Hands Up Not Handouts' mission is to help empower impoverished women by helping them market and sell their handcrafted goods. Bonus? The bracelets coming out of these Palestine and Rwanda-based women run cooperatives are totally rad.
"The term "Leading Lipstick Indicator" was coined by Leonard Lauder (chairman of Estee Lauder), who consistently found that during tough economic times, his lipstick sales went up. Believe it or not, the indicator has been quite a reliable signal of consumer attitudes over the years. For example, in the months following the September 11 terrorist attacks, lipstick sales doubled." -Investopedia
Three sorts of products sell robustly during tough times, said Lou Crandall, the chief economist at Wrightson ICAP, an independent research firm.
The first is what economists call traditional inferior goods, what people have to buy when they can no longer afford their favorites. If you’re a salmon lover eating tuna casserole, you’re chewing on inferior goods.
Lipsticks aren’t inferior goods, economists say, but they could be small indulgences, an inexpensive treat meant to substitute for a bigger-ticket item. Or lipsticks could also be morale boosters, like Charlie Chaplin films were during the Depression. A warm shade that perfectly matches your skin tone might make you forget how far your 401(k) has tanked.
April Lane Benson, a psychologist in Manhattan who works with compulsive spenders, said there are two reasons why women would want lip color more than other affordable pleasures. Lipstick can be applied as many times a day as you’d like. “It’s very primal,” Dr. Benson said. “The mouth is an organ of so much pleasure. Kissing is what you do with your lips.”
Lipstick also helps a woman look poised, even when her bank account is overdrawn. “When women use lipstick in times of stress,” Dr. Benson said, “they’re doing it to put forward an image that they are more alive and more vibrant, and not as down in the mouth. It’s part of the uniform of desirability and attractiveness. A shirt or a cup of gelato is much farther removed from that.” - NYT, May 2008
I'm really fascinated with how the financial crisis will affect fashion trends in the upcoming years. It seems like people will turn to functionality, so skirts will be longer and shoes will be more practical. But it seems like people wont want to see grim dark colors. They'll want bright, vibrant colors and prints and patterns. Guess we'll see ...
"The Victorians kept lockets of hair and miniature portraits painted with ground hair and pigment to secure the memory of a lost love. In much the same way, I secure my memories through photographic images rendered in lines of my own hair, the physical remnants. I do not reproduce events, but quiet minutes, the mundane, the domestic, the ordinary moments."
I greedily want every single piece (minus the oversized heart purse) from Erin Fetherston's new collaboration with Target. Luckily I'm certain most everything will be laughably too short on me. Still like to dream though... 
