Summer Weather To Impact Boston Fashion, Study Says

BOSTON, MA — With heat indexes rising up past 100 degrees Fahrenheit today, fashion gurus are predicting a change in the fashion weather of Boston.

“Humidity levels are rising, it’s getting hotter out there earlier, and staying that way longer. With the heat lingering, there will be adaptations to that.” Says Richard Stingwisher, the director of trends for the Boston Chapter of the European Association for Textile Manufacturers. “We will be seeing shorter shorts, and lighter materials being used in the clothing that Bostonians and Rhode Islanders wear.”

Research shows that people are recognizing the change in weather and changing fashion, too. Last winter, inventory of heavy winter jackets was unusually high, resulting in a loss for many clothing manufacturers as the winter was not as cold as expected. Even clearance sales made it hard to get the jackets off of store shelves.

“A lot of stores lost money year expecting to see a winter like we had two years ago,” Says Stingwisher, “This climate change thing is changing the whole game.”

Experts predict a drop in the number of people wearing below-the-knee cargo shorts and North Face jackets in the future. They might be in favor of the “Dockworker’s” style of short, which shows a little bit of knee and allows sweat glands in the back of the knee to function a little bit better.

The changes are not without its detractors. Jimmy Finnegan O’Rourke, of South Boston, will still wear the traditional fashionable garb of the Bostonian. “I gawt these shohts yeahs ago, theah’s no way I’m gonna change them. I can hold so many thing in these pawkets. Cold watah, a fan. I tell ya, I’m nawt a fan of the swass, though, that’s wicked pootza, ked.”