The Girls Aren't Shopping

is the recession indicator meme a self-fulfilling prophecy?

In honor of tax day, let’s talk spending and $.

In the past week, WSJ and Bloomberg both published warning signs on recession centering on younger women’s spending.

Are we surprised?

Here’s what the economic narrative is for women right now:

• Manosphere menacing for a future of forced housewifery, sexual duties and meek servitude.

• Tariff news alerts hijacking the nervous system and panic buying.

• Record number of Americans taking second jobs.

• Constant headlines of financial reckoning and crashing the market.

• Apps like Pickle introducing the idea of AirBnB for your closet, bypassing nuuly or RTR for an income stream (??)

  Posted this just for this post, not gonna lie:

  

If younger women continue to tighten their belts (consignment or thrifted, of course), it will have ripple effects for the economy and brands.

Salon Wind-Down Recession Indicator

See more roots on the street? Salon and spa owners say many are trading down or stretching out services to reduce spending—and cutting back on tipping. Not great for the female-heavy salon and beauty services categories.

MIRANDA McClellan predicting brown will be back, babe

That’s not all. The white-hot forever beauty industry is a slump, from Cerave to Drunk Elephant with Sephora sales -3% vs last year.

People can talk about the “little treat” economy but it’s slowing down—even supposedly recession proof dog treats are pulling back a bit.

One Nation Under Installments

BNPL is not just the Gen Z credit card, it’s used for everything from burritos to:

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“Looking poor could be the new flex.”

Shining a light on manufacturing impacts, increased social media fatigue and will-they-or-won’t they games of Chicken Jockey with tariff raises and Tiktok bans may have women asking themselves why they have been so primed to compare and despair on social media all these years.

As more people share ways to get by with less, shop less, stretch and save—this era may have the unintended consequence of America re-examining its steady landfill diet of buying cheap stuff as its primary form of self-care, therapy, identity and religion.

After all, MAGA pundits have been telling us just this since Tariff Roulette got going, re-baptizing its algorithm with the fire of “Spending More is Good for You”

Spiritually, this cleansing may be beneficial.
But economically… eh….

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Reminder: 10% of America is responsible for 50% of all consumer spending.

White collar work is not just being lambasted as dangerously feminizing and boring by the Jesse Watters types. It’s also having LOTS of layoffs.

As more actually good paying jobs are crushed via recession and/or AI, the fallout will be quick and perhaps not regained.

Women control 85% of consumer spending and young women without the cash and time suck of kids are marketing catnip.

Female marketers have been trying to use that stat to attract clients for years. Female founders cite it to claw away that 98% of funding that goes to men.

If women—especially young women—keep pulling back, it is not good for the brands many of us have worked in.

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Should Beauty Treatments be Tax Deductions?

If you have any sort of job in a beauty, style or youth related field: YES, obviously.

I wonder how many women would pull back on “tweakments” if compensation weren’t tied to looks. I’d argue for clothing deductions, too. Years ago I knew folks at some agencies that had clothing budgets.

Interesting discussion on the beauty as deduction.

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We Need to Talk about Bon Iver’s Merch Collabs

I’d like to take a moment to recognize the official death of Millennial Merch Era, which self-immolated with this set of brand collabs for Bon Iver’s new Album.

When I got to the fishwife, I laughed out loud. Motley Crue trashed hotel rooms so he could make margin on a charcuterie board.

Disappointed that Mr. Wisconsin didn’t ensure the salmon AT LEAST from Lake Superior or a Busch light kingkan redesign.

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When Anti-Beauty Anti-Diet Culture Feminist Writers Post Shopping Roundups, Is it a Diet? (I kid… I kid…)

Shopping round-ups—even if they’re pure voyeurism—are so ubiquitous. Because people open and click!

Folks were already talking about how consumerist the supposedly more erudite Substack world is becoming. Then this caught my eye this morning on the post of a feminist fat-activist writer I follow.

Featured photo: her recommended dress. Was there an affiliate link? I don’t know I only have the free sub.

I’m a voyeur too who loves a tip, so I read a lot of these too.

But there was a world (pre-Millennial) where this would have been considered as unthinkable as… well, a lot of everything else going on these days.

Chaos Times, baby. Burn the rule books to light your beef tallow candle for a money spell at the Prosperity Gospel psychedelic circle! All the old ideas are out and re-writable!

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She Works Hard for (Less) Money

Here is Kate Jgln’s great rundown of how women’s economic security gets harmed, but one stat is missing:

The gender wage gap disappears when you are comparing educated men and women under 35 without kids.

Hmm….

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Finally: Tone Deaf Trash.

We are in the “in between” where some brands and trends seem insanely out of step with where the world is going because, to be fair - the cataclysm was fast, messy and has many aftershocks. Again, this is why I didn’t bother with Expo West this year, I knew it would be a relic of mid-2024 and the before times. ¹

Kate Spade Trash Bags: Poorly Timed for Target, and I’m honestly surprised they didn’t pull them given all the pummelling they are still getting (while Wal-Mart and Whole Foods and Sephora skate by unscathed. why?)

10 for $15. oy.

Dear Readers: Please comment!

Are you shopping less?
Pulling back? On what?
Spending differently? How?
Planning an escape?
Not paying your taxes in protest? In procrastination?

Please share in the comments or DM me. So curious.
I’ve always had odd spending habits but I’m getting weirder than ever. I may start a chat and pray someone responds. xo

1. But humbly I had NO DAMN IDEA how insane it would get after March 4. I’m highly intuitive at least to the point of an 1-800 psychic - but I am NOT God!