16 JEANS, THE KEY TREND OF THE FALL

    The shoppers have spoken and they’re already calling denim one of the hottest trends for the fall fashion season. Women have been spending a growing portion of their 1)wardrobe 2)allowance on jeans in recent years and this year retailers are counting on getting even more.

     Stores are stocking up on all things denim from the bold tothe beaten up. The variety is enough to leave the consumer 3)spinning. Trouble is there may be more supply than shoppers can possibly buy and that leads to only one conclusion. Of course there will be some winners and some losers among the stores. And even though it's still early in the season, analysts are handicapping the race.

     John Morris 4)downgraded Gap in part because he thinks they're behind on hot trends like jeans with 5)frayed 6)waistbands. Limited's Express division meanwhile has been working overtime to catch that trend. They dipped into their own stocks of old jeans earlier this season and tore up the waist bands themselves. It's now the fastest moving style in their stores.

    Other stores that are stocked up with varied distressed denim include Pacific Sunwear, Abacrombie and Fitch and American Eagle Outfitters, which kicked off the trend last year when it nearly OD'ed on denim.

Some analysts say the denim wars are already underway. They say the Gap has already cut some prices, which means those 20-dollar-jeans may not be so far away. Rebecca Quick, The Wall Street Journal Report.

牛仔裤冬季流行焦点

   店主们都认为牛仔裤是今秋最热门的潮流。近年来，女人们用于添置衣橱的花销在牛仔裤方面日渐增长，而今年的零售商正在算计着能赚得更多。

   所有的商家都在大量进货，从大胆性感到磨损装。花样繁多足以使消费者眼花缭乱了。问题是供有可能过于求，这样就只有一个解决办法。当然这些店家肯定有胜有败。即使为时尚早，分析家已开始阻止这场竞争。

   约翰·莫里斯对盖普进行了降级，因为他觉得它没赶上潮流--如腰带起了毛边的牛仔裤。然而，Express却加班加点地赶上这趟潮流。他们翻出库存自己磨起了腰带。现在，这批牛仔裤已成了他们店卖得最快的一种款式。

   其他商店也有不同款式的牛仔裤，包括太平洋时装店、Abacrombie and Fitch以及美国伊戈尔旅行用品商店，它们一般会在一种款式泛滥时改做别的的式样。

一些分析家说，牛仔裤战争已经硝烟四起了。他们说，盖普已经降价了，这意味着二十美元一条的牛仔裤已经离我们不远了。《华尔街杂志》记者丽贝卡·奎克报道。

1) wardrobe   n. 衣柜，衣橱

2) allowance  n. 津贴，允许

3) spin   v. 旋转  

4) downgrade   v. 贬低，降低   

5) fray   v. 使磨损

6) waistband  n. 腰带，束腰带