Clothing is much more than fabric. Throughout history, clothing have become a form of expression that allows people to communicate their individuality and personal identity. That is why fashion has served as a medium that communicates, plasma and is witnessing the changes of society.
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If that vision is further expanded, the way of dressing a population can serve as an indicative to understand the economic and social situation of a moment and place. But, the question that remains in the air is: how can these aspects be measured by taking as reference a garment or an accessory?
To better understand this relationship Just have a skirt, underwear and a lipstick at hand.
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The hem index
In 1926, economist George Taylor sat a precedent in establishing a narrow link between a detail of garments and economic principles. His theory was based on the idea that the length of a skirt or dress can serve as an indicative of the course that the economy will take.
Taylor’s postulate suggests that skirts tend to shorten in periods of economic bonanza, but His hem is extended when finance show signs of deceleration. In other words, less centimeters in the length of the skirt translate into a stronger economy and vice versa.
The best known as the hem index was also related to the ability of the women of the time to buy socks. In case of not having the budget for this, they used to hide it behind dresses with much longer ring.
Although it is an approach that has been very criticizedseveral moments in history seem to account for this theorylike the fashion of the skirts at the height of the knee of the 1920s, the long hems after the great depression and the rise of the miniskirts of the 60s.
At present, the index has lost relevance, not only because some fashion historians and economists consider it simplistic, but because The volatility of trends has made it harder to study their relationship. However, although George Taylor’s theory may have lost his authority, that does not mean that economic rates and market responses cannot be related to the fashion industry.
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Skirts
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Underpants and economy
Similar to Taylor’s proposal, this indicator takes as a starting point a garment to measure the behavior of the economy. In this case, the demand for underwear for men is analyzed to predict the beginning of an economic recovery.
The male underwear index (MUI) was designed by the American economist Alan Greenspan, who He served as president of the Federal Reserve of the United States between 1987 and 2006. While he was in office, he dedicated himself to seeking indicatives that offered information on consumers’ behavior and the state of the economy.
The reason for choosing underpants responds to the fact that it is a basic need, so that fluctuations in your sales could give signs of changes in consumer dynamics. In this way, Greenspan’s idea suggests that when there is more economic confidence it is more likely to buy new underwear, while in a recession, demand is reduced because purchases are postponed.
While the concept of MIU is quite simple, Its implications are long -range. The reason? Since consumption represents an important part of the economic production of a country, changes in spending patterns can have chain effects throughout the economy.
To give some examples, this trend has been present at different times in history. Here the great depression and the Covid-19 pandemic are included, two events in which falls in sales were experienced.
However, it is important to emphasize that these types of indexes, although they have gained validity over time, They are used in a complementary way with other indications to have a broader vision of the economic landscape.
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Underpants
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The power of the lipstick
The theory suggests that in difficult times women tend to reduce expense in expensive beauty products, such as creams and perfume. However, this does not happen with the lipstick, on the contrary, its consumption is usually shot.
But why?
This concept known as ‘Pintoabios effect’ was conceived by Leonard Lauder, The president of Estée Lauder, during the 2001 recession. When Lauder formulated this idea, retail sales had increased by 11%.
Lip
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In this way, the idea is based on people resort to small luxuries when consumer confidence decreases. In other words, the increase in sales of these cosmetics could indicate A period of economic slowdownin which people seek instant and most affordable bonuses.
In fact, this pattern has become evident in situations such as the global crisis that was lived in 2008. Only in Europe the sales of these bars increased 6%, despite the economic situation.
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Jessika Rodriguez M.
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