Wise Ideas

Doctor's Orders?

You'll pardon me, but I'm going to veer off the marketing/media/advertising trail today because to be honest, I'm a little stunned after a visit to my doctor yesterday.

Everything's fine - which I suppose should actually be the headline. 

But as we were discussing my newly reached milestone (turning 50), the normal, female-related issues that come with age, and the five stress-related pounds I've gained in the past three months --she pinched my newly sprouted love handles and calmly said "you should consider liposuction."

WHOA!  You turn 50, gain a little weight that still puts you in the lower range of BMI for your age, height and weight --- and a primary care physician with YEARS of experience suggests liposuction?  Was she serious?  "I had a little done," she said smiling -- and then moved onto taking my blood pressure.  And that was the end of that.

The liposuction-bomb has had me reeling ever since.

When I got home, I immediately consulted Dr. Google and started my educational process on fat-sucking.  Within a half hour I had learned that there's a new, quicker, less painful and less invasive form of liposuction called SmartLipo or LaserLipo - which also reduces a patient's recovery time.  

I started reading testimonials by doctors and other plastic surgery "experts" on sites I'd never heard of before, like this one on MakeMeHeal.com:  "one of the disadvantages of (traditional liposuction) is its tendency to leave behind unattractive, loose skin. This is where Smartlipo, an innovative laser-assisted device, enters the playing field. It is also one of the reasons it is rapidly becoming the gold standard for the removal of unwanted body fat."

""Smartlipo works well as a standalone body contouring option, but it is also very effective when combined with traditional liposuction, a tummy tuck, or other cosmetic procedures," a Los Angeles plastic surgeon says in this PR release issued by his practice.  

And - if you can stomach it (pardon the pun) - you can read a "review" on RealSelf.com from a San Francisco woman who walks readers through her entire SmartLipo procedure including her recovery:  "I don't have much bruises on front and back, just 2 spots like quarter sizes. and they are mostly gone."  She posts "before and after" pictures to back her claims.

(FYI, since RealSelf is a review site, "76% say Smart Lipo was worth it.  24% say Smart Lipo was not worth it.")

According to this press release from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, over 10.2 million cosmetic surgical and nonsurgical procedures were performed in the United States in 2008. The most popular nonsurgical procedure was (not surprisingly) Botox injections.  But in the surgical category, there was a surprise.  For the first time since the ASAPS began keeping statistics, liposuction slipped to the second most popular cosmetic surgery - behind breast augmentations.

Liposuction has an excellent chance to regain it's Number One ranking however, as word spreads about SmartLipo, which is exactly what my doctor was doing today when she dropped the Lipo-bomb.  Not coincidentally, the offices next to hers are those of some high-end plastic surgeons.

Come to think of it, I guess I'm not as stunned by the suggestion as I thought, because as you can tell, I DID end up talking about marketing and advertising today. 

The Less 'Poo Movement

For six days, I gently nagged my son to "please wash your hair, and USE shampoo."  On the seventh day, my husband overheard and announced to my family that "shampooing daily is a media-driven habit and scientifically unnecessary" - thus destroying any chance I might have had to get my son into the shower to turn his now straw-like mangy locks into something resembling hair.

Damn you, NPR.  My husband had just heard Morning Edition's recent report that "when it comes to shampoo, less is more," crediting the "current trend of frequent shampooing" to a 1908 New York Times column "advising women that it was OK to wash their hair every two weeks." 

The report goes on to also blame/credit Proctor & Gamble and all its competitors with driving women to shampoo more often so their hair would look like Christie Brinkley's and Farah Fawcett's.  ""All you have to do is watch her running in slow motion on a beach with her hair flopping gracefully in the wind," Steve Meltzer, a former ad executive, tells NPR - and you'd be shampooing with that brand by nightfall.

My mom, who had long, thick, beautiful hair (that I was not genetically blessed with) - shampooed two, maybe three times a week.  My mother-in-law, also a post-WWII woman, is on the same shampooing schedule.  They unknowingly were following the advice of scientists and dermatologists, who say that washing hair frequently strips it of the natural oils it needs and actually damages it.

Whether recession-driven or ecologically-driven (less water, less plastic, less stuff washed down the drain), there is a movement afoot to shampoo less.  As you can tell by this lengthy discussion on The Consumerist blog, there are people who are firmly in the "there's a reason they call them dirty, filthy hippies" camp, and those who are more open-minded and have seen a positive difference in their hair health after reducing their shampooing habit. 

I'm pretty sure P&G is well aware of this growing trend, and if it's smart it's working on dry shampoos or shampoo bars to counter-act it. 

As for my kids - who are swimmers and therefore shower daily - I'm backing off the daily shampoo nagging....at least until they bring home next lice alert from school. And that's a whole other story.

The One About The Abs

First it was Michelle's arms.  Now it's "Elaine's" abs.  I did not see that coming.

As anyone who has stood in line at the grocery store check-out counter in recent days already knows --  Michelle Obama's rock-hard arms on the cover of Vogue are being challenged by the rock-hard abs of 48-year old Julia Louis-Dreyfus on the cover of Shape. 

My first thought - "who knew" - was quickly followed by remembrances of the Seinfeld years when "Elaine" wore tent dresses to hide her pregnant and post-pregnant body -- just like the rest of us middle-aged moms.  However -- those thoughts were even more rapidly followed by pangs of jealousy and the sad realization that my abs, regardless of how many hours I spend in the gym, will never, ever look like that.

Oh, "Elaine" --- what have you done!?  From beloved "every-girl funny-girl" to object of envy and resentment -- all during one trip to the grocery store. Not even the hint of a nipple on a Christmas card can repair the damage those abs have done to my image of you.

Not that the guys don't appreciate it.  "Sure, there's been some airbrushing, but at this point I'd like to welcome back my Elaine Benes crush," one obviously male write posts on TheSuperficial.com. 

Of course, in the age-old tradition of magazines like Women's Health and Shape, cover "models" dish on their health and fitness secrets.  In the April Shape, Julia/Elaine confesses to keeping chocolates in her desk drawer, admits that her "biggest food vice is bacon," and says she keeps healthy by spending a lot of time outdoors and shopping at local organic farmers’ markets.  If it were really that simple, all of us mothers-of-two would be walking around in belly shirts and low rise sorts. 

This would be hilarious material for a Seinfeld episode if it weren't so....so....frustratingly unrealistic for the millions of us 48-ish year old moms struggling to retain some semblance of our 30-something bodies. None of us ever expected to look like Madonna at age 50 --- but to look like Julia/Elaine?  That somehow seemed realistic - until now. 

The only thing that could make the resentment go away is for Julia/Elaine to come back down to earth by turning her cover photo into comedy -- maybe during the upcoming reunion appearances with her Seinfeld buddies on Curb Your Enthusiasm.  Reality-based comedy gold! 

Almost as "funny" as NYTimes Op-Ed-ster David Brooks comments about Michelle's biceps to fellow Op-Ed-stress Maureen Dowd.  “She’s made her point,” he said. “Now she should put away Thunder and Lightning.” 

On second thought - how about a show where Julie-and-her-abs and Michelle-and-her-biceps become super heroes in Spandex and save our country from economic and humorless disaster.   Oh, that's right...it's already happened in the Female Force comic book series. 

 (not that there's anything wrong with that). 

Right To Bear Arms

I'm getting quite a chuckle out of the discussion on numerous "respected" blogs about the buff-ness of Michelle Obama's "rippled and gleaming" arms (that's a quote from "The Caucus," The NYTimes's political blog). 

The WaPost's Fashion guru Robin Givhan described them as “Post-Title IX arms."  And Kate Holmquist of The Irish Times writes that Mrs. Obama's arms say 'I'm too serious a woman to show off my legs or my breasts,” which prompted NPR's Peter Sagal to jokingly note on this weekend's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me that not only are the First Lady's arm buff, but they can actually talk now.

The Michelle Arm Watch was already on high-alert following her husband's speech before the Joint Session of Congress, where she wore a sleeveless dress.  "“Oh my god,” Cindi Leive, the editor of Glamour magazine, emailed The Caucus blog.  "The First Lady has bare arms in Congress, in February, at night!”  (Doesn't she ever get cold?).

Then two days later, the White House released The First Lady's official portrait -- which is stunningly beautiful and features Mrs. Obama in a sleeveless sheath dress by designer Michael Kors.  The Wonkette blog calls the portrait "the latest proof that George W. Bush is gone and Barack Obama is president and we didn’t all just imagine this, on drugs."  Among the colorful comments on Wonkette is the one from "Say It With Wookies," who comments that "Thomas Jefferson’s totally looking at her ass."

As I said, the Michelle Arm Watch is very entertaining.  

But it wasn't until I was at the check-out stand at the grocery store last night that Michelle's arms just totally jumped out at me, from the cover of Vogue.

The four-pound March issue features numerous photos of the First Lady, taken by Annie Leibovitz (who had the good sense not to ask Michelle to pose luringly with just a blanket, as she did with Miley Cirus).  "With her long, lean, athletic frame, she moves as if she could have danced with Alvin Ailey in another life," Vogue gushes.  Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton she ain't!

But get a load of those guns, poking out from beneath her magenta dress.  Michelle Obama has launched an arms race all her own.  Just thumb through Vogue to the next "profile" in the issue, and you'll find Melinda Gates in a sleeveless red sheath.  Better let Bill fix himself and the kids dinner and put some more time in the gym, there, Melinda. 

Although the much-ado-about-arms frenzy is nothing more than a break from more serious business, it IS refreshing to see a fit and healthy mother/career gal in the White House.  It makes me believe that the hours I spend at the gym weekly are not selfishly spent "me" time, but rather a reflection of the value I put on exercise to maintain physical and mental health.

And you can bet sleeveless dresses would be flying off the racks --- if anyone was actually spending any money on clothes these days.  You're better off using the $$ for a gym membership -- and just waiting for summer to pull those tank tops out of the bottom of your drawers. 

Besides, who da every thunk we'd be getting arm toning advice from CNN?

Blame It On Barbie

It's hell sharing a birthday with a legendary superstar - especially one that doesn't appear to have aged in 50 years.  No, really....she hasn't aged in 50 years!

If you haven't heard by now, Barbie, the impossibly slender doll with freakish feet and bizarre bust and waist measurements, turns 50 years old this week.  And although our birthdays are one month apart - it's still hard not to compare myself with this inconoclastic piece of plastic.

The Barbie-turns-50 celebration got off to a fabulous start last week in New York during Fashion Week, when 50 top designers including Tommy Hilfiger, Diane von Furstenburg, Kenneth Cole, Anna Shui and Baby Phat dressed blond ponytailed models up in clothes created for specifically for the doll, and pranced them out on the catwalk to Aqua's "I'm a Barbie girl, in the Barbie world, Life in plastic, it's fantastic."

The effect, shall we say, was really a little unsettling, as was the audience commentary.   "She's the first Botox bitch," America's Next Top Model judge J. Alexander tells E!Online News. "I think she looks absolutely great. [In fashion], she's proof that you can make everything look great 50 years later."

This is what we real women have to compete with?!  

Given that, as Mattel claims, 90 percent of all girls between the ages of 3 and 10 currently own a Barbie, and God know how many of us through the years had at least one Barbie -- that's a lot of image influencing on female minds and bodies.

It's no wonder that back in 1997, a San Francisco Examiner writer coined the term "Barbie Syndrome," which is defined by Wikipedia as "a term used to loosely describe the desire to have a physical appearance and lifestyle representative of the famous Barbie doll."

Barbie Syndrome most offer refers to young girls.  But since she's been around for 50 years now, there's no telling how much psychic damage Barbie has left in her wake.  And it's not just Barbie's eternally youthful skin and figure, but her out-of-this-world "accomplishments" as well.  108 careers (from doctor, to vet to presidential candidate), 50 pets, and a 43-year long on-again-off-again relationship with one man - Ken.

That's one hard doll to live up to. It's no wonder people enjoy messing with Barbie's perfect image by creating their own versions -- a past time being celebrated this week by listeners and readers of NPR's Soapbox blog, under the headline "Public Radio Barbie."

However, if you dig deep into Barbie's bio --- there is one thing all her youth, beauty, and job-getting skills have not brought her -- but which a vast majority of 50 year old women have.

A family. 

Take that, Barbie.  Who's gonna love and take care of you when you get old?  Even if you will never look a day over 23. 

Reality is the New Black

Fashion Week in New York is wrapping up today.  Paper-thin models are wiping the smudged mascara off their raccoon-like eyes, splurging on a saltine cracker, folding themselves into their carry-on suitcases and flying over the pond to London to prance on its catwalks next week.

Designers, meantime, are popping champagne and/or anti-depressants (or both) over reviews of their Fall 2009 lines put on display this past week. 

Marc Jacobs "took his wild designing ways to the limit with a procession of bold and outrageous pieces," Fox News gushes.  "Distinguishing this presentation from all the rest was the fact that each model rocked a different coif with mohawks, flips, crimps, and bouffants all configured differently but with the same underlying reference point."

Justin Timberlake made his Fashion Week debut as a designer at the William Rast collection, which as E!Online reports, "draws upon inspiration from the American Classic Movies of Rumble Fish and Thelma & Louise...Blended with sharp tailoring, featuring strong, confident shoulders and slimming silhouettes, the collection expresses a bold direction for New America."

Paris Hilton was texting in the front row, Victoria Beckham showed her second collection, and back-from-the-dead actor/proven slob Mickey Rourke eyed Domenico Vacco's show from behind sunglasses. 

But despite the typical other-worldliness of Fashion Week, it seems designers have been brought back to earth by the crashing economy and its devastating effect on retail sales.  Bottom line?  There were things actually seen on the runways at Fashion Week that you might actually buy and wear. 

"The recession has made the industry leaner. It’s put the claimers on notice, and it’s made designers more responsible," The NYTimes proclaims today.  "If all this seriousness keeps up, there may not be any more exciting fashion, but, for now, there are some very good clothes."

“Gone are frilly frocks and girly high-waists and in their place are business-like designs that give professional women plenty of wearable choices,” Reuters reports.  "There's a longevity to buying a classic piece," according to Gaby Basora, a founder of the Tucker line of patterned silk blouses. “Longevity?”  “Professional women?”  Since when are those buzz words among fashionistas? 

Since reality became the new black.

For some designers, that reality is a metallic and black look that makes the wearer look as if she’s stepping out the door to do battle with the Evil Economy.  “Tough clothes for tough times,” as The Today Show put it.  “Narciso Rodriguez was among the designers…with an urban warrior theme that featured exposed zipper details, ‘camouflage lace’ and heavily hardwared belts that looked like they were holding bullets,” according to the AP. 

Yes, Narciso Rodriquez was the designer behind Michelle Obama’s black and fireworks red dress worn the night her husband won the presidency.  Which, besides the country’s cratering economy, brings us to the other primary reason why fashion is so reality-based this season:  Michelle Obama.

“Young designers are looking to Michelle Obama for their own stimulus package” Matt Lauer reports, trying to catch the First Lady's eye and launch their own careers.  And as we all know by now – Michelle wears real clothes – even when she’s dressing for a ball.

So it takes a near-Depression for designers to discover real women.  Now - if they let those poor girls on the catwalk gain a little weight, comb their hair, and wipe off all that mascara from under their eyes – maybe we’ll actually consider buying something. 

A New Wrinkle In the Economy

I am currently sporting what I call the "Recession Do:"  bangs hanging in my eyes, surrounded by limp, lifeless hair that hasn't seen a stylist's scissors in 8 months.

I was never one to rush to the hair guy's place every six weeks to get my hair done. But in the good ol' pre-recession days (that would have been last year), I did schedule an appointment quarterly or so.  These days, my hair is suffering from a case of economically-caused deferred maintenance. 

Usually, the term "deferred maintenance" refers to crumbling government infrastructure or, on a smaller scale, home repairs or car service that you've put off for one reason or another.  And while I'm certain there's a lot of that going on these days --- personal deferred maintenance is on the rise, as well.   Just ask any woman.

I mentioned this amongst some friends recently...and everyone chimed in with their own deferred maintenance diatribe.  This particular group of school moms had stopped getting manis or pedis long ago.  They've ceased coloring or highlighting their hair, and like me, put off cuts, trims or styles.  The sacrifices by moms nationwide goes much more than skin deep, as you can read here in The NYTimes.  But for the purposes of this post, let's just stick to beauty basics.

Out of financial necessity, long, unkempt "natural" hair is the new hip style.  As public radio reporter Renita Jablonski said recently on Marketplace, "dark roots are 'in' this season....I swear I heard that somewhere." 

Stylists have been chatting amongst themselves about the downturn on SalonGeek.com, sharing ideas about how to lure all of us back into their twirly chairs.  As Marketplace reports, one Beverly Hills salon owner has started holding monthly "Blow-Out" classes to teach customers how to blow-dry and style their hair themselves.  However, at $70 a class, it's no wonder high-end salons are losing business -- while SuperCuts is one of the only salons actually hiring!

Before the bottom dropped out of the stock market and the government came down with bail-out fever, there was talk in the (still male dominated) business press that the beauty industry was recession proof.  As The NYTimes reported, lipstick has always sold well in times of economic stress, because it was the one beauty item women could afford to treat themselves to. But frugal women are even frowning upon lipstick this season - choosing instead to spend their money on the more popular and less costly lip glosses.

“2009 will be all about survival of the fittest in the beauty industry" says Nica Lewis of Mintel Beauty Inovation, which recently released its predictions for the beauty business.  "Consumers are going to demand real value for money as well as visible results, and they will stick to the select number of brands they can truly trust."  

But there's something else women are sticking to, come hell or high water.  According to marketing trend tracker NPD Group, sales of high-end skincare brands actually increased the first half of 2008, with products costing more than $70 up 8%, and those costing more than $150 up 21%. "Women are not walking away from products that they love," NPD Group's Karen Grant tells Brandweek.

And therein lies the dirty little secret behind deferred maintenance. Because while I - and many other women - have saved money by not getting regular haircuts, not buying new nail polishes, not buying new clothes or shoes, and not treating ourselves to any spa-like pampering of any kind --- we have NOT stopped buying wrinkle creams.

No recession is going to get in the way of our battle against the aging process.   Our faces are valuable assets, and preserving them is a wise investment.  At least that's what we tell ourselves as we plunk down $60 for a 4 ounce container of Hope in a Jar.

Because if there's one thing we women-of-a-certain-age fear more than bread lines, it's smile lines.

Easy, Breezy, Picture Day '08

It's Picture Day 2008.  And even though I won't see my kid's school pictures for weeks -- I can already tell you it was a successful Picture Day solely because my daughter picked a dress and shoes, styled her hair, covered up the ouwie on her face with a tiny splosh of make-up, and made it out of the house without shedding a single tear.  Quite an accomplishment.  I pray her picture turns out as well.

Picture Day always conjures up uncomfortable memories of all the bad pictures taken of me during my school years.  I take solace in the fact that It's a common experience we all share.  Who doesn't remember the wallet-sized 6th and 7th grade pictures of themselves sporting octagon-framed glasses, braces and stringy hair?  Or the year your face was one big zit.

Last year on Picture Day, I posted a blog about how school pictures are just the beginning of appearance issues that dog women all their lives.  At the time, I noted that "like many women, instead of comparing photos of myself to comparable photos of friends, I find myself comparing them to photos I see of similar-aged celebrities in magazines," like those in More, the L'Oreal ads or even the Dove Pro-Age Real Women campaign.  

"As much as advertisers want their ads to reflect their target markets -- women like myself need to face facts and acknowledge that no matter how good the shampoo, how beautiful the fashion or how technologically advanced the wrinkle cream...we will NOT look as good as the women in those ads, unless we spend $20K on a photo re-toucher," I wrote back then.

Fast forward to 2008 --- and the big news in the beauty industry is who Procter and Gamble Cosmetics has chosen as the face of its next big advertising campaign.  In case you missed it -- the 2008 CoverGirl is Ellen....as in Ellen DeGeneres.

And to that I say - brilliant!

"Ms. DeGeneres appeals to consumers who are looking not so much for a role model as a woman they can relate to both physically and emotionally,” P&G V.P. Esi Eggleston Bracey tells The NYTimes. You may question what you actually have in common with a wealthy 50-year old talk show host/comedienne who's been the star of a successful sitcom, shills for American Express, and is a high-profile lesbian. 

That is, you may question the connection until you take the "celebrity" out of Ellen's life and focus on where she's been, how she's re-invented herself and how comfortable she seems to be in her own skin these days...and then you get it. Or as CoverGirl's new tag line goes, "Easy, Breezy, Beautiful...Ellen."

As the personal and consumer finance website Wallet Pop points out, "she is not the first person you'd think of when you think about glamor," but to me, that's precisely the point.  We women-of-a-certain-age aren't looking for glamor OR role models.  We're more intrigued by women who we feel share similar life experiences (failed relationships, family issues, career ups-and-downs), and survival stories.  Women who can look back and laugh.

Like laughing at our old school pictures.  And while I'll bet Christie Brinkley and Andi McDowell looked gorgeous even in their yearbook pictures, my guess is that Ellen felt the exact same way I did on picture day:  uncomfortable and dorky.  Which is exactly why she makes the perfect new CoverGirl.

'Spose she could use some octagon-framed glasses?

Fashion Faux Pas

It's Fashion Week in New York!  The week where the kookiest outfits ever invented are worn by paper-thin raccoon-eyed models walking side-by-side down the runway with models wearing clothing you or I might even buy - if we didn't need to feed and cloth our families first.

The whole fashion scene seems to operate in a parallel universe.  A place where inhabitants are obsessed with setting trends and designing clothing that reflect "the times," and which are meant to - eventually - trickle down to us real folk.  But come on, people.  Are you really going to shell out a year's worth of after-school tuition to wear stuff like this?

Although there was a time in my life when I actually subscribed to Vogue and bought designer duds - I have become the epitome of anti-fashion.  Motherhood is partially, but not entirely to blame.  Age, common sense, a need for comfort, a desire to appear as who I am, not who I fantasize I want to be, and most importantly - a budget which has better things to buy - also come into play.  Besides, what woman in her right mind, mother or other, would actually wear this Spongebob mini or coyote-head hat. 

Admittedly, I get a good chuckle looking at what's on the runways at during Fashion week.  My life is so far displaced from what's being text-ed live from this week's shows.  Alerts like: "At Isaac Mizrahi, flashes of fluorescent. Loved the beetle print suit and flou lingerie peeking out under gowns."  No wonder Mizrahi left Target for Liz Claiborne last January.  I'm betting fluorescent beetle print suits would probably rot on the racks at Target. 

Meantime,Target, minus Mizrahi, is making news this week by opening four so-called "pop-up" stores around New York City.  The stores, called "Bullseye Bodegas," will be selling fall merchandise by 22 of its name designers.  "New York is the place you go to get noticed," Target executive V.P. Kathee Tesija tells The NYTimes. Incidentally, The NYTimes noticed this week that the clothing stores doing boffo business these days are thrift shops.  It seems the designs that are flying off the racks these days are doing so not because of their style, but because of their cut-rate price. 

However, it was The "Pulse" section of Sunday's NYTimes which really caught my eye with the headline:  "50 Ways to Rock the P.T.A."  Having (correctly) assumed they didn't mean bombarding the P.T.A. with fundraising ideas or suggestions on how to limit meetings to three hours --- I learned that the Times' idea of "rocking" the P.T.A. is by wearing a "military style wool jacket inspired by Francoise Hardy."

First of all, I had to look up Francoise Hardy on Wikipedia to discover she's a French singer, actress and astrologer "who is an iconic figure in fashion, music and style."  Who knew.  Second of all, the military jacket was designed by Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, who has launched a clothing line called Mirror/Dash because, as Gordon puts it, "there's a need for clothes for cool moms." 

The Times' "Pulse" blurb features a photo of Gordon modeling her "cool mom" jacket.  Besides appearing like someone evil out of an old WWII movie - a look not many moms I know are after - it looks damn uncomfortable.  And wool?  You gotta be kidding me.  After wondering who made Gordon the arbiter of "cool" for moms, I learned that only a limited-edition number of 50 jackets will be sold for now.  Each costs $415 and are only available at the oh-so-hip Satine boutique in L.A. 

The jacket - along with more wonderful designer clothes for "cool moms," will also be available on a new website, mirror-dash.com, which as of post-time for this blog, wasn't online yet.  As you can probably tell, I'm not holding my breath waiting for mirror-dash.com.

However, there is another mom grabbing headlines at Fashion Week:  41-year old Olympic swimmer (and model) Dara Torres...who "modeled two looks for the Sunday afternoon presentation of Charles Nolan's spring collection at the designer's Chelsea studio," according to China Daily.

Now there's a cool mom.  I guess a faux military jacket isn't needed when you've got a couple of real medals hanging around your neck.

Have a good weekend.

Thrift Drift

If clothing retailers are wondering where all their customers have gone, they should check the consignment and reseller stores.  Thrift drift is in full swing.

It's no longer news that the bottom is falling out of the retail industry due to the crappy economy.  Every month the feds release increasingly dismal retail sales figures, especially for luxury and mid-level clothing stores like Sak's, Macy's and Nordstrom (read my "Half Yearly Blues" post).

And although the May numbers weren't as dreary as many expected, with people apparently using their economic stimulus checks to buy new threads....if you read behind the statistics here at CNNMoney.com, you'll find that the type of retailers which are seeing increases sales are deep discounters such as Wal-Mart, Costco and Sam's Club.

However, if you take yet another step down the retail chain ladder and visit your neighborhood thrift shop, you'll find even more shopping refugees running the racks. 

During a visit last week to my favorite thrift shop, I was surprised by how much the clientele has changed.  Usually, I find myself pawing through the racks with people half my age who are struggling to get through the nearby UCSF Medical School.   But the crowd this time around looked substantially older (like me), well-heeled, and frankly - a little embarrassed to be shopping in a thrift store.  But you can't beat the bargains.  And in these troubled times, good price is apparently trumping the "I wouldn't be caught dead in a thrift store" concern.

And this isn't just one of those San Francisco hippie trends.  "There's just an influx of customers coming into retail thrift stores for the first time, who are becoming more cautious in their spending," Adele Meyer, executive director of the National Association of Resale & Thrift Shops told The Lancaster (Ohio) Eagle Gazette, which recently ran a story about the increased traffic in local thrift shops. 

In sharp contrast to regular retailers who are curbing expansion plans and cutting inventory and staff, resale stores, which include more than 25,000 thrift and consignment businesses, are growing at a five-percent annual rate according to the National Association of Resale & Thrift Shops.

The San Diego Union Tribune points out that the new crowd shopping the thrifts is an "eclectic" group of shoppers that includes newbies trying to save money, fashionistas looking for cheap designer goods, and "green shoppers who want to protect the environment by buying recycled goods."

Even prior to the downturn, the resale business was a multi-billion dollar industry, lead by Goodwill which generates nearly $2 billion a year from its 2,000+ non-profit stores. It's a win-win for everyone....that is, if you're NOT in the upper levels of the retail sales industry.

I mean, where else can you get some hip t-shirts and broken-in (not pre-washed...there's a difference) jeans for under $20 bucks?  

See you at the thrift store.