What: Affordable clothes are chic, in case you hadn’t already heard. At least judging by recent sales of clothes and accessories made by “accessible” designers like Tommy Hilfiger and Tory Burch. Designers like Tommy and Tory are reportedly bucking the recession by creating “bridge collections” and selling their clothes at a more moderate price point—like skirts for $250 and pants for $175—which American consumers are now going out and buying in droves.

What the Times Says:
“We are positioned very well with accessible, affordable luxury and this is something we have been doing for 25 years,” said designer Tommy Hilfiger.

What We Say: Affordable luxury certainly is an interesting concept. While a lot of the designers mentioned in this article—including Phillip Lim and Alexander Wang—are still selling clothes that are too expensive for us to afford, we do appreciate that they are trying to sell their apparel at a lower price point.  However, $250 bucks for a skirt still isn’t cheap (but cheap(er))