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WHERE SEX, LOVE, AND FASHION COLLIDE.
MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2009
Off With Their Heads.
Eighteenth century court records show that especially as it became clear just how dire France's economic situation was, Marie Antoinette's expenditures were far surpassed by other members of the court. Historians agree that the ill-fated queen never uttered the words, "Let them eat cake." Yet she is the one synonymous with an era of excess. She became the scapegoat for financial mistakes made before her marriage was even contracted. Her crime? A love of fashion.
Over two hundred years later, the press is gleefully chronicling the descent of a consulting firm on the Condé Nast building. The only thing that stands to be chopped is the budget, but the public is as anxious to see heads roll as the crowds that once gathered around the guillotine.
The fashion world is certainly subject to fantasy and whimsy, but it has been more grounded in reality than Wall Street in recent years. As extravagant as some of the expenses may have been, the profits were real, not inflated. And as much as some bloggers would like to contend that Anna Wintour and her ilk have lived in their own little world for far too long, and will finally pay for it, the powers that be at CN are simply being proactive in a changing industry. Perhaps higher-ups at recently bailed-out banks should take notes on how to run a business-and not into the ground.
In times of economic upheaval, people love to hate fashion. Spend $40,000 on a car, and you're a patriot. Spend half that on clothes, and you are a superficial nitwit, regardless of how many jobs those clothes support. In the past several years, investments were manipulated behind closed doors, and American families were deceived, one tiny piece of plastic at a time. Yet it's harder to put a face with the names of those in the finance sector; they disappear into a sea of suits. So once again, fashion takes the fall. Anna and her infamous sunglasses become as much a symbol of frivolity as did Marie and her powdered wig.
People do not spend their retirement funds on magazines. No tax dollars have gone to bail out the publishing industry; even in this time of decreasing ad revenues, they haven't been needed. So before we make the scapegoat coat en vogue once again, let's pause and consider where the problems and solutions in this country really lie.
