Economy of Fashion
Salon posted an interesting story today about the economy of fashion – particularly “cheap chic.” The article begins: “The average American buys 64 pieces of clothing a year. That’s more new tank tops and jeggings than there are weeks in which to wear them. And we buy those items, often, with the tacit understanding that the pullover purchased in January isn’t going to make it to Christmas — or even spring equinox. Elizabeth L. Kline has one such typical American wardrobe. As she admits in her new book “Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion,” an eye-opening exploration of our mania for bargain-basement fashion.”
The article includes a Q & A with the book’s author in which she cites the time period that I focus on:
“Well, in the ’50s and ’60s you could walk into a department store and get something beautiful and durable. Then there was really a dead zone and a transition in the retail industry. When these fashionable discounters came along, it looked like we had arrived in some fashion nirvana. These huge corporate clothing chains have put a lot of money on the concept that cheap is chic and it’s cool.”
Those department stores that dominated fashion looks were also the ones who paid for numerous ads each week in the women’s pages – and later the feature/lifestyle sections. As those department stores lost their dominance, newspapers lost that advertising revenue.
I have pre-ordered the book and will use it on our revise-and-resubmit about Washington Star fashion editor Eleni Epstein.
