Issue Date: May 24, 2009

Shining even more brightly

In tough times, clothes and movies glitter with escapism.

The harder the times, the glitzier the gowns? So it seems in Depression-era movies and again today as designers choose our steepest recession in decades to razzle-dazzle us with shimmer.

Crystal-encrusted brocade, sequins and lamé-threaded tweeds evoke the gilded garb of '30s-era stars Carole Lombard, Myrna Loy and Norma Shearer. Similarly seductive are Dolce & Gabbana's mirror-studded and peplumed suits, Versace's draped and glistening gowns and Stella McCartney's silver bugle-beaded cocktail dresses.

"Shine makes you happy,'' says Dina Turner Relkin, fashion editor at Manhattan-based retail publication "The Tobe Report." "It changes your attitude and your wardrobe -- and can be worn by women of all ages.''

Movies often share this uplifting quality. That's a big reason why boffo box office and bad times are strongly linked, notes Paul Dergarabedian, Hollywood.com's box office analyst. "Box office has risen in five of the last seven recessions,'' he says. Ticket sales are up 16.7% from 2008, reports box office tracker Media By Numbers. And movies were even more popular in the '30s, when Hollywood's golden glamour enticed 65% of Americans to flock to films each week, according to Elon University in Phoenix.

There's nothing like a glittering package to help us escape the tough times.

--Michele Meyer