'Gossip Girl' Couture Is Back-To-School Boon for U.S. Retailers
01.08.11
Angela Ricci is shopping for high lace skirts and floral dresses with ruffles to wear when she starts her year of high school in Pittsburgh. One thing it will not be buying jeans.
"I want to show a new kind of style and make a better impression," said Ricci, 17. "I think my generation was inspired to dress a little more."
Teenagers are like Ricci following the example of television shows like "Gossip Girl" - in which the actress Blake Lively prances in sewing class - as they head for the shops to stock up for the New Year school.Retailers, stung by slowing sales growth and record the costs of cotton, are helpful with blouses and dresses that sell for higher prices.
Spending on clothing and shoes from the back to school, the period of the second sale of the year for retailers, may rise to 28.8 billion U.S., up 3.6 per percent, from $ 27.8 billion a year earlier, according to New York - based International Council of shopping centers.
Source: Bloomberg