Black is the new Black

These days we feel we cannot switch on the radio or open up a newspaper without being confronted about the impending doom and gloom predicting an unavoidable recession imminently. Luckily, or so we tell ourselves, we are gifted with a somewhat laissez-faire attitude and still get excited about finding new quirky little beauty brands or admiring the latest coutures without feeling guilty not joining the debate of how far house prices may fall. But low and behold, despite our effort (not really) to not join this debate, apparently we have been right in the middle of the action all along!

We are told that the extent of the sombre economic outlook could have been deduced from the return to sobriety of the collections for autumn and winter. Moving away from colourful patterns and frilly dresses, collections have been heavily reliant on black and sharp cuts, much to our approval actually. But now we are being told there are cunning parallels between fashion trends and the way we are heading. Economic recession in the 80s was mirrored by black clothes (and the Goth movement we are told), similar to the punk movement in the 70s. Our informants even go as far to point out that Coco Chanel's 1926 'little black dress' was a prelude to the Great Crash in 1929.

No doubt there is a big link between colours and moods, and between practicality and your budget. But we suggest you do not turn to the style pages for your pension investments.