Last month, Andy Bond, the Chief Executive of UK food and clothing superstore Asda said:
We are moving into an area of the frivolous being unacceptable and the frugal being cool.
Now Bond may have been thinking of his share options - not just consumer trends - but similar messages are emerging all over the place.
At Dazed Digital, there's Sunshine Caulkner (15), a new devotee of 1940s evacuee style in a picture by Michael Thomas Jones:
And Sunshine thinks
There’s definitely some satisfaction to be found in making a meal out
of some leeks, some potatoes, some stale bread and a cup of water, or
knitting a scarf and wearing it until it falls apart.
Over at Dwell, there's an appointment to view metals broker S.J. Sherbanuk's house in Blue Mountains, northwest of Toronto:
New steel and concrete is faux-bodged(not) together with used I-beams and recycled hardwood to create what's called
a dream home...of irregularly shaped "sheds".
Now all of this is starting to make the Saltersgill allotment gardens in Middlesbrough, North East England that Debra Solomon of Culiblog and me visited back in 2007 look way ahead of the curve.
And turn Sid, the owner of one allotment, in to an important early adopter.
But more than that.
For as the market capitalisation of banks has shrunk from $8,540bn in August 2007 to $3,586bn in January 2009, frugal 1940s-House culture has definitely seeped in to the culture.
Know why I know?
Because Louis Vuitton is now promoting pre-Fall 2009 and showing...
...Pop-socks!
Welcome to the frugal world of Doom.
With more Vuitton at Spintos Guru here. More houses made from trash at luxury realtor International Listings here. And an application form for Saltersgill Allotments here.
Photography: Old Money Wanted by shpank. Sunshine Caulkner courtesy of DazedDigital.com. Scrap House by Lorne Bridgman.
