The slipper index

As sales of pyjamas soar, retailers are referring to “the slipper index.”

It’s the time of year when thoughts usually turn to buying a cocktail dress and heels as the party season hits full swing. But this year it seems our priorities are a little different. Rather than splurging on clothes for going out, many of us are spending money on luxurious pieces for staying in. Certainly that’s the message from shop floors and online retailers. …

Wheeler attributed the term “slipper index” to popular UK department store John Lewis, and explained:

The theory is that sales of slippers and pyjamas increase in a downturn. There’s also the cold snap – not only are we going out less, we’re also investing in cosy clothes in a bid to stay toasty. As we’re spending more time on our sofas, we’re willing to spend more on staying-in wear – and splashing out on pieces in luxe fabrics, such as cashmere and silk.

published on: Schott's Vocab

Read also:

Heel heights grow during Recession

Handbag Fashion

Nailphiles

Lipstick Effect

Going brow-less

Hemline Index

Handbag Fashion

Each decade has its own mood, when we look back on the fashion trends that defined it.

When we think of the 1980s fashions we remember padded shoulders, bright colours, gold and glitz, Princess Di and Maggie Thatcher! The 1960s were flower power and mini skirts, new freedoms for the young, think Twiggy, Lulu and The Beatles. Go back to the 1950s and women’s fashion themes were drawn from glamorous Hollywood and the stars of the silver screen: Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor.

The new Millenium has seen a huge rise in women’s passion for handbags, this time carrying young women along with the enthusiasm too, with designer bags becoming coveted status symbols and handbag collections becoming de rigueur for any woman of style. Big bags, re-emerged as a fashion trend in response to the growing amount of things women need to carry with them today, rushing between work, business and leisure activities with all the technological gadgets they need to lug with them, Macbook or laptop, iphone and iPod.


If you follow the evolution of handbag style, going hand in hand with mainstream fashion, through the twentieth and twenty first centuries, you start to see patterns. As the role of women in society has evolved, the handbag has evolved and adapted to their changing needs.

Dips in the global economy are reflected by more practical, restrained handbag styles, boom periods by expansive extravagance.

Fashion trends do seem inextricably linked to the global economy and a pattern has emerged through the decades of the last century.

A time of recession and financial crisis results in more practical and restrained, classic styling, whereas a boom sets flamboyance free in women’s fashion, for fancy dress fashion trends and elaborately glitzy and whimsical extravagance.


See also:

It-bag, must-have

Hemline Index

Heel heights grow during Recession

Source: Gleni

Handbag dogs

First favoured by Hollywood celebrities who often carry them to "A-list" functions in their handbags, these dogs are now a common sight in the UK as the not-so-rich-and-famous follow suit.

more on: silversurfertoday



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Heel heights grow during Recession

Towering platforms, wedges, and stilettos are becoming more popular than ever.

"We have entered a moment of heightened impracticality in footwear,"

Elizabeth Semmelhack, author of "Heights of Fashion: A History of the Elevated Shoe" told CNN.

"Heel heights noticeably grew during the Great Depression of the 1930s, the oil crisis in the 1970s, and when the dotcom bubble burst in the 2000s."
The heel height in women's shoes has greatly increased in the present day.

Semmelhack believes the height increase demonstrates a need for escapism in hard economic times.

read more on: examiner.com

see also: Recession Fashion

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Nailphiles

Blend of „nail“ and „-phile“: Lover of or enthusiast for nail painting.


Nail polish as the new recession cosmetics staple.

When a recession hits, we can usually count on two things: hemlines will hit the floor and women will stock up on lipstick. But during the recent global economic crisis, skirt lengths remained resolutely short and a new beauty product was crowned queen of the cosmetics counter.

Nail polish sales grew by a remarkable 14.3% in the U.S. in 2009, and were the only beauty category to experience double-digit growth, according to market research firm Kline and Company. Sales of lipstick and lip gloss, meanwhile, dropped by 5.3%, leading industry experts to believe that women have embraced nail polish as the new recession cosmetics staple.
So what’s made the ladies switch from lips to tips?

“Women typically stick to pinks and reds for their lipsticks, whereas for nail colours, the sky’s the limit,” posits Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, executive VP and artistic director of OPI.

Doug Atkinson, Canadian spokesperson for mass market nail brand Sally Hansen, believes that nail polish allows for more freedom and creative expression than other cosmetics. “There’s a more casual attitude toward nails than lips,” he says. “People are more conservative with their faces than they are with their nails, and they’re looking for ways to express themselves in a manner that’s still business-appropriate. You see crazy pedicures in the office and it’s totally acceptable — no one’s going to get pulled aside for a bright pink polish.”

Read more: National Post

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Lipstick Effect

Lipstick Effect: A theory that states that during periods of recession or economic downturn, consumers will avoid purchases of luxury items and seek material solace in smaller indulgences, such as a premium lipstick.

This is the reasons why during recessions consumers want to still treat themselves but cannot afford luxury items. Therefore, they often settle for dining out and going to a movie or just buying a new designer lipstick!

You can read more on Investoedia:)

Going brow-less

Models and stylists are now bleaching or shaving eyebrows on purpose.
According to makeup artist Pat McGrath -- who gives eerily similar quotes to both the Times and the Guardian -- it's all about the recession: "The current economic troubles open people up to be more daring and willing to don cutting-edge looks." The Guardian follows up on McGrath's comment with a reachy-feeling question: "At a time when advertising is suffering, is eyebrowlessness just a more extreme way for a brand to sell its products?" asks the article's author, Emma Sibbles. Interestingly, in its own attempt to pin the trend on the recession, the Times floats precisely the opposite query: "Could no eyebrows be a reflection of economic downturn? Can one be too poor to have them? Having no eyebrows is certainly a way to express oneself without buying a product

see also: Hemline Index

published on: Salon


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Hemline Index

The Hemline Index is a theory presented by economist George Taylor in 1926.
Recent research suggests it is valid. The theory suggests that hemlines on women's dresses rise along with stock prices. In good economies, we get such results as miniskirts (as seen in the 1960s), or in poor economic times, as shown by the 1929 Wall Street Crash, hems can drop almost overnight. Desmond Morris revisited the theory in his book The Naked Ape and the theory was also the topic of a question on the BBC Panel Show QI in 2010.


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