The last time I wrote a column about fashion, I received a piece of mail with one line of feedback:

“How shallow can one be?”

It didn’t surprise me, especially in this economy, but I think there is someone who can better address this topic.

“It’s very hard for me personally to talk about fashion in a way that doesn’t sound superficial in this economy,” said stylist Stacy London in our recent interview. “When people are trying to put food on their table, how do you say, ‘You could really jazz up that outfit with a great scarf?’”

London knows the answer -- by showing people that it’s not about the clothes, per se, but how they make you feel. Price point is secondary. Labels are secondary. What other people think? Secondary.

“Actually, this is a very exciting time for style,” London said. “We’re in for a tough, tough time, but in the long-term it will create innovation. Necessity is the mother of invention. We could all look great if we had all the money in the world to buy every perfect thing. But now people have to be creative.”

As London and co-host Clinton Kelly embark on the seventh season of TLC’s What Not To Wear (May 29 premier, 9 p.m. EST), I can’t help but think it’s an accessible opportunity for viewers to get schooled in this vital area of their lives.

“I think this is my favorite season,” London said. “We are talking to contributors with very real self-esteem issues. It almost brings the show to a completely different level. I feel it so acutely. These contributors have worked harder than in the past. It’s been uplifting and heartwarming.”

Under the discerning tutelage of London and Kelly, a contributor is typically taken through a process of re-evaluating how she wants to present herself in the world. As a regular viewer, I must say that the show has helped shift my thinking -- what one wears is a reflection of self-esteem, not the other way around.

With the challenges presented by the economy in the mix, I wondered if, like me, people might now turn to investing in classics instead of thinking in quick-fix terms. Hence my decision to buy a $300 pair of black cashmere pants with the hopes I’ll still be wearing them 10 years from now.

“They are going to last you a lot longer than a $30 pair of pants that would be more like a Band-Aid,” London said. “They have use value. That’s what you want. It’s like the movie Transformers -- you want your clothes to have lives. They can be chameleon-like. In this economy, the $300 pant is a smart choice.”

London noted that she was chastised by a viewer when she touted a $68 pair of jeans on one of her regular appearances on The Today Show; she was floored.

“I’m used to people being shocked over $300 jeans,” she said. “So for the time being, The Today Show wants me to keep items under $100.”

While this push-pull may sound like a contradiction of the earlier point that it’s not about price, it’s actually more an acknowledgement that everyone has limits that run the gamut from emotional to financial.

“This season we’re being as conscientious as possible on What Not To Wear,” London said. “But in New York we don’t have a Wal-Mart or a Ross, for example. That’s the line between it being reality and entertainment. People can take the information and go to whatever price point is possible for them.”

In that spirit, I shared that I have been receiving a lot of compliments on a white bag I’ve been carrying and I keep wondering if I should reveal that it’s a Dana Buchman for Kohl’s. London laughed.

“You can do high-low,” she said. “I always try to do that on What Not To Wear.”

That is the essence of style, after all, to make it all work together. Since I was on a roll, I continued revealing myself. I told London that after writing a column about Diane von Furstenberg, I wanted to know what all the fuss was about so I went to a boutique and tried on one her classic wrap dresses.

“When I came out of the dressing room and looked in the mirror, it was like I was meeting myself for the first time,” I told London. “Everything was covered, but I’d never felt more like a woman.”

Did London whoop with delight or was it just my projection?

“Diane von Furstenberg is the embodiment of her clothing, a pioneer,” London said. “Her clothes are the perfect combination of ingredients -- practicality, sex, comfort. Her wrap dress came out in the 70s, a time when women were finding their voice. When you tell me you discovered yourself in that dress, it shows how it can transform and empower.”

And breed potential. And attract opportunity. And make anything seem possible.

What to wear. What not to wear.

Shallow is in the eye of the beholder.

Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is www.nancola.com. Please direct all questions/comments to FOXGamePlan@gmail.com.