A few years ago, Mary-Kate Olsen was said to personify the “homeless chic” trend. But who really thinks chic when they think of the homeless? Today there is a new trend— “depression chic.”

By definition, depression chic is inspired by the stock market crash of 1929, and the 1920s in general, and is marked by flapper dresses and rural-influenced clothes. But it isn’t as blah as it initially sounds.

For men, depression chic is all about clothing that can hold up for a long time, with an emphasis on earthy colors like beige, brown and forest green. Back during the Depression, clothing like this was practical for men on the move, attempting to survive disasters such as the Dust Bowl.

The obvious irony with depression chic is that expensive designers are the ones pushing these trends that few can afford.

It’s not surprising that fashion designers like Marc Jacobs, who has an extensive collection of Depression- inspired clothing in his Spring and Summer 2009 lines, don’t want to lower their prices and make their clothes available to the proletariat. But despite this, depression chic should be accessible to everyone.

The question is — how to do depression chic, in an economic recession.

Ithaca has a plethora of secondhand clothing stores to choose from such as Trader K’s, Petrune and Mama Goose.

My personal favorite is Petrune, which is where I got over my fear of secondhand clothing stores (a fear inspired by the fact that I saw used underwear for sale once). They offer a wide variety of clothing, and have a ton of used and vintage designer clothes (which tend to fly off the racks).

But at any of these stores, searching through the racks can result in either cheaper clothing or a flapper cocktail dress just like the ones off the runaways of Paris and New York. You just need a keen eye and patience to search through the racks of clothing.

Another option is directly inspired from the 1930s — during the Great Depression, women learned to sew and make their own clothes. This would be the time to befriend someone in Fiber Science & Apparel Design to see if he or she can fix that hole in your shirt as opposed to sending it to the tailor.

If you’re feeling even more ambitious than asking someone for help, maybe use your free time doing something else other than catching up on The Office and take a sewing class downtown at Sew Green, which is not only an economically smart choice, but sustainable as well.