Yumi Liu - Week 14: Better Fashion, Better Economy?
Some of you might remember my presentation on Kate Moss (if not, she's a supermodel). In my early stages of research, I wanted to mainly focus on her influence on fashion. During my deep dive into global fashion history, I found something fascinating.
Fashion theorists created something called the “hemline index.” The hemline index basically suggests that the higher up the hemlines of women’s dresses are, the better the economy, and vice versa– the lower the hemline of women’s dresses, the worse the economy.
Let's take a look a real life example:
This could be reflective of how many economists today are claiming that the United States’ economy is going towards a recession. As we can see, I did a simple Google search of “2025 women fashion trends” and while there were one or two short skirts, many of the women were wearing long dresses.
If I do a Google search of the Roaring Twenties women’s fashion trend, as shown below, women are wearing knee length skirts. Maybe to us, in today’s society knee length skirts are absolutely nothing, maybe even a bit modest (in my opinion). However, to women during the 1920s showing their knees was considered scandalous. It was similar to a Victorian man seeing a woman's ankle for the first time.
Hi Yumi,
ReplyDeleteThe title of your blog caught my attention. I remember your presentation and it was amazing! Kate Moss is a really controversial person so it was really interesting to hear your take on her long lasting impacts on America. Also the word “economy” really caught my attention because of the ongoing tank that we’ve recently been suffering due to tariffs being slapped onto every country that Trump doesn’t like. I did my own research and this is such an interesting observation and you're absolutely right. Comparatively to when the economy was booming hemlines were done much higher up. But this year more conservative looks are back in style and this means that the economy will tank again; which is in line with all the news we’ve been receiving, but then again we’ve known that haven't we?
Hi Yumi! I’ve heard of the hemline index before, and I’ve always wanted to talk about the relationship between fashion, politics, and the economy—so thank you for bringing up this topic!
ReplyDeleteHemlines aren’t the only part of fashion that seems to change in correlation with the economy and political state of a country; so do heels and overall aesthetics. There’s a common notion that when the economy goes down, heels become higher. This can be observed in both the Great Depression of the 1920’s and 30’s, along with the 2008 recession and housing crisis; while none of us have lived through these unfortunate economic periods of American history, there has been talk about a potential recession since 2023. Even music and genres that pop music covers these days seem to resemble those of the 2008 recession. A good example of such is Charli XCX’s Brat album in comparison to Britney Spears’ Blackout; as Julia pointed out in her POAS presentation, these electropop albums have major similarities; given their contextual landscapes as well, both of these albums are staples of what is now being called “recession pop.”
The clean girl aesthetic has been popularized on social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram for a while now; unfortunately, there’s been a strong correlation between this beauty trend and the rise of conservatism. This is because the “clean girl” aesthetic prioritized wellness culture—which, on the surface, is absolutely harmless. However, there’s a toxic pipeline that many, especially women in places of privilege, follow through wellness culture that lends itself to being against inclusivity and women’s rights. This video explains it much better than I can: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmtN-CupRLg; this one’s also a good watch about how the beauty industry affects women on a socio-economic level : https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=klz4L3bZJCo.
Hi Yumi!
ReplyDeleteI was scrolling on Instagram, and I got a reel which mentioned the same thing. The Hemline Index seems to be a definite correlation. However, correlation does not imply causation, so I wonder if the hemlines are a credible or consistent enough indicator of how the economy is. I saw the logic you mentioned relating it to conservative versus liberal beliefs, but I don't know if it's a complete enough explanation. As of now, however, it seems to be pretty accurate (any of you who are in Mr. Bullington’s MarketWatch mock stocks group knows how badly our portfolios are struggling). One theory I also saw was the glorification of office attire. The “office siren” aesthetic being popularized is everywhere. I see it all over social media: how to dress like an office siren, how to do makeup, which trendy character is the iconic office siren, all of that. This one actually had a reason which seemed to make sense; the theory behind it is when the economy is heading towards a recession or getting worse, work becomes a priority, since everyone is trying to survive economically. Therefore, office attire becomes more celebrated and trendy. I thought the topic you covered is genuinely so interesting, and the way you discussed it was funny and digestible.
Hi Yumi,
ReplyDeleteI like how you used your Person of American Significance as well as your interest in fashion to connect the simplicity of someone’s outfit to the complexity of the American market. I have a feeling that this connection is incredibly underlying, especially with all the main overshadowing reasons why the economy is either completely down or up. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this blog as it was ironic but really well planned out to prove your point. Great job!
Hi Yumi,
ReplyDeleteThis was such an interesting and unexpected connection between the economy and fashion! I didn't know what the hemline index was prior to this, but your description of it was so clear and easy to get. I loved how you didn't just stay on the surface connection, but went deeper as well into why people's values shift according to the economy—and how that could be what actually drives fashion. The way conservative fashion had been explained as reflecting conservative values in times of more tough economies really resonated. It's incredible how something as seemingly innocuous as a dress can capture such nuanced moods.