What Can Women's Heels Tell Us About the Recovery of the Global Economy?

Have you been trying to figure out whether the global economy is near the recovery phase or not? You are certainly not alone.

Even though the coronavirus pandemic has not been fully controlled yet, rolling out vaccines across the world has inspired a restrained sense of tranquility, especially as we continue to see the world slowly getting back in order and businesses resuming activities as close to usual as possible.

Trying to learn whether the world is overcoming an economic crisis or not yet, we are looking back at indicators that had helped experts decide whether or not the economy was heading up again or not.

Typical measures that were usually studied to determine the health of a certain economy such as GDP, unemployment, and inflation rates, in addition to market performance can actually help in providing a clearer picture of where the economy is going.

However, researchers have for years turned to less known trends to learn more about the economic performance traced during major economic shocks. Experts have noted that women's fashion, in particular, tends to provide a good indicator of how healthy an economy is.

For example, during the 1920s depression, heel heights were found to be connected to how bad or good people felt about their lives, reflecting how the economy was doing. Women's attire noticed a greater demand for higher heels during the Great Depression era, one that started to fade away as the economy recovered.

A similar obsession with heels was noticed following the 2008 crash, one that ended with the emergence of much shorter kitten heels.

Moreover, lipstick sales soared significantly during the 1920s and 1930s, as women turned to buy lipstick in gestures to make themselves feel better about their lives until the financial crisis was over. The same phenomena were traced following the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

The high heels effect has been also felt in Valentino's latest couture Spring 2021 collection, as it featured exceptionally towering high heels, providing extra validation for the theory.

Influenced by the nature of the 2020 crisis which has forced millions of people to stay at home for weeks and even months, sales of PJs and comfy loungewear have unsurprisingly been soaring in different countries around the world, as per retailers data. According to Adobe Analytics, sales of pajamas in the US have jumped by 143% during the first months of quarantine.

So far, retailers have not yet revealed whether PJs are as popular as they were in March and April, but economic researchers might be on the hunt for this information to learn more about whether or not the economy is going to improve soon.

Which other women's fashion indicator is now pointing at an approaching economic recovery following the COVID19 pandemic?