The Simple

Yesterday, GettyImages released a new white paper called ‘The Simple.’ For those of you unfamiliar with GettyImages, they are THE source for stock photography, and keep a keen eye on cultural trends, particularly those that inform advertising and media. As they note at the beginning of the white paper, “The downturn has caused people to re-evaluate their lives, their expectations of what a successful life consists of,” citing nature and family as key imagery for the new simple trend.

To those of us who have been around a few decades, ‘simple’ is hardly a new concept. Real Simple magazine started in the 1980’s and has survived the black death of magazines this past year. Chic Simple was a series of lifestyle books that Kim Johnson Gross and Jeff Stone published in the mid nineties, and were very influential in what constituted a stylish and functional wardrobe as much as a timeless and spiritually infused home. Both of these helped to cleanse our palettes after the heady and decadent 1980’s, a particularly lucrative decade when a lot of people made a lot of money, had expensive habits and toys, and liked to show them off.

Recently, NPR did a story on Frugal Chic, claiming that it was very uncool to show up at the office without a bagged lunch, and if you have a lunch meeting at a pricey restaurant, it’s wiser not to flaunt it, making thriftiness into a virtue, not just a mere habit.

The blogosphere is full of money saving tips, recipes for leftovers, and many bloggers are on a spending hiatus, with an eye to bringing more time and meaning into their lives.

Cultural trends and hemlines have always been closely linked to the economy. With so much uncertainty in the job market, perhaps we don’t feel like making risky or extravagant purchases, either in our wardrobes or our choices of houses or cars.

For my mother, born during the Great Depression, simple is not, nor has it ever been, a trend. She never had much use for trends, but always made choices and prioritized according to her own inner voice. My mother never got back to nature or traditions because she never left them.

Perhaps this economic downturn has one positive side-effect; that of forcing us to rethink and recalibrate our priorities. Perhaps even beyond, or in spite of, this season’s trends.

Predictions for 2009

I spend more than my share of time around the blogosphere, and I’ve noticed a few trends emerging that I think will gain some steam this year, both online and in analog. Here are a few to consider;

Sincerity is back. Irony was declared dead after the 9/11 attacks, and while it will never entirely die in a free country such as ours, it’s woven into the American psyche as an escape from taking ourselves too seriously. But we now have a counter-balance to an overload of irony in the 1990’s. Unlike the pretension of the 1980’s, we don’t waste time talking about things we don’t actually care about. If we want to discuss art, poetry or culture right out in public spaces, it’s because we like it and that’s who we are. Expect to see more sincerity in 2009.

Shopping Hiatus. Blogger friends at Simple Lovely are only one example of people going on a financial ‘cleanse’ for anywhere from three weeks to three months. The idea is to reset your spending metabolism and learn more responsible spending habits. Getting out of the habit of spending freely also gives you perspective on the difference between ‘want’ and ‘need.’ Which leads me to …

Simplifying and organizing. ‘Editing’ every room in the house is all the rage. People are also downsizing and buying smaller houses, if they’re buying houses at all. You’ll see lots of yard sales this summer as people try to make room for only the things they really love or need.

On the rare occasion when we do buy this year, more of it will be handmade or vintage. To add to this, when we buy commercial goods, we’ll be buying from companies that are notorious for doing good in the world. Whether it’s about having a positive environmental impact or helping the poor in Senegal, we want our dollars to not only get us nifty products, but also cast a vote for being responsible citizens of the world.

Facebook. Everyone you’ve ever met is on Facebook (except for my husband, but we’ll save that for another time). It can be a bit jarring, having people from every chapter and facet of your life talking to you. But when you’re commenting on a friend’s wall, let’s remember that you have professional colleagues and future bosses who will be seeing every single word. So let’s keep the drunken sailor talk to a minimum, shall we?

What trends do you predict for 2009?