Unusually high cotton prices have apparel makers scrambling to keep down costs, but consumers be warned: Cotton clothing will be getting more expensive.

"It's really a no-choice situation," said Wesley R. Card, president and chief executive of the Jones Group, the company behind Anne Klein, Nine West and other brands. "Prices have to come up."

The Bon-Ton chain is raising prices on its private-label fashion items by as much as a dollar this spring, and prices will go up further next fall. And it is switching from 100 percent cotton in items like sweaters to more acrylic blends. Levi's says it has already increased prices and may push them further north next year. And Hanesbrands, the maker of Champion, Hanes and Playtex, says price increases will be in place by February, and prices could go up further if cotton prices remain where they are.

In Cleveland, the Creative Studios of Daffy Dan's has tried to hold the line on its 100 percent cotton T-shirts, hats and other custom screen-printed promotional items, even as vendors' wholesale prices have risen 8 percent to 10 percent over the summer.

"This is the highest T-shirt prices have been since I've been in the business, since 1995," said Stacey Biela, Daffy Dan's buyer and sales representative.

While most cotton T-shirts are still $8.99, prices for ladies' fitted Ts have risen to $12.99 from $10.99.

And at C.L.E. Clothing Co., co-owner Mike Kubinski said: "We've been warned that prices are going up this Friday and again 10 days after that."

"Our printer spoke to them [supplier American Apparel] yesterday, and they said they have no intention of raising their prices," which currently start at $25 for T-shirts and $45 for sweatshirts.

But he has seen stories about cotton prices going up 15 percent to 20 percent and doesn't know if he'll end up having to raise prices online or at his one Cleveland retail shop on whatever he orders after his current supplies come in.

Other apparel makers say that they have held the line on prices this year but that next year will be different. The VF Corp., the maker of 7 for All Mankind and The North Face, says most brands will probably cost more next year, and its cotton-heavy jeans lines are particularly susceptible to increases. Jones says its increases could be in the high single digits or more.

The problem is a classic supply and demand imbalance, with the price of cotton rising almost 80 percent since July and prices expected to remain high. "World cotton production is unlikely to catch up with consumption for at least two years," Sharon Johnson, senior cotton analyst with the First Capital Group, said in an e-mail.

Cotton inventories had been low because of weak demand during the recession. This summer, new cotton crops were also depleted because of flooding in Pakistan and bad weather in China and India, all major cotton producers.

But demand from China, in particular, was rising. And as the economic recovery in the United States began, apparel makers and retailers placed orders for more inventory, spurring even more demand. As prices rose, speculators entered the market, driving prices even higher.

"So far, it has shocked even the most veteran traders," Mike Stevens, an independent cotton analyst in Mandeville, La., said in an e-mail. "It has resulted in panic buying by mills worldwide in order to ensure that they can keep their doors open."

Of course, as apparel makers increase the price of cotton goods and also try to reduce their reliance on cotton, there are some risks.

For starters, neither the apparel makers nor the retailers are certain that shoppers will be willing to pay more for cotton goods. "It's an unanswered question at this point," said Robert K. Shearer, chief financial officer of the VF Corp.

And with prices unlikely to fall for some time, there could be wider popular acceptance of fabrics like polyester.

"We may be training a new generation to be far more accepting of synthetic fibers, which is likely to hurt cotton's market share in the long run," said Johnson, the analyst with the First Capital Group.