Hello Everyone,
Recently, I came across this video.
In this video, Vivian Tu (Your Rich BFF) brought up the Hemline Index theory by economist George Taylor. The skirt length of any trending outfits reflects the economic trend: shorter skirt length means a flourishing economy.
This trend/ correlation has been especially prominent in 1900s in America. In 1920s, women started wearing shorter flapper dresses with the economy flourishing after WWI. In 1930s, women's dress length dropped below knee length as the Great Depression approached. Initially the women wore longer skirt because they wanted to hide that they couldn't afford silk stockings like Vivian Tu mentioned in the video. During WWII (1940s), dress length rose to knee length because America had a period of full employment and maximized productivity during WWII. Continuing, 1950s and 1960s also experienced a period of overall flourishing economy with the rise of middle class and consumerism, and the dress length is right below the knee but not reaching the ankle. Skirt length continues to stay about knee length and become even shorter in 1970s all the way to the 2000s; despite the small recession in 1980s and stock market crash, the period from 1970s to the 2000s experienced an overall stable economy with low inflation rate. So overall this trend seemed consistent.
On the dictionary, trendy meant a very fashionable and up-to-date style. And it seems like the fashion indicators today are the fashion magazines such as Vogue, and influencer culture. Factors such as culture and weather also determine the fashion trends and styles; therefore, we know the hemline index is not universally applicable and could be inconsistent in some places.
Still, the hemline index works just fine in the American economy, at least for the last hundred years. Why? Overall, the American economy is a market economy; while there are government regulations (the Federal Reserve) moderating the economy to some extent, the economy still has room to grow on its own based on people's activities in this economy. Not just the economy, the fashion culture in America for the last hundred years has also roamed freely without any specific dress codes for men or women. This allowed people to form their own trend.
After COVID, Maxi floral dresses became a new trend, contrasting with the bold and daring miniskirt fashion during the 2010s. Of course, the economy was still healing from the pandemic; with a lack of productivity in the economy at that time, gas prices and egg prices increased significantly, marking the start of inflation. Although economists say that inflation is nearly fixed, many young people struggle with affording things due to the high prices. People have to work extra hard.
Recently, the Fed declared that we are heading into a bear market, a market where products are losing their value. The return of conservatism in fashion, from a psychological standpoint, could represent people's wish to return to the days that symbolize financial stability after experiencing all the events that happened in the past few tumultuous years. Like Vivian said, people crave the symbolism of financial stability in their lives, and they use fashion to make up for their desire.
If you want to read more analysis on the economy or want me to review any similar video, DM me @businessnewsandmore on Instagram! I am looking forward to writing more short reviews.
Things to look forward to: an article on great depression, book reviews and recommendations, and collab (?)
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