If you spot someone in a tie-dye T-shirt this summer, chances are they got it on Poshmark.
One of the biggest breakout trends of quarantine era, the tie-dye movement shows little sign of slowing down, according to a new report culled from the peer-to-peer fashion resale platform’s community of 60 million consumers. The data, collected over the March-through-May frame and offering a peek into “what a socially distanced summer will look like,” shows that interest in the throwback style that captured the fashion set last year fully exploded into the consumer consciousness when lockdowns left shoppers with little to do but cozy up at home and obsess over what celebs like Justin Bieber and Kate Moss-progeny Lila Grace were wearing out and about.
Despite the trend’s grip on both genders, men’s affinity for tie-dye seems to slightly edge out women’s, at least on the resale site, according to Poshmark’s Summer 2020 Trend Report. Poshmark hosted 100 percent more listings for men’s accessories and apparel bearing tie-dye coloring while purchases in these categories jumped 67 percent from the prior year. By contrast, combined comparable listings and purchases on the women’s side shot up 75 percent.
Bandanas are taking off, too. Whether consumers are looking to dabble in the Gen Z-centric Cottagecore trend idealizing forest and farm life, or make a style statement when covid-required face masks are in short supply, interest in the accessory has sent listings up 200 percent while purchases have leapt 150 percent versus the 2019 period, Poshmark said.
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As it turns out, colorful kerchiefs are far from the only fashion item benefiting from the emergence of Cottagecore, which retail data platform Edited describes as “a comfort blanket for teens” throughout pandemic-induced uncertainty. Poshmark’s female shoppers have sparked a frenzy for garments featuring puff sleeves, one of the “old-world, feminine shapes and details” that are essential to the Cottagecore aesthetic that yearns for “past eras,” Edited said. On Poshmark, purchases are up 200 percent while 100 percent more listings have cropped up on the site.
As temperatures rise and consumers break free from lockdown, they’re searching for weather-friendly fashion. Listings of loose-fitting oversized women’s tops ticked up 23 percent and purchases 33 percent, while purchases of breathable mesh apparel climbed 25 percent year over year.
On the men’s side of things, shoppers are taking inspiration from an evergreen muse—sports.
The ESPN-co-produced docuseries “The Last Dance” centered on NBA great Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls teammates found a captive audience in quarantined sports fans cut off from their usual diet of professional basketball games amid a season disrupted by the viral outbreak. And their receptiveness to the 10-part television event seems to be evident in the products male consumers snapped up on Poshmark, with NBA-affiliated items among the platform’s top-listed and purchased products, the report said. Shoppers who “wanna be like Mike”—or at least cop his ‘90s style—have more Jordan-approved items to choose from, as 50 percent more listings of doubled-breasted jackets flooded the platform amid rekindled interest in the basketball trailblazer’s sartorial swagger.
And it wouldn’t be summer without a new suit for swimming—or sunning. Women have sent labels from Acacia and Billabong to Frankie’s Bikinis and Shade & Shore into the top ranks of Poshmark’s most-listed and most-purchased beach-ready brands. High-waisted and high-cut bikini bottoms are trending, the report added, with listings up 21 percent year over year and purchases 19 percent higher. Meanwhile, look for men to step out poolside suited up in Nautica, Vineyard Vines, Hurley, Chubbies and O’Neill, some of summer-ready brands most frequently purchased and listed on the resale site over the three-month frame.
Though many consumers started off quarantine by panic-buying pantry staples, it appears that some shoppers have settled into the “new normal” by keeping their wardrobes up to speed with thrifted, wallet-friendly resale bargains.
“Even while we’ve spent much of the last few months indoors,” Poshmark wrote in the report, “this data reminds us that fashion never sleeps.”