For more than a decade now, women have been steering clear of baggy unisex T shirts, going in for more figure-flattering looks and asking garment makers to custom-cut styles especially for the female form. As a design/ printer in the shirt merchandising industry, I've noticed wholesalers' new season catalog covers showing more and more 'girl power'. Baby doll tops, cap sleeve tees, spaghetti strap tanks and boy beaters are among the slew of new ladies' junior style offerings challenging the basic boxy tee shirt.
Just as my mom and pop survived the advent of the mini skirt without too much damage to their relationships with their daughters, in the same way, I too am now wading through the new fashion currents (especially as they affect my own daughter!) In our home, as in our cottage industry, our family values and notions of modesty in dress keep open for us a dialog with the fashion culture. Style and taste are generous enough tents pitched in this dialog so while others will doubtless differ, what follows is one of my own concerns.
This might surprise you, but even as a designer who wants to maximize profits making top-notch ladies-wear, there are certain styles I can't promote and won't place in my ladies wear line. It has always seemed to me there is a fine but necessary line to draw between "sexy" and "racy". A little of the former is good for self-esteem, and healthy body image; the latter seems to me only to be reveling in over-exposure. Some styles just show too much skin--though very often sizing up larger can compensate for those who, like me, prefer a look that yields a tad more coverage without losing the appeal of the more contoured fit already tailored into the style of the shirt.
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