REEVALUATE YOUR LEADING INDICATORS. Victoria's Secret reports strong sales of Miraculous bras, which some optimists see as green shoots.

Strong bra sales at Victoria’s Secret stores could point towards a recovery in high-end retail spending, as the brand caters towards luxury consumption. Still, some experts suggest the industry’s retail spending improvement is rather a release of pent-up demand, referred to as “frugality fatigue”.

That's one interpretation. Another possibility is that appeasing displeased trophy wives is subject to tighter budget constraints. In 2005, the peace offering was a Lexus. By 2008, the model appeared to be repositioning its brand, and the latest offerings continue the theme of Thirteenth Generation Enters Middle Age. (It's not pretty.) The red bows are still there, but the annoying tinkly music is gone.