The O-town Scene

Laygirl Fashion by Emily Popek Let’s keep seasonal clothing in stores during the appropriate season I’ve got a great money-making fashion idea. I’m going to open a clothing store where you can buy seasonal clothing any time you want. My sister and I were talking recently about how bizarre it is that you can’t buy a swimsuit in August, or a winter coat in February. I don’t know about you, but I don’t swim an awful lot, so I’m not rushing out in May when the bathing suits hit the racks to buy a new one. However, I might (hypothetically) find myself in July or August with a chance to go swimming and a bathing suit that a) I can’t find b) doesn’t fit anymore or c) I suddenly hate. But if I go shopping, I may not find swimsuits in the store. They are already being replaced by fall styles, including winter coats and sweaters. Thanks, retailers. That’s just what I need when it’s 90 de- It just kind of ticks me off to see swimsuits and pretty little dresses on the racks when it’s still snowing outside. grees outside. And similarly, I have been known to lose various bits of my cold-weather gear during the (interminable) winter. So I find myself wanting to replace these items in, say, March, when it’s still freezing cold and snowy in our lovely little corner of the world. What do I find in the store instead? Swimsuits. I do, theoretically, understand the logic behind this well- documented retail strategy. It has something to do with the whole fashion cycle being months ahead of what’s going on in the real world (and I mean that in more ways than one). The sequence of events goes something like this: In summer, designers show their spring collections for the following year. In August or so, fashion buyers make decisions about the actual clothes their retailer clients will stock for the following spring. Fashion blogs and magazines start highlighting no- table spring trends or styles around February. And the clothes hit the stores _ regardless of whether you’re in New York or Miami _ shortly thereafter. All this seems designed to ensure that, by the time actual spring rolls around, you’re primed and ready to buy that new flowery dress or pair of espadrilles (or whatever is hot, in or must-have that year). Which is fine, in theory. But the problem is, I live in the real world. For one thing, I’m usually so excited to get reunited with all the hot-weather clothes I packed away that it takes me a while to get sick of them and start wanting something new. For another, I don’t have a ready supply of cash on hand to buy the latest and greatest things to update my wardrobe each season. (Who does, really?) And finally, it just kind of ticks me off to see swimsuits and pretty little dresses on the racks when it’s still snowing outside. There is a bright side to all of this, though. The bizarre, fast- forwarded fashion cycle makes shopping the clearance racks even more of a pleasure. Besides getting great deals (tailored slacks for $1.99? Don’t mind if I do!), you can actually buy things that are appropriate for the time of year you’re actually experiencing _ not the one that’s three months (or more) away. What a concept. Emily F. Popek has no idea where her winter hat and gloves are right now. She is also assistant editor of The Daily Star. 6 O-Town Scene July 21, 2011

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