Top Clothing Trends (September 2023)

The maternity dress industry is undergoing a massive transformation. Walmart mostly moved their maternity section online and many retailers don’t even carry maternity clothing anymore. This is in large part due to the higher costs of supporting the category; the short duration of need for maternity clothing leads to above-average return rates.

This comparatively swift transition from offline to online has also been propped up by the rise of seconding clothing marketplaces like Poshmark and thredUP. These items’ short ownership duration means that secondhand markets can expect their buyers in this category to be future sellers. And for secondhand marketplaces in particular, a high frequency of returns changes from a liability to an asset since it keeps people in their ecosystem and adds inventory to their sites.

A new subcategory of maternity wear with an even shorter duration of ownership is becoming more popular: one-time use dresses for maternity photoshoots. Body positivity is on the rise and stigmas are being cut down across the consumer world from balding to body size.

And in one sense, Instagram hurts the demand for professional photographers by making it more normal for people to take their own photos—but that same everyday tendency also means that pictures of a special occasion will require unique scenery, special clothes, and perhaps professional help.

Bamboo sheets have been a growing trend for years but bamboo pajamas have just recently started growing in popularity. They are a cheaper solution: enough bamboo fabric to cover a person once instead of a bed twice.

45% of couples report arguing over sleeping temperature so products that let individuals choose their own preferred temperature help resolve the issue. Given its unique property of wicking moisture, bamboo clothing can help keep body temperatures stable throughout the night. Bamboo pajama brands are leaning into this and running ads promising to help reduce sleep-related conflict.

Bamboo fabric is also pitched as environmentally friendly compared to cotton. Bamboo requires little water, the plants grow back after getting cut down, and they don’t need pesticides. As more consumers start making environmentally conscious decisions, existing products can be rebuilt using more eco-friendly materials.

People have fewer close friends today compared to decades past. In 1990, a quarter of women reported having ten or more close friends, while today that number has halved.

Some female consumers report that their small friend circles mean that when it comes to weddings, they’re more likely to take turns being each others’ bridesmaids, meaning the cluster of bridesmaids is the same from wedding to wedding.

Brides usually pick a single style and color for all their bridesmaids to wear. But bridesmaids are often different sizes and skin tones so what looks good on one might not on another. For this reason, bridesmaid dresses are notoriously disliked and often not worn again after the wedding.

And while some women try to reuse bridesmaids' dresses for other weddings, the declining size of friend circles and the resulting overlap in bridesmaids makes this an issue: A bride doesn’t want their bridesmaids to use the same dress they used at a previous wedding from within the friend circle.

If the dress can't be repeated, consumers’ willingness to pay declines. This is one of several factors driving down the price of bridesmaid dresses. Another is the rise of secondhand clothing marketplaces like Poshmark and Thredup which have heavily affected the only-wear-it once clothing category.

Revelry Dresses, a fast-growing bridesmaid dress company that sells all its dresses for $99 (considered affordable in the bridesmaid dress industry), is part of the industry-wide recognition of these broader trends.