Most Americans understand the concept of fashion being an indicator of an individual’s political tastes. Punk fashion has often been associated with radical leftism and anti-consumerism, long floral dresses can be associated with conservatism and traditional gender roles, and hats, shirts, and pins often showcase political messages the wearer supports. However, many are unaware that hemlines and hair color may actually indicate the state of a country’s economy.
In 2009, from an outside perspective, it would have been hard to tell that the United States was at the tail end of its second-worst economic recession, 70 years after the Great Depression. Rihanna, Lady Gaga, and Beyoncé topped the Billboard charts, club culture was at its prime, and the United States elected its first African American president, Barack Obama. Appearances may be deceiving at first, but they can also tell us a lot when we take a closer look.
The Great Recession, or the economic downturn of the United States from 2007 to 2009, started with the housing market and ended with better fiscal policy implemented by a multi-partisan group of politicians.
According to an article on Investopedia.com, a resource for financial advising, “The aggressive monetary policies that the Fed took, along with other central banks around the world, was widely credited with preventing even greater damage to the global economy. However, some also criticized the moves, claiming they made the recession last longer and laid the groundwork for later recessions,” said .
Not only did the Great Recession change the housing market, stock market, and global economy, but it also changed the fashion industry. Before the recession, high fashion as seen on New York Fashion Week’s runway was built upon extravagant, glamorous, and expensive looks.
“To understand how fashion brands adapt to the fiscally conservative nature of a recession, we can reflect on the economic crash of 2008, the predecessor to the minimalist era that was early 2010s fashion. Looking back on New York Fashion Week circa 2010, luxury designers Vera Wang, Reed Krakoff, and Ralph Lauren, among others, presented collections characterized by muted tones, minimal jewelry, and designs of no discernible pattern,” noted L’Office magazine regarding “recession-core” fashion.
The recession forced American designers to be smart about how they spent their money, which led to a global restructuring of the fashion industry. Americans subsequently started to thrift more, wear gender neutral clothing, and spend less money on clothing.
Yet it isn’t just how Americans consciously change their clothing based on the economy, but also the unconscious factors in fashion that indicate a recession. The “Hemline Index” is an economic theory that when the stock market is doing poorly, women will wear long skirts, but tend to wear short skirts when the stock market is doing well.
The best example of the Hemline Theory is the transition from the Roaring Twenties to the Great Depression. After World War I, the United States experienced an economic upturn referred to as the “Roaring Twenties.” However, due to the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the United States entered the worst economic depression it had ever experienced. Flappers, synonymous with the 1920s, wore incredibly short skirts for the time, boyish fashions, heavy makeup, and over-the-top hairstyles while engaging liberally in parties and alcohol consumption.
In contrast, after the Great Depression began, women’s hemlines lengthened due to the rise of conservative attitudes about society and the economy, and the days of jubilant partying were left behind.
Women’s consumer preferences are one of the biggest red flags to indicate economic change. If you’ve noticed your friends who have bleached their hair now growing out their natural roots, you’re not alone.
“Young women are skipping hair appointments and opting for cheaper hairstyles, according to salon owners and hairstylists. One new trend proliferating on TikTok in recent weeks is ‘recession blonde’, or letting your natural, darker roots grow out to save money on pricey touch-ups. It’s similar to the ‘recession hair’ phenomenon salons saw after the 2008 financial crisis,” notes Morning Brew.
According to Forbes, in the last few years, women have made up roughly 85% of purchases worldwide. But as Morning Brew stated, female consumers are spending less money now on makeup, nail and hair appointments, and clothing than they did in 2008 and 1930. Critics have pointed out the rise of consumerism since the pandemic, but now online trends such as “Project Pan” are encouraging women to finish their self-care products first before buying new ones. The challenge shows that conservative economic practices are already being implemented as we enter another period of economic strife in the United States.
