Skirt Chasing and the Economy - Believe it or not!

Mimi encouraged me to look closely at what women were wearing because it would make me a better husband someday because eventually I would need to buy gifts for my bride (she was old school). She also explained how it would make me a better investor.

According to Mimi, the length of women's skirts reflects both societal conditions and economic potential.

When I questioned her wisdom on this one - as I did with many things she taught me about investing in those days - Mimi noted that the link between women's hem lengths and stock market conditions was established in 1926 by Wharton economist George Taylor.

Long story short...pun absolutely intended...short skirts point to happy-go-lucky times while longer choices reflect more conservative underpinnings that, according to Taylor, existed because women couldn't afford stockings.

Dr. John Casti, Cofounder of the X-Center in Vienna and author of Mood Matters: From Rising Skirt Lengths to the Collapse of World Powers puts it this way, observing "that the rise and fall of great civilizations are biased by the attitudes a society holds to the future."

As a leading proponent of the science of socionomics, Casti observes that when social mood is positive and optimistic, hemlines tend to be shorter. And, that the reverse is true when things are dour or the social mood is uncertain because they reflect the mass psychology.

The "Posh" Spice Indicator

So what are women's hemlines telling us now?

Let's start with Victoria Beckham.

Formerly known as "Posh" Spice," a reference to her former life in the British girl band, the Spice Girls, she used to wear minis so small that they were rumored to cause heart palpitations during the go-go years of the 1990s. I can't say I disagree.

Lately, though, she's been wearing so-called "pencil" dresses with hems that run well below the knee." 
BY KEITH FITZ-GERALD, ,Chief Investment Strategist, Money Morning