Earlier we discussed Kathy Fuld's shameful habit of secretly buying stuff from Hermès. We noted that the Daily Beast item about the trend didn't have a byline to it. Why would this be?

Our theory is that Tina Brown, who runs the chatty Beast, was doing some secret shopping of her own and espied the modest Ms. Fuld, wife of Wall Street pirate Dick, at Hermès in the flesh, buying tons of expensive crap. But, not wanting to out herself as an overly-indulgent non-recessionista, Brown just passed it off to a staffer with the juicy bits included and had the whole thing run anonymously. It's the ultimate in secret trend piece exposé—when one is secretly doing the secret thing one's exposing as a secret! Phew!

We don't know why everyone's so embarrassed about the noble ways in which they're doing their part to stimulate the cratering economy. These ladies should be proud of their patriotic work! Money given to a fancy French fashion house will eventually trickle down to us, right?