|
Many economists
like to keep a watchful eye on popular fashion-related developments,
including fabric and color choices, hemline lengths, and appearance-enhancing
acccessories, to try and get a read on where things
stand on Main Street and Wall Street.
According to a
report in the Los Angeles Loyolan, "Nail
Polish: This Recession's Lipstick," one modern day
indicator continues to flash major warning signs about the state of the
economy (despite reassurances from the usual clowns crowd that we're
on the road to recovery):
Leonard Lauder,
the chairman emeritus of cosmetics company Estée
Lauder explained: “We have long observed the concept of small luxuries,
things that can get you through hard times and good ones. And they become
more important during harder times. The biggest surge in movie attendance
came during the 1930s during the Depression,” he told Roya Wolverson in a Sept. 14,
2011 TIME Magazine story titled “What lipstick tells us about the economy.”
Historically,
lipstick sales increased as our country’s economic health decreased,
and Lauder coined this phenomenon (as he observed it in the makeup industry)
the “Lipstick Index.”
The phrase was
definitely better suited for the ’90s, when lip liner and a deep
burgundy hue was the difference between Marge Simpson and Carrie Bradshaw,
and according to Adam Davidson from NPR’s (National Public Radio)
“Planet Money,” “For reasons nobody quite understands, the
lipstick indicator doesn’t hold up anymore, though nail polish sales
now seem to reflect the economy very clearly (albeit inversely). A rise in
nail polish sales indicates that we’re searching for bargain luxuries
as the economy craters - and sales of nail polish are way up right
now.”
A quick trip to
the nearest nail salon or Target displays the growing popularity of wild nail
polish abundantly clear. The decision is no longer between shiny red polish or a French manicure; there’s magnetic lacquer, gel
shellac, crackle and instant dry. Hands are a rainbow of colors with color
block splashes. Essie and OPI bottles have names like “Midnight in
Moscow” (a deepy reddish black sparkly hue)
and “My Boyfriend Scales Walls” (a white color that is part of
OPI’s Spider-Man themed collection). Even men are getting in on the
action: Amazon is currently selling a brown hued nail polish made by ManGlaze called “Santorum.” It promises to be
“Formulated for ugliness.”
Though our wild
nails might not save the economy, they can definitely tell us a lot about it.
Michael J. Panzner
|
