Marketplace Scratch Pad

What you care to wear

Scott Jagow Oct 1, 2009

It’s Paris fashion week, which normally doesn’t make my top 100 things to care about because I don’t know anyone who wears outfits like this. But we had the guy from Project Runway on the air this morning, and he talked about things most of us can relate to.

Host Steve Chiotakis asked Tim Gunn what people are adding to their closets these days. Gunn said the best-selling clothes are items that have a long shelf life and aren’t “unitaskers.” So, blazers are good because men and women can wear them as both business and casual, with skirts and slacks and with jeans, for example. On the other hand, I suppose leather pants aren’t selling very well.

For a haute fashion guy, he also made this surprisingly grounded statement:

I think it’s going to be awhile before people going all-out again. When we come out of this, I think it will be with a huge sigh of relief and people will be moving forward cautiously. At least I hope that they will. Because I do think that there’s a silver lining to this, and a recalibration of thinking about what we buy and what these items mean to us.

I’ve cut way back on clothes spending myself. I’ve been going through stacks of old clothes and have found quite a few items I’ve rarely worn or that look new to me now. I love that.

What about you? What’s your approach to clothes at the moment?

And here’s an extended version of this morning’s interview:

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