‘You’re Not Going Out Dressed Like That!’: Lessons in Fashion Consumption, Taste and Class

Abstract

As previous academic work suggests, there is an important relationship between motherhood and fashion. As Corrigan argues, ‘clothing is a way of displaying family links’ and mothers in particular play a significant role in the clothing choices and consumer socialisation of their children (Cook, 2008; McNeal, 2007; Pilcher, 2011; Rawlins, 2006). Though some suggest that this relationship can be tested during teenage years (Corrigan, 1989; Klepp and Storm-Mathisen, 2005), as daughter’s friends become increasingly influential in decision making, as adults, it seems that mothers and daughter often look to each other as a source of advice and support (Clarke and Miller, 2002; Woodward, 2007). As Simmel (2004 [1901], p. 209) suggests, fashion affords individuals the ’satisfaction of not standing alone’ and by shopping together and sharing clothing, accessories and fashion knowledge, mothers and daughters are able to lessen the burden of deciding what to wear.