Glossies Introduce New Lingo to Survive Recession

It’s been a rough few months for fashion rags. They’ve suffered drastic drops in advertising in addition to sparking increasingly grim speculations regarding the print industry’s shrinking shelf-life. Not to mention Cathy Horyn kicking Vogue when it was down, as well as the many rags that have already met their demise. So what’s a glossy to do? “Do they soldier blindly forward, providing economically depressed readers with the printed equivalent of Busby Berkeley movies and the Ziegfeld Follies? Do they break the bad news swiftly, advising readers on how to rearrange their lives? Or do they gingerly attempt a journalistic triple axel: simultaneously delivering dank reality, aspirational fantasy and useful analysis of what it all means?” asks Salon.

Well, if a look at what’s hit the newsstands post the new year is any indication, glossies are quite sure just how to navigate this tricky uncharted terrain. As magazines like Elle and Vogue attempt to make good despite the monetary challenges their readers may face, a new sartorial way of speaking is introduced. According to the Guardian, some of the hottest new phrases pouring from glossies’ collective lips are “investment purchase,” “recessionista bags,” “vintage,” and “crisis chic.” Salon adds the tried-and-true “shopping your closet.” But while the lingo may have changed, the challenges themselves still have yet to be resolved. “Shopping your closet” is as fresh a concept as eating leftovers, and about as appealing.