The Recessionista: Ready For Her Close-Up

There's a new It girl on Main Street America. She's been waiting in the wings for months and the further the economy spirals down the drain, the higher her star is rising. She's the Recessionista, the girl who's super stylish on a dime and wears her tight budget as comfortably as couture. She's ready for her close up now and poised to become America's new sweetheart.

The Recessionista was discovered one fateful day back in May of 2008 when Leslie Ann Horgan wrote a style article for the Daily Mail that delivered our little darling from the greedy grips of the economic intelligentsia. Those fussy academic types had their hands all over her since 2001, using the Recessionista carelessly towards their own ends. They told her she was a person who insisted that a recession was coming and that this was good. She smiled and winked at this, glad that the finance types were at least paying attention. Numbers guys in sharp suits could be pretty cute while she waited for her big break. Luckily Leslie Anne spotted the Recessionista (finally!) and cast her in her fateful role, the role she was born to play: To sell consumers stuff when times are tough.

As more people economize, it's become cool to conserve and suddenly our country is equating thriftiness with virtue. Digital marketing agency Zeta Interactive, which measures market trends by recording the volume of website and blog postings on various subjects has cited a distinct increase in the buzz around discount retail sites lately. Full-priced fashion sites are receiving fewer shout-outs in the virtual ether. Predictably, publicists are rushing to stamp a big smiley face on the situation. They need something upbeat and encouraging, an iconic ideal that makes things seem not as bad as they are. The Recessionista has answered their prayers. She's inking spokesmodel deals left and right to make sure that a little thing like economic collapse won't interfere with anyone's wardrobe- not by one stitch.

And so she has debuted. Recessionista's reviewers are raving and her rival, the Fashionista, is pissed. Our old obsession is gazing into her gilded mirror and scared by the reflection. The poor dear is practically panicking- not even a boob job and some botox will revive her sagging influence. Fashionista's once dedicated followers are drifting from their gluttonous fairy godmother and gravitating towards that sample sale coming to a neighborhood near you. Discount and affordable fashion retailers are rolling up their sleeves to roll out the red carpet for this fresh wave of conservative consumers. Enthusiasm abounds for those who suddenly enjoy spending... less. Welcome to fashion's new face.

Comments

[dadw5boys]

Thriftiness = the real conservatives.

For centuries real conservatives lived like the Depression could hit tomorrow and they would be ready. Those same Conservative valued the Equity built up in Government programs that kept bridges in good repair and FEMA who had plenty of money to care for Americans in danger.

Unlike the Regean Conservatives who think taking every extra dime from progams to support tax cuts for millionaires is good. The vast majority of the money in those programs belonged to working people. They had paid it in not the millionaires. Even the ones who did not live long enough to see thier investments used deserved better than having their money stolen, infact, to make life easuer for wall street hustlers.

[wearyvoter]

Wow! And to think I've been on the cutting edge of this trend since, oh, about the time I graduated from college in 1980. If your money is tight right now, consider doing a procrastinator's Christmas and shop the January clearance sales. That's the way my husband and I got each other Christmas gifts during the early 80s when unemployment was in double digits. We were both employed, but not in fields where you had a lot of margin left after rent, utilities, and work-related expenses.

[paulacvdw]

It has been a long time that things were going badly with the economy, seriously and in general. Garage sales, yard sales, church sales have allowed me (in the last year) to augment my work wardrobe as best I can.

[kellygrrrl]

golly! is it possible that We the People might evolve our Value System?

[ReservoirDogs]

The so-called Recessionista has always had the last laugh - in fat times and in lean- because although style can always be bought (at least to a certain extent) good-taste is harder to acquire and will always therefore be infinitely more valuable.

[jms2qc]

Value in art and expression has always been the underdog. The Recessionista is now going to be in her prime. Even though she has been around for decades...definitely has the last laugh :)
I'm glad thrift will be more prevalent. Expensive fashion has been such a wasteful thing for so long and maybe money can be filtered into privately owned stores instead. Recycled clothes to stimulate the economy. Who knew!?

[Anciano]

Here's where we got this brilliantly easy-to-do continuation of the election idea:
http://www.verdant.net/alternate_economy.htm
"...One of the ways to do this is to create a list of your favorite local businesses.
Imagine if you had just moved to or were visiting a town and had no idea where to shop, eat or get your car fixed other than the heavily advertised corporate outlets that line the main roads. What if you met somebody in the market or library that offered you an informal printed list of their favorite businesses with the location, hours and what they thought was great about them, who the owners were etc. You would be grateful to that person and would benefit from their years of experience. You can become that person. Create a list for your area..".

[zeezeezee]

This reminds me of that rash of articles about poor "middle income" families who were really struggling to have their regular yearly vacation because of rising gas prices (poor dears!) ...and Vogue magazine doing pieces on how you can have an absolute blast by holidaying in poor third world countries instead, or buying your LV handbag on ebay and still saving enough for some other cute trinket. Why is the initial response all about how the rich are coping with being taken down a few notches (gasp! "discount retail"!) and not about how those already at the bottom are slowly being wiped out completely?

[vietveter]

You said a mouthfull

I, for one, am dying.

Cheer-up they say, things could be worse.

So I cheered-up and sure enough.......

We REALLY need some slack down here

FAST

[jms2qc]

Exactly. Those who have been struggling on the lowest tier forever really know what it is to save. They can't afford a knock-off purse or a vacation. They try to just keep food on the table and heat in their houses.

[Anciano]

We can go you one better: My friends and neighbors have taken a vow not to spend one cent on anything we don't have to buy such as food or gas until the Obama/Biden administration is sworn in. Bush"s "rebates" of our own future tax refunds and his pleas to go shopping show the importance of consumer spending to the legacy of Republican economics. Bush hijacked the country for the benefit of the wealthy for eight years. Let the wealthy keep the Bush economy going for the next three months until the Republicans are flushed in disgrace. After Inauguration Day, learn about and patronize your smaller locally owned businesses and pay cash so it's under the radar of statistics. We're hoarding our spending until the Obama Administration when the recovery can begin.

[Paralogos]

You realize, of course, that your chances of putting another American out of work are far higher than your chances of having the slightest effect on Bush. Employers aren't going to wait until inauguration day. If sales fall through the floor now, they're going to lay people off now.

[magentagreenx]

you know, i know this might be somewhat difficult for taste-maker types to understand, but some of us weren't out blowing gadzooks of money every day on crap we don't leave. a lot of us could never afford that, which makes now even more difficult. but what ever. i suppose what ever makes y'all feel better about not being able to spend spend spend will have to do for you.

[AtomiClash]

Precisely. And once "playing recession" stops being fun for the "recessionista," those of us who have always been able to operate on a budget will still be doing so.
This is a fad, this isn't fashion. For once, in teh world of so-called style, this is a reality check.

[WindyW]

Seriously. It sounds as if the "Recessionista" is now economizing because she read an article somewhere about how cool it is to be thrifty. Sheesh. Glad you have the choice. Enjoy your Thrift Cotillion. Hope you don't get bored too quickly, because eschewing conspicuous consumption could really help the rest of us out.

[Recessionista]

Absolutely correct. It is the dawn of the Recessionista. In this economy, all fashionistas are now struggling to do more with less. We still have to go to work , dress well & present a professional image. We also have to sort through our cost of living & do some comparision shopping to get the best deals. You can learn more tips for "recession chic" at http://therecessionista.blogspot.com/