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Dress Code: Unlocking Fashion from the New Look to Millennial Pink
A New Yorker Magazine Best Book of 2022 * An Esquire Best Nonfiction Book of 2022 * A Town & Country Must-Read Book of 2022 * A Fashionista Summer Read
“Smart, funny, and impressively thorough.”—The Cut
In the spirit of works by Jia Tolentino and Anne Helen Peterson, a smart and incisive essay collection centered on the fashion industry—its history, its importance, why we wear what we wear, and why it matters—from Elle Magazine’s fashion features director.
Why does fashion hold so much power over us? Most of us care about how we dress and how we present ourselves. Style offers clues about everything from class to which in-group we belong to. Bad Feminist for fashion, Dress Code takes aim at the institutions within the fashion industry while reminding us of the importance of dress and what it means for self-presentation. Everything—from societal changes to the progress (or lack thereof) of women’s rights to the hidden motivations behind what we choose to wear to align ourselves with a particular social group—can be tracked through clothing.
Veronique Hyland examines thought-provoking questions such Why has the “French girl” persisted as our most undying archetype? What does “dressing for yourself” really mean for a woman? How should a female politician dress? Will gender-differentiated fashion go forever out of style? How has social media affected and warped our sense of self-presentation, and how are we styling ourselves expressly for it?
Not everyone participates in painting, literature, or film. But there is no “opting out” of fashion. And yet, fashion is still seen as superficial and trivial, and only the finest of couture is considered as art. Hyland argues that fashion is a key that unlocks questions of power, sexuality, and class, taps into history, and sends signals to the world around us. Clothes means something—even if you’re “just” wearing jeans and a T-shirt.
“Smart, funny, and impressively thorough.”—The Cut
In the spirit of works by Jia Tolentino and Anne Helen Peterson, a smart and incisive essay collection centered on the fashion industry—its history, its importance, why we wear what we wear, and why it matters—from Elle Magazine’s fashion features director.
Why does fashion hold so much power over us? Most of us care about how we dress and how we present ourselves. Style offers clues about everything from class to which in-group we belong to. Bad Feminist for fashion, Dress Code takes aim at the institutions within the fashion industry while reminding us of the importance of dress and what it means for self-presentation. Everything—from societal changes to the progress (or lack thereof) of women’s rights to the hidden motivations behind what we choose to wear to align ourselves with a particular social group—can be tracked through clothing.
Veronique Hyland examines thought-provoking questions such Why has the “French girl” persisted as our most undying archetype? What does “dressing for yourself” really mean for a woman? How should a female politician dress? Will gender-differentiated fashion go forever out of style? How has social media affected and warped our sense of self-presentation, and how are we styling ourselves expressly for it?
Not everyone participates in painting, literature, or film. But there is no “opting out” of fashion. And yet, fashion is still seen as superficial and trivial, and only the finest of couture is considered as art. Hyland argues that fashion is a key that unlocks questions of power, sexuality, and class, taps into history, and sends signals to the world around us. Clothes means something—even if you’re “just” wearing jeans and a T-shirt.
283 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 15, 2022
149 people are currently reading
6126 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 162 reviews
March 26, 2022
There's nothing I love more than books that seriously examine a topic that's generally considered frivolous because of its association with women, and this book is a really great addition to that extremely specific genre.
March 11, 2022
There's much to love about this book of essays. While Hyland is a fashion editor at a prestigious publication (and, I might be biased as a friend, but a damned good one at that), she intentionally pushes capital-F Fashion to the background here, choosing instead to focus on the many ways fashion touches our lives in more mundane ways than runways and glossy editorials.
Fashion is so often written off as a frivolous interest, something one can simply opt out of, and Hyland successfully weaves together the many threads of how fashion impacts our society; from uniforms and political dressing to the inescapable trend cycles we get caught up in (worth noting here Hyland was the writer who first coined the term "millennial pink") and the ever-increasing demands we participate in the attention economy, no detail escapes Hyland's grasp.
And perhaps most importantly, Hyland is really funny.
**oh yea — edited to add I received an advanced copy from Harper Perennial for review.
Fashion is so often written off as a frivolous interest, something one can simply opt out of, and Hyland successfully weaves together the many threads of how fashion impacts our society; from uniforms and political dressing to the inescapable trend cycles we get caught up in (worth noting here Hyland was the writer who first coined the term "millennial pink") and the ever-increasing demands we participate in the attention economy, no detail escapes Hyland's grasp.
And perhaps most importantly, Hyland is really funny.
**oh yea — edited to add I received an advanced copy from Harper Perennial for review.
January 11, 2023
I was impressed by this! It was more intersectional and political than I anticipated and helped me think through how clothes really do shape our lives.
I started this for the millennial pink but stayed for the astute observations. Well done.
I started this for the millennial pink but stayed for the astute observations. Well done.
December 1, 2021
This book reads like the longest Vogue magazine article that's not a celebrity interview. I'm a fashion girl who gets all of the in-depth references. If this book isn't for me, not sure who's the audience. The author focuses on how fashion affects current events. It's frustrating to hear her argue both sides of every point. Overall it's not bad, mostly stale.
Received a copy of this book from Netgalley
Received a copy of this book from Netgalley
March 1, 2025
From politicians, to educational systems, judicial, historical, and the runway our bodies and what we put on them tells layers of stories of history, and sharing a narrative of who we wish to be day to day. This was a fantastic book and I learned a lot through this book.
April 8, 2022
For someone that has a single fashion bone in her entire body - a tiny one while we're at it - I had way too much fun reading this book. "Dress Code" covers different themes in the fashion world with both a history lens and a provocative writing style, much as a longer editorial in a magazine, which is the author's background.
Even needing to google most of the names of the people mentioned, the particular pieces of clothing and the fashion shows in Paris/London with their couture masters, I really enjoyed getting a new perspective into the fashion world and industry. For me, the concept of fashion as central is someone's life is foreign, but reading this book it not only made perfect sense but also gave me interesting insights on how we can use clothing to our own advantage.
My favorite chapters were the one about work clothes and their impacts on people's perceptions of success and status, the one on attires for trials and the expectations they try to convey, and the one on the evolution of women's clothes and the suffering they can bring to the wearer. Some common themes throughout the chapters were also super interesting, such as comprehending why fashion holds a different value for men and woman, based on their role of creator & muse/consumer. One discussion of "doing it for oneself" while at the same time meeting the world's expectations was very eye-opening.
Hyland managed to write a book perfect for the curious but unfashionable people, the ones that just blindly follow (or try to to follow) the trends. For the initiated on the theme, it might read as too obvious, but for me it was fun, interesting and certainly full of content that I wouldn't have consumed otherwise.
Thanks a lot NetGalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Even needing to google most of the names of the people mentioned, the particular pieces of clothing and the fashion shows in Paris/London with their couture masters, I really enjoyed getting a new perspective into the fashion world and industry. For me, the concept of fashion as central is someone's life is foreign, but reading this book it not only made perfect sense but also gave me interesting insights on how we can use clothing to our own advantage.
My favorite chapters were the one about work clothes and their impacts on people's perceptions of success and status, the one on attires for trials and the expectations they try to convey, and the one on the evolution of women's clothes and the suffering they can bring to the wearer. Some common themes throughout the chapters were also super interesting, such as comprehending why fashion holds a different value for men and woman, based on their role of creator & muse/consumer. One discussion of "doing it for oneself" while at the same time meeting the world's expectations was very eye-opening.
Hyland managed to write a book perfect for the curious but unfashionable people, the ones that just blindly follow (or try to to follow) the trends. For the initiated on the theme, it might read as too obvious, but for me it was fun, interesting and certainly full of content that I wouldn't have consumed otherwise.
Thanks a lot NetGalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
April 23, 2022
A wonderful collection of essays on the only art form you can't opt out of participating in.
August 10, 2022
2.5 i liked the idea but it felt very drawn out, could have been an essay and got the same points across in 10 pages
May 30, 2022
I enjoyed this book and the points it brought up, but like so many have mentioned- it could have been shorter. Some parts read like a student paper just trying to make it to a word count. I’ve never read a book that used the word “aughts” so much.
November 30, 2022
Such an insightful, pleasant, and mind opening read on the intersection between fashion and everyday life. I really enjoyed this collection of essays—I’ll be thinking about the French girl industrial complex and the couture body for weeks to come.
September 25, 2023
This was really fun, I enjoyed the look at different style trends, the recent histories of colors and fits, and those who have influenced fashion over the years. I'm sure this is a very bird's eye view of a lot of it, but as someone not plugged in to the industry, this was perfect.
December 28, 2022
Hyland says a lot without actually saying anything, never mind bringing anything new to the table. The blanket statements without examination come off as immature, and the hyper-charged emotions driving the writing come off as the rants of the middle and high school aged self she regularly refers to (all before hitting page 40 where I DNF'd). A strong editor and a research assistant would much improve what we currently have.
While writing this review, I took a peak at the back of the book. I am gobsmacked. There is not a single citation for any of Hyland's claims or statements. How do you write a collection of informative essays and not have references, citations, or even a suggestion for further readings? Even a 5th grade level bibliography would be something, especially when pulling direct quotes from as many prominent figures as Hyland does.
While writing this review, I took a peak at the back of the book. I am gobsmacked. There is not a single citation for any of Hyland's claims or statements. How do you write a collection of informative essays and not have references, citations, or even a suggestion for further readings? Even a 5th grade level bibliography would be something, especially when pulling direct quotes from as many prominent figures as Hyland does.
April 18, 2022
If you are coming to this book for a history of fashion and how different trends came about, kind of like a light documentary about the fashion industry, then this will not be the book you are looking for. Instead, it is a deep dive into the ways fashion subtly and sometimes insidiously impacts the way humanity perceives itself and the way humans perceive each other--and often the wayst that marginalized groups are subject to more stringent expectations when it comes to the way they dress and how their look impacts their reputation. This was a fascinating analysis of all the little ways that clothing and appearance have a huge impact on our lives and how those things have been impacting us all throughout history.
May 23, 2022
I spent more time googling than reading. This is a book for people in the industry or for fashion influences who are well aware of fashion history. It is not for people with an interest in fashion, who lack a fashion pedigree. I also found her use of $80 words unnecessary.
April 19, 2023
Dear reader, I did not speed through this book. Instead, I took my time, savoring each essay, even going back to re-read several of them and journaling my thoughts. As an independent reader, I don’t often wish I were in a book club, but this was one book I wished I had been reading and sharing with others along the way.
As Hyland says in her author’s note, fashion is NOT a niche subject. Culture informs fashion, and fashion informs culture.
These essays helped answer so many questions I didn’t even know I had, such as: When the guy I dated in 2017 told me I had “hair like a French girl”, why was I automatically so flattered? What was with my late grandmother’s obsession with the term “shocking pink”? And will I ever be free from the confines of posting my ~candid moments~ in exchange for likes?
In short, Hyland manages to do what too few fashion experts can: make it clear she knows what she’s talking about without making you feel uncultured for not knowing it all yourself.
As Hyland says in her author’s note, fashion is NOT a niche subject. Culture informs fashion, and fashion informs culture.
These essays helped answer so many questions I didn’t even know I had, such as: When the guy I dated in 2017 told me I had “hair like a French girl”, why was I automatically so flattered? What was with my late grandmother’s obsession with the term “shocking pink”? And will I ever be free from the confines of posting my ~candid moments~ in exchange for likes?
In short, Hyland manages to do what too few fashion experts can: make it clear she knows what she’s talking about without making you feel uncultured for not knowing it all yourself.
January 31, 2025
Dress Code de Véronique Hyland es un ensayo inteligente y entretenido sobre cómo la moda se cruza con nuestra vida cotidiana. Hyland desarma tendencias, estereotipos y códigos de vestimenta para mostrar que lo que usamos nunca es solo ropa: es identidad, poder, historia y marketing. Desde el mito del "French girl style" hasta el impacto de la moda en la política, el libro mezcla análisis cultural con observaciones filosas y un tono accesible. Perfecto para quienes quieren pensar la moda más allá del consumismo, sin perder de vista su atractivo y su influencia.
September 1, 2022
This is an interesting book of essays about fashion and fashion history. There was a lot of good food for thought (like how fashion trends we think are totally antiquated (like corsets and girdles) get recreated and rebranded (into waist trainers and spanx)). I especially enjoyed the fashion history aspect (like how pockets have come and go in women’s clothes) and the marketing/influencing aspect. Some of the e beginning got a little white woman rage-y, but the rest of it makes up for it.
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December 16, 2024from my newsletter:
In this title, Hyland “argues that fashion is a key that unlocks questions of power, sexuality, and class, taps into history, and sends signals to the world around us.” I read it while I was away and on my trip back and I highlighted so much I intend to go back to it and its bibliography in the future. I love writing about things that we’re trained to perceive as frivolous and situates them in global trends.
In this title, Hyland “argues that fashion is a key that unlocks questions of power, sexuality, and class, taps into history, and sends signals to the world around us.” I read it while I was away and on my trip back and I highlighted so much I intend to go back to it and its bibliography in the future. I love writing about things that we’re trained to perceive as frivolous and situates them in global trends.
January 3, 2023
Though told predominantly through the limited view of the Western canon, Hyland paints a complex portrait of the ever-morphing ideals of beauty that shape and constrain our lives.
Shoutout to the girl from the West Village book bar for the rec
Shoutout to the girl from the West Village book bar for the rec
January 12, 2023
Read like a very long format magazine article but certainly filled with fashion greatest hits and stories including social media trendy topics that were new for me.
April 19, 2023
Incredibly pretentious, loved every second of it
January 30, 2024
Kate Moss wore birkenstocks during a 1990 photoshoot
December 22, 2025
DNF for now. Feels super long and reads like an essay trying to hit a word count, but may come back to it later!
July 3, 2022
This book is sociology, American history, gender studies, politics and art history all wrapped up into one. Can’t wait to read the next work by Hyland!
February 25, 2023
The book discusses millennial pink 🌸🌸🌸
Ch.1 Think Pink
~Woman in the work place can now embrace gendered tics we had been told would hold us back in the workplace and millennial pink is everywhere.
~Other color trends that have happened to swept entire generations: the baby blue of Hard Candy's Sky Nail polish that dominated the mid-90s, the aerobic-evoking neon's of the 80's.
~Insight on how millennial pink has moved from capitalism, to neoliberalism, to stealth fascism
Millennial pink and other pinks began being used to launder QAnon conspiracy theories pushed by lithe influencers AKA "pastel Qanon"
Fashionistas mentioned=Batcheva Hay, Laura Ingalls Wilder
Ch.2 The Kids Are Alright
~Prep style and constructing the perf anti-prep identity
~For many of us HS is our first fashion battle ground:
Cool asians, sexually active band geeks, mods, rockers, punks, goths, preps, metalheads, emo, scene, hippie, grunge, teddy boys.
~A&F lewk policy "All American"
~Movie mentioned= The Wild One with Marlon Brando (Teen Biker Character)
~1950's beatnik subculture: intellectual anti-fashion statement by dressing in monotone clothing which was a rejection of the cheery, colorful, hourglass fitted clothing of the 1950s norm.
Book mentioned= Subculture: the meaning of style
Designer mentioned= Vivienne Westwood RIP ⚰️❤️ most associated with the punk movement
90s fashion would show up on the runway with Marc Jacob's famous spring 1993 collection for Perry Ellis which resulted in his firing from the brand and it def was not a hit with the grunge establishment. - Hanna of Bikini Kill "So now some weird highfalutin fashion designer in New York is calling this Grunge and you're going to go in and take over and say this is our fashion?"
~Lo Lifes: a group of black and Latinx teen in Brooklyn in the 80s and 90s who appropriated preppy clothing
~What will happen to style now that so much socializing happens on social media? VSCO girls, with their take on crunchy '90s eco-warrior style...birks, scrunchies, and hydro flask H2O bottles. E-girls and E-boys, whose styles combine kawaii, goth, skater, and punk all mediated by internet culture.
E-girls and E-boys are found on tiktok
VSCO girls are literally named for the highly filtered sharing app
Insta is home 2 the "baddiez" w/ heavily contoured makeup & brows on FLEEK
~E-boy Noen Eubanks was choses to star in a Celine campaign.
~Addison Rae went from tik tok dances to the red carpet
Ch. 3 The French Girl Industrial Complex
~American fascination with the mythical "French girl" where you where no-makeup makeup, styling hair to look unstyled...young urban dwelling with a cashmere budget, and almost always thin and white.
"you'll find more berets and baguettes in these images more than you will people of color."
Women in the "french" girl films: Catherine Deneuve, Brigitte Bardot, Jane Birkin, Anna Karina, Jeanne Damas, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Camille Rowe.
Book: French women don't get fat aka how to develop an eating disorder :/
Copenhagen Fashion Week is basically the French girl Danish equivalent.
Books: How to Hygge, Keep Calm and Hygge, Year of living Danishly .
Ch.4 Patagonia on bedford avenue
-military, workwear, and outdoor apparel influence (ex: Mid-aughts obsession with trucker hats.)
-Trenchcoats given to civilians after war in Britain, today a Burberry status item.
-Camo has become a hallmark of anti war movement.
-Clout Fleece by Sandy Liang
-Denim and the mythic cowboy appeal (Ex: James Dean and Marlon Brando).
-80s Calvin Klein and Gloria Vanderbilt reimagined jeans as sexy.
-Overalls, coveralls and boilersuits have also become status items
-Carhartt and supermodels.
Ch. 5 Caviar on a potato chip
-2014 Jeremy Scott junk food themed debut collection "Fast Fashion"
-Designer John Galliano spring 2000 "Clochards" collection
Ch 6 Deja Hue
-avocado green in the 70s, hot pink in the 80s, turquoise in the 90s.
-color psychologists: Carl Jung, Angela Wright, and Sloan Wilson (wrote book The man in the Gray Flannel Suit)
-Purple is the color most associated with royalty and Julius Caesar would punish people with death for wearing Tyrian purple.
-Fashionistas and color: Elsa Schiaparelli and Shocking Pink, bombshell plumage the color of Marilyn Monroe's dress in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Diana Vreeland and red garden in hell apartment, Valentino Garavani's first couture show set was all red, Tiffany blue was chosen by Charles Lewis Tiffany for the cover of the shade on the brand's website, Bill Cunningham always wore a bright blue French workmen's jacket to carry multiple rolls of film (aka one of my fav fashion photographers). Coco Channel and the little black dress which gave rise to many imitators.
**Black can be a safe bet but can also evoke death and void...When Japanese talents Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo's black tattered designs were put on display in the early 80s at Paris Fashion Week they received an ethnic-slur-cum review. Later in the year year 2000, Harvard's Grad school of design would present Kawakubu with its Excellence in Design.
-Pantone (another one of my obsessions) began as a printing company in 1950s then the company began naming the color of year in 2000.
Ch. 7 Who is she?
"It Girl" 40s and 50s examples: Clara Bow, Lillie Langtry, Jenny Lind, Louise Brooks, Babe Paley, Slim Keith, Lauren Bacall
60s It Girls: "Youthquarker" Edie Sedgwick.
-Book about here called Edie by Jean Stein.
-1970 cult movie called Puzzle of a Downfall Child
Others mentioned: Cara Delevingne, Brigitte Bardot, Emily Ratajkowski, Alexa Chung, Jane Birkin.
90s It Girls: Cloe Sevigny, Alexa Chung (wrote a book called It)
...author goes back to talking about whatevs It girls...Jane Birking & Isabella Blow, Big and little Edie Beale. Frida Kahlo (flower crown, unibrow, Coachella themed pinterest board), Princess Diana, Jean Seberg, Meghan Markle, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lil Miguela, Shudu, Poppy, Bella Hadid.
Ch 8 Why Can't I be you?
-Social Media and followers aka Kyle Jenner has 38 mil followers on twitter.
**The Influencer; a term derived from an already nebulous verb and the entire appeal is that they are a better version than one of us. Modern day influencers as bloggers and basically seen as outsiders. Then 2009, blogger Bryanboy, Tommy Ton, Garance Dore, and Scott Schuman were seated front row at a D&G show.
~Youtuber Emma Chamberlain.
~Beauty Blogger Michelle Phan.
~Tavi Gevinson aka tween fashion blogger.
Other women that would be considered influencers: Elizabeth Taylor, Kim K, Reece Witherspoon, Crissy Teigen's, Marie Kondo, Stephen Colbert, Tom Brady.
Books mentioned: How to do nothing by Jenny Odell
**The influencer bubble hasn't burst but it's starting to bubble which is why companies are now pursuing "Micoinfluencers" aka people with small follower accounts bc they seem more trustworthy. Influencers have gone from gatecrashers to gatekeepers.
Ch 9 Trial by fashion
~Fashion statement by Anna Sorokin who was a scammer aka Anna Delvey the “SoHo grifter” @ annadelveycourtlooks
~Book was written about her called My Friend Anna.
~Elizabeth Holmes in Silicon Valley founder of Theranos-HBO doc The Inventor is about her. (stanford dropout)
~Charles Mason and personal branding used fashion to create hippie persona which allowed the Mason Family entry into wealthier bohemian worlds.
~Winona Rider arrested for shop lifting went for 50s 60s courtroom attire.
~Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie DUI dressed up in blazers and like Audrey Hepburn.
Other women courtroom attire mentions: Monica Lewinsky, Lindsay Lohan, Martha Stewart, Cardi B
Movie Mentioned: She’s All That… a must watch IMO
~Book: Know My Name by Chanel Miller
Ch. 10 Gaze of our lives
Male vs female gaze
Self Gaze aka selfies-power in negotiating the terms of your own objectification.
Kim K and her book called Kim Kardashian West: Selfish
Emily Ratajkowski #FreeTheNipple supporter and raised awareness about an Alabama abortion ban by posting a nude self-portrait.
Black artists who have tried to reframe and confront the gaze: Carrie Mae Weems and Adrian Piper.
Filters and technological improvements have resulted in a “technical gaze”
Ch. 11 The Revolution will be Spandex-Clad
~Schools ban legging and yoga pants,
~Covid online learning: Zoom dress codes for students
~Bloomerism movement to free the women’s bod from the corset also referred to as “the freedom dress” by suffragists…men were very emotional about the movement.
~The next wave of dress reform gathered steam around another new craze, the bicycle.
~A few fashion designers got on board: Paul Poiret designed jupe-culottes. Coco Chanel added trousers to her collection. Elsa Schiaparelli designed a divided skirt for her “Pour Le Sport” collection.
~1939 Vogue would feature a woman in pants in a nonathletic context.
~By the 1960s androgyny became commonplace on the runway.
~1966 Yves Saint Laurent introduced le smoking, an evening tux for women.
~2015 receptionist at Pricewaterhousecoopers was told she had to wear heels and a dress.
2019 exhibit included outfits of what survivors wore when they were sexually assaulted-Sexist attitudes still prevalent aka “women are asking for it”
Today after especially after covid, fashion is headed toward increased comfort.
Ch. 12 Politics and Fashion
AOC make up tutorial: clothes, hair, everything about is her critiqued bc a women like her isn’t supposed to run for off
History of Prez fits that have been a political asset…
-earth tones for Al Gore so he would seem more “alpha male”
-wranglers and belt buckles for George Bush to distract from his Yale and prep school days
-folksy denim-on-denim looks for Ronald Reagan from pampered movie star to man of the people
*Candidates even use military style to tout their masculinity and suggest and affiliation with the troops.
-George Bush Jr. and his “mission accomplished” speech
-Jared Kushner in flak jacket
-Melania “I really don’t care. Do you?” jacket
1969-Representative Charlotte Reid became the first woman to wear pants and until recently, the house of representative banned people, including reporters, for wearing sleeveless tops,
-Rust-red Max Mara overcoat Nany Pelosi wore proved so popular that the brand reissued it.
Hillary Clinton and her pantsuits and headbands. 90s Hilary on riri tee**
Kamala Harris is an online fav and even has followers like the K-hive who take after the Beyhive in their fierce defense of their queen.
AOC and Ilhan Omar have made casual dress more acceptable.
**The saviest players of this game know that what they wear will be dissected and decoded no matter what. So they are harnessing their power instead of shying away from it.
Ch 13 Dress for the job you want-The Tyranny or the uniform
1996 State of the union address, Bill Clinton said mandatory uniforms were worth adopting in the United States.
Book mentioned: The language of clothes by Alison Lurie
Common Pieces or career advice…
“leave yourself at the door”
“cover your tatoos”
“Don’t talk about religion and politics”
“Keep mum about your personal life”
-In corporate world, the default uniform is still largely the suit but in Silicon Valley you could be made fun of for wearing a button down among cargo short clad coworkers.
-Rona virus…what happens when the narrative is just pjs and sweats? putting on “real clothes” to get into work mode. But in fact, some of the most successful people in a lot of workplaces tend to be either slobs or people who refuse to abide by whatever vague dress code the office has as a sign of counterintuitive power. (there is research to back up this anecdotal finding)
**For female-dominated industries this can be challenging=toxic flight attendant uniforms and cocktail waitresses. (60s Braniff Airways famously collaborated with Emilio Pucci on uniforms that were deigned to be removed mid-flight to reveal a more skin-barring look)
-Medical field and Military have a hierarchy ex: white coats and decorative metals
-American police uniforms, Swat gear, body armor, riot gear… no longer your friendly neighborhood cop but rather a military superman.
-Incarcerated people are assigned numbers and uniforms but wo consent (1700s striped suit, style has been largely discontinued.)
-1960s revival of communes came with their own accompanying fashion doctrine. Ex: Twin oaks in Virginia had “community clothes”
-Cult and the emphasis on sameness Ex: Followers of Synanon, members of Rajneeshpuram, Heaven’s gate cult, NXIVM Cult, Aum Shinrikyo cult
**Corporations external control over their employees' fashion may be a thing of the pas, but that has been replaced by control over every other aspect of one’s working life. Once you could shrug off your unifor and now there is no such thing as clocking out….(dark ominous tones dun dun dunnn)
Ch. 14 Basic Instinct: why are we all starting to dress the same
Movie mentioned: Blade Runner aka perennial fashion reference
~Andre Courreges, Pierre Cardin, and Paco Rabanne became known for their space age aesthetic
**However today’s fashion is moving toward sameness and away from singularity #normcore or acting basic
-Zine Garmento called normcore “One facet of a growing anti-fashion sentiment” AKA the GAP store photo series titled Commingle
-In Ny, looking boring was now the only way to stand out, so it became celebrated…there is also pleasure in outsourcing your personality to astrology or an age group (omgee im such a gem)
“Once upon a time people were born into communities and had to find their individuality. Today people are born individuals and have to find their communities.”
Normcore can be seen in designers like Demna Gvasalia, Gosha Rubchinskiy, Mike Eckhaus, Zoe Latta, and Kanye West.
~Viral fashion** (amazon coat, leopard print skirt, strawberry printed dress, algorithms, Jcrew button down for the finance bros)
@insta_repeat
Ch15 the couture body
Kim K, Beyonce, and JLo - “naked dress”
~The body is the new outfit AKA we no longer care what you are wearing we want to know who is yer trainer/nutritionist/surgeon?
~Advent of athliesure and the body has to look like the product of WORK!
Books mentioned: Corsets and Codpieces, The Corset: A cultural history, Autobiography of Christian Dior.
**rejection of Dior clothing by the younger gen.
~50s bra became more popular
~80s aerobic exercise is popular and basically a religion with Jane Fonda as the pope and queen.
~In the next decade the gym rat was replaced by the waif AKA heroine chic in a tiny slip dress. Ex: Kate Moss
-Sara Blakely and her invention of the Spanx made her a femme hero
**Lingerie tagged with the “empowerment” label.
-Victoria Secret, Savage X Fenty
-Less than a century after women retired the corset it comes back in the form of a waist trainer…prized hourglass figure is back. Ex: Kim K, Kloe, kylie, all the jenners.
Book mentioned Bossy Pants by Tina Fey
Blogger mentioned Nicolette Mason “Almost every time we see a woman above the size fourteen in magazines, ads, or runway, she is a perfect hourglass shape” Ex: Ashley Graham.
~Self-care VS community-care
*What is more unattainable, a red-carpet dress or the body that wears it?
~Epilogue~
Bill Cunningham ushered in the modern day concept of “street wear”
-Separated himself from the elites and connected with young people, eccentric outliers, and the denizens of the street. (the punks, goths, and theatre kids.)
**As cunningham knew, change never originates from the establishment. It will come from the kids, from the show crashers. It will come from the people in the last row :)
Ch.1 Think Pink
~Woman in the work place can now embrace gendered tics we had been told would hold us back in the workplace and millennial pink is everywhere.
~Other color trends that have happened to swept entire generations: the baby blue of Hard Candy's Sky Nail polish that dominated the mid-90s, the aerobic-evoking neon's of the 80's.
~Insight on how millennial pink has moved from capitalism, to neoliberalism, to stealth fascism
Millennial pink and other pinks began being used to launder QAnon conspiracy theories pushed by lithe influencers AKA "pastel Qanon"
Fashionistas mentioned=Batcheva Hay, Laura Ingalls Wilder
Ch.2 The Kids Are Alright
~Prep style and constructing the perf anti-prep identity
~For many of us HS is our first fashion battle ground:
Cool asians, sexually active band geeks, mods, rockers, punks, goths, preps, metalheads, emo, scene, hippie, grunge, teddy boys.
~A&F lewk policy "All American"
~Movie mentioned= The Wild One with Marlon Brando (Teen Biker Character)
~1950's beatnik subculture: intellectual anti-fashion statement by dressing in monotone clothing which was a rejection of the cheery, colorful, hourglass fitted clothing of the 1950s norm.
Book mentioned= Subculture: the meaning of style
Designer mentioned= Vivienne Westwood RIP ⚰️❤️ most associated with the punk movement
90s fashion would show up on the runway with Marc Jacob's famous spring 1993 collection for Perry Ellis which resulted in his firing from the brand and it def was not a hit with the grunge establishment. - Hanna of Bikini Kill "So now some weird highfalutin fashion designer in New York is calling this Grunge and you're going to go in and take over and say this is our fashion?"
~Lo Lifes: a group of black and Latinx teen in Brooklyn in the 80s and 90s who appropriated preppy clothing
~What will happen to style now that so much socializing happens on social media? VSCO girls, with their take on crunchy '90s eco-warrior style...birks, scrunchies, and hydro flask H2O bottles. E-girls and E-boys, whose styles combine kawaii, goth, skater, and punk all mediated by internet culture.
E-girls and E-boys are found on tiktok
VSCO girls are literally named for the highly filtered sharing app
Insta is home 2 the "baddiez" w/ heavily contoured makeup & brows on FLEEK
~E-boy Noen Eubanks was choses to star in a Celine campaign.
~Addison Rae went from tik tok dances to the red carpet
Ch. 3 The French Girl Industrial Complex
~American fascination with the mythical "French girl" where you where no-makeup makeup, styling hair to look unstyled...young urban dwelling with a cashmere budget, and almost always thin and white.
"you'll find more berets and baguettes in these images more than you will people of color."
Women in the "french" girl films: Catherine Deneuve, Brigitte Bardot, Jane Birkin, Anna Karina, Jeanne Damas, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Camille Rowe.
Book: French women don't get fat aka how to develop an eating disorder :/
Copenhagen Fashion Week is basically the French girl Danish equivalent.
Books: How to Hygge, Keep Calm and Hygge, Year of living Danishly .
Ch.4 Patagonia on bedford avenue
-military, workwear, and outdoor apparel influence (ex: Mid-aughts obsession with trucker hats.)
-Trenchcoats given to civilians after war in Britain, today a Burberry status item.
-Camo has become a hallmark of anti war movement.
-Clout Fleece by Sandy Liang
-Denim and the mythic cowboy appeal (Ex: James Dean and Marlon Brando).
-80s Calvin Klein and Gloria Vanderbilt reimagined jeans as sexy.
-Overalls, coveralls and boilersuits have also become status items
-Carhartt and supermodels.
Ch. 5 Caviar on a potato chip
-2014 Jeremy Scott junk food themed debut collection "Fast Fashion"
-Designer John Galliano spring 2000 "Clochards" collection
Ch 6 Deja Hue
-avocado green in the 70s, hot pink in the 80s, turquoise in the 90s.
-color psychologists: Carl Jung, Angela Wright, and Sloan Wilson (wrote book The man in the Gray Flannel Suit)
-Purple is the color most associated with royalty and Julius Caesar would punish people with death for wearing Tyrian purple.
-Fashionistas and color: Elsa Schiaparelli and Shocking Pink, bombshell plumage the color of Marilyn Monroe's dress in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Diana Vreeland and red garden in hell apartment, Valentino Garavani's first couture show set was all red, Tiffany blue was chosen by Charles Lewis Tiffany for the cover of the shade on the brand's website, Bill Cunningham always wore a bright blue French workmen's jacket to carry multiple rolls of film (aka one of my fav fashion photographers). Coco Channel and the little black dress which gave rise to many imitators.
**Black can be a safe bet but can also evoke death and void...When Japanese talents Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo's black tattered designs were put on display in the early 80s at Paris Fashion Week they received an ethnic-slur-cum review. Later in the year year 2000, Harvard's Grad school of design would present Kawakubu with its Excellence in Design.
-Pantone (another one of my obsessions) began as a printing company in 1950s then the company began naming the color of year in 2000.
Ch. 7 Who is she?
"It Girl" 40s and 50s examples: Clara Bow, Lillie Langtry, Jenny Lind, Louise Brooks, Babe Paley, Slim Keith, Lauren Bacall
60s It Girls: "Youthquarker" Edie Sedgwick.
-Book about here called Edie by Jean Stein.
-1970 cult movie called Puzzle of a Downfall Child
Others mentioned: Cara Delevingne, Brigitte Bardot, Emily Ratajkowski, Alexa Chung, Jane Birkin.
90s It Girls: Cloe Sevigny, Alexa Chung (wrote a book called It)
...author goes back to talking about whatevs It girls...Jane Birking & Isabella Blow, Big and little Edie Beale. Frida Kahlo (flower crown, unibrow, Coachella themed pinterest board), Princess Diana, Jean Seberg, Meghan Markle, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lil Miguela, Shudu, Poppy, Bella Hadid.
Ch 8 Why Can't I be you?
-Social Media and followers aka Kyle Jenner has 38 mil followers on twitter.
**The Influencer; a term derived from an already nebulous verb and the entire appeal is that they are a better version than one of us. Modern day influencers as bloggers and basically seen as outsiders. Then 2009, blogger Bryanboy, Tommy Ton, Garance Dore, and Scott Schuman were seated front row at a D&G show.
~Youtuber Emma Chamberlain.
~Beauty Blogger Michelle Phan.
~Tavi Gevinson aka tween fashion blogger.
Other women that would be considered influencers: Elizabeth Taylor, Kim K, Reece Witherspoon, Crissy Teigen's, Marie Kondo, Stephen Colbert, Tom Brady.
Books mentioned: How to do nothing by Jenny Odell
**The influencer bubble hasn't burst but it's starting to bubble which is why companies are now pursuing "Micoinfluencers" aka people with small follower accounts bc they seem more trustworthy. Influencers have gone from gatecrashers to gatekeepers.
Ch 9 Trial by fashion
~Fashion statement by Anna Sorokin who was a scammer aka Anna Delvey the “SoHo grifter” @ annadelveycourtlooks
~Book was written about her called My Friend Anna.
~Elizabeth Holmes in Silicon Valley founder of Theranos-HBO doc The Inventor is about her. (stanford dropout)
~Charles Mason and personal branding used fashion to create hippie persona which allowed the Mason Family entry into wealthier bohemian worlds.
~Winona Rider arrested for shop lifting went for 50s 60s courtroom attire.
~Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie DUI dressed up in blazers and like Audrey Hepburn.
Other women courtroom attire mentions: Monica Lewinsky, Lindsay Lohan, Martha Stewart, Cardi B
Movie Mentioned: She’s All That… a must watch IMO
~Book: Know My Name by Chanel Miller
Ch. 10 Gaze of our lives
Male vs female gaze
Self Gaze aka selfies-power in negotiating the terms of your own objectification.
Kim K and her book called Kim Kardashian West: Selfish
Emily Ratajkowski #FreeTheNipple supporter and raised awareness about an Alabama abortion ban by posting a nude self-portrait.
Black artists who have tried to reframe and confront the gaze: Carrie Mae Weems and Adrian Piper.
Filters and technological improvements have resulted in a “technical gaze”
Ch. 11 The Revolution will be Spandex-Clad
~Schools ban legging and yoga pants,
~Covid online learning: Zoom dress codes for students
~Bloomerism movement to free the women’s bod from the corset also referred to as “the freedom dress” by suffragists…men were very emotional about the movement.
~The next wave of dress reform gathered steam around another new craze, the bicycle.
~A few fashion designers got on board: Paul Poiret designed jupe-culottes. Coco Chanel added trousers to her collection. Elsa Schiaparelli designed a divided skirt for her “Pour Le Sport” collection.
~1939 Vogue would feature a woman in pants in a nonathletic context.
~By the 1960s androgyny became commonplace on the runway.
~1966 Yves Saint Laurent introduced le smoking, an evening tux for women.
~2015 receptionist at Pricewaterhousecoopers was told she had to wear heels and a dress.
2019 exhibit included outfits of what survivors wore when they were sexually assaulted-Sexist attitudes still prevalent aka “women are asking for it”
Today after especially after covid, fashion is headed toward increased comfort.
Ch. 12 Politics and Fashion
AOC make up tutorial: clothes, hair, everything about is her critiqued bc a women like her isn’t supposed to run for off
History of Prez fits that have been a political asset…
-earth tones for Al Gore so he would seem more “alpha male”
-wranglers and belt buckles for George Bush to distract from his Yale and prep school days
-folksy denim-on-denim looks for Ronald Reagan from pampered movie star to man of the people
*Candidates even use military style to tout their masculinity and suggest and affiliation with the troops.
-George Bush Jr. and his “mission accomplished” speech
-Jared Kushner in flak jacket
-Melania “I really don’t care. Do you?” jacket
1969-Representative Charlotte Reid became the first woman to wear pants and until recently, the house of representative banned people, including reporters, for wearing sleeveless tops,
-Rust-red Max Mara overcoat Nany Pelosi wore proved so popular that the brand reissued it.
Hillary Clinton and her pantsuits and headbands. 90s Hilary on riri tee**
Kamala Harris is an online fav and even has followers like the K-hive who take after the Beyhive in their fierce defense of their queen.
AOC and Ilhan Omar have made casual dress more acceptable.
**The saviest players of this game know that what they wear will be dissected and decoded no matter what. So they are harnessing their power instead of shying away from it.
Ch 13 Dress for the job you want-The Tyranny or the uniform
1996 State of the union address, Bill Clinton said mandatory uniforms were worth adopting in the United States.
Book mentioned: The language of clothes by Alison Lurie
Common Pieces or career advice…
“leave yourself at the door”
“cover your tatoos”
“Don’t talk about religion and politics”
“Keep mum about your personal life”
-In corporate world, the default uniform is still largely the suit but in Silicon Valley you could be made fun of for wearing a button down among cargo short clad coworkers.
-Rona virus…what happens when the narrative is just pjs and sweats? putting on “real clothes” to get into work mode. But in fact, some of the most successful people in a lot of workplaces tend to be either slobs or people who refuse to abide by whatever vague dress code the office has as a sign of counterintuitive power. (there is research to back up this anecdotal finding)
**For female-dominated industries this can be challenging=toxic flight attendant uniforms and cocktail waitresses. (60s Braniff Airways famously collaborated with Emilio Pucci on uniforms that were deigned to be removed mid-flight to reveal a more skin-barring look)
-Medical field and Military have a hierarchy ex: white coats and decorative metals
-American police uniforms, Swat gear, body armor, riot gear… no longer your friendly neighborhood cop but rather a military superman.
-Incarcerated people are assigned numbers and uniforms but wo consent (1700s striped suit, style has been largely discontinued.)
-1960s revival of communes came with their own accompanying fashion doctrine. Ex: Twin oaks in Virginia had “community clothes”
-Cult and the emphasis on sameness Ex: Followers of Synanon, members of Rajneeshpuram, Heaven’s gate cult, NXIVM Cult, Aum Shinrikyo cult
**Corporations external control over their employees' fashion may be a thing of the pas, but that has been replaced by control over every other aspect of one’s working life. Once you could shrug off your unifor and now there is no such thing as clocking out….(dark ominous tones dun dun dunnn)
Ch. 14 Basic Instinct: why are we all starting to dress the same
Movie mentioned: Blade Runner aka perennial fashion reference
~Andre Courreges, Pierre Cardin, and Paco Rabanne became known for their space age aesthetic
**However today’s fashion is moving toward sameness and away from singularity #normcore or acting basic
-Zine Garmento called normcore “One facet of a growing anti-fashion sentiment” AKA the GAP store photo series titled Commingle
-In Ny, looking boring was now the only way to stand out, so it became celebrated…there is also pleasure in outsourcing your personality to astrology or an age group (omgee im such a gem)
“Once upon a time people were born into communities and had to find their individuality. Today people are born individuals and have to find their communities.”
Normcore can be seen in designers like Demna Gvasalia, Gosha Rubchinskiy, Mike Eckhaus, Zoe Latta, and Kanye West.
~Viral fashion** (amazon coat, leopard print skirt, strawberry printed dress, algorithms, Jcrew button down for the finance bros)
@insta_repeat
Ch15 the couture body
Kim K, Beyonce, and JLo - “naked dress”
~The body is the new outfit AKA we no longer care what you are wearing we want to know who is yer trainer/nutritionist/surgeon?
~Advent of athliesure and the body has to look like the product of WORK!
Books mentioned: Corsets and Codpieces, The Corset: A cultural history, Autobiography of Christian Dior.
**rejection of Dior clothing by the younger gen.
~50s bra became more popular
~80s aerobic exercise is popular and basically a religion with Jane Fonda as the pope and queen.
~In the next decade the gym rat was replaced by the waif AKA heroine chic in a tiny slip dress. Ex: Kate Moss
-Sara Blakely and her invention of the Spanx made her a femme hero
**Lingerie tagged with the “empowerment” label.
-Victoria Secret, Savage X Fenty
-Less than a century after women retired the corset it comes back in the form of a waist trainer…prized hourglass figure is back. Ex: Kim K, Kloe, kylie, all the jenners.
Book mentioned Bossy Pants by Tina Fey
Blogger mentioned Nicolette Mason “Almost every time we see a woman above the size fourteen in magazines, ads, or runway, she is a perfect hourglass shape” Ex: Ashley Graham.
~Self-care VS community-care
*What is more unattainable, a red-carpet dress or the body that wears it?
~Epilogue~
Bill Cunningham ushered in the modern day concept of “street wear”
-Separated himself from the elites and connected with young people, eccentric outliers, and the denizens of the street. (the punks, goths, and theatre kids.)
**As cunningham knew, change never originates from the establishment. It will come from the kids, from the show crashers. It will come from the people in the last row :)
August 22, 2024
This was such an interesting read! The section on women’s dress code requirements vs boys/men was *chef’s kiss*.
May 7, 2025
A solid deep dive into fashion, the history and how it has evolved
April 25, 2022
I've always loved Veronique's voice, and have been a fan of her writing since her days at The Cut. This book is a true culmination of her expertise in the field and provides a much-needed smart take on the world of fashion and style that is almost non-existent today.
July 30, 2022
A lot of very fascinating detail and insight, and very well researched book that made me think a lot about my fashion choices in a new context, enjoyable read!
May 23, 2023
What do your clothes say about you? Do you even think that your clothes can say something? While I’m admittedly not a fashionista, I was intrigued by Dress Code, which had this promising subtitle: “unlocking fashion from new look to millenial pink.”
Divided into four parts, Dress Code covers:
1. Certain trends, like why the French girl is considered chic in America and what the deal behind Millenial Pink is
2. How fashion interacts with society, including exploring what it means to be an “IT” girl and an influencer
3. Fashion and the patriarchy/sexism, considering the male gaze, politics, and atheleisure
4. Fashion and the future, basically essays on uniforms, normcore, and working out
The first part of the book, on trends, reminded me of another book called The Classic Ten which also explored certain pieces of clothing. I generally really enjoyed this chapter and it made me want to revisit The Classic Ten (idea for my rereading month?).
Parts two to four are a bit more abstract. While the first part did make comments about how fashion related to the way the American world thinks/sees itself (I made quite a few highlights), I found this extrapolation to be much stronger in the later chapters. And let’s not be confused: Hyland definitely views things from an American lens, even if she never explicitly says as much. For example, the chapter on uniforms references Japan as a country where uniforms are mandatory, and goes on to say that uniforms are often “attempts to mimic adult professional dress“. Which is true, but in collectivistic countries like Japan, uniforms can help enforce the sense of belonging to a group, which is why there was a backlash when a school decided to use Armani for uniforms, thus creating a sense of exclusivity. Unfortunately, the nuances of uniforms were never fully explored, and it’s taken for granted that uniforms are seen as a way to remove one’s individuality.
On a side note, I found the sense of work uniforms being “meant to snuff out any semblance of autonomy” amusing because I vividly remember a Japanese friend being excited about choosing her work uniform – it was a new thing to the company and she was happy to go through the catalogue and choose something. What does that say about our autonomy and can there be people who might take comfort in not having to figure out what to wear at work?
Chapters eight (on influencers) and fifteen (on working out and the body as fashion) were also interesting to read and consider together. In particular, this line in chapter fifteen caught my attention:
“Now we have to pretend that working out, and every other part of the bodily bildungsroman we call our “journey,” is something we’re doing for our own betterment and pleasure.”
This quote works very well with the chapter on influencers, which considers how influencers as a class has risen from being the underdog to being the class to topple but I do wonder: what about the people who, for better or worse, do enjoy all this? The chapter on working out and sculpting the ideal body is based on the idea that what we do for this isn’t enjoyable – and perhaps it isn’t for some – but what if it is? What if some influencers are enjoying and genuinely think that they are offering value with their content? Or if they like the outfits that they are showing off? There is an undercurrent of cynicism in some of Hyland’s chapters which may be refreshing to those who are disillusioned with the current state of social media, but it’s hard to discern what the way forward is. Perhaps this is what I was looking for in the last section – something to tie everything together and then present an alternative model for consideration.
Going back to my point on the America-centric nature of this book – perhaps that is what the book is missing and perhaps that is why I enjoyed the chapter on the French girl so much; it’s the only chapter that tries to do some cultural comparisons. There was a time when I would have read this book and automatically agreed with everything and took it for granted that all her references are universal. But now that I’ve started exploring non-English-based platforms and, more critically, have started to learn about the history of Chinese fashion (which is easier to incorporate into a daily wardrobe compared to Japanese kimono – but that’s a topic for another blog post!), I can see that to view America as the entirety of the world is very narrow. Perhaps the antidote for this enduring cynicism with fashion/social media can come from learning about how other cultures deal with fashion/social media. I’m not saying that other countries do it better, but perhaps inhabiting a different worldview can give us ideas on how we want to craft our wardrobes and how we want to express ourselves online.
Last note, completely unrelated to what I talked about before: Hyland references designer’s fashion shows quite often as ways of exploring certain ideas in fashion. But from what I read, the clothes showcased there seem rather… unwearable, for lack of a better word. In which case, do clothes intended to be statements really make a statement more effectively than what say, influencers wear? Why would they be allowed to represent fashion’s dialogue with the ideas in society if most people might never see the clothes or wear them? I’m actually quite curious about this so let me know if you have an answer, or any books about high fashion that would shed some light on this topic!
All in all, this was a fascinating book. I highlighted so many passages while reading because I wanted to discuss them/refer to them when writing this review, and I hope my review shows how the book made me think. If you’re interested in fashion or interested in commentaries on popular culture in general (for example, if you liked Trick Mirror), I think this book might be something you’d like.
This review was first posted at Eustea Reads
Divided into four parts, Dress Code covers:
1. Certain trends, like why the French girl is considered chic in America and what the deal behind Millenial Pink is
2. How fashion interacts with society, including exploring what it means to be an “IT” girl and an influencer
3. Fashion and the patriarchy/sexism, considering the male gaze, politics, and atheleisure
4. Fashion and the future, basically essays on uniforms, normcore, and working out
The first part of the book, on trends, reminded me of another book called The Classic Ten which also explored certain pieces of clothing. I generally really enjoyed this chapter and it made me want to revisit The Classic Ten (idea for my rereading month?).
Parts two to four are a bit more abstract. While the first part did make comments about how fashion related to the way the American world thinks/sees itself (I made quite a few highlights), I found this extrapolation to be much stronger in the later chapters. And let’s not be confused: Hyland definitely views things from an American lens, even if she never explicitly says as much. For example, the chapter on uniforms references Japan as a country where uniforms are mandatory, and goes on to say that uniforms are often “attempts to mimic adult professional dress“. Which is true, but in collectivistic countries like Japan, uniforms can help enforce the sense of belonging to a group, which is why there was a backlash when a school decided to use Armani for uniforms, thus creating a sense of exclusivity. Unfortunately, the nuances of uniforms were never fully explored, and it’s taken for granted that uniforms are seen as a way to remove one’s individuality.
On a side note, I found the sense of work uniforms being “meant to snuff out any semblance of autonomy” amusing because I vividly remember a Japanese friend being excited about choosing her work uniform – it was a new thing to the company and she was happy to go through the catalogue and choose something. What does that say about our autonomy and can there be people who might take comfort in not having to figure out what to wear at work?
Chapters eight (on influencers) and fifteen (on working out and the body as fashion) were also interesting to read and consider together. In particular, this line in chapter fifteen caught my attention:
“Now we have to pretend that working out, and every other part of the bodily bildungsroman we call our “journey,” is something we’re doing for our own betterment and pleasure.”
This quote works very well with the chapter on influencers, which considers how influencers as a class has risen from being the underdog to being the class to topple but I do wonder: what about the people who, for better or worse, do enjoy all this? The chapter on working out and sculpting the ideal body is based on the idea that what we do for this isn’t enjoyable – and perhaps it isn’t for some – but what if it is? What if some influencers are enjoying and genuinely think that they are offering value with their content? Or if they like the outfits that they are showing off? There is an undercurrent of cynicism in some of Hyland’s chapters which may be refreshing to those who are disillusioned with the current state of social media, but it’s hard to discern what the way forward is. Perhaps this is what I was looking for in the last section – something to tie everything together and then present an alternative model for consideration.
Going back to my point on the America-centric nature of this book – perhaps that is what the book is missing and perhaps that is why I enjoyed the chapter on the French girl so much; it’s the only chapter that tries to do some cultural comparisons. There was a time when I would have read this book and automatically agreed with everything and took it for granted that all her references are universal. But now that I’ve started exploring non-English-based platforms and, more critically, have started to learn about the history of Chinese fashion (which is easier to incorporate into a daily wardrobe compared to Japanese kimono – but that’s a topic for another blog post!), I can see that to view America as the entirety of the world is very narrow. Perhaps the antidote for this enduring cynicism with fashion/social media can come from learning about how other cultures deal with fashion/social media. I’m not saying that other countries do it better, but perhaps inhabiting a different worldview can give us ideas on how we want to craft our wardrobes and how we want to express ourselves online.
Last note, completely unrelated to what I talked about before: Hyland references designer’s fashion shows quite often as ways of exploring certain ideas in fashion. But from what I read, the clothes showcased there seem rather… unwearable, for lack of a better word. In which case, do clothes intended to be statements really make a statement more effectively than what say, influencers wear? Why would they be allowed to represent fashion’s dialogue with the ideas in society if most people might never see the clothes or wear them? I’m actually quite curious about this so let me know if you have an answer, or any books about high fashion that would shed some light on this topic!
All in all, this was a fascinating book. I highlighted so many passages while reading because I wanted to discuss them/refer to them when writing this review, and I hope my review shows how the book made me think. If you’re interested in fashion or interested in commentaries on popular culture in general (for example, if you liked Trick Mirror), I think this book might be something you’d like.
This review was first posted at Eustea Reads
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