Express feebly our desolation

I assume 'feebly' does mean 'weakly' the sense being that 'our desolation' is somehow inadequate, not strong/real enough, hence weak or feeble.

It's a very ugly sentence, by the way!

How do you explain then the opening "Drapers make fortunes" (helping us to express feebly our desolation). In an ironic way?

Well, I would imagine it means that Drapers make a lot of money out of catering for our feeble attempts at expressing our desolation. Just as, for example, a very expensive bunch of flowers might be seen as a 'feeble' attempt at expressing love, or grief, but it makes the florist a lot of money.

That is what I assume, anyway.