Morning Poll: Are You Stepping Up Your Clothing Purchases?

There wasn’t much of a need to update one’s wardrobe for the first year of the pandemic, with many folks stuck inside and Zoom calls serving as the primary exposure to the outside world.

With people returning to the office, however, and with travel and events ramping back up, that’s starting to change.

After showing promising signs amid the spring vaccination ramp-up, this summer apparel sales in the U.S. started to take off — and that trend is continuing. From a Reuters report last night on the latest earnings at jeansmaker Levi Strauss:

Levi Strauss & Co (LEVI.N) on Wednesday beat third-quarter revenue and profit estimates, boosted by an uptick in demand for jeans from people refreshing their wardrobes as they returned to normal social life following easing pandemic restrictions.

Shares of the jeans maker rose 2% in extended trading after the Dockers brand owner said its board had approved a $200 million share repurchase plan. The company has a market capitalization of $49.49 billion, according to Refinitiv data.

With schools and offices reopening and people even going on vacations, as cases of coronavirus infections trend down, many are splurging on new apparel.

Today we’re wondering how this apparent trend is playing out in Arlington.

Do you find yourself spending more on clothes as the seasons change, offices reopen, and the delta wave recedes? Are you planning to refresh your wardrobe this fall and winter, as the article suggests? Or are you delaying additional clothes purchases until an even wider reopening and return to normal?