Thin ties are the signs of the thin times. Cash-strapped customers are opting for slightly cheaper ties. John Lewis sold 2.5 inches wide ties almost three times more than the 3.5 inches wide ones, in the last six months.
Thinner ties, however, do not denude one but the gloom and doom wrought by recession on the whole. The economic downturn has ripped off Londoners of their nearly contented life and optimistic outlook. Their life long routines are in a spin and family ties in upheaval.
Budget has shrunk to the point that “children are hiding their piggy banks”. Foreign destinations are out for holidays, down by 40 per cent. The old are growing vegetables in their back lawns.
The recession says Relate Counsellor is stripping marriage bare, 25 per cent more couples than in normal times have rushed to it for counseling.
For jobless, libido plummets, gifts or flowers or going to candle-light dinners for making-up unaffordable.
Feel good factor is history and the Golden Age in the City in tatters. The recession has lit “Bonfire of the Billionaires.” New registrations of so-called “City boy toys” have fallen: Porsches are down 27 per cent from a year ago, and Aston Martins are down 25 per cent.