Latest news with #Loft
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Travel + Leisure
13 hours ago
- Lifestyle
- Travel + Leisure
I Can't Stop Thinking About These 12 Vacation Wardrobe Staples From Loft's Huge Semi-annual Sale—Up to 69% Off
I write about clothes for a living, so I consider myself well-versed in the world of online sales. Whether it be latest summer sale or top-rated Brooks sneakers on rare sale, the best deals are almost always on my radar—and I consider myself an expert. Needless to say, I'm a little ashamed to admit that I've been sleeping on one travel-friendly clothing brand that offers massive discounts: Loft. My colleagues have been raving about the old-school mall brand, and I decided to take a peek myself, only to find a jaw-dropping semi-annual sale. I found deals up to 69 percent off, including summer dresses, linen pants, and more vacation wardrobe staples. Take a cue from me and jump on these major savings; keep reading to discover the 12 styles worth packing for your upcoming vacations, all under $50. When it comes to summer vacation, no style is more essential than a breezy dress. I prefer midi or maxi silhouettes that won't risk a wardrobe malfunction, and this linen style is ideal. It features a trendy yet unique polka dot pattern, plus a stretchy smocked bodice for maximum comfort. Plus, this dress can be worn for casual or dressier occasions with a simple change of shoes. If your summer wardrobe doesn't include a pair of linen pants, you're missing out. Not only is the style so comfortable on hot days, but it's versatile enough to complement just about anything in your travel wardrobe. This pair from Loft has an elevated, wide-leg silhouette, plus an oatmeal hue that's just as timeless. They are made of 100 percent cotton for ultimate breathability, and one reviewer even said these pants kept them 'cool and comfortable' at a festival in 90-degree Fahrenheit weather. Bermuda shorts are one of the season's most in-demand styles, and I love this linen version that's as comfy as it is elevated. With a stretchy, elastic waistband and flowy silhouette, I'm willing to bet you'll swap your uncomfortable denim shorts for this airy alternative. I'd pair it with a white blouse and heeled sandals, although it can just as easily be dressed down with a simple tank and sneakers. This romantic, chiffon maxi dress makes me think of cobblestone streets, rustic dinners, and seaside relaxation. Of course, it will look just as fashionable as you enjoy summer at home, too. The ruffled detailing and fitted waist create an hourglass silhouette, while the flowy skirt adds a carefree feel. Pair it with casual sandals, espadrilles, or strappy heels for a night out. Don't be surprised if you find me at the beach in these poplin shorts. The roomy fit and drawstring waist make them an easy throw-and-go piece, and the breezy cotton fabric will keep you cool on August's hottest days. Reviewers can't stop raving about how comfy these shorts are, adding that you can easily dress them up, too. Flowy maxi skirts are the style of the summer. They're ideal for travel, since they're breezy, easy to style, and look on-trend in any destination. This on-sale Loft version has a unique, eyelet fabric that adds an ultra-feminine touch, plus a comfy elastic waist. Reviewers praise the airy fabric, which one shopper said kept them 'cool and fashionable in the summer heat.' Best of all, this skirt even has pockets to hold small essentials. In addition to shopping for summer staples, I'm already keeping an eye out for transitional pieces that I can wear in the chillier months, too. Exhibit A: this stylish, versatile denim skirt. It's a great alternative to jeans in the summer months, since it offers the same look but with an airier feel. I'd pair it with a white tank and white sneakers for a simple, laid-back ensemble. When fall comes around, I'd add a chunky knit and boots. Snag this three-season skirt for just $23 today. If you're building a capsule travel wardrobe, a romantic blouse should be on your shopping list. This stunning one has a bohemian vibe, flattering hourglass silhouette, and lightweight fabric. It's slightly cropped, so it will pair best with high-waisted bottoms and skirts. I love that it can be dressed up or down, and it goes with just about anything. Needless to say, it deserves a spot in your suitcase. If, like me, you aspire to look like you stepped out of Mamma Mia! during your summer vacations, then you'll love this embroidered mini dress. With blouson sleeves, an A-line cut, and floral embroidery, this dress feels nostalgic without looking dated. Reviewers attest that the linen-blend fabric is lightweight yet opaque, so it's perfect for hot travel days. I'd pair it with espadrille shoes, although a strappy sandal would look stylish, too. It's not too late to get in on the butter yellow trend, and this linen mini skirt is one of the most elevated options I've seen in the hue. It has a sophisticated silhouette and stretches far past the fingertips, so this skirt is ideal for all occasions. I'd pair it with a crisp button-up for work or dress it down with a white tee for weekend wear. One reviewer called this lace-trim dress 'low-key sexy,' and I couldn't have described it better myself. The lace detailing adds a flirty element without being overly revealing, and the modest midi length balances out the cut-outs. Plus, the breezy fit and linen-blend fabric are perfect for hot summer nights. Based on the reviews, I'd recommend bustier shoppers size up to get the perfect fit. A nautical striped shirt is always a good idea. Shoppers raved about the 'heft' of the fabric, which ensures this Harbor top won't look flimsy or thin. Nonetheless, it's still the 'perfect summer tank,' according to a reviewer. Style it with linen shorts, a pretty maxi dress, or classic jeans for an instantly stylish look. A white button-down may be seasonless, but I reach for mine most often in the summer. With a slightly cropped silhouette and breathable cotton poplin fabric, this standout one is perfect for warm weather. Throw it over a swimsuit, pair it with jean shorts, or opt for an elevated skirt for a dressier look. Snag it for just $39 today, and I promise it will be in your rotation for years to come. Love a great deal? Sign up for our T+L Recommends newsletter and we'll send you our favorite travel products each week.
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
I'm a shopping editor and these are the loose-fitting pants I'm wearing instead of shorts — starting at $18
Shorts and I aren't really on speaking terms these days. They don't quite give me the kind of coverage I want, now that I'm at the age where showing skin is no longer a priority. I love my drapey dresses for that reason, but sometimes I just want to pull on a pair of pants and go. As a shopping editor, my goal is always to find pieces that blend comfort, style and staying power that you (and I) will like. With the heat waves ahead in mind, I've rounded up 10 loose-fitting pants to swap for the shorts that are taking up too much real estate in my closet. From Yahoo reader-favorite brands like Spanx, Loft and these picks are comfortable, breathable and start at just $18. The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.
Business Insider
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
The shrinkflation of plus-size clothing
Tess Holliday remembers 2019 as a "glorious" year for plus-size fashion and body positivity. The plus-size model and body activist walked the runway at New York Fashion Week. She'd been featured by magazines such as Cosmopolitan UK, Nylon, and Self. The cultural shift felt palpable — Rihanna's Savage X Fenty runway show made headlines for the size diversity of its models, and Lizzo was topping the charts with catchy songs and a message of empowerment. "It finally felt like we were in a place where that was the norm," Holliday says. That optimistic new norm, however, was short-lived. The pandemic — and all the Zoom calls — had people picking their appearance apart. Some major brands that had made forays into the plus-size realm scaled back. Then came Ozempic and the rise of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, promising miracles that could move shoppers out of the plus-size section entirely. "I don't really see it getting better or shifting to a place where we are maybe hearing the term body positivity and seeing brands promote it in the way that they were," says Holliday, the author of the coming book " Take Up Space, Y'all: Your Bold & Bright Guide to Self-Love." "I mean, look at what happened with the backswing of diversity and inclusivity." Thin is in, culturally, and the fashion industry is happy to oblige. Manufacturing plus-size clothes presents unique operational challenges that many brands would rather avoid. Weight-loss drugs are slimming down some proportion of the population and may be changing inventory mixes in turn. Many fashion retailers and companies have never been thrilled about catering to plus-size clients — even though about two-thirds of American women are estimated to fall into that category — so they're happy to have a reason to turn away. "I'm just convinced at this point that they just want us running around naked," Holliday says. Even before the GLP-1 explosion, brands that ventured into the plus-size market were already backing off. (I'll focus largely on women's fashion for this story, because that's where much of the spending and offerings are.) In 2021, Loft discontinued its plus-size options just three years after launching its first plus-size collection, citing "ongoing business challenges." In 2022, Old Navy said it would pull some options from its stores, about a year after making a big deal about its efforts to place all sizes together on the sales floor instead of separating sections. The retailer still has plus-size clothing, it's just mostly online. In June, the plus-size retailer Torrid announced plans to close up to 180 stores. I'm just convinced at this point that they just want us running around naked. Lauren Hope Krass, the host of " Belly Laughs," a body acceptance podcast, and a web series called "Fat Fashion," tells me the Loft pullback hurt a lot because a lot of what the brand offers is business casual clothing. "You'll hear a lot of plus-size shoppers complain about, 'Well, we want sexy clothes, too.' And that is so true, but if you think about the country, we're business bitches, we're going to work," she says. "It's honestly really discouraging because we're seeing a loss of entire brands and companies go under." Anecdotally, plus-size shoppers and influencers say they've noticed a pullback in merchandise from a variety of retailers, including H&M. In addition to sharp-eyed shoppers, there's data to show that the extended-size clothing options are getting harder to find. In a 2024 report, the retail intelligence firm Edited found that the clothing retailer Aritzia had cut the share of 2XL dresses among its new arrivals by 5 percentage points from 2023 while upping it in many smaller sizes. ASOS similarly reduced its plus-size assortment by 15% from the previous year, the report found, and Reformation reduced its extended sizing range by 46%. A separate 2024 report from the merchandising and inventory consultancy Impact Analytics looked at Manhattan's Upper East Side, an affluent neighborhood where GLP-1s for weight loss were prominent, and found that sales in smaller sizes for women's button-down shirts increased by 12% for local fashion retailers from 2022 to 2024, while sales of larger sizes fell by just slightly less. Impact Analytics found a similar, albeit less pronounced, trend for men. Executives at Lafayette 148, Rent the Runway, and Amarra told The Wall Street Journal last year that they'd spotted an uptick in customers switching to smaller sizes. The authors of Edited's report note that it's not clear whether Ozempic can be directly linked to increased demand for smaller sizes. Trendy weight-loss solutions are often coming and going, and only a tiny sliver of Americans are taking GLP-1s. But the fashion industry was already shifting away from plus size when the drugs hit the zeitgeist, and a scenario in which people lose weight and have to buy new clothes (and perhaps gain the weight back and have to buy more new clothes) is a great one for retailers. "It's a breakthrough miracle drug for people who really need to lose weight, 100%. But I don't think it's going to make everybody a Size 8 all of a sudden," says Danielle Malconian, the CEO of the plus-size apparel brand Vikki Vi and the online retailer Plus by Design. "It's an easy thing for retailers to kind of jump out of the space because it is service-based. It is hard; it's not sexy all the time." As mentioned, the majority of the country counts as plus size. For women in the US, that means those who wear a Size 14 and up. Plus-size consumers have a lot of money to spend, but that's easier said than done. "They have the most beautiful shoes and handbags of everybody in the world, and they get so frustrated that they can't find clothing to spend money on," Malconian says. The fashion industry has long been hesitant to cater to plus-size customers. That's for a variety of reasons — some logistical, some cultural, some discriminatory. Designing and manufacturing for plus-size customers can be more costly and intensive than for what are called "straight sizes," the industry term for the sizes you always find on the rack. Designers and brands often use one standard-size fit model and then scale up and down from there. But that gets harder to do in bigger sizes because of how differently people may carry their weight. "When you're making plus sizes, you have to be really concerned about fit, and when you're dealing with a plus-size customer, you're dealing with a lot of shapes of bodies," Malconian says. "You want to have not just one fit model, but maybe three or four fit models to really understand what's going to fit, or else you end up with a bunch of returns and you go out of business." Other material calculations make retailers less inclined to sell plus-size clothing: It requires more fabric, meaning it's more expensive to make. Retailers are hesitant to charge more for larger sizes, so they may order fewer units to put in their stores, if they carry them at all. E-commerce makes this all a little easier because it allows retailers to respond as orders come in. "With online, we've been able to offer more inclusive sizes because we don't stock the inventory on our balance sheet, and we have the vendor cut it based on demand," says Shawn Grain Carter, a luxury branding and retail consultant who's an associate professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology. "If they don't buy it, no harm, no foul, because you had that excess fabric sitting there." Plus-size brands might go under due to fatphobia, not due to lack of fat people. To be sure, the downsizing of plus-size options is not just about logistical hurdles. Historically, the fashion industry has always prioritized being thin, and it caters to that clientele accordingly. Krass attributes the resistance to embracing plus-size fashion to plain "fatphobia." "I do get so annoyed when people are like, 'Oh, our plus-size brands are going to go under, there's no more fat people,'" she says. "And it's like, no, plus-size brands might go under due to fatphobia, not due to lack of fat people. We are here, and we should be here and should have the dignity of having access to fashion." Culturally and economically, plus-size people are often pushed to the side. Plus-size sections are often hidden away in stores. Brands that sell plus-size clothing often market them almost covertly. The vast majority of their Instagram posts and social media show straight-size models, even if they have plus-size merchandise. And the supposed plus-size models they do use are often still much thinner than their actual plus-size customers, who may not even really realize they're being targeted because models don't look like them in the ads. "A lot of plus-size brands will default to showing Size 14 models, Size 14 people. To me, that's the midsize range," Krass says. "They can shop straight sizes, so why are you catering to them for plus sizes? Get some thicker models, and we'll know, and then we'll shop." Vogue Business' Autumn/Winter 2025 size inclusivity report found that while "curvaceous silhouettes" were all over fashion show runways, curvy models were not. "We're in danger of creating a false narrative yet again, stating that the only way one can look beautiful is to be skinny," Carter says. There are, of course, brands that have figured out that plus-size people have money and cater to them accordingly. Holliday points to Universal Standard, ASOS, and Eloquii as brands getting it right on plus size, though many more brands are "doing it wrong," she says. Krass points out that resale and thrifting can be especially popular among plus-size shoppers, especially as brands pull back on new merchandise. Ozempic and other GLP-1s may change the lay of the land in plus-size fashion, but it's not going to make the need for such options obsolete. These medications are not widely available and accessible. They're costly and often not covered by insurance. And they're not for everyone — they have a lot of side effects, and one study found that more than half of the people who take them for weight loss quit within a year. "With everybody suddenly being like, 'Oh, everybody can be skinny now.' If they could all be skinny, why are there still fat people?" Holliday says. While GLP-1s won't get rid of obesity, they could make it easier for brands and retailers to ignore heavier people. The fashion industry wants to be aspirational, and American culture aspires to skinny, even if that's not realistic or even savvy business-wise.
RNZ News
19-06-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Super Rugby final welcomed by business
sport life and society 12:45 pm today The cowbells might not be ringing out from the Stadium but Christchurch is expecting a full house for a super sport weekend. Despite the ban on the infamous Waikato instrument, the final between the Chiefs and Crusaders on Saturday is expected to be a sell out with bars looking to soak up the rest of the punters. Mason Lattimore is the owner and manager of Loft and Kaiser Brew Bar in Christchurch. He spoke to Charlotte Cook.
SoraNews24
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- SoraNews24
Hello Kitty and Sanrio friends team up with Spy x Family for adorable merch and popup shop【Pics】
Anya and Kitty-chan form friendship and swap outfits. There's a lot to like about anime/manga Spy x Family, between its ongoing espionage, exciting action sequences, and deft use of both low-key and slapstick humor. Of course, there's also the fact that it's an incredibly heartwarming and cute series. Hold on, heartwarming and cute? That's also an accurate description of Hello Kitty and her Sanrio pals, and sure enough they're joining the Spy x Family cast for an adorable new merch line and popup store. Following up on her team-ups with Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, and the magical PreCure girls, Hello Kitty is now saying hello to the Forger family. Each member of the core Spy x Family cast gets a special Sanrio friend, and naturally Kitty-chan herself is paired with Anya, the precocious scene-stealing psychic who's the only one who really knows what's going on in the Forger household. Each piece of artwork has the Spy x Family and Sanrio characters swapping costumes. That means Anya dresses up in Hello Kitty's overalls, and she exchanges her usual hair accessories for ones that look like cat ears too. Kitty, meanwhile, slips on Anya's Eden Academy uniform. Dapper dad/doctor/secret agent Loid loans his snappy suit to fellow blondie Pompompurin… …and mom/office worker/professional killer Yor hangs out with My Melody. Even the family dog, Bond, gets in on the fun, partnered with Cinnamoroll and getting a new bowtie in the same shade of blue as the Sanrio pooch's eyes. The lineup hits all the must-haves for a merch collection, with the characters appearing as/on acrylic mini standees, clear files, hand mirrors, towels, pouches, and tote bags. There are, naturally, blind-buy trinkets too, with 10 possible designs for pins and trading cards… …and five for keychains. If you're a completionist kind of collector, you'll be glad to know that the ordinarily random items can also be bought as box sets, guaranteeing you one of each item at the same price as if you'd been lucky enough to acquire them all individually without any duplicates. The whole lineup is available for preorder now through the Toho Animation Store online shop here, but the items aren't scheduled to ship until September. If that's too long for you to wait, though, a Spy Family x Sanrio popup shop will be running at the Ikebukuro branch of lifestyle goods shop Loft in downtown Tokyo from August 13 to 31 where you can get your hands on the items a little sooner, and popup stores are also planned for Loft branches in Osaka and Fukuoka as well, with their dates yet to be announced. Related: Loft Ikebukuro branch Source: Spy x Family official website via Yahoo! Japan News via Game Watch Top image: Toho Animation Store Insert images: Spy x Family official website, Toho Animation Store (1, 2) ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
