双语：危机当前，节俭当道

During the economic boom of the past decade, many people relaxed their definitions of 'need.' They upgraded from Timex to Rolex. When the price of Jimmy Choo shoes hit $800, many people said they 'needed' the latest shoe anyway.

But as banks go out of business and friends get pink slips, the question 'Do I really need it?' has a new resonance. After years of gluttonous shopping, forgoing our wants feels virtuous, like using up leftovers. That's why many people these days are boasting that they are 'shopping' in their closets.

'People are saddled with stuff they don't need,' says Debbie Then, a New York psychologist who studies the beauty and luxury industries. 'I think the way people were shopping is over.'

As the culture of spending shifts, even people who don't feel direct pressure on their finances are cutting back. Mindy Gail, executive director of the British American Business Council in Los Angeles, until recently possessed clothes she had never worn -- many of them still with the tags on. Then several of her friends who worked at Wachovia Corp. lost their jobs. A friend who owns a restaurant announced she might have to close it. Ms. Gail's parents, who had been living comfortably in retirement, quit dining out.

So Ms. Gail is dialing back her shopping, too. 'When I see people around me who are struggling and frightened, it really doesn't feel like a good time' to shop, she says. 'It's not appropriate.'

On Rodeo Drive's exclusive shopping district on Monday, a sales clerk at the Michael Kors boutique told me, 'There's an umbrella of guilt over everyone.'

Splurging doesn't feel as good as it used to. At the Shoe Box, a luxury accessories store on New York's Upper East Side, a good customer recently bought $3,000 of shoes and boots, says Jessica Denholtz, the store's buyer. Five minutes later, the woman walked back in the store and returned every last item, saying, 'I just can't do this anymore.'

Ms. Denholtz says the store has had several experiences with shamefaced shoppers like this recently. 'People are scared,' she says. 'Things could go into a Depression.'

I never expected to hear the 'D' word applied to my lifetime, although my mother, who was a small child during the Great Depression, habitually recycles buttons and sometimes even zippers. But this fall's economic upheaval has had a powerful effect on consumer behavior.

As more people economize, it's become cool to pay less rather than more. It's worth boasting these days about buying faux-leather Anya Hindmarch for Target handbags for $30 -- rather than the $500 versions at Ms. Hindmarch's boutiques. The digital marketing agency Zeta Interactive has measured a distinct increase in the buzz -- recorded by the volume of Web-site and blog postings -- surrounding discount retail sites. According to Zeta's research, for instance, discounter BlueFly.com received 25% more buzz in October than in September, while full-priced Netaporter.com received 19% fewer postings on blogs and Web sites.

Ms. Denholtz says the Shoe Box stores in Manhattan, Long Island and Boca Raton, Fla., are selling more MZ Wallace handbags -- made largely of nylon and priced at around $325 -- while $2,000 bags sit on shelves. She also says that customers are scrutinizing the price tags on shoes before trying them on. And, she notes, 'people are not buying $800 shoes anymore.'

Melanie Gording, a 41-year-old stay-at-home-mother of two in Westchester, Ca., is married to an optometrist. Rather than shopping for his shirts at Nordstrom as usual, she recently bought him two white-collar shirts at Costco for $16.99 apiece. 'Maybe people will decide they don't need to get their eyes checked,' she says. 'We're being preventive.'

Ms. Gording says she is forgoing even widespread trends like black jeans, and special occasions, such as some upcoming bar mitzvahs, won't budge her. 'Just before this crisis stuff was going on, my daughter asked for a new skirt and I bought it, no problem,' she says. 'Now it's, 'Nope, you need nothing.''

'Need,' she adds, is the 'operative word.'

过去十年经济繁荣的时候，很多人对“需要”这个词的定义都放宽了标准。他们把手表从Timex升级到了劳力士(Rolex)。当Jimmy Choo的高档鞋标价到了800美元时，很多人仍说无论如何都“需要”这双最新款的鞋子。

不过，随着银行接二连三地倒闭、朋友们不断接到解雇通知书，“我是否真的需要？”这个问题又重新回响在耳边。在多年的疯狂购物后，放弃各种购买欲望似乎成了美德，比如把以前丢在一边的东西拿出来用。这也就是为什么很多人都在夸耀自己正在自家衣橱里“购物”。

纽约一位从事美容和奢侈品行业研究的心理学家黛比·斯恩(Debbie Then)说，人们买了一大堆并不需要的东西；我认为人们过去的那种购物习惯已经终结了。

随着消费文化的变迁，即使是那些并未感受到直接经济压力的人也开始削减开支。英美商会(British American Business Council)驻洛杉矶执行董事明迪·盖尔(Mindy Gail)的衣柜里一直都有从来没穿过的衣服，有些甚至还连标签都还没有撕掉，但最近发生的一些事让她改变了：她有几个在Wachovia Corp.工作的朋友丢掉了工作；一位开餐馆的朋友说可能不得不关门大吉了；过着悠闲退休生活的父母也不再下馆子吃饭了。

所以，盖尔自己也开始减少购物。她说，当我看到周围那些节衣缩食、心惊胆战的亲戚朋友时，感觉现在真不是购物的好时候，这太不合时宜了。

周一，在加州贝弗利山的高档购物区Rodeo Drive，Michael Kors精品店的一位店员告诉我说，人人都有一种负罪感。

挥霍无度不再像过去那样让人感觉良好了。在纽约上东区的高档配饰店Shoe Box，店员杰西卡·丹霍兹(Jessica Denholtz)说，最近有位出手阔绰的顾客买了3,000美元的鞋子和靴子，五分钟之后，这位顾客又回来把东西都退掉了，她说“我不能再这样做了”。

丹霍兹说，最近该店有好几次碰到这样感觉羞愧的顾客来退货。她说，人们害怕了，我们可能面临又一次大萧条。

我从未想过这辈子会亲身经历一次“大萧条”，而曾经历上世纪三十年代大萧条的我的母亲（她那时还只是个小姑娘）养成了回收利用旧扣子、甚至是旧拉链的习惯。但是，这个秋天的经济动荡的确对公众的消费习惯产生了很大的影响。

随着越来越多的人开始精打细算，削减开支成了一种时尚。如今，值得夸耀的事情是在Target百货商店花30美元买个Anya Hindmarch人造革手提包，而不是在Hindmarch精品店里花500美元买个同品牌的高档货。数字营销公司Zeta Interactive通过研究折扣零售网站流量和博客发贴量，发现此类网站的业务在明显升温。比如，根据Zeta的调查，10月份折扣网站BlueFly.com的发贴量较9月份多了25%，而同期全价网站Netaporter.com的博客和网站发贴量则少了19%。

丹霍兹说，Shoe Box在纽约曼哈顿和长岛，以及佛罗里达州博卡拉顿的店卖出了更多的MZ Wallace手提包，这些包多为尼龙制成，标价在325美元左右，而价格2,000美元的包则在货架上无人问津。她还说，顾客在试穿鞋子之前都要先仔细看看标价。她说，人们不再买800美元一双的鞋子了。

现年41岁的梅勒尼·高丁(Melanie Gording)是个家庭主妇，丈夫是验光师，他们有两个孩子，一家四口住在加州。她最近不再像往常那样去高级百货店Nordstrom为丈夫买衬衫，而是在仓储式连锁店Costco以单价16.99美元买了两件白衬衫。她说，或许人们会决定不必去验光了，我们这是在未雨绸缪。

高丁说，她甚至放弃购买像黑色牛仔裤这样的时下流行服装，像即将举行的孩子成年礼等特殊场合也不会让她乱花钱了。她说，在这场危机发生之前，我女儿央求我给她买件新衬衫，我买给她了，没有问题；现在，我会说“不行，你什么都不缺”。

她补充说，“需要”才是关键问题。

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