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In his Theory of the Leisure Class, Thorstein Veblen notes that it is good if it shows that "the wearer can afford to consumer freely and uneconomically," but beyond that should "make plain to all observers that the wearer is not engaged in any kind of productive labor." Elegant dress is "contrived at every point to convey the impression that the wearer does not habitually put forth any useful effort." Thus, "much of the charm that invests the patent-leather show, the stainless linen, the lustrous cylindrical hat, and the walking-stick, which so greatly enhance the native dignity of a gentleman, comes of their pointedly suggesting that the wearer cannot when so attired bear a hand in any employment that is directly and immediately of any human use." Elegant dress displays wealth; it also displays that the wearer "consumes without producing."
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 at 12:41 PM
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