Women's Gadget Gear?

[GeekDitz]

I am a woman who is a techno geek, however I find many of the offerings to be rather masculine. Are there plans to make some of the products more appealing to women? (perhaps add-ons which add a bit of flair?)

Thanks!

GeekDitz

[laurajordan]

At this time, we don't have plans for another women's specific version (we are sold out of the Version 2.5 Women's). Many women, myself included, wear the men's jackets. We would be interested hearing about the types of add-ons you would like in a women's version.

[genitunstall]

I too feel that these products are way cool... but too masculine for me. I love all the hidden pockets! I may be a tech geek, but I still want to look female!

Women buy tons of clothing and I would think that your company would not want to ignore this important demographic. By expanding your product line to include a stylish woman's jacket, you could increase sales by an incredible amount.

If your company wanted to attract female customers, they would need to add a product with some feminine style... To make it more feminine, the cut would need to look more like a woman's garment. The men's jackets look too much like men's jackets for me to want to wear one. A wider variety of colors would help as well... women want their jacket to coordinate with the rest of their outfit. Another idea to make the product more stylish for a woman would be to add faux-fur trim... utility is great, but style can't be sacrificed either!

One more note... kids and teens also are totally into technology... with MP3 players, cell phones, and gameboys... and a variety of pockets would be useful for them too.

I think your products are great... and there is tremendous potential for you to expand the size of your market with the addition of a couple new styles designed for these other demographic groups. If you ever do come up with some stylish women's jackets, I'm sure I'll be lining up to buy one! And my kids will each want one too! :)

[laurajordan]

Thanks for the feedback. Although we don't have any women's specific designs coming out in the near future, we are definitely considering them. I love my Version Three.0 Fleece--I wear the old one, with the yellow collar. We still have some in inventory and will be adding them back to the site. Although not as extreme as some of your suggestions, the yellow does make it a rather fashionable fleece jacket.

[GeekGirlsRulz]

I would love a more cropped jacket. Currently I wear a Men's small (I love it!) but it is too long on me, covers my butt. I would love a more cropped version, that came to waist level instead of hip level.

Lara

[laurajordan]

I agree with you--I also wear the men's small and love it, but would prefer a cropped jacket. When we are ready to do another women's version, that will definitely be on the wish list--although I know many women prefer a longer jacket. Still, I do have a little bit of clout around here, so we should be able to get some done to those specs. As I said, we don't have any women's designs in the works right now, but we will most likely be doing some in the future. Until then, I'll be wearing the men's smalls...

[Chinesebarbie]

I first heard about SCOTTeVEST on the Wall Street Journal. I bought the smallest mens' size that I could find. It was very neat to play around with it. However it "swallowed me" since I am 5' tall and 120 lbs. The vest since the first week or two has been gathering dust in my closet.

I like to dress stylishly (hence my longstanding nickname which is my user name on this forum). I am a "girl geek", but I don't want to look like the stereotyped one (big glasses sliding off the nose, zero sense of fashion, homely, bucktoothed and quiet).

If I think that it is a "keeper", I don't hesitate to pay $200 for what I consider a fabulous, classic skirt. My closet has a few of those. I believe that women do spend much more $$ on clothes than men in general. In my case, my husband prefers that I shop for his clothes and I, not my husband, goes clothes shopping with the kids. I have quite a bit of influence in the purchase of clothing in my family. It would seem that this is true for other women who are professionals with kids.

From reading other posts on this thread, it seems to me as if SCOTTeVEST does not seem motivated to develop a womens line of products. My thoughts are that if you are basing the decision of whether to develop the womens line on the amount of sales that you have for the version 2.5 womens, then I think that this approach has some flaws in it. If sales for the women's items are slow for SCOTTeVEST, it doesn't necessarily mean that there is no market for women's geek items. It could be that there are features of the product that you are offering as being unattractive to many women.

I welcome any innovative, stylish, elegant thing or idea that would make life less complicated for me. (Apple has that part figured out. I love my iPod as it makes aspects of my life easier and more enjoyable.) I sure wish that there will be more of an urgency to develop SCOTTeVEST's womens line.

[Slinky]

Just thought I'd add my vote for women's clothing as well. I generally walk around with palm, phone, game boy, makeup, hair stuff, etc. and I hate purses. I always try to stuff everything into my pockets, and it usually doesn't work. I'd get a men's small jacket, but I'm 5'2" and 100 lbs. I'd look like I was playing dressup with my dad's clothes! I've gotten several items for my boyfriend who absolutely adores your clothing, but I'm completely jealous. I want one too! (and black would be fine!)

[Scott E. Jordan]

we will keep this in mind. Thanks for your comments.

[pocketsforwomen]

I have the version 2.0 men's small, purchased unfortunately just before the women's 2.5 came out. I used to wear it a lot, even though my husband didn't think it looked very attractive on me, but then I got involved in dog training (after work) and found that after a few washings, especially in winter, the microfiber attracts dog hair like a magnet, as does fleece. I have many other casual jackets and Goretex rainwear, so I gave up on the eVest and went back to carrying a bag.

What I'm really looking for is a business or business-casual sportcoat or acceptable jacket for women that would have GOOD POCKETS! This is an obsession for me. All good-quality women's clothing either doesn't have any pockets or have only one or two tiny little ones that hardly hold a business card. I currently favor Burburry suits, but the pockets suck. I go to a meeting and carry all kinds of stuff, and really need pockets large enough for a small notecards, a pen, biz cards, wallet, small tape recorder, and cell phone. Yes, I carry a bag to meetings, but sometimes I'm out in the hall and run into someone I want to give a card to, or just want to have my cell phone right with me.

I have tried Travelsmith clothing, but find their quality and styling to be poor. How about something like the eVest sportcoat, but styled for women? How about in washable suede, for fall/winter/spring? Or a lightweight tropical wool for summer? There are so many posibilities! Don't obsess over huge numbers of pockets or the PAN. I probably wouldn't wire a business jacket for earphones. Just four to six really good pockets would be a tremendous improvement over anything in my wardrobe.

And pants--take the Hidden Cargo pants but give it a lower waist and flared leg. My teen daughter and I both would want a pair or two! Black is awesome, I love it, but earth tones are OK, too. I buy Arcteryx pants (good pockets, great material that sheds dog hair) and mix them with bright colored tshirts for the office.

[Scott E. Jordan]

Thanks for your thoughts. We will take it into consideration.

Scott

[missmarcy]

I'm writing to add to your list of potential women customers.
I'm a photographer who travels frequently. I would kill for a plain vest or jacket w/ removable sleeves that's compatible w/ the solar panel charger... provided it FIT! (I'm a size 8/10)
Would it be possible to design a vest with:
elastic or drawstring through the waist
vents on the sides at the hips
two way zipper?

When I'm on a long assignment or just traveling, after a while, I feel pretty yucky. If I have to wear frumpy, ill-fitting clothes because they're practical, it makes me feel even worse. Nike has some great casual wear. (Columbia & Northface aren't bad) Maybe you could team up with another manufacturer?

[pjspunky]

And another voice for a smaller sized women's line! I too am a geek girl of unusually small stature (5', ~120lbs - I detect a trend here!) so I can't wear the men's small - the sleeves are WAY too long. Would it really be so hard to make a nice looking women's jacket? And maybe a cargo-style skirt with a PAN? (Although it sounds like you would have to make the skirts Petite as well otherwise all your most vocal fans will complain).

I'd also like a T-shirt with the pocket in er... a different location? Like the guys don't stare at that area enough....

More small clothes!
PJ

[Amanda]

A few other suggestions...

I just bought a 4.0 system, and I already adore it, though I have the advantage of being quite tall. One seemingly small change that would be very nice is a waist-level drawstring. The one around the hem is OK, but a similar one in the seamline above the handwarmer pockets (or velcro adjustment tabs at waist level on the sides in the case of the shell) would make it more adjustable to fit a female figure. A couple of the non-geek fleece and nylon jackets I've owned have had such an adjustment, and it goes a long way for something so simple. I do realize that what seems simple may be a lot more complex to construct than it seems, but I wanted to toss it into the suggestion box.

My other request is a women's blazer similar to the men's sport coat you already sell. I fly to meetings and customer visits a couple times a month, and I get very tired of schlepping around either a huge laptop bag with extra pockets or both a laptop bag and a purse. A blazer that could hold a PDA, cell phone, keys, and and slim wallet would be worth its weight in gold. It wouldn't even have to be super-tailored--a simple "dressed up geek" look (the women's equivalent of the one you already sell) would be fine. However, while the fleece pieces or the shell look OK on me, a tailored men's sport coat just isn't going to work.

I know you need a certain amount of "critical mass" to develop any new product, but I can assure you there is an underserved market of women techies out here!

[Just]

Size XS... that's probably all it would take for me to buy one of everything on the menu (okay, and maybe 28/28 or 28/30 for the pants and shorts).

As it is, I have the smalls and the 30/30s which hang on me. A LOT. 5'4", 120lbs.

Flair unimportant! I can add a scarf or something. Cut not very important either... it's a jacket! But FIT... fit is paramount.

Size XS! Size XS! Size XS!

...thanks for listening. :D