Fragments of a Fashionable Discourse

"Clothing draws the body so that it can be culturally seen, and articulates it as a meaningful form."

I thought this was the most important line in the entire essay, as it captures the essence of what clothing is really for in the eyes of many, especially females. Although I realize there are countless exceptions to this, I still believe that women are the main lovers of fashion. As Silverman says in her essay, this has been occurring for a long time, with girls always dressing to impress. However, regardless of the gender, clothes always stood as a status symbol, whether it be in the 18th century, with a man wearing a "black coat, cylindrical hat, spotless linen, carefully rolled umbrella, and general air of refined discomfort" proving that he was of a dignified class, or making it appear as though he is. Even if a person then was not of such a wealthy class, the way he acted and dressed displayed otherwise. I thought it was interesting that this habit still holds very true in today's society, but especially for women.

For example, there are several women that spends large amounts of money buying designer clothing and accessories with prices that are way out of their means just so that they can make it appear as though they do actually make enough money to afford these luxuries easily. I think its ironic that people would make themselves less rich to give the appearance of being rich. In the same way that a man would put on a hat and a black coat in the 18th century to impress, a girl today slips on a Chanel bag to make others think she's of that status. However, I think it's interesting that today, most men do not do this (at least from what I know) but women do it a lot.