Getting Dressed Conformity and Imitation in Clothing and Everyday Life

Getting Dressed teaches sociology through the everyday decision of what to wear. Itis about the rules that shape how we dress and how and why we conform. It is about how and why we imitate others. We may think about clothing as our personal style and identity. But our personal style is not so personal; it is social, shaped and limited by countless social influences. We use clothes to rank and treat each other as better and worse. Yet we need each other to become who we are when getting dressed. This book is about what we wear, why we wear it, and why it matters.

1. The public nature of personal style

Dressing by the rules

2. The written dress codes
3. The unwritten dress codes
4. How much to cover?
5. Who covers what when?
6. How much to care?
7. When to challenge the rules?
8. How to show status?
9. Inequality and shopping for clothes

Dressing like others do

10. Following and fitting in
11. The influencers
12. In the industry
13. Is individuality individual?
14. Individuality in lifestyles?
15. Mashup

Carrie Yodanis is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of British Columbia. She is also author of Getting Married: The Public Nature of Our Private Relationships.