Consumed: How Shopping Fed the Class System

by Harry Wallop

Does what we consume define who we are? Harry Wallop takes a fresh look at society and shows you to your place in today's modern consumer world.
Are you an Asda Mum, Wood Burning Stover or Sun Skittler? Do you know a Portland Privateer or Rockabilly? And exactly who are the Hyphen-Leighs?

Journalist Harry Wallop has spent a disproportionate amount of his working life chronicling the buying habits of the British people. Taking a sweep through the seismic changes that have happened in the UK since the end of food rationing in 1954, he argues that our social standing in today's society is no longer determined by the accent you speak with, the school you attended, or your parents. Rather, it is determined by the food we eat, our choice of holiday destination, the clothes we wear, the size of the TV we sit in front of, and whether you use a plug-in air freshener or a smelly candle.

He shows us how retailers and big business are making the most of how we fit into these new social categories, and offers up some intriguing insights into the state of Britain today.

Genres: Nonfiction, Society, Economics

327 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hugely enjoyable book for anyone who loves reading about class. Sadly, I do. It confirmed some of my own prejudices. I knew I was right about air fresheners. It also needed a paragraph on fabric conditioner though. I fall between classes; an odd mixture of Wood Burning Stover and Asda Mum. You'll meet these in this book along with Portland Privateers, Middletons, Hyphen Leighs, Rockabillies and Sun Skittlers. I've found out the places to avoid for a holiday; thank goodness he didn't mention Whitby! There are some serious points that made me think, such as being part of a union more likely to be a middle class privilege now, whereas the really badly off don't even have a union. I've given it four stars because it is quite lightweight really and I don't give five stars to anything that isn't exceptional. But that does not mean I did not really, really enjoy it. J

[Alison Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the one hand, an acutely observed, competently written and occasionally fascinating look at the reinvention of class in modern Britain and a thoughtful take on how data-based decisions by retailers are shaping and solidifying those demarkations. So that's good.
But on the other hand, I found myself pretty much on a pagely basis being irritated by Wallop's constant low-key sneering and at the end of the book my overriding reaction was: So what? All that analysis, but what's your argument? It seems to be that we're defined in the 21st century not by how much we earn, but by how and where we choose to spend it. But again: So what? There seemed to be so much more that could be drawn out here, and I'd gladly have sacrificed some of the more snide observations to accommodate them. It's not clear how reinforcing the stereotypes by giving them arch names ('Rockabillies', 'Sun Skittlers', 'Hyphen Leighs' and so on) is supposed to help.
Wallop himself is faded gentry, and maybe he just can't help his condescending tone. Or maybe he knows exactly what he's doing. But he indulges himself throughout in casually cruel snobbery directed usually against the middle class: 'Short of rubbing themselves in organic Palestinian olive oil, there are few things that are likely to excite a Wood Burning Stover more than fair trade cotton scratching against their shoulders.'
It gets a bit tedious.
Worth a read? Probably, if only for the acuteness of the observation and the guilty pleasure of spotting yourself and others in this comprehensive class ranking. But don't expect much by way of useful takeaways.

[Vanya Prodanova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Макар книгата да е остаряла чисто времево, тъй като информацията е до 2012 година и за едно десетилетие доста неща се случиха, пак беше много интересен анализ на класовата система във Великобритания от 1950 до 2012.

Има много жаргони, имена, места, марки, метафори и куп други изрази, които си изискват знания за Англия, че да ги чатнеш, но няма спор, че е интересна книга и много от нещата, които споменава, все още до някаква степен са актуални за страната и не само. Всяка страна си има някаква класова система или както аз бих я нарекла система на престижност, независимо колко уж всички мечтаем за равенство между нас си, авторът е прав - това никога няма да стане, тъй като на всички ни е много приятно да успяваме да се разграничим от съседа си в посока, че сме по-добри от него.

Интересно социологично проучване и любопитна информация за всеки живеещ в UK или просто хора, които обичат да четат за поведението на различни групи хора. Признавам си чистосърдечно, че ми беше много забавно да се опитам да анализирам в коя група попадат съседите ми и да чета забавните му коментари относно нискобюджетните авиокомпании, политици и подобни.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Class. It is the system in the UK that has been with us for 1000 years or more. The Now Show summed it up by asking people of each class what they called the space outside their back door; Working class call it the yard, middle class call it the garden and the upper class call it Devon! This system, with it's unwritten rules to catch those who have moved between them, has now become blurred and diffused according to Harry Wallop. In this book he seeks to redefine the class system by looking at the three factors that define where we are in society; income, products we buy, where we live.

He comes up with a raft of different definitions for each type of person; from Asda mums, Sun Skittlers, Wood Burning Stovers, Portland Privateers and the Middleton classes. Each of these groups have a distinct income range, buy certain types of products and services and share similar aspirations. There are lots of points of crossover, for example, the Asda mums will spends lots on certain types of products, but other products are the budget end. He looks at each of the groups in detail over a food, education, homes, leisure and clothing to name a few.

Even though he is a member of the upper class, some of his family background is from the working class, and this gives him a better insight to the new classes in the UK today. It is fascinating to read, and you end up looking at the way you spend money and where you spend it to determine your group as defined by Wallop. The writing style is good, though occasionally a little patronising, but i enjoyed reading it.

[Supinder · Rating 2 out of 5]

An irritating voyage through the post war history of UK consumerism. The narrator is often borish and condescending. Of particular annoyance is Wallop's categorisation of consumers into a belittling pejorative like ' Sun Skittler' or 'Asda Mum'. This seems at odds with Wallop's conclusion that this type of categorisation is detrimental.

The book reads like an ode to the alter of choice, the author is very much on the side of Milton Friedman and neoliberalism. The book makes some interesting asides to growing UK split in the country between metropolitan London and the rest of the UK, this insight looks prescient given Brexit.

The annoying aspect of the book was due to the overuse of anecdotes rather than statistics to illustrate points.

I am glad to read that Wallop is in favour of snobbery, as the tone throughout is the epitome of snobbery.

[Lisa Cherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A highly enjoyable read which offers me a chuckle in places but definitely not a sociological look at class! If you fancy a laugh at your own behaviour and that of the people you share society with, then this is good non-fiction fodder to snuggle up on the sofa with on a Sunday afternoon. Will it teach me anything I don't know? Not really. Will it change the way I view the world. No. That's why I'm giving it 4 stars for what it lacks, it gives me back in return for being a book I liked!

[The Idle Woman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harry Wallop is well-placed to write about class. The cousin of the Earl of Portsmouth, he went to private school, learned from a young age how to tip a gamekeeper, and went on holidays with his nanny until his parents felt he was old enough to appreciate travelling abroad. But in recent years he has moved away from the world in which he grew up: he now lives in Islington and works as a journalist and television presenter (which is essentially just a different kind of social elite). Class is something that, we’ve been told, many times, is no longer relevant in the modern world, but anyone who lives in Britain knows this isn’t true. In this book, Wallop argues (and I agree) that the great post-war age of social mobility is over. Class is becoming more entrenched and more subtle than ever. He describes the new social tribes of modern Britain, and how they are defined not so much by birth but by lifestyle and consumer choices. It’s a lively and engaging book – albeit full of sweeping generalisations (but that’s the point of any work of classification) – and extremely British. The shades of nuance described here will be difficult for foreigners to pick up, and rightly so (you would be forgiven for exclaiming, on numerous occasions, “But why is that even a thing?!”), but I imagine that native Brits will feel shimmers of recognition. You might come to Wallop’s book for an accessible discussion of how class continues to shape modern society – but you stay because you want to find out which of his categories you fit into. Reading this book is, in itself, an act of class anxiety...

For the full review, please see my blog:
https://theidlewoman.net/2020/07/14/c...

[Shoaib Raza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilariously true. The conventional class system has been blurred and makes little sense. In an age of conspicuous consumption, Wallop hits the mark with his ideas of social archetypes that are based on purchasing habits.

[Julie Hudson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Happy and proud to be a wood-burning stover and the descriptions pretty much sum me up! Think you would only appreciate this book if you were in the UK. Perfectly fine book and think his conclusions are quite accurate.

[Yvonne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining but not enlightening

Enjoyed it and it brought to mind lots of things that I already knew. Not earth shattering but overall OK

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enticing take on the intricacies of statistics, demographics and the convoluted minute details of the class system in modern Britain. Not counting the many books on Psychology I have to read for work, I probably have not read a non-fiction book more absolutely fascinating than this one since Jeremy Paxman's The English, and in the same way, perhaps it is precisely because I am a foreigner living in Britain for 25 years and still trying to understand the Brits, that I have found it so interesting.

Starting with the mid 50s explosion in consumerism options and ever increasing aspirations, Harry Wallop chronicles the changes in British society over the last 6 decades, so the book reads for the most part as an account of British social history, including engaging discussions about the history of some of the most beloved and traditional British businesses such as M&S, John Lewis, Habitat, all the way to the rise in the American-inspired fast food establishments and Gregg's. The author argues that to ascertain class in contemporary Britain, the world's most class conscious country, we would do better at scrutinising how people spend their money over the weekend, rather than, as traditionally done, at how they earn it Monday to Friday.

Starting from the statement that while a population survey in 1954 found that 25 % of the population described themselves as middle class at that time, nowadays 70% of people give that response. So, we may all be middle class now, but as the author argues, some are more middle class than others.

Wallop creates very distinct groups within the middle classes (such as the Portland Privateers, The Wood Burning Stovers, The Asda Mums, The Rockabilies, The Sun Skittlers, etc), in order to discuss class-related consumerist preferences, habits and values, which he organises further around food, family, babies' names, holiday destinations, clothes, postcode, work, etc, etc. He argues that our consumerist choices and attitudes speak very loudly about what type of people we are and what class we belong to, even more loudly than our accent, vocabulary or the choice of word we typically use to name our evening meal.

Highlighting the class divide behind the choice of name for your children, whether you prefer olives or peanuts accompanying your pre-meal aperitif of chilled Sauvignon Blanc or your pint of beer, he argues that your choices and preferences define you.
From this premise, the author deconstructs attitudes around lifestyle choices in consumerism.

The very inexact but endlessly fascinating area of geodemographics aided by the software programmesAcorn, Mosaic and Monica lead to many interesting discussions in the book, and it incidentally also prompted a lot of animated discussions between me and my (English) husband, as in my ignorance, I had to ask lots of questions about social history in the UK between the 50s-80s. He also worked in the 90s for several years at the company which created Acorn and Monica, so I have had the chance of understanding these tools for social stratification better.

All in all, I have found this book very entertaining and interesting, the author's style is easy to follow and he intersperses anecdotes about his own family's class issues (minor aristocracy being further diluted through his own generation) into the narrative. About this, it seems that he cannot make up his mind about whether he is resigned or resentful, and he comes across at times as patronising, and at others as humorously self-deprecating. But I have enjoyed what he has to say about the topic, at least until about 80% or so, when the book started to ramble a bit for me, and my attention and interest started to flag when the author gets to dissect the role of spectator sports in class. I was almost yawning at this point, with the lengthy discussion about rugby/cricket vs. football and their class implications. But luckily the book picked up again when discussing the last and most traditionally class bastion, the issue of what we do for a living and its role in class affiliation.

I am counting this towards the Popsugar Reading Challenge 2016 (2015 list): #14. A non-fiction book.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always enjoyed understanding the spending habits of myself and others. I have found that over the years spending habits have changed dramatically from my Grandparents era to now something that has been well documented. Are we a throwaway society? Are we too busy trying to keep up with the Jones'? Before reading I was not sure what category I would fit into, if any. I like shopping and looking at new gadgets/products but I also know when to reign it in. After reading I felt like I could fit into a number of different categories and to be honest I am content with that, having never been one who felt they were in competition with others with what I own or buy. I found it interesting to see what consumer class my parents would fit into, I thought they should be more frugal than I am. To some respects they are but they also seem to fall into the category that wants to match their peers and neighbours with their style of holiday and purchases. I think these days it is refreshing to see that if we want to shop we have a choice but we also need to be careful that consumerism does not take over, there is only so much land fill available.
The book also discusses what certain brands mean to certain people, remember Burberry being classes as chavvy thanks to football hooligans and small time actresses wearing the check from head to tow. Is that still the case now? If not what did the brand do to change it? What do other brands do to attract our attention and pennies?
If you like to understand society more and the spending habits of those around you then this is a book to read.

[A.J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was both enjoyable and depressing. Enjoyable because Harry Wallop has an engaging writing style and it was easy to recognise the various modern UK tribes he describes through their spending patterns. I immediately saw myself (and, I suspect, most other readers of this book) in the Wood Stove Burner category. *looks into the kitchen at the wood stove and today's lunch-for-work in its tupperware box*

Depressing because Wallop decides that we are no longer defined by what we do, but by how we spend our money, manipulated by the businesses who decide what we ought to be buying. But that's fine, Wallop says, "and not something we should necessarily fight".

That's it - our consumerism determines who we are. Obviously as a Wood Stove Burner I'm going to feel rebellious about that, but it makes me feel empty and hopeless about the future. Really? Is that all that humankind has to look forward to? New and different ways of spending our money on symbols that badge us? No role for creativity and community action? No hope for actually improving the world we inhabit in any other way than buying an air freshener, a scented candle or a bowl of hyacinths?

:-(

[Alison Lang · Rating 2 out of 5]

Harry Wallop is the man who, in Bateman cartoon style, wore the wrong suit in London. As Montague Burton's grandson he should have known better, and his self-deprecation is one of the things that makes Wallop's book an entertaining read. That and placing yourself in one of his realigned consumer classes; I'm obviously a Wood-burning Stover, and so is practically everyone I know. I don't actually have a wood-burning stove, but that's a minor detail. The book skips and dances over the entertaining terrain of our modern social landscape and doesn't delve too deep below the surface, which in some ways is a shame although there are probably other books by serious economists that go there if that's where you really want to go. It's U and non-U updated, but I suspect it will fade more quickly, if it isn't outmoded already. Altogether an enjoyable quick read, written with tongue firmly in cheek and to be consumed in like manner.

[Lucy Condon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book about how we shop and what we buy related to class. The author has various categories which he fits the shopper into:
Rockabillies: Boden wearing
Wood burning Stovers: Guardian Reading vegetarians
Heiphen-Leigh’s: Brand wearing Chavs
Middletown’s: the John Lewis shopper
Generalisations galore! Not to be taken too seriously although the premise stayed with me whilst I was choosing between Tesco value and premium products!

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look at the modern class system in Britain and how spending habits and life style choices influence class perception.

Written with wit and humour and well worth spending time tucked up reading it.

[Piers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, very funny and acute dissection of class through what & how we consume. Like Kynaston on Kidston.

[Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining and very readable book, based around the idea that the old class system has been superseded by a more participatory one, where we are defined by what we consume.

[Ness · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most fascinating books I've read in a long time.

[Pinar G · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ingiliz degilseniz okumayin. Adina kanip beklentiye girmeyin. Demografik ve istatistiksel bir Ingiliz toplum arastirmasi cikti kitap

[Juliette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining and enjoyable, but ultimately forgettable.

[Mr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this: smart, funny and insightful.