Here you can come to read up on what the latest trends are in the embroidery and silk screening apparel industry. Using this information will help enable better choices of which items to purchase to maximize ROI in your next marketing promotion.

OLD IS NEW AGAIN

- 80s and 90s styles are back: Oversized tops in bright neon colors with broad shoulders; angular shapes, acid wash is coming back too

- Vintage Rocker: Tattoo and music-inspired graphics on destroyed shirts.  Denim with ripped accents and retro patches

- Country grunge: Super relaxed silouttes; plaids, small florals, liberty prints

- New Nostalgia: Classic pieces bought as investments, 40s inspired styles with structure, draping, gathers. Layering of textures and colors.

THE BUZZ ON BAGS

- Unstructured bags with ethnic influence are big this season

- Durable nylon or canvas bags are pulling double duty as carry-ons

- Leather and canvas totes – formed or unstructured – are mixing practicality with all-season style

CAPTIVATING CAPS

- Beanies: The explosion of colors and different knits make beanies versatile must-haves

- Surfer/skater flat bills continue to make the street scene. Clean fonts, raised embroidered stitching and low shine fabrics are head-turning treatments

HARMONIZING HUES

The fall and winter palette mixes vibrant colors with warm subdued tones. Look for these colors not only in clothing… but in decoration too.

Muted and powdery pinks are making a fresh appearance

Golden yellows and mustards offer traditional autumnal colors

Strong reds with orange undertones continue to make an impact

Frequently paled together, pale purples and mushroom browns offer understated contrast

Greens are migrating from yellows to warm olive, khaki, and dark evergreen

Blues are being celebrated across the spectrum with cool blue grey, royal blue, light turquoise and indigo

*information comes from the SanMar 2009 Fall Trend Report

MORE DETAIL ON UNSTRUCTURED HATS VERSUS STRUCTURED HATS

Headwear is one of the more popular custom logo products ordered in the industry and one of the first decisions a buyer has to look into when ordering embroidered caps and headwear is the style of the hat. While there are many different styles a significant difference is if the hat is unstructured or structured. Structured and unstructured hats make up two of the largest categories of embroidered hats.

Custom logo structured hats all have one defining characteristic in that there is a pocket of air (small amount of space) where the hat does not make contact with the head, this pocket is located at the hairline of the individual whereas an unstructured hat fits snug against all parts of the head. Look at the image below to compare the unstructured hats on top and the structured hats on bottom. It is important to know that there are varying degrees of structure amongst the structured hats. Some structured hats can almost fit as relaxed as an unstructured hat but an unstructured hat will never result in the look seen on the bottom row of hats in the image below.

As for the current headwear trends you will see structured hats commonly on baseball players and other team sports as well skaters and people in the hip hop scene where they leave the bill of the hat flat and do not crease it. Unstructured hats have a very broad appeal and are used by all different types of groups. EMS Promotions polled its staff and came to the conclusion that about for every structured hat we sell we sell 3-4 more unstructured hats, so if you are not sure what you might want for your next order and want to err on the side of caution it never hurts to go with a good looking custom embroidered unstructured hat.