HEIGHT of the TALLEST BUILDINGS is directly proportional to RECESSION & inversely proportional to HEM LINES.
Fashion, height & makeup have a special connection with economic downturn. When the world’s tallest building Empire state building got completed there was the Great Depression of 1931. This brought in high hemlines & high heels for girls. Fashion and recession have a close impact on each other.
When the World Trade centre got completed in 1973, it brought in the recession due to Arab oil embargo, crude price hike. This again added color to fashion & brought in miniskirts & midi outfits raising the hem line again to mid thigh levels & miniskirts came in vogue (proof –Saira Banu wearing short saris in Shagird & miniskirts in Purab aur Paschim). Fashion and economics walk together.
Again 2010 & Burj Khalifa became the tallest building in the world & with it came the meltdown. This brought in the high hem line but this time the double hem line that was shorter in front & longer at the rear end.
As in all with the depression, recession, meltdowns the financial prudence is lost. Market for essentials is the only way forward. To take care of the plunging business bottom lines, fashion styles & statements are used as the tools to bring customer sentiments & cheer in the market. The fashion Czars have always captured the depressed moods by introducing high heels, high hem lines & bold colors for fabrics, cosmetics & this brings vibrancy & new life into the homes, offices & markets.
This concept of raising the hem line from floor length to hip high has added fresh life to the depressed market sentiments & given new hopes to men to fight the stagnating & down spiral of the VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) world.
High hem line has acted as propeller, enabler to market interests to boost the market sentiments. The bold colors add distinctiveness, charm with authenticity, simplicity & indulgence in upper class clubbed with glamour, style, modernity, trend & progressiveness. This ADDS to the aspiration, desires, bold daring strength with endurance to boost the business at the meltdown period. The dark orange, red, purple lipstick with the indigo colors of fabrics work as the oxygen & boost the thinking power of men, to plan meticulously & execute precisely to come out of the downturn.
Fashion, the most sought after word has always inspired, motivated people to achieve & come out of difficult situations.
2 comments
Hi have read up many such article mentioning how economic crisis affect clothing. In my opinion during adverse times when the society faces econimical set-backs the reason why hem lines go up is because it requires less fabric. During world war 1 women would paint their legs because of the scarcity of stacking. and thus came the trend of bare legs.
Hi Ritu. Fashion has a direct relation with the economic crisis of a particular era. Fashion reflects the socio-economic conditions and prosperity of any given time.