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July 30, 2014

Recessionista

Hi,

Are yo a recessionista? Or did you shop on July sales?

recessionista, noun [countable]        

A person who is able to dress in a fashionable way even though they do not have a lot of money to spend on clothes:
'Modern takes on glamour are about deceiving the eye while preserving the purse, demanding all the imaginative skills of today's artful recessionistas. In short, getting the high-fashion look at a low-down price …'               Irish Times29th September 2008

Recessionista is a popular new term for a person who manages to dress stylishly on a tight budget, and it gained currency rapidly in the pre-Christmas weeks of 2008, when people's disposable income was seriously curtailed by the knock-on effects of an ailing economy. 'Shoppers' guilt' is worse than ever in the current financial climate – with people losing their jobs left, right and centre, there seems to be no way of justifying frivolities such as clothes, shoes and handbags. So, instead of satisfying her fashion needs with a trip to the local shopping mall, the recessionista adopts a different strategy to replenishing her wardrobe. Typical activities include swapping clothes with friends, hiring rather than buying, or trawling the charity shops to find designer garments at a fraction of the high street price.

Recessionista is a clever blend of recession and the noun fashionista, which was coined in the early nineties to describe a person who wears fashionable clothing or works in the fashion industry. The suffix -ista, taken over from Spanish, has entered productive usage in English in recent years to describe a follower or devotee of someone or something. It regularly pops up in political commentary for example Blairista, Bushista, Palinista.
Source: Macmillan buzz word

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