Special Surf Expo Section

Trends in Clothing (From page 52)

It’s also helpful to create eye catching layering and stacking that moves the eye around the store and draws a customer in as they're shopping.

The hottest sellers at Moxy Boutique in South Hadley, Mass., are currently comfortable trendy clothing said Andrea Sullivan , owner. For instance, one popular clothing item at the moment is a cardigan in Aztec print.

They have also been selling plenty of pants, including faux leather pants and joggers made in Italy. The joggers come in a variety of patterns–including various camouflage color schemes - and solids. “They seem to fit every body,” Sullivan said.

She said these are selling well because you can dress them up or down, and many are dressing down now.

“We don’t get a lot of people going to the office or out to dinner especially with the uptick in Covid cases around here,” Sullivan said.

At the moment, scarves are the top selling accessory being that they’re located in New England where it’s beginning to get chilly.

Year round, they sell a lot of jewelry. As with their other merchandise, they also follow trends in this area. For instance, over the summer, they stocked whale tail jewelry. Now, they’re stocking plenty of blingy type jewelry for the holidays.

They attend trade shows to find new vendors. “We always want to keep the store interesting with something new,” said Sullivan. She also refers to websites that showcase items from thousands of vendors.

They’re always looking for something different, which this year includes plaid shackets, corduroy mixed with plaid and tribal prints.

While they do carry classic styles in their 1,000-square-foot shop, in general, they like to stock items that are on trend.

They used to coordinate by style, but now they keep everything color coordinated.

“It seems that if people are looking for a black pant they go to the section with black pants,” said Sullivan.

Denim is really strong right now, said Kimberly Moster of Kimberly Boutique in Hartford, Conn. According to Moster, skinny denim has been phased out and people want comfortable and fuller leg styles–which most don’t already have in their closet. Tops in general–such as blouses and pretty sweaters–are also selling well. According to Moster, this has a lot to do with COVID and how it changed the way people dressed. A lot of people are still Zooming and are not dressing up as much as they used to, she commented.

Bracelets have replaced earrings as the top selling accessory at Kimberly Boutique. Daintier jewelry is making a comeback and layering bracelets seems to be a fairly strong trend, Moster said.