Wednesday, December 24, 2008

A love of nature keeps no factories busy

I went shopping in Edinburgh today amidst huge discount signs; everything is on sale already. Something about the abundance of clothes on the racks gives the shops an almost jumble sale feel, which I must admit fills me with torpor. I particularly resent the implication that consumers are somehow expected to spend our way out of the recession. Why is no one suggesting that it might be no bad thing for us to stop consuming? Before the crisis started to become inexorable Ben Bernanke said that "the main source of imbalance in the global economy was not excess spending at home but, rather, excess saving in China and other developing countries, where consumption was artificially low". This sort of self-deluding myopia is what caused all the trouble; and I am definitely liking neither the idea nor the reality of consumption at the moment. But nonetheless, in the kind of contradictory gesture I'm often guilty of, here are some more ideas for my trenchant critics to get their teeth into:


Alexander McQueen, from Net-a-Porter: sky high heels to make anyone feel good;


Issa, from Matches (something about the casual way they display the clothes is accessible and at the same time a bit downbeat); and


Vivienne Westwood from Net-a-Porter.

7 comments:

Anon Y Mouse said...

I think a new austerity would be good for everyone, paddling related purchases excepted.

& here’s to be wishing you a fantastic Christmas and excellent New Year. Thank you for all your interesting posts over 20008.

LottieP said...

Tell that to the rabid shoppers of Princes Street... Thank you for your kind comments and here's to the new Anon Y Mouse blog!

Anonymous said...

The sales started here yesterday and it was utter bedlam. According to those people who know these things, Kiwis spent more at this year's Boxing Day sales than in any previous years. So much for the recession!!!

Anna MR said...

Did you buy those shoes, Lottie? For they are really pretty gorgeous, although I have lost the ability to walk in stilettos. I blame my Hawai'ian year (spent in flip-flops) for that.

It's a weirdly two-fold thing about shopping and consuming and all that, isn't it? I did a brief stint into the sales today and felt like I didn't want to buy (or indeed, own) anything at all. The condition persisted, in a very acute fashion, well into the evening. Still, the sight of your lovely shoes there brings forth the question of "did you get them?" - clearly, there are always going to be a few things I wouldn't mind owning, even if I harbour fancies of becoming a non-consumerist nun, and to-die-for shoes look to be in that category.

LottieP said...

Hello, Anna. I didn't buy those, but I did buy these, just now, in the departure lounge at Heathrow Terminal 3. I find Alexander McQueen shoes beautiful but probably unwearable. And I already have shoes that meet that description. These, on the other hand, look conservative, but are actually very easy to wear, and I'll wear them to work.

Anna MR said...

Um. I'll not show you what I wear for work, then, Lottie - but imagine, if you please, a heavy-duty goretex lace-up boot, fit to cope with slush-up-to-your-armpits combined with sandpit sand and mud. Not saying that I wear such things, you understand - just suggesting you imagine such a pair.

LottieP said...

I can imagine, and it's no coincidence that I live somewhere where it never snows... and that I'm notorious for my inappropriate footwear.