Channel: Hold

Good Look

Staff Writer

I just need to take a moment to call everyone’s attention to the new Women’s Vineyard Jacket from Charles River. It’s on page 10 in the catalog, and here’s the link:
www.charlesriverapparel.com/CGI-BIN/LANSAWEB?WEBEVENT+L6F83209B4A8137004C3C016+A01+ENG).

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say this might be one of the cutest, most stylish promotional jackets I’ve ever seen.
Hopefully, this is a harbinger of what 2009 will bring to the industry. For one thing, forget the six-month lag. This piece is right in line with current retail trends.
Plus, a defined waistline makes for a really flattering, classic look (see any

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Guilt Trip

Staff Writer

We travel a lot as an industry, I’ve come to learn. And being that I just finished my first-ever promotional products trade-show cycle, I feel a little trepidation at the thought of starting all over come January. I just booked my flights for ASI Orlando and I’m tired already.
I realize making face-to-face connections is invaluable, particularly with you party animals, and maybe that alone is worth the price of admission (flights, booths/accoutrement, shipping, client dinners, etc.). But in terms of ROI, at what point do they stop being valuable and start becoming “same old, same old”? How many times a year do

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Alienated Yet?

Staff Writer

Okay, I know. I’ve been bad. Really, really bad—especially considering the fact that if you want a blog to work, you should post several times a day to keep readers coming back for more.
Um, let’s not get crazy with our expectations, though.
BUT, at the very least, I should be able to get a piping-hot post on the table once a week. I fell off the blogging wagon. Sorry. I realize it’s going to take awhile to regain your trust … prove I’m not just going to cut and run when the going gets tough.
So, to start on the road

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June PM Style, Abridged

Staff Writer

I have to cut short my usual written tomfoolery today (we’re working on something pretty big ‘round here … more on that later), but I wanted to be sure you caught all the good stuff the June Style section has to offer. I know I’m a little late on this, but hopefully you’re not too disappointed.
If you missed these tidbits the first time around, don’t worry. That’s what I’m here for.
Here are the highlights:

pg. 72: The Wide Euro Band Scoop Neck Hoodie from California Basics is one of the coolest sweatshirts I’ve seen in awhile. The contrast-color whipstitching channels

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Good Cheer

Staff Writer

For those who have met me, this might be a surprising confession, but here goes.
I was a high-school cheerleader.
No, not a recreational-type pom-pom waver. I was entrenched in the highly athletic world of competitive cheerleading, death-defying stunts and all. In fact, my sister is now varsity coach at my old high school—a place where there are more championship trophies for cheerleading in the lobby display cases than there are for any other sport. By far. I know, it sounds weird. But believe me: As members of the only team that consistently won stuff, my teammates and I would become absolutely

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No Sweat

Staff Writer

I’m confused. While I do realize that, for me, being slightly discombobulated simply means all cylinders are firing per usual, I have reason to believe today’s mental state is in response to an actual set of circumstances, which I will explain in a second.
My job is to write about apparel, we know this. And over the course of the past year covering style for PM, a few truths have unceremoniously revealed themselves to me:
1) Our industry can’t (and quite possibly, won’t) catch up to retail.
2) Moisture-wicking shirts are the next big thing.
3) When presented with cookies from Fresh Beginnings, I

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Best Dressed

Staff Writer

I once saw this completely forgettable movie with Salma Hayek and Matthew Perry called “Fools Rush In.” (Don’t judge, I usually have better taste).
Strangely, the only thing I can recall is that, in describing Vegas, one of the characters says (and I paraphrase) that they might as well have built the city on the surface of the sun.
These days, the same can hold true of Philly. It. Is. Oppressive.
Like, kids are being sent home from school, roads are buckling and I can’t even walk around my apartment without breaking a sweat. Not okay.
Yesterday, to capitalize on a little free

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Odds & Ends

Staff Writer

Our May Style section is pretty. It’s also informative (and since I wrote all the articles in it, this is a completely fair and unbiased opinion, obviously).
I know the thought of NOT reading the issue multiple times is a completely preposterous notion, but just in case you missed these tidbits, here are a few points I found of particular interest:

Women’s Wear: Learning Curves (page 67)
Faced with an ever-growing wardrobe of tops and blouses, I’ve recently realized that I avoid shopping for pants like the plague. The reason for this is twofold: 1) finding the right fit is

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The Aftershock

Staff Writer

Though it seems more than a little callous to worry about how the earthquake in China’s Sichuan province will affect our marketplace, in an industry that heavily depends on Chinese manufacturing, it would be sheer folly not to.
However, various reporting outlets are stating that the disaster’s effect on the Chinese economy will be minimal, which hopefully by extension, means U.S. manufacturing will receive nary a jolt. Here are a few soundbites from various news sources that you might be interested in:
BusinessWeek: ”China Quake Won’t Shake Economy”
However, many economists expect the impact on the Chinese economy of the power outages, communications

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Say A Little Prayer

Staff Writer

Today’s installment has nothing to do with promotional products. In fact, it’s not even my typical, lighthearted fare.
I’ve been on CNN.com numerous times throughout the day, following the breaking news of the earthquake in China. I simply have no words to describe how staggered I am by the amount of destruction Mother Nature can cause. They are reporting more than 8,500 lost lives.
8,500 people.
And all this in the wake of the recent disaster in Myanmar. The toll there keeps rising, but at this point, it’s way beyond normal human comprehension. My brain is literally shutting down at the sheer

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