And Maybe Soup Lines Will Become the New Haute Cuisine

Recently we noted that a popular kid’s movie, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, was set during the Great Depression and had a very topical theme: Bank foreclosures and people struggling to keep their homes. Now clothing styles also are beginning to reflect hard times. Depression-era chic is in, reports the New York Post. Here’s the look:

Taking a cue from the grim economy, this fall’s fashions at Banana Republic, Gap and H&M are featuring a distinctly Depression-era trend of cloche hats, pencil skirts, conductor caps and baggy, vintage-style dresses. One of the most popular styles appears to hark back to the impish, newsboy getup of the 1930s: baggy trousers, caps, pinstriped vests, oxford lace-up shoes and utilitarian handbags. “We associate the newsboy look with urban poverty – street kids of the 1930s,” said Daniel James Cole, a professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology. “Given that we’re in an unstable economy and an uncertain political landscape, it’s possible that a retro style has come back as a way to connect with our heritage.”

The Post calls it all “A Touch of Crash.”