Economic truth in the Fashion section

[Cassandra]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/22/fashion/22market.html?_r=1&ref=fashion&oref=slogin

" So there may be something else holding people back from buying clothes, something that doesn’t entirely square with the image of crowded Manhattan restaurants, wild art auctions and throbbing shoe salons.

“Sure the economy is a factor if you know what’s coming,” said Peggy Shafiroff, whose husband works in the financial markets, as she was killing time at Henri Bendel before a hair appointment. Ms. Shafiroff said she had bought a Chanel bag this fall but that’s it. There were lots of clothes she liked, but it kind of irked her, she said with a mild laugh, that “everything now seems to cost $2,500.” The message she got from her husband and their friends on Wall Street, she said, was “batten down the hatches, the storm is coming.” And considering other pressures, like energy costs, she thinks that’s prudent.

A private-equity manager at a leading bank who follows retail, and who requested anonymity, said, “We may get by this year, but there’s a lack of optimism in the country and I think that lack of optimism will put a damper on Christmas spending.” Another source of concern, he said, echoing opinions in the art-auction market, is the staggering amounts of wealth in regions of the Middle East and Asia and the dominating effect such clout is likely to have.

“They’re price-insensitive,” he said of those areas, “and that’s going to be tough on Americans. We’re not the richest guys on the block anymore.”"

I've been buying clothes because I've lost a lot of weight and I can't walk around looking like a rag doll, but I've been buying at Filene's Basement, Loehmen's, online sales and outlets, with a couple of good pieces and making do with some things from last year that still fit. If I had piles of money, I still wouldn't want to spend $5K on a jacket, although I would go for better quality cashmere and a new coat (and better shoes).
I wonder what the Wall street types think when they see all the financial happy talk in the papers and on TV.