For a woman, dress functions as economic currency and social standing.
Evidence
As woman is an object, it is obvious that how she is adorned and dressed affects her intrinsic value. It is not pure frivolousness for her to attach so much importance to silk stockings, gloves, and a hat: keeping her rank is an imperious obligation. In America, a great part of the working woman’s budget is devoted to beauty care and clothes; in France, this expense is lighter; nevertheless, a woman is all the more respected if she “presents well”; the more she needs to find work, the more useful it is to look well-off: elegance is a weapon, a sign, a banner of respect, a letter of recommendation. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1567
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to Veblen’s theory of conspicuous consumption and to the economic function of appearance; also continues Beauvoir’s objectification thread from earlier chapters. — connects to: Feminine dress functions as self-decoration, offering the wearer up as merchandise — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1078; Women believe dress grants access to both the world and an idealized self; Conforming to dress conventions creates a sense of belonging in social settings. — Hamlin Garland Munseys, A Daughter of the Middle Border, 462 (+4 more)
- ADDENDUM: The class/status signaling function of dress directly parallels the immodesty-panic dynamics in ‘Complaints About Immodesty Go Way Back’ — dress as a marker of rank and identity.
Broader Connections
- Women believe dress grants access to both the world and an idealized self
#expands(0.82) - Conforming to dress conventions creates a sense of belonging in social settings.
#expands(0.80) — Hamlin Garland Munseys, A Daughter of the Middle Border, 462 - Dressing for display makes women dependent on others’ recognition for self-worth
#expands(0.78) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1582 - Fashion substitutes for class and profession as a source of individual differentiation.
#contradicts(0.75) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 732 - Modern dress no longer reliably signals a stranger’s social identity
#complicates(0.75) — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 457