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An Era of Fashion Excess
By admins | June 9, 2009
Recently, Cathy Horyn of the New York Times gave an incredible speech on fashion and the economy. If you have not read about it click here to view the full piece; this really is a must read. She touched on many issues that we have written about as well, specifically in our posts regarding luxury fatigue and recessionistas. Neither Cathy’s speech nor our pieces are the only ones of their kind but they’re definitely proof that as a culture we have become self-aware of our obsession with mass consumption.
From the late 1990’s to the early 2000’s we became a people obsessed with excessive material goods. As Cathy pointed out, we were a generation obsessed with our Louis Vuitton’s and Monolo Blahniks. The words “fashionista” and “shopaholic” became commonplace and the desire for the latest “it bag” was a perfectly acceptable obsession. We saw the birth of the “aspirational” customer, which in turn led to the creation of, designer as marketing ploy. It wasn’t just fashion where our collective greed and desires ran rampant; this was also a time where no-money down McMansions were a way of life. With the right paperwork or credit line everyone could be living the luxurious life. We did not stop with just coveting more expensive clothing and bigger houses; we all wanted to be famous too. Reality TV made the average Joe a superstar and Facebook and Twitter exemplified our own narcissism in the belief that everybody cares to know what we are doing every minute of the day.
Our collective bottomless appetites for newer, better, and more merchandise pushed the fashion industry to a tipping point. We have even noticed on our website the sense of fashion entitlement. Whether we are writing on the plus size market or the copywriting of fashion design, we often get comments along the lines of, “We deserve …. too!” as if the right to wear couture is in the Constitution. Of course, we all like nice things, but there is a fine line between admiring the beauty in fashion and intensely coveting it. If for whatever reason the item is not available for you, your reaction is outrage. Companies and designers alike, tapped into that emotion and desire in the last decade, which is partly responsible for the excessive fast fashion of today. In the early 2000’s when Louis Vuitton brought on Mark Jacobs and launched the signature LV bag with Stephen Sprouse graffiti, they were not marketing to their long time customers, but rather the new aspirational customer who believed that she too deserved a LV bag. At this point, fashion houses and designer labels became names to be marketed by the giant conglomerates that now owned them. As Cathy pointed out in her piece, “fashion has become a marketing tool for all kinds of non-fashion products from stylish cell phones to boutique hotels.”
Fashion is big business and in many ways our massive consumption has led designers to sell out to “The Man.” High fashion and couture designers started designing for the press and a few uber-fashionistas, not for their customers. This is part of the reason for our intense dislike of Anna Wintour and what Vogue magazine has become. What does it say about the fashion industry when our brightest and best are designing for one individual whose opinion, we the people, are supposed to blindly emulate. The mid-tier and mass markets are not immune to this either. While not designing with Vogue in mind, they have lost sight of their customer also. They are only looking at the bottom line and many design related decisions are not in the hands of talented designers, but rather “the suits” who are just trying to increase their profit margin. Those of us who work in the Garment Center on these types of brands can’t even count how many times a design or idea has been nixed because a salesperson or merchandise coordinator does not think it will sell. Innovative designs are often not even given a chance to make it to the selling floor. Many of these companies are structured to look back at what sold and to grow their line from there. This mentality discourages creativity while at the same increases quantity, as companies try to cover all their bases. As fashion continues to lose touch with its customer, whether it’s for lack of innovation, proper sizing, or affordability, the customer has also become more enraged that they can’t get everything they want!
So what is the result of all this fashion chaos? This has become a time of unidentifiable fashion. Between the lack of a signature look, new innovation, or even a design star, the last decade is akin to a fashion gumbo. As is noticeable in every store and on every street corner, everything is in style. Wide-leg pants, skinny jeans, short skirts, long skirts, mini dresses, maxi dresses, stilettos, flats, tailored shirts, ripped tees and not just all that but they can all be worn at once! Pulling together an outfit has become a “everything but the kitchen sink” mentality. Even our trends which seem to come and go weekly are often reruns of old ones. From grunge to hippie to Mad Men inspired it has all made a comeback in the last decade. In Cathy Horyn’s speech she explained that it is, “the failure to produce a truly singular voice of a generation, like we saw in the 1970s with Saint Laurent or in the 80s with Armani or in the 90s with Prada.”
We can only hope that the recession has now forced the industry and the customer to take a fresh approach to fashion. We see a shining light in indie designers who are going their own way and staying true to their point of view. Unfortunately, they are currently in a climate that does not support their growth. Garment Center woes are nothing new to our readers and the cost of starting up a new label has grown considerably in the last decade. We implore consumers who can afford to spend, to spend their money on the smaller labels that really speak to them and their needs. Looking forward there is much room for improvement and the next decade could and should be one for the fashion history books. So, as we all say good bye to a generation that found it amusing when Carrie Bradshaw couldn’t get a mortgage because she spent all her money on shoes, let’s hope that our new smarter consumer will challenge our designers and fashion companies to bring back innovative fashion.
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Topics: fashion, fashion industry | 23 Comments » 
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June 9th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
Because of these reasons, I love shopping at thrift stores. There is such a array of different styles. There are always pieces that are different, unique and not like what is being sold now. That as well as the obvious environmental and cost benefits. I don’t feel so bad about having so much being that so many of my clothing comes from second hand stores. Since moving to a larger city, the quality of clothing available via thrifting is amazing and I can look just as good as someone who shops at high end department stores.
You also mentioned what has been in my mind since I started thrifting as a young girl. Trends are always recycling, there is really no reason to buy everything new because you can find so many of the things in style now second hand from the first, second and third times they were popular. I do shop new as well, some things are just a must like jeans, under garments, comfy well fitting shoes and so on. I feel like buying something new is a treat and not such a everyday occurrence, even though I am shopping all the time for my online vintage store via thrift stores. It’s so much more of a adventure to shop second hand too, fun! Great article, thanks for sharing.
June 10th, 2009 at 10:39 am
Wonderful article, this is so spot on and I love Cathy Horyn. I love the part about salespeople saying no to designers because they are scared to produce anything without positive selling reports on similar product. That happens ALL the time and is killing our business!
June 10th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
“We have even noticed on our website the sense of fashion entitlement. Whether we are writing on the plus size market or the copywriting of fashion design, we often get comments along the lines of, “We deserve …. too!” as if the right to wear couture is in the Constitution.”
Please tell me, what on earth is wrong with the ability to offer fashion to all economic classes? And what is wrong with those who can’t afford couture, or designer in general, to applaud designers for making their lines more accessible to the every day girl? I absolutely love this site, but I swear sometimes I get extremely offended by your own sense of entitlement. Yes, you have one, too, because you seem to think that only the wealthy, or those “in the industry” deserve to wear designer and couture.
I apologize if I misinterpreted and, again, I love you guys. But, seriously?
June 10th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
I too have sensed a change, and I’ve been a massive conspicuous consumer with the debts to prove it in the past.
I agree with you about the sense of entitlement in that fashion should be about the style not the label. Anyone with an interest in fashion can be stylish and fashionable by shopping in thrift stores and creating their own look, but it began to be about that *exact* piece, that *exact* label which leads to people without the budget for couture feeling that they can’t be on trend without a massive budget, which just shouldn’t be true.
June 10th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Jocelyn-Excellent point, thank you. Thrift and vintage shopping is not only on trend but good for the pocket book and environment
Rosalie- So true, the average consumer has no idea how many fantastic designs they are missing out on due to bureaucracy
Unfunded- Why always so angry? This is the kind of outrage we are referring to. Where in the world did we say fashion is only for the wealthy or insiders? If you are familiar with this site you would know we focus on department store, mass market, and indie labels here. We almost never promote couture designers, and none of us work for one, nor do we have closets of couture at home either. The problem we see is the trend in recent years to max out credit cards buying designer goods you can’t afford. Incase you haven’t noticed the giant foreclosure crisis in our housing market or the fact that the average American owns 10 grand in credit card debt because everybody feels they “deserve it” is ridiculous. Since you are on a budget, try the old adage of quality instead of quantity. We would like to see people rather than spending $100 on a bunch of Forever 21 product buy one better quality piece that will last. Really do we all need 25 pairs of dark denim jeans? Anyway, we’re not really sure how you missed this, the Carrie Bradshaw reference is a very clear example, and hopefully this helped clear it up.
Retro – Exactly the point. We all bought into this desire as a culture and everything from our shrinking 401k’s to our lack of individual style our suffering.
June 10th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
I am not always so angry. I think I just misunderstood the tone of the article. I do not have a closet full of Forever 21, nor do I have 25 pairs of dark denim jeans. I am a huge proponent of indie designers, thrifting and sales, and I can’t really justify buying anything designer, no matter the budget, unless it is severely marked down. That being said, I do prefer quality over quantity – although sometimes that isn’t an option – but it doesn’t mean I max out my credit card to buy the “it” item…I usually think the person that thinks they have to do that is absolutely crazy…insane, I tell you. And yes, I have noticed that we are in a foreclosure crisis, thank you.
I’m not sure why I took immediate offense to this – I don’t really have an answer for you except that maybe I misunderstood what you were trying to say. In regards to the Carrie Bradshaw reference – I don’t watch the show and never have…I’ve never seen Confessions of a Shopaholic, either.
Ok – truce…let me know if you ever want to host a fashion debate. I’m all for it! :-)
June 11th, 2009 at 10:35 am
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June 11th, 2009 at 11:54 am
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June 11th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Wow, drama I love it. Personally I think this is a brilliant post. It may make us all a bit uncomfortable because it exposes a truth many wish to ignore.
Did anybody see in this weeks NY Mag they ask a bunch of high schoolers questions and one was about blaming us for the recession. One kid said,”No, they were just pursuing a false sense of well-being through possessions they didn’t actually need. Its pathetic but thats how they were raised.”
Hmmm from the mouths of babes!
June 11th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
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June 11th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
It is very unfortunate how the industry has been going. These days I get most of my clothing from the thrift, clothing swaps or etsy and ebay online. And not from new designers, or any mass markets. It is very odd how everything seems to be in fashion, definitely lacking a voice.
June 11th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
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June 11th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
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June 13th, 2009 at 10:33 am
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June 13th, 2009 at 10:47 am
Wonderful, wonderful piece. I think you really touch on a good topic when you mention that trends are always recycling. If you hold on to certain items for periods of time, they are typically destined to come back into style. I think that too many people cast aside looks once they are viewed as being “out,” and end up spending money on those same and/or similar items years down the line.
Of course, another option is to simply stick with trends that are classic, and won’t go out of style – no matter what. Cardigans, blazers…non-controversial pieces that will always be valuable for your wardrobe.
June 13th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
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June 17th, 2009 at 12:14 am
I agree with this very well-written article. The 2000-2010 decade has very little originality. None of the creativity as the 60s, 70s, etc. From what I’ve seen in the malls and streets lately, designers are desperately trying to market the “80’s,” only because it’s profitable to this generation of buyers. Like the article, I long for more originality, something that we can look back years from now and say “I remember when we use to wear THIS!”
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