Women’s fashion trends change every year and 2025 is no different, from the styles and cut of the clothing to popular color choices. But when it comes to apparel, what separates womenswear from unisex or menswear? Isn’t a T-shirt just a T-shirt? It depends on who you ask.
Women’s apparel
“So far rolling into 2025, the ladies’ market has definitely evolved from what it was,” said Greg Brown, vice president of business development for Cotton Heritage, a wholesale shirt supplier. “Five years ago, the ladies’ market was very fitted. Everything had an hourglass shape to it, for the most part. Over the last couple of years, things have gotten shorter and wider.”
One of the top styles currently is the mom crop, a boxy T-shirt that hits right below the belt line. In the past, womenswear was all about thin, sheer fabric, but over the last few years, the market has added weight to the garments, giving women the opportunity for unisex-type products, Brown said.
Unisex products are basically male products that come in extra-small sizes to fit women’s smaller proportions or 2X and higher sizes to fit people of both sexes.
“Women’s fits differ from men’s and unisex in that they are cut to accommodate a woman’s shape and curves,” said Jen Oleksik, vice president of apparel for LAT Apparel. “Oftentimes, men’s/unisex does not complement a woman’s figure as it doesn’t fit correctly across the chest or sleeves/armhole area and can oftentimes be too long as well.”
Men’s shirts have a longer arm, while women’s shirts have shorter sleeves that are more slanted, so they don’t cover the whole arm above the bicep, which “gives a more feminine look,” said Brown.
Many companies that produce T-shirts have gone to a 7-oz T-shirt. Women’s shirts typically weigh 3.7- to 5.5-oz, while unisex shirts tend to be 4.3-oz. Anything above 5.5-oz is considered a male version, he said. “So far, in the ladies’ market this year, we have not seen that heavy is better,” he said.
“We have not seen that gravitation to the same magnitude to the ladies’ market with an oversized look, still textured to the traditional ladies’ with very little oversized silhouettes,” Brown said.
Boxier, oversized, and relaxed silhouettes continue to trend, said Oleksik. “Details like heavier gauge ribs, raw edges, washes, and textures all offer an elevated appearance and visual interest.”
The fleece or sweatshirt side of the womenswear market has remained consistent with crop tops or shorter silhouettes. It has moved away from hoods, trending instead toward crew-neck silhouettes or quarter-zip styles.
In the fleece market, anything above 9-oz is “too heavy,” Brown said. Normally, women’s fleece garments are 6.5- to 8-oz.
“It is amazing how many fabrics we look at before we make it into a garment,” Brown said. Many times they’ll ask, “Is that too heavy? Is the loft on the fabric good enough? How is it going to print?”
He added, “Not everything is going to perform in print the way we want it to print. Right now, all of this is print-on-demand. They want simplicity when it comes to what they are putting their print on. If you give them something that doesn’t print well, it slows all of their machinery down and they have to stop and start over.”
The tightness of the fabric is what drives a lot of Cotton Heritage’s shirt market.
“The cotton ringspun segment of the business has grown. Polyester or performance fabrics are not nearly as popular as they used to be, especially in ladies,” he said. “I think the ladies’ market likes more cotton or tri-blend. The polyester cotton segment of the business is way better to print on than the performance fabrics.”
The Pantone color of the year is mocha mousse, followed by earth tones and pastels.
“We are not seeing nearly as much of the bright colors as we have in the past,” Brown said. “That might come back, but more muted pastel tones are very active now in the ladies’ market.”
Oleksik of LAT Apparel said that as “we move into spring, yellow tones are heavily trending. Warm neutrals are also replacing the cooler, gray neutrals.”
Women’s headwear
The same trends that affect the women’s shirt market also apply to headwear. The myth used to be that it was easier to sell unisex caps than to focus on one demographic or the other, said Ramona Watson, vice president of product development and marketing for Infinity Product Group. But the sale of more than 50 million women’s baseball caps debunks that myth.
“Yes, women can wear a men’s baseball cap. They can cinch it up more and it may not look the greatest, but they can wear it,” said Watson. “But for them to enjoy it and feel good it needs to fit their head better.”
Women’s baseball caps typically have a smaller circumference and a lighter, smaller visor board. “Everything is tweaked to fit women’s heads better,” she said.
Women’s headwear also follows the same style and color trends as the rest of the womenswear industry, from the colors to the designs.
Watson mentioned that mocha mousse, which is a warm, rich brown color, is definitely trending in 2025. Also, vanilla, which is a light creamy color, chocolate, and caramel. Along with the warm colors, other trending colors include jewel tones — such as emerald and jade green — and pink.
Trucker hats are still the most popular cap on the market with their mesh back and room on the front for some type of promotion, whether it be printing, transfers, or patches.
“We were surprised that women love that shape too. I don’t think it is going away anytime soon,” Watson said.
Women also love foam-front caps and retro caps that have a rope across the split between the visor and the hat.
Decoration wise, woven patches are still huge. “We’re also seeing more rubber and silicone applications, whether on T-shirts or headwear, just small hits of those types of applications,” Watson said.
Another trend that was big at a recent fashion trend show in Las Vegas was animal prints, from leopard and cow to snake prints. Florals have also been strong in womenswear and Western themes are also big.
Women have embraced camouflage as well, from traditional camouflage to camo in different colors with added elements, such as flowers.
“Women love to make a statement with what they are wearing. That’s where we make it different with fun colors and patterns. We follow those trends to get them excited about wearing something made just for them,” Watson said.
