both long sleeve (#5283) and short-sleeve (#5281). They are treated with Teflon® fabric protector, and are breathable, stain-resistant and liquid repellent – excellent for healthcare and restaurant/hotel clients. Made of 4.5-oz, 60/40 cotton/ poly, these shirts feature double-needle stitching with two-ply back yoke, felled seams, reactive dye and glazed wood style buttons with spare two-button adjustable placket cuff, and are darted in the front and back to flatter the female form.

Length is still a strong trend in all of Next Level Apparel’s women’s styles, according to Seymour. “We founded our brand on the concept of high-end fabrics with designs and fits that are roomy and comfortable. Customers often describe the fit as more realistic. We call it ‘contemporary fit’ and have an expanded size range to cover the variety of end uses. The combination of fit, fabric and a wide range of color choices all in deep inventories was lacking in the women’s side of the market,” he asserts.

Next Level Apparel’s (#3900) boyfriend T in 100 percent combed ring spun fabric is a classic staple used as a companion to the men’s (#3600) in events ranging from music festivals to corporate picnics, Seymour adds.

When selecting the garments to present to your client for selection (good, better, best), it behooves to upsell in a fill program.  If it is for employees as uniforms or as incentive gifts, this is usually a revolving program where more garments need to be ordered when product supply runs low. A simple way to ensure the customer does not run out and calls in a panic is to check in on a regular basis to ask what the inventory status is.

Seymour advises to select a style that the supplier can ensure is in deep supply. “Projections are great but with the variety of sizes the best approach is the availability of supply when your hard earned product placement blows off the shelf,” he asserts. “We stock deep inventories in all colors to help assure availability. Another tip is to offer an opportunity to preview the size range and fit to a panel of the projected end users to get a feel for size scale. Predicting demand for sizes may be the biggest challenge. Once the program is up and running and you have some data you can build a fill-in schedule based on the shelf life of the program.”

Expert Brand’s women’s category, notes Gonzalez, has no minimum of quantity requirements; it allows the end user to have the flexibility of speed to accommodate market demand.

Depending upon the client, consider upselling varied versions: sleeveless for summer, short sleeves for warm weather, lightweight long-sleeves for mid to late spring and early to mid fall, and heavier weight long-sleeve for winter. Layering is another upsell advantage: shirts that can be layered can be instantly paired with another shirt for a dynamic look.

There is quite the bounty of women’s promotional garments available, and performing due diligence to show the most suitable samples will likely elicit the “Wow! We want those!” response – and quite the sale!

This classic T-shirt from American Apparel features a relaxed cut and added coverage to flatter a feminine silhouette. It features 100% fine jersey cotton construction (heather grey contains 10% polyester) and a durable rib neckband.

Carolina Made carries Anvil’s tri-blend deep-scoop 1/2 sleeve T-shirt. It features 4.7-oz. preshrunk 50/25/25 polyester/combed ring spun cotton/rayon, semi-fitted contoured silhouette with side seams, double-needle curved bottom hem. Sizes XS-2X. Available in seven colors.

The Dickies women’s Performance Short Sleeve Polo shirt provides a cohesive, customizable look for school or salaried settings, keeping you stylish at work with lasting comfort. The snag-resistant, short sleeve polo shirt from Dickies is built to  perform, while providing all-day comfort for the wearer. Available in black, dark  navy, English red and white, it is 100% polyester and features moisture-wicking technology.

Featuring 6.5oz ultra soft ring-spun 100% cotton, the Spirt Shirt from GAME Sportswear has a full athletic cut for minimal shrinkage, deep armholes and reinforced gussets. Details include cover stitching over all stress points, including 360° around shoulder seams; double-needle hemmed bottom and a taped neck hole for comfort; half-length sleeves and a tagless label.

The Hope oversized T from MV Sport is a cotton/polyester heathered jersey.  This vintage varsity style tunic has ivory jersey sewn stripes on 3/4 sleeves. The bottom hem features side slits which complement its oversized fit.

Trimark's Yosemite knit jacket combines bold color blocking, with a heathered and solid fabric, for a sporty retail look. In addition to functional features like an interior media port with cord guide and sleeve cuffs with thumb exits, it has contrast coverstitch on the body, reflective taping detail on the back yoke and a heat transfer main label for tagless comfort.

Pro Towels stylish plush lounge robe with shawl collar has patch pockets and a tie belt. It is available in three sizes and three colors – chocolate, white and silver gray.