British Fashion Reigns With American Shoppers
After a year filled with a royal wedding, the queen's jubilee and the smash PBS hit "Downton Abbey," America's online shopping habits are giving new meaning to the phrase "the British are coming."
That’s because in the past year searches for everything from vintage dresses made fashionable by "Downton Abbey" to feather hats popularized by the royal wedding and jubilee have all seen dramatic increases, according to research.
This new British invasion has been particularly popular in the United States, where Americans accounted for the highest number of searches for fascinators, elbow-length gloves, feather hats and sequin headbands in the past year. Searches for morning suits, cravats and top hats were all up double digits from the previous year among American men as well.
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Americans are not the only ones being influenced by the recent growth of British culture. Global searches for vintage dresses increased more than 800 percent, while searches for elbow-length gloves increased 136 percent over the past year. Searches for fascinators rose 97 percent globally in the past year.
Fashion accessories popularized by "Downton Abbey" and the royal wedding were just the tip of the iceberg for the increased interest in everything British. Searches for diamond jubilee items rocketed 2,450 percent from last year, while searches on Queen Elizabeth-related products saw a more than 300 percent increase this year.
This information is based on search results from Alibaba, an online marketplace for small businesses.
This story was provided by BusinessNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. Follow David Mielach on Twitter @D_M89 or BusinessNewsDaily @bndarticles. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
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