It's amazing that there are so many different types of women’s shirts.

Women’s shirts come in different styles which can be worn for different occasions. They differ to suit the size, shape and personal preference of the woman wearing it.

When choosing a shirt there are different options to consider:

• Sleeve Length – short sleeve, long sleeve, three-fourths or three-quarter length, and sleeveless
• Neckline – round neck, v-neck, plunging, crew, boat, cowl, jewel, scoop, and button-down or with collar
• Fabric – 100% cotton, poly-cotton blend, with additional features rayon, silk and many more
• Color or Prints – solid colors, plain or with prints and patterns

Women’s shirts can also be worn on different occasion – casual, work or dressy – and one just has to find the right type of shirts to suit the occasion or the needs. Experts though believe that even a simple shirt can be made classy and dressy with the right accessories and a dressy one can be made simpler with a few tweaks. 

When looking for a top, some women have problems differentiating a shirt from a blouse. According to Wikipedia, a shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body and may come in different types while a blouse is a loose-fitting upper garment that was formerly worn by workmen, peasants, artists, women and children and is typically gathered at the waist (by a waistband or belt) so that it hangs loosely or blouses over the wearer's body. The word blouse is generally associated with a woman’s shirt but it can actually refer to a man’s shirt if it is also loose-fitting, such as the poet shirt.

These days the word blouse refers to a nice comfortable flowy shirt, more feminine and fancier than a shirt and usually without collar and buttons with accents like ruffles, ruching and drapes.

For now though, let us take a look at the different styles of women’s tops most often worn for casual wear.

Casual Shirts:

Simple, comfortable and even cheap shirts are ubiquitous in a woman’s wardrobe. These are often worn on casual occasions, going out with friends, or doing everyday stuffs like doing grocery.

T-shirts – A mainstay of any wardrobe, men and women, t-shirts are usually made of cotton and may have different sleeve lengths and necklines. Plain t-shirts may be available in a wide variety of colors while some may have graphic designs or quotes on it. Women’s tees may be a little fit than men’s cheap tee shirts are.

District Threads Junior Womens Perfect Fit 1x1 Crewneck Tee (DT-DT234C) in Fresh Aqua and V-Neck Tee (DT-DT234V) in Dark Fuschia

Port Authority® - Ladies Modern Stretch Cotton Scoop Neck Shirt  in 3/4 sleeves, long sleeves annd short sleeves, respectively

Women Polo Shirts – a T-shirt with collar, two- or three-button placket, and an optional pocket and it can be worn both with jeans and slacks.

Port Authority Ladies Silk Touch Polo Shirts  in short, 3/4 sleeves and long sleeves, respectively

Henley Shirts – These are the shirts without collar but with a button placket of two to five buttons and may have short or long sleeves.

OGIO 3/4 sleeves Crush Henley

Tunics – these are usually loose-fitting and often silky, flowing tops longer than regular t-shirts and women love these with leggings or skinny jeans.

District Threads Tunic Tee

Sleeveless

These are the casual tops that do not have sleeves and show a little more skin. They can be used as is. Especially on a warm day, it can be layered under other shirts, or can be made dressier or more formal with a blazer or coat. These sleeveless shirts can be worn with jeans, shorts and skirts.

Tank top and spaghetti straps shirt from District Threads

Tank Shirts/ Tank tops – These are the tops without sleeves and instead have shoulder straps and are worn by women for active wear because of their breathability, and because it is sleeveless, it keeps the person cool as arms are not covered and gives the wearer a wider range of movements. These can be worn under cheap tee shirts, button-downs, cardigans, and even shrugs. It is very versatile that it can also be made more formal when worn with blazers or coats in the workplace.

Spaghetti Straps Shirts – Just like the tank tops, the spaghetti straps shirts can be worn on its own or with a cardigan, a light sweater or a shrug. The name is derived from the fact that the straps are actually very thin resembling the thin pasta strings called spaghetti.

Halter Top – is a type of sleeveless shirt for women akin to a tank top but with a big difference on the straps. The halter top has its straps tied behind the neck so that there is only a narrow strap behind the neck and a narrow strap at the middle of the back leaving the upper back bare. There are different kinds of halter tops.

Different types of halternecks

Image Sources: Uniform Point | San Mar | Goodle Images

When buying online, one major concern by any buyer is the sizing and finding the correct size for them. Although it is okay to return and exchange products ordered online but then we all know it’s a little bit inconvenient. One would want to be able to order items left and right knowing that it would fit them. Unfortunately, different brands have different manufacturers and not only do their colors/hues and tints differ but their sizing may differ by one or two numbers, too. Add to that are what you see as women’s size, junior fit, and missy fit and it makes you ask what the differences are between this sizes. When it says contemporary fit does it mean it’s different from regular and classic fit? What does it mean when you read slim-fitting when compared to regular fit clothes or the plus-size clothing? What does it mean when it says H on the size?

Since online clothing stores are a plentiful these days and makes shopping so much more convenient, more and more people are buying online. Getting fitting and sizing problems would cause people to have problems or hesitate to pursue their online shopping. This is not a problem encountered by customers looking for pants, dress or even plain t-shirts but also in all kinds of work uniforms. So, let us define simple terms for better understanding and an easy way for you to look for the items that would fit you and communicate the sizing details to the sales person you are talking with.

Junior Fit: This fit is designed for the teenage body, pre-teen and young -teen, which has not fully developed. The cut is straighter with less curves, less definition between the hips and waist, and smaller in the bust. For the tops, the cut is made to fit a higher than average bust (not larger) and shorter back. The rise of the crotch area is shorter from waistline to inseam than that of missy sizes. Junior size is meant to bridge the gap between children’s size and missy sizes as the body changes.It is designed trendy, casual and youthfully styled, and more suitable for school and casual going and even first job wear.

Junior Sizes are displayed in odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, and 19 with size 13 as the upper limit but still there are manufacturers who extend their size range into size 19.

Missy Fit: Missy size, sometimes also called misses sizes, is designed for more mature women with fully developed body. Compared to junior size, missy size is cut more generously in the bust and hips. Most average-sized women fit best in missy size once they are out of their teens and in their early twenties. Missy clothing style tends to be more tailored than women’s size clothing which tends to be looser.

Missy Sizes are displayed in even numbers 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 20 with missy size 18 as the upper limit but still there are manufacturers who extend their size range into size 20.

Plus-Size: Plus size clothing tends to refer to clothing made for women who wear a size 14 in the US or 16 in the UK. But then plus-size can vary between different manufacturers, whether in a brick stores or online clothing stores, so it’s a little bit harder to understand. It is wrong to say that plus-size is the term given to clothing proportioned specifically for overweight people but the correct term should be full-figured women.

Dress Shirts

Tailored-Fit/Slim-Fit: Dress shirts are slightly tighter around the chest and sides.

Standard-Fit: Dress shirt has a slightly baggy, but traditional "full-cut" appearance.

Athletic Cut: These are the dress shirts that have a full chest but are tapered at the waist.

Oversized/Relaxed Fit: These are the dress shirts that are considerably larger than a regular fit. It allows a 2 to 4 inches additional circumference than actual bust/chest measurement.

Clothing

Regular/Relaxed Fit clothing is sized between the generous and slim fits. It tends to skim most body types comfortably; regular fit pants and shirts have a little extra fabric than slim fit clothing.

Slim Fit clothing refers to any garment that fits the wearer close to the body and slim-fit styles are quite tight. Slim fitted pants, shirts, and other garments don’t have extra fabric hanging or draping anywhere.

Generous/Full Fit clothing refers to any garment that is loose and it usually has extra fabric hanging or draping anywhere than a regular fit, allowing 2”- 4” additional circumference than actual chest/bust measures.

Image Source: google.com

The latest news about poverty, income inequality and wealth divide is disheartening. While we have been constantly waiting for the good news that would ultimately say recession is over hearing about people being able to buy uniforms for their new jobs is positive news in itself.

But learning that 1 in 15 Americans now rank as poorest poor is demoralizing. Back in September, the news headline was astonishing when it read that poverty continues to rise in the US and it is now up to 15.1 percent. I am not surprised about the increase in percentage since jobs are still scarce but the fact that it did despite a minimal increase in job availability and opportunities. And also about it being the largest number of Americans in poverty in the 52 years since the U.S. Census Bureau has been publishing these estimates. It has also been reported that the median household income has declined as people are not even able to find jobs and buy uniforms for themselves.

What makes it more horrible is the recent news regarding the great wealth disparity amongst Americans. The richest top 20 percent of our society controls about 84 percent of the wealth and the combined wealth of the bottom 40 percent accounted for only 0.3 percent of the wealth. While we all knew that the wealthy holds a great deal of the wealth, we all assumed it wasn’t this big portion.

Only the top income earners remain unfazed while the rest is affected. Pundits believe that recession will eventually end but unfortunately the effect is long-lasting as the disparity is widening. The rich are getting richer while the poor are becoming poorer and may not be able to recover. Immigrants who have left their countries to seek greener pastures in the US have found themselves in tougher situations. Some may be able to buy uniforms as they find jobs as nannies for the rich or temporary retail jobs but more have not found work in more than a year. According to news, concentrated poverty has spread to new areas. Now we not only find it in the inner-city ghettos but also in the suburbs, not only high-school dropouts or single mothers but high-school or even college graduates.

(Article was written by contributor writer, our very own product consultant and freelance writer Lola Hanson. This original article was first published by Niagara Falls Review on Nov 4, 2011.)

For decades United States and the Soviet Union were considered the superpowers because these are the dominant states that have proved themselves capable of casting great influence in global politics. After the Cold War, it appeared that only the United States fulfill the criteria to be considered the lone world superpower.  Although the criteria of a superpower are not clearly defined and thus they may differ, essentially being a superpower meant being able to project power measured along the four axes: military, economic, political, and cultural or soft power

And so Americans are used to being No. 1 in almost all aspects including world’s businesses, athletic endeavors, education, power, technology, and many more. The United States has long been considered the greener pasture and the dream of those who live in the Third World is to migrate to the US because this is where they will see, feel and experience their success. But pundits are now saying that America being the current superpower no longer holds true and that today’s complex global marketplace and the rising interdependency between the world's nations has made the belief of a superpower an idea of the past and that the world is now multipolar. This means that it is believed that there is a distribution of power in more than two nation-states having equal amounts of influence economically, culturally, and even in the military.

With America’s manufacturing industry moving overseas in the 70’s in order to cut-costs, this contributed to the rise of the economy of Japan, and more recently, of China and Mexico where they can find inexpensive labor. Suddenly, high-priced manufacturing jobs were no longer available for American workers in industrial workwear and everything else around declined along with it including as education and the health care system.

The era when the US was 1st in everything is over. American children are no longer the best educated in the world. In fact the world education ranking made by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) put the US at 14th place with Korea and Finland on top. We also no longer produce the healthiest population. Our economy is at standstill with unemployment rate at 9.2 percent as was last reported June of 2011. The US GDP no longer grows as quickly as it once did. Although America is fighting to remain competitive globally still many factors like current deficit, growing national debt, unemployment, and lack of government fund for R&D, contribute to a crippled economy.

There are now industries where the US no longer remains the top producer. For the better part of the century, the US has been the world’s single greatest producer of food. Though we still lead the production of commodities but improved farming practices and more advanced seed have allowed an increase in the yield per acres in countries like Vietnam, China and Russia. In other industries though we have been overtaken by China, Japan, and Russia making one wonder when they will finally overtake us. Economists are speculation how long it will take China to overtake the US since it has passed Japan for the No. 2 spot.

Here are some other industries the US is no longer the top producer:

Beer Production
Position: 2nd
Leader: China, with 423 million hectoliters in 2009
U.S.: 229 hectoliters in 2009

In 2000, US generated 232 million hectoliters while China only produced 220 million. In just nine years, Chine has doubled its production output to 423 million hectoliters while the American output has in fact decreased by 3 million to 229 million. One factor to consider is that the drinking population of China is 4 times larger than the US.

High-Technology Exports
Position: 2nd
Leader: China, $381 billion in 2008
U.S.: $231 billion in 2008

The World Bank describes high-technology exports as “products with high R&D intensity, such as in aerospace, computers, pharmaceuticals, scientific instruments, and electrical machinery.” The United States prides itself in all fields but Chinese high-tech imports have increased more than 50% and the US remains first place only in the pharmaceutical industry.

Coal Production
Position: 2nd
Leader: China, with 3.3 billion short tons produced in 2009
U.S.: 1 billion short tons

Coal production in America is now a distant second to China which has three times more production at 3.3 billion. This is because America is no longer the world’s largest manufacturing company so the U.S. is no longer the largest consumer of energy for manufacturing purposes. While the American coal production has decreased over the years, the Chinese production continues to increase.

Lettuce Production
Position: 2nd
Leader: China, with 12.9 million metric tons
U.S.: 4.1 million metric tons

The food consumption of 1.3 billion Chinese is significantly higher than that of the US. The very high food demand has caused the domestic production of many crops in China to rise including lettuce.

Rice Production
Position: 11th
Leader: China, with 166 million metric tons produced between 2009 and 2010
U.S.: 6.9 million metric tons

China’s rice production at 166 million metric tons is 20 times more rice than the US. The U.S. rice production account for only 1% of the world’s total. With only 6.9 million metric tons production, it is not even in the top ten compared to the rest of the world but is the 3rd leading rice exporter since there is not much demand for it in the country. Of the total rice production 20% is exported.

Pork Production
Position: 2nd
Leader: China, with 51.5 million metric tons produced in 2010
U.S.: 10.2 million metric tons produced in 2010

The US continues to produce the most of agricultural commodities and also the largest consumption especially for beef and veal. The US pork production of 10.2 million though is less than a fifth of that in China with 51.5 million metric tons of pork.

Wind Energy Generated
Position: 2nd
Leader: China, with 42 gigawatts generated in 2010
U.S.: 40 gigawatts in 2010

Auto Industry
Position: 2nd
Leader: Japan, with 17 million autos produced by Japanese automakers in 2009
U.S.: 12 million autos produced by American automakers in 2009

Commercial Aircraft Production
Position: 2nd
Leader: Airbus (Europe) based on 574 orders in 2010
U.S.: Boeing, with 530 orders in 2010

Oil Production
Position: 3rd
Leader: Russia, with 10 million barrels produced each day
Saudi Arabia, with 9.7 million barrels per day
U.S.:  9 million barrels produced each day

When you are out looking for work, you apply to the jobs that are really interesting and you think will pay good. These days though, job seekers are no longer that choosy. What has become important is having a job that pays. With inflation being mentioned as being a threat to global recovery, all the more reason to have a job that will at least give you a slight edge, if only a small one.

It is said that the economy is recovering; in fact it is finally producing jobs again but then a recent study made by the National Employment Law Program showed a disturbing trend. The jobs that have been created and are available for job seekers are those that pay less and offer fewer work hours than the ones they have replaced.

Here are some of the highlights in the NELP Study:

There is a remarkable imbalance between where the job losses occurred and where the growth in the past year was concentrated.  And it has shown that:

The lower-wage industries like retail and food services accounted for 23 percent of job loss but 49 percent of the jobs gained over the last year. The higher-wage industries like finance and banking accounted for 40 percent of job loss but only 14 percent of jobs gained. More people being paid lowly by the hour are being hired while those who need to be in business casual with five to six digits annual salary are not. So, basically the study is showing that low paying jobs are on the rise while the high paying jobs is on the decline.

The biggest losers are: Construction, Finance and insurance, Non-durable manufacturing, Information

These are the industries that have constituted the largest percentage of job losses which has not been regained. In fact, finance and insurance is almost back to year 2000 employment levels, the Great Recession seemingly has erased the 10 year employment growth. Real estate and rental and leasing industry’s decline is closely related to the decline of the construction industry.

The gainers are:Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services, Durable manufacturing, Ambulatory health care services, Retail trade, Other Services

Although current employment for these industries, except ambulatory health care services and other health-related sectors is still far-below their pre-recession peak, these are the industries that posted a huge increase in hiring or percentage of employment growth. Health-related sectors shown steady growth and are now already above pre-recession employment levels and is expected to maintain steady growth in the future.

The large numbers of jobs created are part-time which boosts the temp industry thus we see the admin and support increase in employment growth.