Fashion and the Economy

We have spent today chatting about how the economy affects fashion and retail. What happens to fashion when we reign in our spending? Answers are varied and contradictory; consumers… …buy less. …buy more, but at lower prices. …buy cheaper alternatives. …revamp items already in their wardrobes. …swap clothing. …update outfits they already own with new accessories. …shop for designer filter ranges on the high street. While many high street shops are suffering in the current climate, the emergence of budget retailers, such as Primark, and Supermarket clothing lines, mean that disposable fashion - low price items that can be tossed out the minute they are no longer ‘on trend’ - are becoming more popular. Since the recession hit, two new kinds of customer have appeared, the disposable shopper, and those who are after higher priced items that will see them through the seasons. That isn’t to say that there aren’t those who still buy the same things they would have previously, or those who look for similar items with a lower price tag. Maybe the question we should be asking is, whether the recession has just affected the way we think about shopping, or has it changed our shopping habits? Our fear of spending, justified or otherwise, may mean we are less likely to head out to the shops altogether. Alternatively, we may claim to be worried about our finances, but in reality, the lure of our favourite brand name items, and the desire to ‘treat’ ourselves, means we spend in the same way we always have. Or, perhaps we are now purchasing lower price, disposable items, purely because they are available. We think that the way consumers view retail has changed dramatically in the last decade; ten years ago you visited the local high street if you wanted the latest fashions, today, it only takes a few clicks of your iPhone before your online shopping basket is full of the latest trends. Typing the numbers on your credit card into the computer doesn’t feel like spending ‘real’ money the way that handing over cash at a till does. Surely the freedom to feel unaccountable for our own purchasing is partially to blame for the unmanageable debt that many of us have now incurred. What are your thoughts? We’d love to hear what you have to say, please add your comments below.