Mass-produced and westernized clothing has blurred visible class and origin cues

Evidence

Many factors have contributed to this state of affairs. As mentioned in Chapter Three, the mass production of clothing has blurred the overt expression of buying power. The trained eye can probably easily distinguish between a 400 original and a 30 copy, but most of us have rather illiterate eyes. The general westernization of clothing is another factor-for example, the Russian traveler in Constantinople (Istanbul) today is likely to be wearing a business suit. — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 446

Categorization

• XREF: Explains the mechanism behind blurring that makes civil inattention the only viable stance — central to the reader’s Simmel-Lofland-Cole synthesis. — connects to: Wealth judgments from clothing occur within 130 milliseconds. — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 196; Seemingly superficial fashions fundamentally organize identity and social life — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 18