Luxury in the Face of Gloom
I gave up cable at the end of last year when we moved. On top of it seeming too expensive for what it is, I was also beginning to feel overwhelmed by all of the programs my DVR had waiting for me every time I turned it on. It was like having another dog, always eager to have me home, and dying to play with me. Watching network TV has its own problems (commercials, nothing on), but it's also brought public television specials back into my life.
And so it was earlier this week that I caught an interesting documentary on Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubenstein, "The Powder and the Glory". The story of these two women couldn't have come at a better time, when luxury goods manufacturers are struggling to figure out how to remain relevant to consumers. Both women made their fortunes primarily during the Depression years, and made those fortunes by realizing that people didn't stop desiring nice things when bad times hit. In fact, the inability to afford new clothes and other more expensive items channeled all of that desire into the smaller, more affordable "luxury" cosmetics peddled by the two brands. Were you a pretty, landed, blue-blooded Arden girl, or were you the urban, stylish Rubenstein gal? Either way, it just cost a few dollars to buy into the dream. A similar marketing strategy has worked for many of the current luxury goods companies, allowing consumers to buy into the lifestyle with the purchase of a handbag rather than a season's worth of clothes.
The documentary got me to thinking a lot this week about concept of the "Little Luxury", and how that could translate today. At first, I wasn't inclined to believe that we'd see another cosmetics boom. Makeup, after all, is far more common these days, and it's hard to imagine women putting that much more makeup on just because of a recession. But then I started thinking about the other avenues of cosmetics marketing -- the anti-ageing serums, the teeth whiteners, the pore shrinkers. Could Creme de la Mer and Strivectin sales be on their way up? After all, stress takes it toll, but you most certainly don't want it to show in your interview for that new job. And what other small pleasures, outside of the cosmetics realm, might enjoy a similar surge in popularity? I'm on the lookout.
I gave up cable at the end of last year when we moved. On top of it seeming too expensive for what it is, I was also beginning to feel overwhelmed by all of the programs my DVR had waiting for me every time I turned it on. It was like having another dog, always eager to have me home, and dying to play with me. Watching network TV has its own problems (commercials, nothing on), but it's also brought public television specials back into my life.
And so it was earlier this week that I caught an interesting documentary on Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubenstein, "The Powder and the Glory". The story of these two women couldn't have come at a better time, when luxury goods manufacturers are struggling to figure out how to remain relevant to consumers. Both women made their fortunes primarily during the Depression years, and made those fortunes by realizing that people didn't stop desiring nice things when bad times hit. In fact, the inability to afford new clothes and other more expensive items channeled all of that desire into the smaller, more affordable "luxury" cosmetics peddled by the two brands. Were you a pretty, landed, blue-blooded Arden girl, or were you the urban, stylish Rubenstein gal? Either way, it just cost a few dollars to buy into the dream. A similar marketing strategy has worked for many of the current luxury goods companies, allowing consumers to buy into the lifestyle with the purchase of a handbag rather than a season's worth of clothes.
The documentary got me to thinking a lot this week about concept of the "Little Luxury", and how that could translate today. At first, I wasn't inclined to believe that we'd see another cosmetics boom. Makeup, after all, is far more common these days, and it's hard to imagine women putting that much more makeup on just because of a recession. But then I started thinking about the other avenues of cosmetics marketing -- the anti-ageing serums, the teeth whiteners, the pore shrinkers. Could Creme de la Mer and Strivectin sales be on their way up? After all, stress takes it toll, but you most certainly don't want it to show in your interview for that new job. And what other small pleasures, outside of the cosmetics realm, might enjoy a similar surge in popularity? I'm on the lookout.
posted by Chris at 2:13 PM
5 Comments:
Since you read the Times, I'm guessing that you saw the article last week about candy sales skyrocketing -- particularly nostalgia candy such as Tootsie Rolls, Bit-o-Honey and Necco Wafers. Apparently the depression (um, I mean the first depression) was a boomtime for candy too, and a lot of those candy companies were started in the early thirties.
I guess Tootsie Rolls don't count as luxury, so maybe this is a slightly different phenomenon than the Arden and Rubenstein history, but it seems like the same impulse: people feel pessimistic about being about to afford the things they really want or need, like a nice house or a new car or a nice wardrobe, so they make themselves feel better by splurging on the small pleasures that they can afford, like makeup, or comfort candy that they remember from their childhood...
I didn't see the article; thanks for pointing it out! I think you're right in seeing the similarities between the purchases. In the face of all of these 30s parallels, I keep waiting for the cinema revival. Instead, all I get is the closure of the Parkway.
Maybe this time, the internet will fill the need for cheap entertainment the way cinema and radio did the first time around. As befits the technology and ethos of our age, maybe we'll all have private, atomized great depressions in front of our computer screens instead of a shared great depression in movie palaces.
Nice blog, by the way! As a fashion ignoramus, I like getting the vicarious window into what that world's all about.
I'm glad you like the blog. The ease with which you began yours was one of the main things that inspired me to resuscitate it. Now I'm thinking that maybe you shouldn't have made it seem so easy -- writing's hard!!
Ease?! It's nice to hear that it seemed easy from the outside, but I spent a long time contemplating it before I took the plunge, and three months later I still labor and worry over a lot of the posts, probably more than I should. It is hard! But it's been fun, too.
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