Trends and the Economy - Connecting the Dots

Ever wonder how trends start and what makes them repeat themselves sometimes decades later? I do. Often the original reason for the trend is lost in translation because it may be recycled for a different reason than when it started. Or perhaps they are resurrected for close to the same reasons that they started. I like to read all kinds of material so I am always finding what I like to think of as "trend dots" - stories or pieces of information that help me tie trends together as I connect the dots. The economy is a dictator of trends in pop culture and fashion. In the 18th century, silhouettes (shadow profiles traced and cut from black paper) were a popular alternative to costly portraits. The word took its name from the French controller general of finance, Etienne de Silhouette. During the Seven Years War against England, he tried to raise revenues by heavily taxing the wealthy. Victims of his high taxes complained and used the word silhouette to refer to their wealth being reduced to a mere shadow of what it once was. Today silhouettes (see my April 3rd blog post) are trendy because of their minimalistic appeal and modern look. In times of economic downturns people tend to spend their money on affordable luxuries to make them feel better. In the decade of the Great Depression cosmetic sales increased 25%. There was a similar surge in lipstick sales after the terrorist attacks on September 11th. Does tracking cosmetic sales indicate the health of the economy or the emotional mood of the consumer? (I know I always feel better after a trip to Sephora.) I've read that movie attendance increased during five of the last seven economic recessions. People tend to want to escape (think about the Superhero trend). They may not go out as often, but they when they do they choose something affordable, say, a movie night over a weekend trip to an amusement park. This last example is perhaps the most fascinating to me. I read an article in the Fresno Bee a couple of weeks ago called Hollywood dead aren't so scary anymore (Melissa Rayworth, AP). It takes a look at the dead-but-still-talking characters that are all over popular culture these days. From TV shows like "True Blood," "Pushing Daisies," "Desperate Housewives," "The Ghost Whisperer" to movies like "Twilight," "Ghost Town,""Over Her Dead Body" and the soon to be released, "The Lovely Bones." It seems as though across pop culture there is "an attempt to really start domesticating the notion of death," says Syracuse University television professor Robert Thompson. In times of anxiety, like the Great Depression, WWII, the 1950's atomic age, September 11th and now the tanking Stock Market, society has always turned to expressions of spiritualism, often the occult. The Great Depression ushered in the golden age of horror movies. But the monsters and undead of those stories were otherworldly and unfamiliar. Dracula and the Wolfman were not carrying ipods and sitting in a high school cafeteria. The article asks the question, why are we so focused now on making the supernatural seem mundane? Perhaps, says author Stewart O'Nan, it's because we are facing death on so many different fronts - climate change and natural disasters, multiple wars and terrorism, even our aging population. We need now, more than ever, to make death seem as manageable as a trip to Home Depot. Hmmm.......These are unsure times we are living in. New York's Fashion Week reflected this in the offerings from the designers. There were representations from multiple decades - the 1940's, the '60's, the '80's. What is the style? Some were left scratching their heads. I read in one of the articles that you would still be perfectly fashionable by pulling from your last year's wardrobe because anything goes. In fact, thrift store shopping is up 30% because of the refashioning trend that is happening. So what does one make of all of this? Connect the dots.............