Every so often things go wrong in the world of fashion. This year’s spring fashions for example, were all drawn out and made up as ‘forms’ that is linen models of the real garments, six months ago, when the first rumbles of recession were beginning. That’s why the spring catwalks still showed some non-austerity styles and colours, which are not exactly flying off the racks right now.

When recession bites, people tend to like flamboyant colours and styles – that’s why so many women’s clothes this year are floaty peasant styles, even though they take up so much more material than skin-tight summer wear that you might expect to be more popular when clothing prices increase.  Colours also dial up to the vibrant end of the spectrum, so expect a lot of bright green this year, but not lime, that’s so last year’s Lily Allen, rather it will be pistachio and mint green that predominate, along with pure yellows.

For men, the stripes that were predicted last autumn are very much in evidence – striped T-shirts, striped polo-shirts and quite a few striped shirts for evening are proving to be popular.  Colour is a surprise for men though, a lot of chocolate brown has turned up, along with strong blues, and so if you’re looking for something to make a fashion statement, a brown polo shirt could be just the right thing, or a T-shirt striped in two shades of blue.

If you work in an office where formal wear is necessary, avoid buying black. In a recession, black trousers or skirts can make you look like a temp, or even worse, the waitress who’s come to collect the coffee pot – you don’t want to give the impression you’re not necessary to the business, so invest in grey clothing instead, teaming it with the seasonal colours listed above, so grey trousers with a yellow T-shirt look both summery and professional for women, while men can wear lightweight grey trousers with a blue shirt.

Summer business style 2009 is a post from: Polo Shirts Blog