Last week I addressed the first of Veblen's principles about clothing, that it had to demonstrate conspicuous waste and to be expensive in order to be appreciated. The second principle is that clothing must demonstrate conspicuous leisure either through design or cleanliness. Veblen says that the lower classes didn't wear corsets except for on holiday; they had to be able to do labour which required full range of motion. Middle and upper class ladies wore corsets. The lower classes also didn't have as much spare time or conveniences needed for maintaining a pristine appearance. I soon learned the practicality of a dark-coloured coat from using public transport in a wet climate. I can only imagine the difficulties of keeping tidy in a world of coal fires or mud streets.
The fashion of tanned skin seems to be tied to this custom of conspicuous leisure. When hard work was done outside, fair skin was the demonstration of leisure. Over time, pallor became associated with being a wage slave chained to a desk and deep tans signaled exotic beach holidays or boating at the weekend and so tans were in. As concern about skin cancer has risen and tanning beds are the purview of the poor (not to mention streaky orange weirdness), the body spray job is the way to go and a slightly more moderate shade is desired.
Though I'm not au fait with office culture these days, when attached to a university I observed the different dress code. The far more casual / eccentric dress sported by that cohort seemed to insinuate, "I don't need to dress to impress. I'm wanted for my brains, not for how I look." I gather that this attitude has taken over much of corporate America as well, and the men's tie industry must be very squeezed these days. Dress codes seem only to apply to the minions who have to deal with the awful public.
One of the saddest sights I often see is a young couple out in the evening, the girl teetering or limping along in ridiculously high heels. She's determined to be fashionable but her boyfriend's budget won't stretch for a taxi. She hasn't caught on that those shoes are really only for ladies of leisure and wealth. Shuffling along, bored with waiting for her, his attention is glued to his mobile.
Next week we'll finish Chapter Seven with Veblen's third principle of dress: novelty.
6 comments:
Are you getting just a teeny bit sick of looking at his mustache?
High heels are just for photos. Right after the camera shot you're supposed to take them off and put on fuzzy slippers, right?
Nothing is more depressing than watching self-involved smart-phone twiddling young couples out dining.
Bless you, Susan, I never even look at that photo any more...Perhaps I should look around and find something different? Sadly, fuzzy slippers on dates aren't really done - oh wait, those Ugg-like house shoes you see every where, must be OK (but not for me - I'll stick to my old-lady-sensible shoes).
I was just kidding about the fuzzy slippers!
As for Veblen, if you're still enjoying him, by all means continue reading :).
Susan - I've read the whole book. Once I realised what fascinating (for me, anyhow) ideas it contained, I went back to the front and highlighted the ideas that really grabbed me. Those are the ones I'm now going back to write about. I enjoy reading social history and while I don't agree with everything Veblen says, he does explain a lot of things I observe and have experienced. Writing about his ideas helps me remember what I learned. Maybe a few other people will enjoy his ideas enough to go read his book for themselves.
When you commented that "Perhaps I should look around and find something different?", I assume you just meant find a different photograph, not a different author. So I Goggle Imaged Thorstein Veblen and found all the photos had that huge mustache - except for one labeled "Thorstein Bunde Veblen", which was a whole lot of different.
As to ties in the workplace, my husband has just given up his ties since moving to Oklahoma, but still wears one when there is a Corporate Visit. My sons both wear ties to work every day, (attorney and accountant), but I do agree that there is a lot of tie wearing in lower paying professions these days.
Beryl - Yes, I had previously looked at photos of this man, but none struck me as particularly attractive, so I just went with one that had the title of his book.
I've always thought that the tie was the one lapse in male attire, the rest of which is quite comfortable.
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