Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.trends From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: trends Fri, Jul 24 1992 Date: Fri, 24 Jul 92 04:47:16 EDT Message-ID: 07-24 0000 DECISIONLINE: Trends & Marketing USA TODAY Update July 24-26, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network WORKPLACE DRESSES DOWN IN '90s: Casual dress is infiltrating U.S. offices and summer typically brings a fresh wave. The trend has spread to all corners of the country, including once-stodgy offices such as Ameritech headquarters and the Edmund S. Muskie Institute of Public Affairs. Even General Motors headquarters may go hip. Reasons: Culture; and dealing with a new, fast, competitive business environment. SURVEYS CONFIRM DRESS SWITCH: A recent survey paid for by Levi Strauss - self-serving as it is for that casual clothing maker - found that 38% of 500 companies surveyed switched to more casual dress codes in the past five years, and 67% allow at least occasional casual dress. A Cotton Inc. survey showed similar results and other experts agree with the findings. MORE TEENS SAY NO TO SEX: Virginity could be the latest trend among teens. "There is a strong abstinence message coming through as part of new AIDS and sex education programs in schools," says Leighton Ku, a major researcher with the Urban Institute. And teens themselves - at least the 15 members of USA TODAY's 1992 Teen Panel - say the idea is not entirely far-fetched. (For more, see special Virginity package below.) `GANSTA' RAP COMING ON STRONG: Rapper Too Short's new album "Shorty the Pimp" will debut on next week's Billboard Top 200 album chart at number six. That makes Too Short the third "gansta" rapper to make his debut in the top 10 in less than one year. NWA and Ice Cube are the others. His first single from the album "I Want to Be Free" addresses police harassment. VCR OWNERSHIP RAPIDLY RISING: More and more people are buying VCRs. Veronis, Suhler and Associates reports 38% of TV households had VCRs in 1986. That jumped to 58% in 1988. Last year, 74% of TV households had VCRs. That's about 93 million people. TV SHOW COMES OUT WITH PERFUME: "Beverly Hills 90210" perfume is now in department stores. By next month, the scent named for the popular TV show will be available across the USA. Maker Tsumura International also plans a companion cosmetic line: Six colors of lipstick and nail polish and three fruit-flavored lip glosses. Industry analysts predict revenue of $7 million this year. TSUMURA HAS SHREWD PLAN: The core fans of "Beverly Hills 90210" are a lot younger than most cosmetic buyers. And Rose Eckert, Tsumura fragrance marketing chief, knows it. "We know the 12- and 13-year-old will go after this fragrance and we will market to her as well," she says. Mattel makes dolls of the show's teen idols. T-shirt makers use the zip code gag for other towns. MORTGAGE RATES MAY DROP AGAIN: The average mortgage rate, at 8.09% last week, could fall below 8% next week. The recent drop in rates has triggered a wave of refinance requests from homeowners who missed the boat when rates dipped in January. The Mortgage Bankers Association says refinance applications have soared 330% in the past 10 weeks. MORE JOIN JOBLESS RANKS: The number of new people filing for unemployment benefits is up sharply. It rose an unexpected 19,000 to 422,000 for the week ended July 11. The Labor Department reports jobless claims are at their highest level since May 2. Economists are not optimistic. More layoffs are expected as companies continue to restructure. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON VIRGINITY: DELAYING SEX IS IN: Chastity may not be a word that leaps to the lips of teens. But there are fresh indications that at least delaying sex is in: The fourth edition of the popular "The New Teenage Body Book" (Perigee Books, $14.95) contains a new section on what author Kathy McCoy calls "positive abstinence." "This is something that needs to be talked about," she says. SHOWS ADDRESS CHASTITY: Two hip TV shows feature folks electing not to have sex, says Debra Haffner of the Sex Information Council of the U.S. "There has been some good role modeling on `Life Goes On' and `Beverly Hills, 90210.' " Panelist Jennifer Taylor, 17, West Bloomfield, Mich., says of chastity on "90210": "This is just a clear example that waiting is becoming more fashionable." FIGURES DON'T REFLECT CHASTITY: Statistics don't document a surge of just saying no. But experts note the latest numbers, from 1988, reflect what was happening four years ago. Fifty percent of girls and 60% of boys ages 15-19 have had intercourse, says the Alan Guttmacher Institute, which tracks teen sexuality. And teens are having sex younger. For example, in 1982, 19% of 15-year-old girls had had sex; in 1988, 27% had. (End of package.) Trends & Marketing Editor: Michele Coleman. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM