{"id":7071,"date":"2008-12-31T12:36:10","date_gmt":"2008-12-31T18:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/recession-chic-black-is-the-new-black\/"},"modified":"2020-09-21T13:32:46","modified_gmt":"2020-09-21T17:32:46","slug":"recession-chic-black-is-the-new-black","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/recession-chic-black-is-the-new-black\/","title":{"rendered":"Recession Chic: Black is the New Black"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"black_dress_recession_chic_chwynynFlickr\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

In case vamping up the wardrobe is one of your your new year’s resolutions, I thought you may like to know about a little friend of mine called Recession Chic. (As opposed to the drearier Depression Chic). In short, less is more. The pitiful economy has fashion in a downward spin of less money, less color, less bling, less designer labels. But less fun? I don’t think so!<\/p>\n

It’s Official – Fashion Says So!<\/h5>\n

Last spring Time magazine ran a piece on the history of economic downturns and fashion<\/a>. They cite the contrasts between 1920s flapper hemlines and the ankle skimming lines of the 1930s. The mini-skirts of the 1960s were followed by the long hippie looks of the 1970s. But our current fashion down-trend wasn’t really-really-real until Wordspy defined Recession Chic<\/a> as ‘style and elegance on a tight budget’ in October. <\/p>\n

Since fall we’ve seen a darker palette and starker silhouette with a sharp edge. Designers are working in severe black cocktail dresses and structured suits. Even black bowl-cut wigs and black lipstick hit the runway. <\/p>\n

Christian Lacroix calls the shift in sensibility a ‘new minimalism’ and says the color black is like a mask of protection against recession. Huh?<\/p>\n

Fashion For the Rest of Us<\/h5>\n

Come on people, it’s pretty simple isn’t it? I just bought a fabulous skirt and a pair of slacks at a going out of business sale. Guess what? Both black! Why? If you’re going to spend money on quality clothes, you need to get a great return. Black is practical. (Not to mention slimming. It is post-holiday after all.)<\/p>\n

Leatrice Eiseman of the Pantone Color Institute agrees:  <\/p>\n

\n

“Black is always the color people rely on most often in tough times, especially if they’re going to spend on big-ticket items.” <\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Duh. This is why only rich people prance around town in white pants.<\/strong><\/em> <\/p>\n

Enter the recessionista, that frugal fashionista who’s not afraid to troll the clearance racks. In October the New York Times reported<\/a> that PR pros everywhere are pushing moderately priced makeup, salon services, and clothing lines. All they had to do was add the suffix ‘chic’.<\/strong><\/em> Lexicographer Barrett, a lexicographer who specializes in new words and slang, said the word is just being used to give Americans an excuse to buy more stuff. <\/p>\n

Derek Blasberg on style.com<\/a> writes that fashion conscious women are finding designer threads and knockoffs at discount prices. They’re shopping at Target, Uniqlo, Payless, and Kohl’s. Most of all they “aren\u2019t letting a little thing like falling stock prices and rising gas bills get in the way of their wardrobe.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n

Even designers serving the inauguration crowd<\/a> are having a tough time creating dresses that are both “one-of-a-kind” and “recession chic.” <\/p>\n

Bummer. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, I’m trying to look cute via Wal-Mart. Anyone feel like joining me on a Salvation Army run? Oh wait… I have those black slacks. If only I could afford to get them hemmed!<\/p>\n

Image Credit: chwynyn, Flickr<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In case vamping up the wardrobe is one of your your new year’s resolutions, I thought you may like to know about a little friend of mine called Recession Chic. (As opposed to the drearier Depression Chic). In short, less is more. The pitiful economy has fashion in a downward spin of less money, less […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1197,7677],"tags":[1538,1535,1536,1537],"class_list":{"0":"post-7071","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-economy","7":"category-retail","8":"tag-depressionista","9":"tag-fashion","10":"tag-fashionista","11":"tag-recessionista"},"acf":[],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7071"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74808,"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7071\/revisions\/74808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}