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In the 1980's people wrote about malls as cultural centers, as temples to shopping. Now, they're dying.
Many observers are speculating about the growing trend of so-called dead malls: once-flourishing, large retail spaces that now have a high vacancy rate, low numbers of pedestrian traffic, or the lack of an "anchor" store (typically a department chain). Is it because of economic recession, or stagnant middle-class wages and growing income inequality? Or has the death of these malls been hastened by the rapid growth of online shopping?
It's difficult to say, but the dead mall phenomenon is becoming a cultural item of interest -- for retail historians, urban explorers and documentarians alike. We may read about dead malls in The New York Times or The Atlantic, but film footage can say much more than words.
Is Amazon to blame?
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Wednesday April 26 2017, @01:51AM (1 child)
Women's clothing tends to be more form-fitting, while men's tends to "drape" more. If a woman has a part of her body she wants to accentuate/downplay, she has to look around for something that "fits" in the right places and "drapes" over the undesirable bits.
Despite recent trends of some young men wearing skinny jeans, most men's fashion is considered fine if somewhat baggy. And the solutions to men's body type issues are standard -- unnecessarily large shoulders on suit jackets which make upper body appear larger while draping over a gut, baggy (a.k.a. "pleated") pants that hide extra large thighs and butts, etc. The more formal men's clothing is, the more it tends to hide body issues.. While the more formal types of female clothing tend to cause more problems.
All of this is to say while we joke about it, I completely understand why women spend more time shopping for clothes, given fashion norms.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 26 2017, @02:24AM
I sold women's suits and dresses (and hosiery and bathing suits, too) for a couple years and can vouch for what you posted. Dress sizes are an approximation, at best. I've seen a woman try on a size 8 dress that was too small, and a size 6 that was too large. (For those who do not know, size 0-2 is twig-like, and size 20 is for a rather "substantial" woman.)
Even worse, dress size is only one part of it — there is also body shape. Buxom with slim hips? Flat-chested with big hips? Pretty much even between top and bottom? I'd recommend very different outfits for each of these body types.