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'FOMO Fashions' On Social Media Creating Wild Anticipation For Retailers

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- With social media driving up the demand for some of the most simple clothing items, the "fear of missing out" effect has thousands joining wait lists for everything from sweat pants to t-shirts.

In one case it was the perfect plain white T, but women's clothing company Ayr found one that hit the mark, reports CBS2's Jessica Moore.

"The waiting list was 3,000 people by the time we launched," said Maggie Winter, co-founder of Ayr.

That's 3,000 people willing to wait for a $65 Peruvian cotton, back seamed, cap sleeve shirt.

"It's a combination of the fit and the fabric and the details that makes it all work together," said Winter, noting the online buzz was a transformative game changer for her retail business.

Social media was where customer Victoria Dresch found inspiration to join the wait for her chance to buy.

"Truthfully (it's) the Instagram," said Dresch "The Instagram branding of the company is amazing."

Then there's the case of the men's $95 leisure pants.

"I didn't expect the demand to be as high as it was as quickly as it was," said Zach Goldstein, founder of Public Rec which makes the pants.

"We offer them in a waist and length size so they fit better and that's really never been done for a pair of sweat pants," said Goldstein.

The result? A wait list of 1,200 people.

"Mens fashion right now has some of the biggest wait list ever," said Sarah Spellings, a writer for The Cut, who is seeing the "fear of missing out" impulse driving the wait list phenomenon.

"It's that social media FOMO when you really get invested in buying something, and then seeing it isn't available," said Spellings.

French label Sézane claimed 30,000 were waitlisted for a $110 cardigan.

A pair of $50 dollar womens pants from popular brand Everlane boasted thousands on a wait list, as did denim company The Reformation for a pair of jeans.

"It does have a psychological effect on the shoppers to feel like these pants are the ones that got away," said Spellings. "If they're everywhere on social media, you're more likely to try them."

Major sneaker brands and clothing company's like Supreme are infamous for their "drops," when styles first become available and generating long lines on the street, but at least in those cases shoppers can get their items right then.

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