Fashion and the Recession

I've been trying to predict a bit how the recession and fashion will interact, and have been thinking that two factors would prevail- austerity (with luxury still there, just quietly, in the details) and escapism/fantasy. Style.com has a feature called "The Cool and the Crazy," looking at how runway trends for Fall 09 have seemed to go in one of those two directions: "[Designers] either strip things down to the essentials and concentrate on core values, or they throw caution to the wind and go deliriously wild."

Fun to look at, but a little disappointing. Frankly, none of the design choices are particularly surprising considering the designers who made them- more traditional designers for the "Trad" features, and bolder ones for the "Rad" pieces. Also, watch out for a particularly snotty comment about "Rad" model Lara Stone. I have a difficult time taking catty journalism seriously. Ick.

Have you noticed these trends surfacing in fashion? Do you see other relationships between fashion and the recession?

This weekend I'm going to visit some wonderful shops and a fabulous milliner in the French Quarter. I'll report back next week!