Frugal living will be all the rage in 2009 - in part because most of us won't have any choice.

The struggling economy (actually, the economy's not struggling so much as we are struggling with it) will mean spending less will become fashionable, according to comments by several experts and prognosticators I compiled in this article for Thursday's dead-tree Tribune.

People will spend less on travel, entertainment, dining and even exercise. Those who can afford to spend more will actually pay lots of money to look like they're not spending money - because it will seem tacky to look indulgent.

Labels: economy, fashion

Ana Flores-Sahagun, 22, of Salt Lake City, put her Obama love into a form that would have made the "Project Runway" folks proud.

Flores-Sahagun, a communications/advertising major at the U. of U., made the dress out of signs from the Utah Obama headquarters.

Labels: Barack Obama, fashion, politics

Leave it to Victoria's Secret to miss completely the signs that there's a recession going on.

The lingerie company has teamed with jeweler Martin Katz to create "The Black Diamond Fantasy Miracle Bra," a $5 million piece of underwear featuring 3,900 gems (black diamonds, white diamonds and rubies) with a total weight of 1,500 carats - including two black diamonds with a combined weight of 100 carats. (That's supermodel Adriana Lima modeling the bra in the photo.)

Now, at this point, I could make a sarcastic joke - something about how Sarah Palin will be using the Republican National Committee's Visa card to buy one - but I'm not going to do that. Instead, I direct your attention to the thoughtful commentary by CNN's Campbell Brown, who complained that the recent uproar about the Alaska governor's exorbitant wardrobe bill is a) distracting from important campaign issues, and b) reflecting a double standard about how people judge women's appearance compared to the appearance of men. Watch it:

Labels: fashion, politics, Sarah Palin