While many fashion pubs are releasing their gigantic September tomes, InStyle magazine is debuting something a little different: its first ever branded product, InStyle Essentials' Perfect White Shirt.
The new item offers a solution to that peek-a-boob problem that plagues button-down wearers with a chest. This situation occurs when the shirts are ill-fitting around the breasts, causing a gap in the shirt placket that can become a window to the skin underneath.
According to InStyle Deputy Editor Lisa Arbetter, this is the first InStyle-branded product that the publisher has created. "We were inspired by our readers," she explained. "We get a lot of letters from them saying how difficult it can be to find clothing that fits their curves. It is frustrating to try on lots of clothes and find nothing that fits right, and many women start to wonder, 'What's wrong with me?' When we learned about TrioFit we knew it could help a lot of women."
The magazine partnered with a company called TrioFit to create the new shirt line, which is sold by bra-size, ranging from 32B to 40H to accommodate everyone from the small to large-busted. The editors worked with TrioFit's co-founders Rebecca Matchett and Drew Paluba to develop the styles. In 2004, Matchette and Paluba developed their proprietary tech that sizes according to a woman's bust, rather than dress size. Three styles, classic button-front, weekend tunic and the bow blouse, are available for $59.99 apiece and will be sold on www.shopinstyleessentials.com.
The line debuts in InStyle's September issue, which will feature a page explaining how the shirts can be styled and how the sizing system works. The shirt collection has also been featured on InStyle.com.
The September 2013 issue is the largest in the mag's 19-year-history at 716 pages. Most of those -- about 445 -- are ad pages, up 4.8% from the previous year, according to the Media Industry Newsletter. Through the third quarter, total ad pages are up 3.6%. Newsstand sales fell 7% during the first half of 2013, the Alliance for Audited Media said.
InStyle is part of Time Inc., which parent Time Warner plans to spin off into its own company early next year.
Contributing: Michael Sebastian
