University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Clothing as a factor in the social status rating of men

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Clothing as a factor in the social status rating of men

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Content CLO'fBIRG AS A FACTOR IN THE SOCIAL STATUS RATING OF MEN A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty or the Department of Sociology The University ot Southern California In Partial Fulfillment or the Requirements tor the Degree Doctor ot Philosophy by Thomas Ford Hoult August 1951 Ph. O s J-) This dissertation, written by THOMAS FORD HOULT under the guidance of h.!.~--- Faculty Committee on Studies, and approved by all its members, has been presented to .and accepted by the Council on Graduate Study and Research, in partial ful fillment of requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Date ... b...(Y··: .. .J., .. 1.i£J ................... . Committee on Studies /..e,c.,v-.~ •••• d.~.-;.~- -✓ ~ _____ v-.~ - - --- ,_ __ , hairman -~ ------ --- - ---- , - --1-~ I • .. - - - - - ~ " & - - - • - - - - - _._ - . . __ a_,. _______ - -- . - -- --------- - --- ------- ----------- "It is an interesting question how tar men would retain their relative rank it they were divested ot their clothes. 11 -- Henry David Thoreau Acknowledgement 1s due the tollowing--Inter-Library Loan Departments ot the University or Chicago Library, Indiana State Librar7, and the Indianapolis Public Library, tor aid in locating and supplying out-ot date, unpublished, and foreign references. The fol lowing supplied materials or suggestions that have been extremely usetul: ClarenC!e Judd, Fairchild Pub licationst Inc.; H.P. Scharr, the Richman Brothers Company; John F. Embree, Yale University; Gregory Stone, Michigan State College; w. Harrington, Crowell Collier Publishing Company; P. B. Juster, Juster Bros.; I. R. Sussm&J? 1 Middishade Clothes; William D. Williams, KID..!..I. .w..at.; A.iex walker, Botany Mills, Inc.; Louis Rothsclilll, Rational Association ot Retail Clothiers and Furnishers; L. Belt, Marx and Haas-Korrekt Co.· Russell Ziegleri Cluett 1 Peabody & Co., Inc.: Morion Freund, Morton Freund Advertising Agency, Inc.; H. Silverman Sigmund Eisner Co.; Howard B. Brown Robert Reis! Co.; Harry A. Cobrin, Clothing Man~ac turers Association ot the United States ot America; Norman Richman, N. Snellenburg & Co.; I.E. Heller, Michaels, Stern & Company-; J. Schoeneman, Inc.; L. N. Rieman, Hart Schattner & Marx; A. L. Lindbloom, Jr., Society Brand Clothes, Inc.; Louis H. Bloom, Wm. P. Goldman & Bros., Inc.; Frank P. Feerick 1 Hickey-Freeman Co.; Herbert J. Stiefel, Peck Aaver tls1ng Agency• A. Conrad Schloss Bros. & Co., Inc.; A. R. Green 1 B. Kuppenhe:lmer & Co., Inc.; Tudor Bowen, the. Joseph & Feiss Co.; o. E. Schoettler, Esgt.Q[I Magazine; Edward T. Sajous, Apparel Arts; Margaret L. Brew, Family Economics Division, u. s. Department or Agriculture; and the u. s. Department of Commerce. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I. II. PART I--I?JTRODUCTION CLOTHING AND SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS • • • • • • • • Statement of the problem •• • • • • • • • • • Importance of the study •• • • • • • • • • • • Definitions ot important terms used. • • • • • Organization of the dissertation. • • • • • • REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ••••••• • • • • • • Sociological and psychological studies of clothing • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • PAGE 2 2 3 8 11 13 13 Relevant studies of status •••••••••• 18 Special emphasis of this study •••••••• 19 III. SOURCES OF DATA AND METHODOLOGIES USED •••••• 21 IV. Methodologies used •••••••••••••• Economic material used •••••••••••• • • Non-economic sources of data ••••••• Limitations or the present study using the above-mentioned sources and methodologies •• PART II--THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS THE IMPORTANCE OF STATUS SYMBOLS IN RATING PROCEDURES • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Symbols of status. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Relative status symbols •••••••••••• 21 21 28 30 CHAPTER vi PAGE v. THE SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF MEN'S CLOTHING FASHIONS • • • • • • • • • • • 0 • • • • • • • The desire to conform. • • • Decoration • • • comrort •••• Fashion • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Motivations for male clothing selection •• • • PART III--FINDINGS OF THE STUDY 42 44 ;o 53 ;6 71 VI. POPULAR CONCEPI'IONS REGARDING CLOTHING AS A VII. FACTOR IN THE SOCIAL STATUS RATING OF MEN. • • Literary expressions ••••••••••••• Modern American ideas. • • • • • • • • • • • ., • More scientific reports of popular ideas about male clothing •••••• • • • • • • • • • • oO 80 84 91 93 Folk ideas in the men's clothing industry ••• Folk ideas in scientific literature •••••• 99 CLOTHING AS A STATUS SYMBOL AMONG ME~l OF VARIOUS CULTURES • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 103 Social change in clothing as a status symbol among men ••• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 103 Western Europea.n and Mediterranean cultures •• 112 Cultures outside the mainstream of Western Europe •••••••• , •••••••••• 115 CHAPTER Current cross-cultural data. • • • • Industry reactions ••••• • • • • • vii PAGE • ••• 120 • • • • 137 VIII. PATTERNS OF CLOTHING CONSUMPTION BY MALES IN SELECTED SOCIAL GROUPINGS IN THE UNITED STATES. 141 Nature of the data and purpose or the chapter. 141 United States clothing expenditures as a whole. 143 Occupational groups and values regarding clothing ••••• • • • • • • • • • • • ••• 151 Income and educational groups and values regarding clothing ••••• • • • • • • • • • Ecological areas and values regarding clothing. 183 Age and sex as factors in values regarding clothing ••••••••••••••••••• 193 Race as a factor in values regarding clothing. 206 Clothing as a symbol of status in military and religious groups •••••• • • • • • • • • • 211 Summary of chapter. • • • 0 • • • • • • • • • 226 IX. EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENT OF CLOTHING AS A FACTOR IN SOME SOCIAL RATINGS OF SELECTED AMERICAN MEN • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 228 Why college students were studied • • • • • • 229 The first experiment. • • • • • • • • • • • • 230 The second experiment • • • • • • • • • • • • 2>+1 CHAPTER v111 PAGE Validity and reliability or the two experiments •••••••••••••••• 263 A pilot study ot pluralistic ignorance regarding clothing •• • • • • • • • • • • • 265 Snmma.1~ y of the findings or the experiments •• 271 PART IV--CONCLUSION x. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS • • • • • • • • • • • •• 276 Summary of the findings ••••••••••• 276 Conclusions ••••••••••••••••• '219 Further research indicated •••••••••• 280 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY •••••••••••••••••• 284 APPEND IX • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 297 LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE I. Consumer Expenditures in the United States by Major Categories, Annually, 1929-1946, in Billions of Dol1ars •••• • • • • • • • • • II. Selected Items for Consumer's Price Index for Moderate-Income Families in Large Cities. • • 147 III. Family Expenses for Clothing at Selected IV. Income Levels • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Social Rating Scores of the Members of Three Groups Rated Twice by Judges Who Knew Men Being Rated • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • v. Clothing Rating Scores of the Members ot Three Groups Rated Twice on Their Clothing Alone. e ••• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • VI. Rank ot Men Rated on General Social Ratings Compared with Their Rank on Social Closeness with the Raters •••••• • • • • • • • • • VII. Judges Whose Ratings Appeared to be Associated with the Clothing Changes ot Eight Men Rated, Compared with Judges Whose Ratings Appeared 166 233 235 237 to be Unassociated with the Clothing Changes. 2l+o VIII. Matched Groups at ~.ichigan State College and Indiana Central College. • • • • • • • • • • 252 X TABLE PAGE IX. Indiana Central College Control and Experimental Group Scores Accorded Ten Men on Attractive ness and Intelllgence-Cooperativeness- Capability, and Resulting Ranks or Men Rated. 255 X. Michigan State College Control and Experimental Group Scores Accorded Ten Men on Attractive ness and Intelligence-Cooperativeness- capability, and Resulting Ranks of Men Rated. 259 XI. The Association or Clothing Outfits Ranked First Through Fifth and Sixth Through Tenth with a Rise or Fall in the Status of Men Ranked on Four Factors by Michigan and ICC Experimental Groups •••••••••••••• 262 XII. Reactions by Unmatched and Matched Groups to Questions on the Use of Clothing as a Symbol tor Estimating Social Class of Men •••••• 268 PA.Rf I INTRODUCTION CBAP!BR I CLC1.rBIIG AND SOCIAL RELlTIORSHIPS !he ell~•, "clothes make the man," neatly expresses the widel1 accepted belief that those who wear appropriate and stylish clothing will be more certain or social success. For ~his reason, soae sociological and psychological studies . haT.e been made ot clothing. But these studies have been cont.ined tor the most part to the subject ot women's apparel. to date, the social psychological aspects ot male clothing have been neglected. Investigation has indicated, however, that there have been considerable data available on the sub- 3ect ot male clothing as a tactor in the social Ute ot men, but these_data have been so scattered as to be relatively worthless. §tatgfpt Rt .at ~roblg. The problem or the present study was, theretore, to make a contribution to social knowledge in .terms ot this major purpose: to bring together 1n one source s1gn1t1cant tacts on the subject ot male clothing and .to systematize them in terms or a relevant social psychoiogical framework. the key concept in this framework has been the term status rating, and the part that ■al• clothing plays in such ratings has been the central core around which the study bas been organized. In tultill inl this purpose, an estimate bas been made ot the extent to 3 which concern tor clothing 1s associated with socio-economic statuses or men, and a demonstration has been made ot the extant to which clothing is a measurable factor in some status ratings ot men in certain social situations. The study has not been directed at solving some prob lem which can be stated neatly in one or a number ot hypoth eses. Rather, it is meant to be a contribution in the sense ot Karl Pearson's assertion: "Iwt classification ot~ t:1cts, the te20gn1t1on .Qt their seauenc~ ~ rei1t1ve sigm.,~csoo~ 1 J.! ~ tnqction ot. sc;J.~nqe." The study attempts to systema- tize a wide range or facts which indicate a number of the conditions under which male clothing is believed to act or has acted as a status symbol. Undoubtedly it is true that a number ot these facts, in a scattered fashion, have been lalown to many observers before. But there 1s value in bringing them together in one source where their total ettect may be ascertained. An isolated fact is relatively useless--it is only when it 1s placed together with other related tacts that its real significance may be judged. ImRQttAaRt .2.t t;e §~qgz. on the basis or their iden- . tUiable characteristics, people have a number of statuses-- 1 Karl Pearson, Ia! ~tW!Dllt .Qt S£f encc1 (London: J.M. Dent and Sons, Ltd., r92 and 1937, P• 11 (italics in original). positions in society-~ascribed to them by others. They are assigned places on the social status ladders. And these status distributions ot people are important because as soon as any one of the many classifications possible is applied to a person, a number of- expectations and conduct rules are also applied. This means that if a person is to get along with his fellow men, he must know what his statuses are. As Hiller has put it, "Knowing what one's place is, or is to be, 2 1s the tirst step in preparing tor lite." Cooley was the first sociologist to bring out in an extended discussion the importance of the appraisals given 3 oneselt by other persons. In everything a person does, he imagines he can see his behavior reflected in the judgments 4 or other people. It is on the basis or these estimates that one judges what his statuses are. Bogardus has said, "Status is the evaluation of a person's behavior by his , associates." And, it is clear, an important part ot every individual's behavior is that which ce ters about his cloth ing. It is just such behavior that constitutes 'front.• 2 E.T. Hillert s2cial Rela~2~s !l19. s~ruckw:-e§ (New York: Harper ana Brothers, 1 7, P• 33. (New Yo;k~.har~l~~o~~~lb~~ ~:U,~~l~) !h~p~ 0 i~~r~er ogY ~ Emory S. Bogardus, Funqa!D.~D~a+s 2( ~ fsyc904- (New York: D. Appleton-Century Company,7:9ffi, P• 100. ~Loe.cit. Still, .the subject or clothing as an aspect or front has received scant attention in sociology and social psychology. The importance ot fashion has been noted by some, but only a rev prominent social psychologists consider the subject vital enough to warrant separate treatment. J. c. Flugel laments: Clothes, in tact, though seemingly mere extraneous appendages, have entered into the very core of our existence as social beings. They therefore not only perm.it but demand treat~ ment from the psychologist; it 1s perhaps the absence of such treatment from our systematic handbooks or 6 psychology that reqUires excuse and explanation. Why in the face of its obvious importance, clothing has received so little attention can be but a matter of con~ jecture. Silverman believes it is because the subject seems too trite: Among the influences causing this dearth may be the tact that ••• there has been a prevalence of the idea that clothing and personal appearance are topics too trite to be studied intellectually or scientifically.' . Educational psychologist George Hartmann also has something to say on the subject: 6 J. c. Flugel, 5he fs~hology .Qt Clotae~ (London: The Hogarth Press, 1930, p. l. 7 Sylvia Susan Silverman, CJ,otn.J.ng §m APP81t;ffl (New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, 1 , P• 3. ~ducationally speaking, clothing is a persistent 'interest center• in everyone's lite •••• Few would deny that it is one ot life's fundamentals. Yet, curiously enough, most people also make an essentially superficial approach to this ever- !!::~int~E!c!r1!1!t0:~ea1~::~!rn:br; ~~~it. 8 But, says, Hartmann~ Not only are clothes a matter or intimate individ ual concern and therefore an appropriate subject tor serious, systematic psychological study, but they involve extensive group reactions rich in m~an1ng for the operation of many of our major commtJDity institutions and are consequently a topic squarely within the field ot the social sciences. 6 All or the United States manufacturers and distribu tors or men's clothing listed in Thomas' business directory as being worth a million dollars Qr more have been contacted tor information on. the status factors involved in male clothing styles. In addition_to industry, the editors of leading publications devoted to the subject or male clothing 9 were consulted. Reactions were unanimous: there has been little if any scientific study or the part played by men's clothing in social life. The following quotations seem to be typical or the replies received: 8 o. w. Hartmann, "Clothing: Personal Problem and Social Issue," Journal.~ Rome E2onomics,, 1+1:295, June,. 19~'-9. 9 Ind1v1d•1als and firms consulted are listed on the page ot aclmowledgements. Edward T. Sajous, Editor, Appgel Art1: I have been trying to find some specific infor mation tor you in response to your appreciated note ot December 3, but so far without success. There is a lot ot opinion available but to my own knowledge, we have no information ot the king you are seeking based upon studies or research.ii . o. E. Schoeffler, Fashion Editor, E§gqj,rg: That clothing 1s a factor in this manner is generally assumed and yet, it is difficult to point to any particular source tor fiatistical or scient1£ic data on this subject. I. R. Sussman, The Middishade Company, Inc.: The subject is a very interesting and signifi cant one, and pro~bly very Utt±~ scientific research has been devoted to it. 7 Many companies which have millions or dollars tied up in the men's clothing industry have little objective knowl edge or how their products affect social relationships. As Tudor Bowen or the Joseph & Feiss Company, Cleveland, Ohio, has written: Although we control the style of this cloth ing, we are frank to admit that we have not made a thorough study or how the 'Mano~ t~e Street' is judged when he wears the clothing. j There seems to be no arguing with the tact that there 10 Letter dated December 12, 1950. 11 Letter dated December 11, 195'0. 12 Letter dated D ecember 28, 1950. 1 3 Letter dated D ecember 11+, 1950. is a scarcity or organized data on the social aspects or clothing. This is especially true about men's clothing. At the same time, it is an accepted fact that clothing may be one ot the major classificatory symbols on the basis of which men practice the principles or inclusion and exclusion that characterize all systems or human behavior. These principles are based on the signs or symbols by which members of groups recogni- ze one another and others. Since clothing is widely believed to be one of these symbols, it deserves the close attention ot the sociologist. DetinitiOil§ .Qt .mpor~1nt te~m.s used. Clothes and clothing: The word 2iothgs, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, was originally the plural ot cloth. The deriva tion of the word 2lothes is germane to the discussion because it is proposed that this term be limited herein to cloths or similar materi_ als which are used as covering for the person, as wearing apparel. However, where clothes are used par tially for decorative purposes--as is true almost everywhere in the world--the use ot the word in this study will include that purpose. Status: By the word statµ§, as used herein, shall be meant the social rank or a person when compared with other individ11als relative to some characteristic. For example, it monetary income were the characteristic being used to 9 rate people in a society where money 1s highly valued, a man with a large income would have a high status in comparison to that or a man on the dole. As Davis has put it, statuses have the quality of differential value. 14 In the words or Bogardus: Status denotes social position. A human being does not know about status until he attempts to do something in human society; then he 1s assigned a social rank. In competition with other human ~:~~:A.hes;;~ ~!n~!!! 8 Jo~:1~!1!i!~::ht~~f~s 16 Statuses may be achieved, assumed or ascribed. or course, the present study is primarily concerned with the socia1 position ascrtbed to men by others on the basis 0£ . some identifying characteristic (particularly their clothing~ and in. the way men can Assume or §Cly.eve a particular status by wearing a certain type or clothing. Status rating: One of the clearest formulations or the orders or social stratification 1s that or Max Weber. Ot the three major orders of stratification, according to Weber, one is that of the differential distribution or 14 Kingsley Davis, ijn.man Society (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1949), pp. 91-2. l5 Bogardus, .Ql!e git., P• 101. 16 Ralph Linton, Ih.e Stud~ ~ J1an (New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, 193 ), P• 115; also see Hiller, .Qll• ill•, PP• xii and 692. 10 social honor. 17 It is just this--the differential distribu- tion ot social honor--which is meant by the term 1tatu§ rating as used herein. The rating done of course, is rela- tive to some criteria. That is, people may 1ng to their position in an occupational hi h , l" in an income hierarchy. Or they may be judged on t ~ rating for their total average position in a group. -all Status symbols: People are rated differentially by others on the basis or their observable characteristics. Weber maintains that status groups are accorded different amounts or types or honor because of their style of life, and the style or life or a particular group is epitomized by 18 the 1m:J.que way 1n which it consumes goods. . But it should be obvious that people are seldom accorded honor solely because of their observable character istics. They are honored because their style of life is thought to symbolize their position in a social hierarchy. It is in this sense that the term status SYJllbol is used in this study. A status symbol 1s an identifying characteristic ltl Discussed in Paul K. Hatt t1Stratification in the Mass Society, 11 Amer12an Soc:lsologicai Review, 15:217, April, 1950. 18 Hans H. Gerth and c. Wright Mills, From Max Weber: Es~ys 1D Soc1012gy (New York: oxrord University Press, 19 , Chapter VII {the entire chapter is on the subject of status groups, classes and the l1ke 1 and their relationship to the production and consumption or goods). that means to observers that the person being judged must belong to some particular grouping. Orggnization QI. the dis§ertation. Thi tu y · , s 11 organized in tour major parts. Part I is intr d c , and provides an orientation, a review ot th literature, and a chapter on the materials and methodologies used. In Part II, the theoretical background for the body ot the study is made explicit by a consideration of the importance or status symbols in rating procedures and the social psychology or men's clothing fashions. Part III, the main body ot the study, is made up ot the findings and consists ot four chapters. The first or these, Chapter VI, examines tolk beliefs regarding male clothing as a status symbol, and the second, Chapter VII, consists or a representative selection ot material dealing with clothing as a status symbol among men of various cul tures in different periods. Chapter VIII 1s made up of economic data which indicate the patterns of clothing con sumption by .American males, illustrating the extent to which certain clothing styles or items are associated with particu lar groups. In Chapter LX, the main ·body ot the dissertaticn - is brought to a close with a description or several original experiments by means ot w:"'ich clothing as a factor 1n some status ratings among certain groups was measured. Part IV gives a summary and conclusions based on the study. , 12 CHAPTER II REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE In the present chapter, no attempt is made to present a complete summary of all material available on the social aspects of clothing. Instead, attention has been centered on studies which are most directly related to clothing as a factor in status rating. sociological AD£ psYchological stugies 9I. ciothing. 1 fhe purpose ot the study made by Silverman was to gain insight into the clothing and grooming behavior or adoles cent girls because a review or related literature revealed that this area or behavior was one or major importance to young girls. Silverman round that motivations involved in the choice of· clothing included such things as the desire tor approval, internal satisfactions ot feelings or poise, 2 self-confidence, and happiness. She also found a wide- spread belief that good grooming pays orr in advantages in vocational and social relationships. Among other things, Dr. Silverman investigated the relationship between economic status and clothing choices, 1 Sylvia Susan Silverman, Clothing .&ng Appearance: ~ P;xchological Implicatipns tor Teen-Age G1£ls TNew-York: Teacher's College, Columbia University, 191+5). 2 Ibid., P• 116. 3 and surprisingly found little relationship. But she did tind a relationship between age groups and between high . I.Q.'s and clothing behavior. The older age groups were 14 l+ round to be more concerned with their clothing selections. This is similar to Louella Cole's assertion that one sign a child is becoming an adolescent 1s the emergence ot a slav- 5 ish devotion to clothes. Silverman also round a positive correlation between those with relatively high I.Q.'s and 6 people judged superior in clothing and grooming appearance. One other positive correlation of significance was round tor those high in leadership and those judged high in clothing 7 appearance. The Silverman study was concerned with girls. In some respects, another recent study reveals the importance or clothing as a symbol of status and worth to bon of high 8 school and grade school age. In her doctoral dissertation, Bernice Neugarten attempted, among other things, to find the 3 l;}:>id., P• 117. l+ Ibid., P• 116. 7 Louella Cole, Psychology Qt AAolescenct (New York: Farrar and Rinehart, i936, P• 306. 6 Silverman, _sm. ill•, P• 76. 7 ~bid., P• 77. 8 Bernice L. Neugarten, "Family Social Position and the Social Development or the Child" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation University at Chicago, Chicago, 1~3). 1; association between the social position of children's fami- lies and the reputation or the children on certain items such as well dressed, good manners, and so on. Using a sample of 380 school pupils in a representative Middle Western town, Neugarten found that the children or all social classes named the characteristic we1i dresstd as one or the most obvious things about upper status children; n~t weii dressed was one or the most obvious characteristics named tor the low .status children. One or the earliest objective studies ot motivation 9 in fashion was done by Elizabeth Hurlock. An interesting result or this study was that some of Hurlock's data indi cated that a large percentage of people choose their cloth ing with the idea of covering up certain detects to enhance their relative statuses. Another early study was conducted 10 by Perrin in 1921. Perrin was not interested in studying clothing as such. The only reason that his study 1s men tioned here is that he foWld that physical attractiveness was attributed to a far greater extent to expressive behavior, such as the wearing of excellent clothing, than to 9 E. B. Hurlock, Mgt1vat1on in Fasbion (New York: Archives of Psychology, 1929), PP• 71 tt. lO F. A. c. Perrin, "Physical Attractiveness and Repulsiveness 1 11 ,loµrnal .Qi: E,&perimental P;ychology, 4:203- 217, March, 1~21. 16 fixed physical characteristics such as symmetry or features or bodily form. Two other sociological studies demonstrate the impor- 11 tance of clothing to young people. P. M. Symonds reported on fifteen areas which represented personal problems as ranked by a large group of boys and girls. For both sexes, personal attractiveness--including clothing--stood in third place, preceded by money and health, but ranking in impor tance above such problems as philosophy of life, sex, and effectiveness in study. When the data were classified tor sex diff. erences, Symonds found that girls rank personal appearance far more important than do boys. Block's survey of conflicts between 500 adolescents of high school age and 12 their" mothers, demonstrated that the greatest contl:l.ct reported was that relating to personal appearance, including 13 clothing choices. The Murphys, in speaking of the differ- ences in causes for adolescent stress and strain in primi tive societies and in more complicated cultures, point out 11 P. M. Symonds, "Sex Differences in Life Problems and Interests of Adolescents," Schoo]. and: Soc3_etx, 43:751- 52, October, 1936. 12 v. L. Block, "Conflicts or Adolescents with Their Mothers," Jourllftl 2t: &bllormal an+ The section on "Clothing," is especially instructive 1n indicating certain differentials that exist with respect to 11 ~ Clothing Inventories~ :tncome, Preliminary Report No. -1 {Washington: United States Department or Agriculture, Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics, June, 1950). 12 Famp.z ClotbJ.n& Purchases~ Income, Preliminary Report No. 2Washington: United States Department or Agriculture, Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics, June, 1950). 1 3 Miscellaneous Publication 653 (Washington: United States Department or Agriculture, n.d.). 1 ~ Ibid., PP• 28-36. 27 male clotb1ng--difterent1als that have implications tor the status factors involved in such clothing. Qhfnges in Rural Fpmilx bncome §m Spending iD X!JlP.§Ssee--1943-1944 15 --This report, restricted to one state, is instructive in that it gives a breakdown in the relative clothing purchases of men in various income groups for this area. Some interesting differentials are reported between rural farm men and rural non-farm men. In addition to the government reports described, two commercial economic studies were round to contain valuable information. Crowell-Collier publications conducted one or these surveys in an attempt to find the types of clothing 16 preferred by the male readers ot Coll1er's Hfgazine. This is obviously a limited study since it refers to the purchas ing habits of male readers of one magazine only. But within that major limitation, the study seems to have been con ducted with reasonable care. For example, questionnaires were sent to 5,960 men subscribers to Collier's, chosen at random from a total mailing list considerably larger than three million. Geographical areas and city sizes were con trolled. There was an 80 per cent return on the original 1 5 M iscellaneous Publication 666 (Washington: United States Department of Agriculture, March, 1949). 16 Men's Wea~, A Survey or the Collier's Market June 1949 (copyright, Crowell-Collier Publishlng Company, 19~9). 28 questionnaire ·and non-responses were tolloved up. Few sig- nificant differences were found between those who tailed to answer the first questionnaire when compared with those who did answer. Another non-governmental economic report with signifi cant data is the survey titled "The Customer Confesses," made tor the manufacturers of Arrow brand shirts. 17 The report 1s a compilation ot income, educational, rural-urban, geogralilic and other differentials in the ownership and wearing ot shirts. Unfortunately, however, the sample size and com. position are not stated. 12.n-economic sources 2t data. Non-economic data tor this study have been obtained from a variety of sources in addition to the results obtained from questionnaires. For e~ple, for the past several years, a record has been made or every reference--including standard sociological works--in which there has appeared a fact which seemed to bear on the question of clothing as a factor in status rating among men. Many of these references have been used. Aside from these isolated sources, considerable data for this social psychological systematization have been 17 "The Customer Confesses," A Report on the 1947 Consumer Survey or the Men's Shirt Market for Cluett, Peabody and Company, Inc., n.d. 29 obtained from general works, such as the definitive study on 18 the psychology or clothes by J. c. Flugel. Although Flugel's book is marred, as a scientific psychological work, by the inclusion or the author's lengthy opinions on what he believes clothes should be, he cites enough empirical studies to make the publication a valuable reference work for the student of the social psychology or behavior involv ing clothing. In contrast: no reliance was placed on works 19 such as that by Frank A. Parsons. Although Mr. Parson's book purports to be on the subject of the psychology ot dress, his study seems to be a very superficial historical survey rather than a real breakdown into psychological fac tors relative to clothing motivations and actions. A purely historical study which investigation proved reliable and 20 useful, was the complete history or dress by Davenport. Despite the fact that it was prepared tor a commercial organization, the Report 1.2 ~ Natt.oi»l Men's mg ~ozg• 21 ippa:r;:el Committee, was found to be valuable tor providing 18 J. c. Flugel Abe Psy:cilol2cx .Q!'., Cloth2s (London: The Hogarth Press, 1936). 19 Frank A. Parsons, The P}:.,rchology: .Q! DrE2ss (New York: Doubleday, Page and Company, 1920. 20 Millia Davenport, Boo~ .Q! Costume, 2 vol. (New York: Crown Publisher, 1948). 21 Report~ the fatioPAl Men's and ;so:ys' A,ppa[el Committet, mimeographedNew York: Robbins, Barber and Baar, n.d.). 30 insight into the social psychology involved in male behavior relative to wearing apparel. This report was recently com pleted by Robbins, Barber and Baar, Public Relations Counsel, for a committee formed by the Clothing Manufacturers Associa tion or the United States or America, the National Associa tion or Retail Clothiers and Furnishers, and the National Association or Wool Manufacturers. The staff engaged to make the study included the Bureau of Applied Social Research of Colmnb1a, and Dr. Ross M. Cunningham, Massachusetts Institute or Technology, who served as consultant on research. The report to the apparel committee includes two sec tions or interest here. The first of these is titled, "Motivation, Economic,n and is a brief consideration ot economic influences affecting the men's and boys' apparel industries. The second section is titled, "Motivation, Socio-Psychological." This section is concerned with the fact that within each income group expenditures tor apparel are determined independently or income and influenced by social and psychological factors. The factors are explored and buyers are "typed" by their characteristics. Limitatiops ~~present study using ~he ~bove mentioned sourcgs and methodologies. This study is subject to two major limitations; those imposed by the historic economic data and those imposed by the questionnaire results. Data obtained by means or questionnaires are almost alw.ys limited by the tact that when people are asked to answer written or spoken questions, the responses may be ~ - 31 ditt erent than what the people actually "do" in interpersonal relations. Furthermore, the questions asked may not be entirely valid; that is, they may not be "getting at" the attitudes at which they are directed. Sample size and com position are, furthermore, another problem. Without u.nltmited funds, it 1s almost impossible for the sociological researcher to obtain a representative population sample even when he restricts his activities to a particular group, such as a college-age group. But within these obvious limita tions--all of which should be kept in mind when considering this study--1r careful use is made of accepted statistical tests for sign1£1cant differences between groups, results obtained from questionnaires may be considerably more reli able than subjective observations. The limitations imposed on this study by the historic economic data used are less obvious, but nonetheless worthy of attention. An effort has been made to include a signifi cant number of historic-economic references which will con vey a clear picture of the importance of clothing as a factor in status rating among various groups of men. But it may be that an unconscious selective process was at work when material for the present social psychological 32 systematization was collected. The limitations or the little-slips~ot-paper-piled-topically-and-write-it-up-method are well known. However, it should be noted that there has , been no emotional attachment to the cliche, "clothes make the man." Emotional involvement would have been more likely it there had been an attempt to disprove this ancient belief. Subjectivism in the study has probably been minimized by the tact that the purpose has not been to prove a point. Rather, it has been to organize, in a sociologically useful way, material which would coherently illustrate the well-known fact that clothing, among other traits, plays a significant part in the status rating of men. The theoretical justiti cation for the latter part of this statement is made explicit in Part II. PART II THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS The theoretical framework around which this study of men's clothing is organized is the social psychologi cal concept or status rating. Part II or the study attempts to make the basic theoretical position explicit, first by indicating the importance ot status symbols in social rating procedures, and second, by indicating that the social psychology ot fashion operates primarily in terms or status rat ings. CHAPTER 'IV THE IMPORTANCE OF STATUS SYMBOLS IN RATING PROCEDURES The purpose of this brier chapter is to integrate relevant materials on tha concept status into a suitable theoretical foundation for the consideration or clothing as a symbol or status. Symbols QI. status. Sorokin has pointed out the mechanisms groups use for the testing and selection ot their 1 members. Among the techniques of the group, the mechanism that is or concern here is the one through which group standards are set up, and in the light ot which specific qualities in prospective members are estimated and (formally 2 or informally, consciously or unconsciously) judged. Sorokin describes this mechanism as a judgment ot the total ity ot characteristics, relevant to the group's criteria of fitness, possessed by each member: "Individuals differ widely in their characteristics, both positive and nega tive."3 In each group, members or prospective members who 1 Pitirim A. Sorokin, ~ structure Am DYllaJPtc§ 1947), PP• 437-l+l+J. 2 J;bid., P• 437. 3 Ibid., P• >+39. Society, cuiture ,Wl9. Pefiso13-1ty: (New York: Harper and ro ers, 35' have or show the requisite characteristics or behavior are placed in the group in certain strata • • • • the presence or absence in a member of the requisite characteristics for the upper strata in particular, essentially determine the social position! promotion and demotion, and "sucq.ess" and "fai ure" or each member ot the group. Since almost all humans have or acquire motives ot wanting to be related to groups in ways that bring satisfac- , tion, most humans attempt to acquire characteristics impor- tant to particular groups of interest to the individual. These characteristics are symbols--they are signs by which a person is recognized as having or lacking the qualifications for membership in particular social groups. As one lay observer has observed, "A man wrapped up in himself makes a 6 very small package." Most men attempt to bolster their egos by wrapping themselves, so to speak, in the symbols that have meaning and value to admired groups. These symbols are the signs by which one is rated and placed in a particu lar status • • • • there are valued symbols or status which one may have or achieve. Am.ericans--and people I+ Sorokin, l.2£• c}.t. 5 Theodore Newcomb, Socia~ Psychoiogy (New York: Dryden Press, 1950), P• 145. 6 Quoted in Successrui Salesmen, Fall and Winter 1949 (Chicago: B. Kuppenheimer and Company, Inc., 1949), p. 90. all over the world- not only refer to their own relative position, either directly or indirectly, but also they 'place' others in terms ot differ entially valued symbols.7 36 Deference behavior and social rating procedures, then, are a consequence of judgments made by people in terms or 8 the symbols important to them. In tact, according to "semiotic" expert Charles Morris, signs and symbols are two ot the most crucial factors in social life. Morris has written: To a degree unsuspected even by the majority or intellectuals, human problems are problems in which signs and symbols--around which are crys tallized our beliers 1 prejudices agreements, traditions, institutions, lgyalties, and expecta tions--play a central part.~ What are some or these symbols? Bogardus has pointed out that they include such things as one's present position, his rank, his office, his good or bad fortune, his past suc cesses and current achievements, and the insignia he may wear. 10 Such symbols are sources of prestige, which is 7 Carson McQuire "Social Stratification and Mobility Patterns," American Sociological Review, 15:196, April, 195'0. 8 Herbert Goldhamer and Edward A. Shils, "Types or Power and Status, 11 American Journal; ,Qi Sociologl, 1+5:178 ff., September, 1939. 9 Charles W. M orris, ~, Lapguage W Bebirtor (New York: Prentice-Hall, 19J6T; P• 2. 10 Emory s. Bogardus, Fundimentals ,Qi So§¼at PsI9hol og1 (New York: D . Appleton-Century Company, l 2, pp. 109- 110. 37 rating in terms of high or low, great or sma11, 11 (whereas reputation is rating in terms ot good or bad). Kluckhohn has pointed out that in American culture, the primary symbol by which one's status is marked is that of occupation, which · 12 includes the things one does, or his behavior. Socio- economic status, according to McQuire, is symbolized by translating wealth into symbols or status rank, .which include varioUs material objects. 13 Other important symbols include such well-known things 11+ 1, 16 as race, names, and even physical handicaps. Although it is clear that there are symbols of status, and that these symbols play a large part in soaial rating procedures, it is not yet clear how important the various symbols are to different types or groups. Both Warner and Lundberg have avoided this problem. For example, when ll Ibig., P• 111. - 12 Florence Rockwood Kluckhohn, "Dominant and Substi tute Profiles of Cultural Orientations," Social Forqe§., 28:386, May, 1950. 1 3 McQuire, .Q.12• cit.,' P• 199. 14 See for example, the Journa:1 of Abnormal~ Soci1l Psychoiogz, 43:751-2, January, 19~. l5 Ibid., pp. 7-27. l6 Burt Lanier Stafford, III, "Discrimination against the Visibly Handicapped Viewed in Terms or Minority Group Treatment," ~se1rsh Stqd;l,.es 9X, the New School f_or Socia,l Reseateh, 19 o, PP• 20-32. 38 Lundberg asked a janitor and a banker to rank certain people relative to their status, the two men appeared to use 17 different criteria tor their ranking. It has been pointed out that instead or noting that this probably means there are relative status symbols of varying importance to varying groups, Lundberg and Warner treat disagreement among raters 18 as a methodological rather than as a theoretical problem. As Pfautz and Duncan have said, in the American and French literature on class and caste there is a good deal of evi dence to support the hypothesis which suggests the relativ ity of status symbols and the necessity of empirical inquiry into their discriminatory nature at all levels of stratifi- 19 cation. Warner uses "house type" as one ot the primary 20 symbols or status, but it may well be that it is a symbol or high status for the upper class group only. 21 Relative status symbols. Discussion of the relativity - 17 George Lundberg, "The Measurement of Socio-Economic Status," Amex:!cM SociologicQ.l Review, 5:32, February, 19lt-O. 18 Harold Pfautz and Otis Dudley Duncan "A Critical Evaluation or Warner's ork in Community Stratification," &JJerican Sog"ologj,.ca:J. fieview, 15:214, April, 1950. 19 Loe• c;J.:t. 20 w. Lloyd Warner, Marchia Meeker, and Kenneth Eells, Sociai ~ in ~2rica (Chicago: Science Research Associ ates, 1949T; pp. 3 rt. 21 Pfautz and Duncan, J;oc • .2.J,1. 39 or status symbols is pertinent to this study because it is clear that male clothing functions as such a symbol. A number or forms of behavior (other than style ot dressing) have been found to be or varying importance to different social groups. These patterns of behavior func tion as relative status symbols. They are expressed by specific styles of lite. 'Style or life' might include drinking behavior, for example--and the drinking mores or 22 various social groups were the subject or one study. Thus, certain types of drinks are important to some groups as symbois of their status. Other specifics in styles or life which are symbolic or varying statuses, and which have come under scienti£ic observation, include sex behavior, 23 burial 24 25 26 practices, family ritual, and mate selection. In pur- suing each or these forms of behavior, it is pointed out, 22 John Dollard "Drinking Mores of the Social Classes 7 11 in Al,cohol, ~s,;J,,encf2 and Soc;f.ety (New Haven: Yale Un1vers1ty Press, 1945), PP• 95-104. 23 Alfred Kinsey, ll §1. , Sexual, Bel?Ayior in ~ gmgan li1le (Philadeiphia: w. B. SaunJers ~ompany, 1948T; Chapter 10. 24 William M. Kephart "Status after Death," American Sociologic11 Review, 15:635-l43, October, 1950. 2 5' J. H. s. Bossard and E. Boll, "Ritual in Family Living," Amerj,caq Sociologj,cAJ. Rev,tew, llf-:1+63-1+69, August, 191+9. 26 August B. Hollingshead, EJ,mtown's youth (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1949), Chap. 16. 40 certain expressions or them vary in importance to different status groups. Thus, among those low in status, burial ser vices must be emotional, while those high in status eschew 27 emotion at such a time. As Weber has pointed out, living on a certain street, or belonging to a closed group such as the First Families or Virginia, assume tremendous importance to some groups while to others they may be a joke. Although the forms or behavior mentioned have been subjected to scientific study, there has been little if any attention paid to ·male clothing as a possibly important relative symbol of status. Some of the data included in this study throw light on the problem by indicating the different values regarding clothing among various groups of men. To summarize, then, a person's statuses depend upon his ratings by others, and his ratings are a consequence or his possession or display of symbols important to the raters. It has been pointed out that since social relationships are deeply affected by these -symbols, empirical inquiry should be made into their discriminatory nature at all levels of stratification. It is the purpose ot this study to make 2 7 Kephart, .5m• cit., P• 61+1. 28 Hans H. Gerth and c. Wright Mills, From~ Weber: iSffiS .1n Sog~ology (New York: Oxford University Press, 19 , P• 18. such an 1nqu1ry, restricting the approach to male clothing as one of the discriminatory symbols of status. The social psychological processes involved in the establishment ot clothing as such a symbol are discussed in the next chapter. CHAPTER V THE SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF M&N'S CLOTHING FASHIONS A review ot available literature on the social psychology of fashion indicates that the m ost obvious factor involved in this aspect of human behavior is that of status. Fashion addicts appear to be seeking primaril y for what may be termed conspicuous symbols of enhanced status . Because of the arbitrary and transitory nature of fashion, the most difficult part of getting to the top of the ladder is, as Arch Ward phrased i t , "getting through the crow d at the 1 bottom." Fashion is a type of collective behavior which has a great deal in common with crowd behavior. It may be defined, as Young puts it, as the prevailing style at any given 2 time. Fashion controls conversation, the manner of walking, how to shake hands, and so one 3 In this study interest is centered on the social psychology of fashion a s certain aspects or it may throw light on the status factors involved 1 Quoted in Succps§fµJ, Sale§me~ 1 Spring and Sn'mmer 1950 (B. Kuppenheimer ana Company, 19 o) , P• 76. 2 Kimball Young, Social Psycho½ogy (New York: F. s. Crofts and Company, 1930) , P• 5 2. 3 Pierre Clerget, "The Economic and Social Role of Fashion" (Washington: Smithsonian Institute, Annual eport, 1913), P• 759. in men's clothing. In his discussion of fashion movements as a major form of collective behavior, Blumer states that the opera tion of fashion requires a class society. 4 This is because fashion is based primarily on differentiation. It is para doxical that although fashions are adopted by the so-called elite to distinguish them from the masses, the adoption of a particular fashion by representatives of the upper strata insures its imitation by those from whom the elite wanted to be marked arr. Therefore, fashions must change continually. The most important point, ' for present purposes, is that the operation or fashion involves a stratified society in which the symbols ot social elevation are not fixed. 5 According to many observers, when there are no fixed symbols to mark the social elite, external features of life, such as cloth- 6 ing, are often used for this purpose. But there are conflicting trends apparent. The desire to stand out from the crowd 1s balanced by the desire to be r egarded as a like human being. Thus, the operation or the I+ Herbert Blwner, "Collective Behavior," in An Oµt l.!Ill! of the Principles 9.I._ Sociology, Robert Parki ea. TN8W York: Barnes and Noble, Inc., 1939), p. 27,. 5 I,09. c~t. 6 Young,~• cit., P• 553. social psychology of fashion is not "the obvious." There are many subtle, and often conflicting, motives involved in fashion movements. The literature on clothing indicates that apparel is worn for three principal purposes: protection, decoration and modesty. Obviously, the importance or these factors vary with individuals and in different societies. It has frequently been observed that decoration and modesty are antagonistic motives. The essential purpose of decoration is to call at· tention to oneself, to fortify one's self esteem by the admiration of others. On the other hand, the essential motive behind modesty is to avoid attracting attention. It is fairly clear that both these motives operate in the social psychology ot men's clothing rashions. 7 The desire~ conform. One of the most powerful motives in bringing about conformity to prevailing fashions is the fact that people define their status in the light or the judgments of others. And almost everywhere, people are suspicious of that which 1s different and, in effect, define the different as dangerous. "The universal desire tor approval or one's fellows is powerful in bringing about 7 J. c. Flugel, The Psychology of Clothes (London: The Hogarth Press, 1930},p. 20. 1+5 8 conformity to generally accepted standards." Furthermore, the social judgments of one's fellows are usually based on externals, such as clothing. This is the phenomenon or stereotyping: "Stereotyping is prone to pass judgment on appearances. tt 9 The social psychology ot conformity: The psychologi cal processes behind the desire to conform have been described by Newcomb in these words: ••• when certain conditions in the environment are so useful, as devices £or satisfying depend able.motives, that they are almost inevitably acquired as goals, motives are highly but not absolutely dependable. In all known environments adults wear clothes, for example, and various kinds or rewards and punishments are associated with the wearing of clothes. Any 11 norma1u adult comes to want to wear clothes as a means of satis fying some one 1 8ther motive or some combination of other motives. Almost all humans acquire motives or wanting to be related to other people in ways which bring them approving recognition and a sense or belonging. Approving recognition and the sense of belong1ng~-the desire for companionship- lead to conformity. Once formed of people with common basic · 8 Josephs. Roucek, ed. 1 SociaQ.Contro! (New York: D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc., 194,), P• • 9 Emory s. Bogardus, nstereotypes Versus Sociotypes, 11 Sociology and Sociai Research, 34:287, March-April, 1950. lO Theodore M. Newccmbi Social Psychologl (New York: The Dryden Press, 1950), P• 34. interests and similarities, the group in turn demands con formity not only from its present members, but also from those who would join the inner circle. This is why most people conform to the groups to which they belong. uoroups 11 are tyrannical." The easiest way of getting along is to submit: "To be different in thinking, in ers, in dress or other forms of expression is to invite the belief in 12 others that one is queer. 11 s. H. Britt has observed that the desire to avoid dis approval leads men to burden themselves with all sorts ot odd-titting and uncomfortable materials which do not keep 13 them too cool in summer or warm in winter. Male clothes, therefore, represent aspects of imitation and uniformity of 11+ action. Men dress alike because uniformity in this aspect of behavior 1s time-saving and economical, both in the mate rial sense and in the psychological sense. The phenomenon ot identification also operates when men conform to clothing worn by others. "By wearing a garb like a movie star's, we can identify ourselves with our hero. 11 Paul H. Nystrom, Economics of Fashion (New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1938), p. ~ 12 Loe. cit. 1 3 s. H. Britt, Social Psychology of Modern Life (New York: Rinehart and Company, Inc., 19°49), P• 301. 14 Loe. cit. 1+7 ••• We can wear ank:Je socks or put our sweaters backward:~' just so we imitate the person with whom we wish to be iden tified. The total result ot the identification process in the tield of apparel serves to enforce conformity by large publics with the object of their admiration. Brummelphobia: The Bureau of Applied Social Research at Columbia University suggests the apt concept "Brumrnel phobia" tor the fear of dressing conspicuously or notice- 16 ably. American Brurnrnelphobia, according to the analysis prepared for the National Men's and Boys' Apparel Committee, may be ascribed to the following four factors: (a) our Puritan heritage; (b) our division of labor, based on sex, in _ which the breadwinner is usually the man- he is •stripped tor action,' which leaves most women the freedom to be the peacock of our h1unan species in American culture; (c) the early-emphasis in capitalism 1 with its Calvinistic overtones or thr1rt and its condemnation of frivolity; (d) the conservative Anglo-Saxon concept or res s.J.·t According to the sample used by Columbia in their _ l5' Hoc. ill• 16 Report iQ, the ~at¼ona~ Mep's ~ ~2YS' Apparel Commjtte~, mimeographed New York: Robbins, Barber and Baar, Public Relations Counsel, n.d.), p. 21. · 1 7 Log. cit. research, "Practically no individual [man] sampled in the study seemed untouched by the phobia of dressing noticeably. This is ot particular interest since women, as a whole, do 18 not at all experience this fear.n It is believed that the fear of Brumroelphobia arose among the so-called upper classes during the French Revolution, when it was dangerous to appear 19 in ostentatious clothing. Conservative dress among men -was associated with the spread of democracy and with the industrial revolution, which spread more widely the ability to dress finely. As long ago as 1876, Spencer observed in his discussion of clothing as a badge of superordination, "The growth of industrialism tends to abolish these marks of 20 class distinction which militancy originates. 11 The trend toward democracy led to a desire to modify external marks of distinction. But this democratic trend, according to the · Columbia researchers, has simply shifted clothing distinc tions from men to women. 0 Thus, the man who is himself required by the folkways of our society to dress conserva tively is nev rtheless encouraged to dress his wife as 18 Loe. cit. l9 Ibid., P• 22. 20 Herbert Spencer The Principles of Socioloex, Vol. II-I (Ne York: D. Appleton Co. 2 1897) 1 P• 209. All of Part IV o this volume deals with "baagestt 01· social rank. 49 lavishly and attractively as he can afford to do. 1121 Resistance to style: The fear ot Brurnmelphobia has a practical result that is or crucial interest to men in the male clothing industry. For example, the appeal to style is widely used in clothing advertisements. But, according to the Columbia research, style is"• •• not a major factor in the clothing purchases ot most men who, in fact, resist it. 22 ••• 'Style' needs very subtle handling." Other resistances to, and feelings about, style appear in the report prepared for the National Men's and Boys' Apparel Committee. In surveying the attitudes or the owners or retail outlets for men's clothing, for example, the following comments were found to be typically important: Rhode Island-- "Style 1s not important now, but would be if we could develop it. 1123 "Stress the appropriateness of apparel, not merely style. I don't like to see too high style items. Let's have styles for the general public, · 24 styles that can be sold all over the COlll:\try." These atti- tudes toward resistance to style are especially interesting 21 R~;eort 12, the N§~~oM:l Mtn • s .lllS Boys' Ap12are;L Comro!ttee, .QR• cit., p. 22. 22 Ibid., P• 41. 23 :Ibid., p. 53 • 24 Ibid., P• 51+. 50 when contrasted with information on decoration in clothing, comfort vs. individuality, fashion vs. comfort, and so on. Decqra~lon. The almost universal practice ot decorat ing the human body may seem to contradict the fear ot Brummelphobia, at least in American society. But the slogan, "Appear well and you win, 1125 is usually modified by decora tive devices that are common to the group. That is, decora tion is used for prestige, but not always to make a person stand out--rrequently the decoration is used to refrain from standing out. For example, women in modern American culture probably use make-up as much for conformity's sake as they do for its decorative effect. Human decoration is extremely old. Necklaces or teeth and perforated shells have been found in sites esti- 26 mated to date back more than 15,000 years. Among modern nonliterate tribes decoration is important even where, like the Shilluk of Northern Africa, it is the custom for men to go naked. It is common knowledge that Siberians and Eskimos take great trouble to fringe and embroider their fur cos tumes, and to provide them with other esthetic devices. 2 5 Emory s. Bogardus, fBndyeqtgls 2! ~ fsyghol ogY (New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, 191+2J; p. 109. 26 Robert H. Lowie, fill Introduct;!.on 12 CultaraJ, A,nthropology (~ Iew York: Reinhart and Company, 194<) , p. 7>-t-. ,1 In modern American culture, decorative effects tor appearance's sake have become the backbone or large scale and successful advertising campaigns. The Danbury Hat Cor poration introduced the slogan, "Look at your bat, everybody else does." According to L. Belt of the Marx and Haas Korrekt Company, st. Louis, this slogan resulted in a tremen dous upsurge in the previously declining sale of men's hats in the United States. 27 In the small book,~ 2stoi:y g_t: Shjrts ~ Manhattan, the following phrase appears as basic advice tor salesmen or Manhattan brand shirts: "Don't forget that Vanity is the 28 all-time ace salesman of both men's and women's apparel." Using this phrase as the core about which to organize a sell ing campaign, Manhattan advises its salesmen to sell shirts that will appeal to vanity if they want customers to return. For _ this purpose, Manhattan has devised collar types that will flatter various face shapes. That a very large number of men are quite concerned with collar types was indicated by ~o~lier's survey or its male readership. The Col,Uer's research department states, Almost eight out ot ten men voted for 'looks 2 7 Letter dated December 11, 1950. 28 1b.i St~;t .Q.t Sl}~ts k! t&Jlha\ta; (The Manhattan Shirt Company, 1 9), P• • or collar' as the number one feature they look for in a shirt. Fit, color, and wearing quali ties rank above price. Apparently men reel that cost is less ot a factor than appearance. 29 Decoration, as Flugel observed, has probably been the out standing motive in clothing selection. 30 Appearance factors also play a part in the frequency ot purchase or such items as wool suits, coats and jackets. Men concerned with appearance have been found to purchase these items more often, irrespective of need, when compared to men relatively unconcerned with appearance. In one 31 study, when men who had bought suits from 1945-1949 were compared with men who had not bought suits since 19>+1+, sig nificant differences were found in the reasons given tor buying the last suit~ Those who had not bought since 191+1+ had bought then (almost halt the pre-1945 group gave this answer) because they wanted to replace a worn-out suit or because they had none at all. Relatively fewer of the 1945- ~9 buyers gave this reason. The latter gave the following answers, in which status factors seem involved, not given by · 2 9 Men•~ Weat, A Survey or the Collier's Market, June 1949 {copyright, Crowell-Collier Publishing Co., 1949), P• 32. 30 Flugel, .2ll• cit., PP• 16-19. 3l Mv>:' s Pteferences qmong Wo(l s_t.qts, coats ond Jackets, Preliminary Summary Report Washington: United States Department of Agriculture, 1950), P• 4. 53 the pre-191+5 buyers: "to maintain a good appearance on business or social occasions," "wanted to bUild a 'fashion able' or balanced wardrobe. 11 None ot the pre-191+5 buyers gave "to maintain appearance" as their reason tor buying. Q2mtort. In discussions or men's clothing, very little attention is given to factors that might be called comtort. One of the rare exceptions is the statement by the makers ot Manhattan shirts: "Comtort is king. Current and coming collar styles are all strongly influenced by the ever-increasing comfort consciousness or the wearer. 1132 This subjective estimate of the increase in comfort consciousness 1s confirmed by one government survey. Studies or clothing consumption patterns among men reveal that there is an increased interest in sport, a decreasing emphasis on formal types or entertaining, and greater attention to comfort in 33 clothing. Men's ear, the authoritative publication for the men's clothing industry, has reported two recently developed sales patterns illustrative of the trend toward informality in men's clothing. In 1950, tor the first time (and before wool prices rose), rayon and rayon-blend suits 3 2 Thq Story .2$.. Shirts .]2z Manb@ttan, .!m• ill•, P• 15. 33 F§JP1lt Qlothi9g Purchases .QI Income, Family Cloth ing Supplies, Preliminary Report No. 2 {Washington: United States Department or Agriculture, November, 1950), P• 1. 51+ outsold all-wools. 34 And, it is said, a drop in total sales or business shirts has been more than taken up by the increased sale or sport shirts. As one retailer remarked: "So we believe if it's sport shirts they want, give them to them. n 35 A knowledge of these changing customs is or interest to retailers and manufacturers of male clothing, as well as to the social psychologist. They indicate the establishment or new social values. When government researchers asked a large sample or male owners of sport jackets why they enjoyed wearing this item or apparel, at least 53 p_ er cent said that wearing a 36 sport jacket is agreeable for reasons or comfort. Forty- one per cent said they liked the way a sport jacket ma.de them feel and--they thought--look informal and relaxed. They felt that sport jackets "put them in the mood for tun, permitted them to wear other informal clothes like tieless sports shirts which would not combine well with suits. 1137 3 4 Men's Weijr, Fairchild Publications, September 22, 1950, P• 82. 35 Ibid•, October 13, 1950, P• ?l. 3 6 Men's Preference; ;woniz Wool Suits ••• , .22• ci~, P• 5 and Table 20. 37 ll>._d., P• 5. 55 Economy and appearance were much less often given as reasons. The breakdown given in reasons tor liking to wear sport jackets was as follows: 38 Comfort • • • • • • • •• 53% Fashion or style. • • • • 46% Informality ••••••• 41% Appearance •••••••• 14% But there is another side to the story. As it has been phrased by the manufacturers or Manhattan brand shirts. "In all or this continuing search for comfort, appearance 39 · has not been ignored." The Manhattan Shirt Company points to the growing popularity of the relatively complicated French cuff as evidence that comfort is not ruling out fac tors of appearance. Increasing acceptance or the double or French cuff that is replacing to a considerable extent the round, or so-called barrel cuff indicates that the customers, in many,.xases, like a better looking sleeve termination.~ ., In fact, according to Nystrom, "There 1s pretty general agreement that men's clothing !s uncomfortable and impracti >+1 cal in many respects. Still we cling to it. 11 The reasons 3B Ibid., P• 18, Table 20. 39 The Storx .2£ Shirts b Ha:nbattan, .QJ2• cit., P• 16. 4o I .. oc. c t. 41 Nystrom, .QJ2• Qt., P• 155. 56 why men cling to it may, perhaps, largely be ascribed to the twin phenomena or conformity, described above, and individ uality. Fa~Jlion. Individuality: It bas been noted above that in almost all known environments adults wear clothing because various kinds or reward and punishment are associ ated with this type of behavior. The wearing of clothing becomes a motive in itself because social norms dictate that clothes must be worn if other motives are to be satisfied. But fashion enters this picture when a certain type or cloth ing is found to lead to more effective satisfaction of motives. 42 When certain types of clothing are thought to be more effective tor social interaction, various individuals strive to adopt the type of clothing fowid most adequate in this respect. This leads to individuality, or the opposite ot Brurnmelphobia. u • • • there is a significant group of per- sons who, by reason of their education, group associations, occupation, .and the like, favor and are able to get away with ndividua1ity," in c1othing.l+- 3 l+- 2 Newcomb, .21?• git., p. 131+-. 4 3 Report 12. the National M!3p' § And Boxs' AppareJ.. Cotpmittee, .21?• ill•, P• 23 . 57 One often hears ot the "lirt" people say they get from new or fashionable clothing that makes them stand out a individuals. This is probably explained by the status factors involved. Bogardus maintains that status, the evaluation 9f one's behavior by others, is a person's most valued possession.l+lf. "Fashion often gives special status." 4 5 Commercial interests play on this fundamental fact. For example, a full page advertisement for men's clothing recently appeared with this headline: "How About Giving Dad a L1ft?" 46 As Hurlock has pointed out, 11 We appropriate the admiration our clothes call forth, and this tends to enhance our own self-esteem. 1147 It is impoSsible for men to dis assoc ate themselves from their clothes, which are such an intimate part of their material possessions. As a Bohemian , immigrant girl remarked, when asked what her philosophy of life was, "After all, life is mostly what you wear. 0 It is doubtless this which explains why dress serves as such an effective medium or self-expression; it explains the trite 1+1f. Bogardus, Fundamentals J2f_ S9cial Psxchology, .s!R• ill.•, P• 100. 45 Ibig., P• 303. 46 kos Angeles Times, June 3, 1951, Part I, P• 17. 4 7 Elizabeth B. Hurlock, The Ps;rchofogz of Dress (New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1929, p.1+4. 58 saying that all a woman need do to get a lift after a hard day is to purchase a new hat. With a new article or cloth ing, admiration is evoked and the result is a warm feeling or enhanced self-respect. Nystrom maintains that there is a tendency in many men which is just the opposite ot subjection to the group. This may be called the desire for recognition. 48 Men obtain recognition, if necessary, by doing things differently, by 49 dressing differently. According to Britt, "By dressing in striking ways greater prestige is attained, as well as more success in the competition for affectionate-response."~ Simroel provides a bridge between the desire for con formity and the desire for individuality in his analysis or fashion. Adopting the latest fashion sets one orr as individual, but the fact that others are striving to adopt the same fashion serves to unite one to others, and thus the drive for conformity is satisfied. Therefore, the paradox of fashion serves both to differentiate and to enforce conformity: Two social tendencies are essential to the establishment or fashion, namely, the need of union on the one hand and the need of isolation 48 Nystrom, -Sm• cit., P• 60. 4 9 Loe. cit. 50 Britt,~• ill•, P• 305. on the other. Should one or these be absent, fashion will not be tormed--its sway will abruptly end. From the tact that fashion as such can never be generally in vogue, the individual derives the satisfaction of knowing that as adopted by him it still represents something special and striking, while at the same time he feels inwardly supported by a set of persons who are striving for the same thing ••• • ,i 59 This means, as Bogardus puts it, that "Fashion separates and segregates. But it also levels up-- ••• by adopting certain fashions the lower classes mount into the ,2 . 'higher' strata." In its function as a segregator, fashicn rosters status stratification 11 ••• by creating illusions ot size, wealth, success, age, authority. 1153 The desire to heighten one's status by adopting indiViduallstic fashions has, according to Lovie, been tremendously important througb- ,1i- out the world, both in the past and in the present. or the many motives for covering the human body, modesty is said to be the weakest. Protection seems to be a more wide spread motive, but in some cases even protection against the 5l Georg Simmel, "Fashion," Interpatiopal Quarterly, 10:137, October, 1904. ' 2 Bogardus, Fundamentals of Social Psychology, .2.1?• g!., P• 303. 53 E. E. Slosson and June E. Dowey, Plots ruJg ~ef ~ooof.ties (New York: D. Appleton-Century Company-;-T9 3 , p. 7. Also quoted in Bogardus, .Q.n• ci~., P• 312. ,1i- Lowie, .52.n• cit., P• 80. 60 elements is not a sufficiently strong motive to induce people to wear clothing. The Ona of Tierra Del Fuego, for example, do not wear clothing to~ protection, even though they live in a cold and wet climate. The motive which has been strongest, says Lowie, has been the concern for appear ance • • • • artificial changes of appearance, for their own sake or to mark status, have been tremendously important. Men and women willingly undergo expense and even torture in order to embellish themselves according to their lights, to indicate their social~r status, or to show how superior they are to others.~~ An unpublished study by Britt, 56 indicates that Thomas and Znaniecki's four wishes are far more important as motives tor clothing selection than are the motives or protection or modesty. "The desire to remain secure or protect ourselves from warmth or cold are apparently not so important as our wish to appear pleasant in the eyes o:f other people. 11 The Thorndike study 57 disclosed that only ~1 per cent or the amount people expend for clothing is for a shield against cold or heat. The balance is spent in an effort to satisfy the desire for approval or others, mastery over others, and 55 Lowie, loc. cit. 5 6 Britt, QR• cit., p. 301. 5? E. L. Thorndike, "Science and Values," Science, 83:1-8, January, 1936. similar motives.5 8 In a discussion of the geographical influences on clothing, Sorokin points out that his studies have led him to the conclusion that climatic conditions have little effect on clothing selection. Sorokin observes: Clothing in the colder regions or seasons is some what thicker and warmer than in warmer regions or seasons. But this is almost the only way in which the influence ot geographical agencies manifests itself. Immensely numerous differences and varia tions in the clothing or different societies groups, and time seem to be conditioned by o!her than geographical agencies. The extravagances of fashion, the yearly changes in men's and women's clothes the different uniforms ot various social groups lsoldiers, priests, monks 1 officials, and so on), the different costumes or various peoples and ·especially through historical times; these and thousands of similar phenomena seem to haye nothing to do with the geographical ractors.5~ All of these considerations have led a syndicated columni,st to exclaim, "Male of Species Real Slave to 60 Fashion." Corbin maintains that men would be better ott 61 it they would agree with women and Oscar Wilde. It was the latter who declared, 11 Fashion is a form of ugliness so intol erable that we have to alter it every six months." Corbin 58 Ibid., P• 5. 59 Pitirim Sorokin, Contemporary Soctonogical Theories (New York: Harper and Brothers, 192 ), P• 111. 60 Patrick Corbin, Indianapolis St§r, September 10, 1950. 62 ~ points out that the current male fashion is epitomized in the derivation of the word "trousers," which comes from the French word trousser, meaning 11 to bind or truss." "That's just what they do, 11 observed Corbin. 11 Even tights are better adapted to the strenuous lite or 19l+o." Corbin points out _that the Museum or Modern Art in New York recently spon sored an exhibit arranged by a daring reformer. The center piece of the exhibit was a sectional View of the fully ciressed gentleman. It was labeled "the seven veils or the male stomacl1." Reading inside out, it revealed an under shirt, shorts, dress shirt, trousers, belt, vest and coat, "all bundled over a paunch that obviously needed room to expand." Shown in this light, according to the observer, "the bulk men gird about their middles appeared slightly ridiculous. A number of useless pockets and buttons also was disclosed." This demand for an innovation concluded as follows: "It 1 s higl1 time we bad a change. But what will it be, boys? And who'll go first? As Hamlet, that well-dressed man or Shakespeare's play said, there's the rub." The male style leader in fashion: It is probably fairly widely bel ieved that there are style leaders among men. William Graham Sumner's Eolk;wa,Y§ expressed the belier that by the int roduction of new fashions the leaders of 63 society, both male and female, gain that distinction in the community by which they are able to maintain their prestige 61 and consequently their position as leaders. According to S\:unnar, fashion is different £rom but intimately related to the mores or any group. Fashion fixes the attention or the group on a way or life, or, as Sumner phrases it, "The 62 Spirit or the Age." The way or lite, said Sumner, is exemplified in those who adopt the newest styles--the style leaders. However, according to the studies made by the Columbia Bureau of Applied Research, the concept of style leadership expressed by Sumner, and widely held by those in the male apparel field, is an incorrect one. 63 According to the Columbia point of view the fallacy that there is a small group of male style leaders whose guidance in clothing styles is followed by the general public is probably derived --incorrectly--from the women's field. The actual situation in male fashion is said to be 64 this: There are a number or fashion leaders in male 61 William G. Sumner, FqJ,];Qm.ys (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1906), p. 201. 62 Ibid., P• 200. 6 3 Report ,iQ the N~tional Men's A,ng ~oys' APParel Committe§, 22• ill•, P• 3 • 64 Ibid., P• 39. 64 clothing circles, but the leaders affect selected groups only. And men will follow the lead of those with whose interests they wish to be identified only. Thus, men who desire to rise in status in the business world are willing to adopt the fashions of business leaders, but not the fashions or other leaders. The same situation exists in fields such as sports, the theater, the educational world, and so on. The clothing industry has been cautioned that its emphasis on the general style leader is resented by many 65 men, who wish to follow the lead or a select group only. Fashion vs. comfort: The reasons why men prefer to wear sport jaclcets ha-ve already been summarized. 66 The reasons why men are first attracted to sport jackets is instructive in illustrating the conflict that exists between comfort and fashion or appearance in men's apparel. Price has played a small part in the rise to popularity of sport 67 jackets. A more important reason is current fashion. In the government survey which revealed these motives, only 12 per cent of men owning sport jackets state that they were P• 5, 65 Loe. cit • .. 66 See p. 54. 67 M en's Pref erenCG ! yo;ng \(ooJJ. Sµits • • • , .SW.• X,it., and Tabl e 19. first attracted to them because or economy. On the other hand, 29 per cent said that they first bought a sport jacket because they saw so many other men wearing them. And fully 52 per cent said that they were won over to the jackets because they are attractive and hence lend prestige to the wearer. The importance to men of style and appearance in com parison to durability and comfort of their clothing is made particUlarly striking by the results or another government 68 - survey. When men were questioned on their clothing prefer- ences, they were first presented a previously prepared check list of items that might be considered important in buying extra trousers (for example). On the checklist they men tioned size, fit and durability as the most important 69 items. They ranked style sixth on the checklist. In this survey or 2,508 men, selected to represent United States males over sixteen years of age, the interviewees were pre sented with checklists all but four times. On these rour occasions, they were asked open-ended {salience) questions in an attempt to find what characteristics of certain 68 Men's Preferen2es ™-11& Selecteg Clothing ~tems, Miscellaneous Publication 706 (Washington: United States Department of Agriculture, December, 1949). 69 Ibiq., P• 38. 66 clothing items were uppermost in the interviewee's minds. To two or the open-ended questions, style was mentioned most often as being the most important characteristic in an item of clothing. Style ranked second and third for the other two questions used to test salience. Furthermore, when material and similar answers outranked style, the prefer ences in material usually included such important appearance factors as "ability to keep a press." When the men interviewed were asked, What are the most important things to look for when buying a shirt?, style was spontaneously mentioned most often by all three income groups delineated. 70 Spontaneous answers to the question, What do you think are the most important things to look for in buying a 71 swnmer sport shirt? also placed style first. Approxi- mately 63 per cent of all men queried mentioned style first in answer to this question. The next most frequent answer (given by 33 per cent of all men) was size and fit. Unfor tunately, these answers are not broken down into income and educational groups, but nevertheless they do indicate the supreme importance or style to men in the selection of certain 70 Ibid., Tables 16, 47, 83, and 129. 71 Ibid., Table 16, P• 68. 67 clothing items. For example, comfort was mentioned spon- taneously by only 31 per cent asked what they consider most 72 important in buying a summer sport shirt; this may be com- pared to the 63 per cent who mentioned style. The importance of style did not loom so readily apparent in the answers given to questions on the importance or factors to look for in extra trousers and summer suits. rn summer suits, material (that holds th crease, et cetera) and comfort were mentioned before style. 73 But the factors associated with the materials desired were all related to appearance. Style was mentioned spontaneously as the second most important feature to look for in buying extra trousers, but material, which ranked first, was associated with "hold ing a crease well, 11 "will not wrinkle, 11 and the like so that 7J+ appearance factors again seemed to predominate. It is interesting to note that where a previously prepared checklist of items that might be considered impor tant in buying extra trousers was presented to the inter viewees, they mentioned size, fit and durability as the most important. 75 On the checklist, they ranked style sixth. 72 Loe. cit. 73 Ibig., Table 129, P• 13~. 7 4 Ibid., Table 83, P• 106. 75 Ibig., P• 38. 68 This indicates the importance of testing 11 salience 11 in atti- tude surveys. These results, obtained through ordinary interview ing methods, do not necessarily contradict the Columbia research, obtained through "depth interviews," and men tioned above 1n connection with male resistance to style. The Columbia findings merely indicate that men resent the appeal to style in general, but are willing and even anxious to respond to fashions adopted by men whose business or social accomplishments are admired. In addition to the government surveys mentioned, one private study has brought out the importance of style to great numbers of male clothing purchasers. This was round to be the case even when men are asked about shoes, where comfort would be expected to be the first consideration. qo111e,•s Magazine found that well over half its younger male readers think style is the most important feature to look for in buying shoes. The concern for style drops orr rapidly, however, as the Coll 4 e~•~ readers grow older. The following set of figures illustrates this negative correla tion between advancing age and concern for style in shoes: 76 76 Men49 Wear, A Survey of the Coll!er•s Market, -Sm• ill•, P• • Age Groups = ; 26 years and under 26 - 35 36 - 45 It-6 and over Industry and fashion: 69 Per cent of male Colliers readers saying style most : : ; : •ffiP9t~a9t In contrast to the fond belief of philosophers and statesmen that sovereignty and legal laws are above all, Maciver has observed, "Custom, the first 'Tl 'king or men,' still rules." Without the prior mores, the laws of legislatures would be empty gestures. If one should . doubt this, says Ma.elver,"• •• let him simply consider how so seemingly slight and so utterly unpolitical a thing as fashion holds people everywhere in its spe11.n 78 Fashion submits men to pain and absurdities that no government would ever dare to impose. The power or fashion is marvelous to behold! As Shakespeare put it long ago, "The fashion wears out more apparel than the ma.n. 1179 The male clothing industry is forced to pay homage to the whims or fashion. In doing so, large-scale manufacturers 77 R. M . Maciver, The WeR gl. Government (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1947), P• 193. 78 Loe. cit. 79 Much Ado About Nothing, Act .III, Scene 3, line 62. Bo or men's clothing employ a style reporter. According to 70 Rieman, "In the suit industry, one ot the most important men 81 is the 'style reporter•." He must be alert to note changes in the demands of ~'the man· · on the street • 11 The style reporter will frequent such fertile style news centers as golf tournaments and tennis and polo matches, southern and west coast resorts, metropolitan fi~cial districts, colleges, uni versities, etc. It is interesting to note that according to the Columbia research mentioned above in connection with style leaders, the style reporters of· industry may be expending their efforts in a way that will produce very limited results. The men's clothing indµstry also employs designers who are experienced in the industry. But the top qualifica tion for a good designer, according to the market analyst ot Hart Schaffner & Marx, is "A keen sense of style ••• he 83 must also be, himself, a style scout.•• The surveys conducted by economist Paul Nystrom have led him to conclude, "Business succeeds when it goes with 80 L. Neville Rieman, The Men's Suit IndustrY. (Boston: Bellma~. Publishing Company, Inc., 1947), P• 23. 81 Loe. cit. 82 ~oc. cit. 83 Loe. cj,1• 71 84 fashion, it fails when it goes against the tide." Nystrom comments that business must pay attention to fashion because this phenomenon is one of the greatest forces in present-day lite. 85 "To be out of fashion is, indeed, to be out ot the 86 world.u The influence of fashion is so powerful that it can make a style seem beautiful no matter how horrible that style may seem at other times. Motivation~ for male glothing selection. There are two general backgrounds out of which motivations for male clothing selections grow. The first of these, according to Columbia University research, and confirmed by other studies, 87 is that of the "Importance of Class and Status. 11 But in addition to the usual class stratifications or society, there are, secondly, divisions within each group- divisions based on the varying statuses associated with differential age, sex, occupation, and so on. And ror each of these groups within each class there are well-defined duties and privileges. "Thus, many persons are aware of the 9it~erence~ !Ji dress which are expected !n different 84 Nystrom, .212• cit., P• iv. 85 Ibid., P• iii. 86 Loe. cit. \ 8 7 Repo[t tot~~ ~!ionai Mep's and Boys' Apparel Committee, .QR• c1r., 88 roles." 72 The degree to which these differences are impor- tant to a person will det rmine how closely to the pattern or his group he will conform in his dressing habits. They will determine his submission to or rebellion against current fashions. A normal man will dress in accordance with the expectations of his role according to his class, his family and other relationships important to him. But within the class relationship two somewhat contradictory motives have 89 been noted: Loyalty to the class, and reward derived from moving upward on the social ladder. It is said that the effect of these contradictory motives is, primarily, to 90 divide male clothing buyers into three major motive groups ot interest to the student of the social psychology of male fashion-- a. Those who are afraid to dress better than those with whom they associate, or those who have no desire to dress better. b. Those who wish to climb above their rung on the social ladder, and who use clothing as a means of climbing; or those who reject their place in the social hierarchy and dress the way they please regardless or the role expected or them. c. Those who are afflicted with mental conflicts 88 Loe. c!t., (italics in original). B9 Ibid., P• 24. 90 t,oc. ct. 73 about their place in society-~who may dress compulsively and inflexibly in precisely the prevailing pattern, or who dress to prove to themselves or others that they are bold, or who may dress as inconspicuously as possible in order to avoid attention. In an effort to clarify these complex, and perhaps interlocking motives, the Columbia University Bureau of Applied Research offers tor suggestive purposes the follow- 91 ing typology or male clothing buyers: I. CONFORMISTS A. Conspicuous Conformists 1. Class Secure a. Style Leaders b. Aesthetic Dressers c. Neurotics 2. Class Insecure a. Aspirants b. Neurotics B. Unobtrusive Conformists 1. Class Secure a. Noblesse Oblige b. Clothes Disinteresteds c. Neurotics 2. Class Insecure 91 Ibid., PP• 25-30. 73 about their place in society-~who may dress compulsively and inflexibly in precisely the prevailing pattern, or who dress to prove to themselves or others that they are bold, or who may dress as inconspicuously as possible in order to avoid attention. In an effort to clarify these complex, and perhaps 1nter1ock1ng motives, the Columbia University Bureau of Applied Research offers tor suggestive purposes the rollow- 91 ing typology or male clothing buyers: I. CONFORMISTS A. Conspicuous Conformists 1. Class Secure a. Style Leaders b. Aesthetic Dressers c. Neurotics 2. Class Insecure a. Aspirants b. Neurotics B. Unobtrusive Conformists 1. Class Secure a. Noblesse Oblige b. Clothes Disinteresteds c. Neurotics 2. Class Insecure 91 Ibid., PP• 25-30. a. Aspirants b. Neurotics II. DEVIANTS A. The Clothes Rebel 1. Resistant Rebel 2. Resentful Rebel B. The Clothes Reveler In essence, the Conspicuous Conformists 11 are very much aware of clothes which serve them in gaining approval, symbolizing their leadership, expressing their esthetic 92 sense." The Class Secure Conspicuous Conformists are sufficiently sure or their status to allow t· hemselves to become style leaders (within the bounds of conformity); and "aesthetic dresserstt see clothes as an end in themselves, but remain within the accepted code. The Class Insecure Conspicuous Conformists are described as men who conform to the nth degree in current clothing styles in an effort to achieve higher status. "Clothing are a carefully employed means of achieving higher status. 1193 This type of man is more concerned with what members or the upper classes think than with the reactions of his fellows. He is uneasy for rear he might be mistaken 92 ~pid., P• 27. 93 Loe. ill• 75 tor a person of lower status. This is a major grouping in modern American male society. It includes a large propor tion or business men, salesmen and other men who must impress 94 people in a short time. The Unobtrusive Conformists are men who are, in general, more submissive and introverted--they prefer to let others do the leading in fashion. 9 ' They resent the osten tatious dressers. A major grouping among the unobtrusive conformists is that or the so-called Noblesse Oblige who dress down because they feel it is unseemly to call atten tion to oneself. The Disinterested Unobtrusive Conformists have little interest in clothing as such, but go along with prevailing fashions because they feel it is easier that way. This is thought to be a very large group. 96 Of the Deviants, men who are Resistant Rebels are those who deliberately flaunt conventions in dress, such as the man who will purposely wear a lounge suit to a full dress ball. Resentful Rebels, on the other hand, are those men who flaunt clothing conventions ~ecause they are insecure con cerning their lack of knowledge or clothing. 91+ Ibid., P• 28. 95 Loe. cit. 96 Loe. cit. 76 Finally, the Clothes Reveler 1s the deviant who does not conform because he is serving some deep-seated need 1n his personality. He is compensating tor something he feels, perhaps unconsciously, that he does not have. Possibly this is a neurotic pattern; compensation 1s the predominant motive for all the neurotic male clothing purchasers. Another typology or clothing purchasers has been con structed by educational psychologist, George Hartmann. He bases his very tentative outline on Spranger's famous state ment, "Tell me what you most admire or esteem as a goal, and I'll tell you the kind or personality you possess. 1197 As adapted from Hartmann's suggestions, his typology is as follows: 98 . Clothing Choice Hartmann's Corres- Spranger' s Des- ponding Perso. nallty criptive Terms for the Person- a1ities . . Stresses objective Prizes truth, facts, Theoretical knowledge of fabric; knowledge. accurate measures. ' Shrewd purchaser; Efficient; wants Economic eliminates all results with least ttwaste." effort. "It it is goodlook- Cherishes design, Aesthetic lngi nothing e se expressiveness, mat ers. 11 nerfection. 97 . G. w. Hartmann "Clothing: Personal Problem and Social Issue," Journal sJ. Hom~ Econo.mics, 41:297, June, 1949. 98 Ibid., p. 298. (Typology Continued) Clothing Choice Conscientious; dis turbed by "rags vs. ti Requires effects evoking admiration or submission from e Follows simplicity as ideal; orlginal Quakerism Hartmann•s Corres ponding Personality Concern tor the well-being of ot es Power-seeker, demands deference, admiration. Spranger•s Des criptive Terms for the Person a t e Social Political Sensi• ti ve to cosmic Religious- · total; seeks niche philosophical in universe. 77 Flugel was one or the first social scientists to sug gest a typology of clothing purchasers. He names the follow ing types: rebellious, resigned, wiemotional, prudish, duty, protected, supported, sublimated (or "dandy"), and self satisfied.99 All of these types, according to Flugel, use clothing to contribute to their sense of well-being in their . interaction with others. The self-satisfied type, for example--all of whom are called male 'clothes prigs•--are said to use clothing as a defense mechanism against deep 100 feelings of inferiority. These, then, are three representative typologies-- 99 Flugel, ..2.12• cit., pp. 91-92. 100 lbid., P• 102. 78 the Columbia, the Hartmann, the Flugel---of clothing purchas ers. To the extent that men may be typed into any ot the categories so far as their clothing motivations are con cerned, perhaps some objective sense may be made or the variety or motives attributed to male clothing buyers and wearers by the writers cited heretofore. The one motive rthat runs throughout the typologies of clothing purcbasers , is that of statqs. As Flugel has observed, it has been the desire of all followers or fashion to be admired in such a 101 way that they will rise in relative rank among men. At the same time, it should be recalled that there has recently been a significant change in men's clothing fashions; economy and informality are receiving more stress. To the extent that male clothing becomes more uniform in relative inexpensiveness and informality, just to that extent will social distinctions based on clothing become less possi ble. If continued, this trend will invalidate many of the time-worn beliefs mentioned in the following chapter. PART III FINDINGS OF THE STUDY The theoretical considerations set forth in the preceding part of this study indicate that symbols ot status are of tremendous importance among men; it is in terms of such symbols that the social psychology of fashion operates. With these theo retical factors as a background Part III or the study consists of the findings drawn from a variety of sources, including literature, historic~l economic reports, and several questionnaire experi ments. In Chapters VI and VII attention is cen tered on beliefs about and realities of male clothing as a status symbol in many cultures (including, for comparative purposes, the United States), and in Chapters VIII and IX, attention is concentrated on the United States alone. CHAPTER VI POPULAR CONCEPTIONS REGARDING CLOTHING AS A FACTOR IN THE SOCIAL STATUS RATING OF MEN The values current in any culture with a written language may often be discerned by noting certain constant repetitions in the literature of the group involved. In Western civilization, for example, novels, plays, memoirs, and the like are replete with evidences that clothing is widely believed to be a significant factor in the social status rating of men. The almost complete acceptance of the belief is significant since social actions are consequences of social values embodied in beliefs. It is the purpose of this chapter to present a representative selection of folk beliefs regarding clothing as a factor in status rating among men. Miterary expressions. Expressions of belief in the social importance of clothing are rooted in antiquity. As long ago as 500 B.c., the perceptive Gaius Coriolanus observed, "Should we be silent and not speak, our raiment 1 ••• would betray what life we have led." That versatile master, Shakespeare, has been quoted 1 Quoted in J. c. Flugel, The Psychologx .QI. Clothes (London: The Hogarth Press, 1930), p. 15. 81 be:fore. He expressed the belief that, "Fashion wears out more apparel than the man," and that, "The soul or a man is 2 his clothes. 11 Undoubtedly, a man's soul and clothing are synonymous, "For the apparel o:ft proclaims the man. 113 Shakespeare's fellow dramatis- t, John Marlow, felt that a •s clothing is so important that, "There goes but a pair of shears betwixt an emperor and the son of a bagpiper; only fine dyeing, dressing, pressing, glossing, makes the differ- 4 ence. 11 Two other men of Shakespeare's time, Ben Jonson and John Bulwer respectively, expressed similar beliefs: "The tailor makes the man," and "God makes, · and the tailor 5 shapes." More recent English writers express somewhat the same sentiments. For example, Walter Scott wrote: "They say it takes nine tailors to make a man--apparently one is suffi cient to ruin him. 116 Thomas Fuller penned this line: "Good c1othes open all d~ors." 7 Charles Dickens advised men: and 2 All's Well that Ends Well, Act V, Scene 2, line~. 3 Hamlet, Act I, Scene 3, line 72. 4 Quoted in "Fits and Misfits," by Hart, Schaffner Marx (n.d., no paging). 5 Loe. ill• 6 Loe. git. 7 Loe. ci'k• 82 8 "Keep up appearances whatever you do"; "any man may be in good spirits and good temper when he's well-dressed. 119 Per haps it was the preponderance of such observations that led Emerson to observe, in 1856, that 11 a coarse logic rules throughout all English souls:--if you have merit, can you 10 not show it by your good clothes, and coach and horses? 11 James Howell, an Englishman, expressed the logic in this fashion: "Trim up a hedge-hog, and he will look like a lord. 1111 Lord Chesterf'ield said that these sentiments are or crucial importance in male-female relationships: "By dress," said Chesterfield, "I mean your clothes being well made, titting you, in the fashion and not above it ••• to neglect your dress is an affront to all the women you keep 12 company w1 th. " There are, of course, some evidences that not all Englishmen believe male clothing 1s essential to high status. · william Dean Howells provides an ax.ample in a letter to his 8 Charles Dickens, Ma,rt!n Chuzzlewit, Chapter XI. 9 Ibid., Chapter V. 10 Quoted in the Oxford English Dictionary, 1933, Vol. II, P• 5'21+. l.l Quoted in "Fits and Misfits," loc. cit. 12 Loe.~. 13 wife. Quoting his London landlord, Howells wrote: Last night, after I got back from my Balfour tailor [the tailor patronized by Lord Balfour], I expressed surprise that B. should go to such a simple shop. 'Well, I don't think sir, Mr. Balfour cares much for his clolhes, sir. Them distinguished men can't, sir. Their thoughts soars to 'igher things, sir. An American, Henry Ward Beecher, observed cautiously: "Clothes and manners do not make the man," but when he is 14 made, 11 they greatly improve his appearance. 11 On the other hand, another American, Henry David Thoreau, was very sus picious of affairs that are ostentatious enough to require men to purchase new clothing. Thoreau's Walden is rich with observations expressing the 'Genius of Concord's' feelings concerning the deference paid clothing in American culture. "I am sure," said Thoreau, "that there is greater anxiety, , commonly, to have fashionable, or at least clean and unpatched clothes, than to have a sound conscience.n 15 11 We worship not the Graces, nor the Parcae, but Fashion. She spins and weaves and cuts with ful.l authority. The head monkey at Paris puts on a traveller•s cap, and all the 13 William Dean Howells, Life in Letters, Vol. II (New York: Doubleday, Doran and Compiny, 1928), p. 191. 14 Quoted in "Fits and Misfits," log_. c~t. l5 This and the other observations by Thoreau are from the collection Walden §Pd Othe;: Writings Qt. Henry ~ Thoreau (New York: ~he Modern Library, 1937), PP• 19- monkeys in America do the same." Modern American id23s. Concrete evidences of modern American beliefs that clothes are significant symbols of male status may be found in such widely varied places as the "funny papers 11 to a course offered at Cornell University. The idea that 'Clothes make the man 1 is apparently not restricted to one intellectual stratum. Passages £rom a famous poem, from Harper's (95 per cent or whose readers are said to be college graduates), from "Little Abner," and from a column of advice to the lovelorn, have been selected to demonstrate the typical variety of American beliefs about clothing, especially male clothing. It was Thomas Augustus Daly who penned the famous line, "Good Clo'es an' good styla an' playnta good cash, 1116 to express the opinion that a man with those attributes would undoubtedly have a "Styleesha Wif'e. 11 Rus sel Lynes' analysis 0£ 11 The New Snobbism 1117 has recently received considerable attention. Among the many varieties of snobs, according to Lynes, there are the Brace !Nine, 16 Selecteg Poems .2!:, I• A• DaJ.x (New York: Harcourt, and Company, 1936), P• 79. 1 7 Russel LynesJ "The New Snobbism," Harper's Maga- 201:40-50, Novemoer, 1950. Taste Snobs, among whom are to be found the Clothes Snobs, both male and female. In this instance the female 1s a good deal more interesting and varied than the male, for while the male 'sharp dressers• are snobs or a sort, there is only one male Dress Snob who needs to arrest our attention: the Conservative Dress Snob. The buttons on the sleeves of his jacket actually unbutton. There is no padding · on his shoulders. The collar or his shirt is a little too high for him, so that it bulges and wrinkles slightly, and it buttons down. He cares deeply about good leather and good tweed, but most of all he car§s about being conspicuously incon spicuous.1 In that popular comic strip, 11 Little Abner," the annual Sadie Hawkins Day race has become an instit11tion---an institution adopted by a number or colleges and universities. On this one day or the year, it is permissible for women to cl1ase men, and all single men are fair game. An incident in the Sadie Hawkins day race staged in the comic strip recently, 19 epitomized some assumed hill-billy beliefs about male clothing. A "loathsome female" was hunting a man · when she suddenly saw a character she assumed was the sex she was looking for. She exclaimed, 11 A MAN!!--an• his clothes is Clean! ! He must be a MILLYUNAIRE ! l 11 The clean clothes , symbolizing to her t he monetary status of the man being lB Ibid., P• 1+8. 1 9 November 30, 1950. pursued, led the woman to scream, 11 Big Boy1!--Yo' is mine- an' Ah 1s yourn! ! 11 86 These examples can hardly be called "scientific," but the frequency with which such expressions of opinion occur, and the variety of places where they are f'ound, probably indicate the extent or the American belief that a man's clothing usually does symbolize his social status. The other side or the picture was expressed recently by Dorothy Dix in her advice-to-the-lovelorn column, where she explained that men are conscious of women's clothing even thougl1 they may 20 not be conscious or their own. Miss Dix feels that "fine feathers make fine birds," as she put it, but fine feathers often "scare a man stiff. 11 She co11cluded, "I have known many a girl to lose out on getting a good husband by dressing too well. 11 Benjamin Disraeli's comment, "Dress does not make the 21 man, but it often makes a successful one," provides a suit- able background for an introduction at this point of the belief on the part of many that a statesman's clothing can affect the course of history. When the Conservatives were in power in England, it was said that Anthony Eden, the 20 Dorothy Dix, Chicagq sun-T1IQes, July 12, 1950. 21 Quoted in "Fits and Misfits," loc. ci~. 87 Foreign Secretary, found it difficult to establish rapport with Parliament because of his impeccable dress. The belief has been expressed that he was able to communicate with Parliament much more effectively when he deliberately assurrsl more sloppy clothing. It was said that Eden's fine apparel expressed aristocracy to the many Labor members of Parlia ment, causing them to be suspicious of his motives-- st His political prestige rose as his attire declined. 1122 The difficulties between our own Secretary of State Acheson and his Congressional opponents have been receiving many press notices lately. The New Republic's T.R.B. feels that a lot of the anti-Acheson hostility would be dissipated if t· he Secretary would wear clothing that would not symbol ize his aristocratic background--"Maybe Acheson should wear 23 baggy pants. 11 However, it was T.R.B. who opined, after attending Acheson's momentous press conference following the decision to intervene in Korea, that the Secretary of State's "dashing yellow bow tie, studded with brown polka dots like an over-enthusiastic trout, is as symbolic of 24 customary mood and American aplomb as anything." Again, 1950, 22 T .R. B., "Washington Wire," llew Republiq, June 12, P• 3• 23 Loe. £.U. 24 Ibid., July 10, 1950, P• 3. 88 it was T.R.B. who wrote that Herbert Hoover's 11 exile 11 is over because, "He no longer sports that famous starched, three-inch Hoover collar that used to cut him off from all the rest 0£ humanity. 1125 Another recent incident brought out the importance of the effect of types of male clothing on many person's ideas of statesmanship. President Truman's figure has just been added to Madame Tousseau' s wax works in London. To be cer tain that the figure was clothed as it should be, Edward R. Murrow has reported, President Truman sent an outfit of his own clothing to London. The suit, a light gray with small pinstripes, and the striped tie, have been declared by numer- 26 ous Britons to be out of keeping with statesmanship. "Too frivolous" is thought to be the prevailing London reaction to Trwnan•s choice in clothing. It is interesting to note that in 1950, Mr. Truman failed for the first time in three years to be named among the "ten best-dressed males" or the year.27 To move on to the ridiculous from the rather practical 2 5 Ibid., March 20, 1950, P• 3. 26 Radio report by Edward R. Murrow, December 20, 19!,n 2 7 United Press dispatch, The Indiana.polis Times, December 26, 1950. 89 observations reported above, we need only turn to a recent 28 Associated Press dispatch. In an article titled, "More Low-Cut Nighties Urged to Cut Divorce," it was reported that a model named "Miss Under Cover Girl," has some well-formed ideas on what the well-dressed man should wear to bed. She said, "I think men, too, should look attractive when they go to bed. They should wear pajamas, or even night shirts. I think night shirts are cute ... After all, concluded "Miss Under Cover," "There's no reason why both men and women shouldn't look just as attractive when they go to bed as they do when they go to the office. It's good for morale," and "would save a lot of marriages." We have other records or women having expressed them selves to the effect that a man is judged by his clothing. The late Grace Moore felt that although women seldom admit it, they take pride in their m~n-folk 1 s clothing and that a man's clothing choices can therefore have important effects on male-female relationships. 29 It is for these reasons, says Margery Wilson, one or the etiquette experts, that a man's clothing "must be correct, of good material and beau tifully tailored. 1130 28 Associated Press dispatch, Indianapoli~ Star, November 26, 1950. 29 Quoted in "Fits and Misfits," loc. cit. 30 1£.Qs. _g_U. 90 The so-called American Women's Institute goes much further than the above quoted women. Each year it polls its 100,000 members to name the "Ten Best-Dressed M ales" of the year, ascribing to the clothing of the men named characteris~ tics believed to be epitomized by the apparel. In 1950, for example, General Eisenhower was named first because, it was claimed, his clothing have "The Ideal Look--His clothes are neat, smart and striking, the ideal sought by the average American. 031 The typical outfits of other men named for 1950 are said to convey the following representative impres sions: "the contemporary look" (J. Edgar Hoover), "the impeccable look" (D ean Acheson), "the conservative look" , (George Marshall), "the executive look" (Henry Kaiser), and so on. An extreme of some sort was recently illustrated by Li(! magazine in an article on shoes. 32 A two-page spread or men's faces and men's shoes was printed by Life with this explanation: "Shoes ••• are often an accurate reflection of the faces they support." 33 Readers were asked to try to 3l United Press dispatch, The Indianapoli~ Times, December 26, 1950. 32 hife, 29:26-28, December 4, 1950. 33 l;l>id., P• 27. 91 match the shoes with the faces of the men thought to be most likely to wear that style of footwear. The article seems typical of many that might be included as citations to illustrate folk beliefs regarding clothing as an index to personality, social status, and the like. More scientific report§ .Qt popular ideas About male gloth,1,ng. Home economics and other journals are rich sources for evidences of American folk beliefs about the efficiency of clothing helping people to obtain success in the world. Although most of the articles do not refer exclusively to male clothing, they include beliefs on the effect a man's clothing allegedly has on his social relationships. E. J. Benson, in his article, 11 Personality in Dress," cites numerous authors to prove that excellent clothing for men and women alike is crucial for social success. 34 Benson feels that since appearance 1s the first and sometimes the only basis on which people form opinions of one another, it follows. that the individual has a responsibility to himsel.f to present .the appearance which will portray him in his best light. A good appearance can be, says Benson, an important aid in business and in social-personal relationships. 34 E. J. Benson, "Personality in Dress, 11 Practical Home Econo~cs, 12:328, November, 1934. 92 Personal appearance is credited with being not alone a means or expressing personality and a basis of appraising others, but an aid in bolstering morale by giving the individual a feeling of self-assurance, thus helping him to overcome inferiority feelings. G. M. Morton cites various writers to indicate the large part which clothing plays in serving to express the individual's uniqueness. 35 In expressing his individuality through his clothing choices, according to Morton, the individual determines how the picture he presents will be appraised by others. Dearborn has reported that in one experiment on the psychology of clothing, he asked twenty-four graduate stu dents how they thought clothing and success were related. 36 Their replies indicated that they believed being well dressed inspired the confidence of others. They also thought that it gave an individual an added advantage since externals are the first basis of judgment, that being well-dressed put observers in a receptive mood, and affected the wearer's emotions and carriage. 35 G. M. Morton, nA Basis for S&lf-Expression Through the Arts of Personal Appearance," Journa.;t. ~ Home Economics, 29:232-234, April, 1937. 3 6 G. Dearborn, "The Psychology of Clothing," Psycho logical Review .Monograph~, 26:No. 112, 1918-1919. 93 In deference to the widespread beliefs about the status factors involved in male clothing, Cornell University has recently started a course on male appearance. 37 The major sections in the course teach men how to buy gooc clothes, and how to keep clothes "looking smart. 11 The course advice for apparel for job hunters 1s that a man on such a mission should wear a conservative, business-like suit, quiet tie and hat. Such an outfit, it is said, will help a man to win out over those of his competitors who wear flashy and casual clothing. Folk ideas in the men's clothing industrx• It would be natural to expect that many of the above-mentioned beliefs about male clothing would be common among people connected with the men's clothing industry. As a matter of fact, the beliefs are parroted by the industry to an exaggerated degree. T .his is probably explained by the parallel belief by the industry that to the extent that people are convinced that types of male clothing affect social relationships, men will be induced to spend more of their income on clothing and the industry will prosper. This probable explanation is reflected by the advertising campaigns or large clothing 37 Reported by Karl Kohrs, in "How to Look Better-- for Less, 11 farade Magazine, PP• 12-13, July 16, 1950. manufacturers and retailers. For example, H. Daroff and Sons, Inc., exclusive manufacturers or Botany wool men's clothing, publishes a widely circulated booklet, 38 in which this belief is expressed: "The style and cut of clothing, as well as the way it is worn, are not only an index to a man's personality, they are an important factor in his whole life's success, 39 · business and social." According to Daroff, a selective American male can be picked out by the :fact that "he is inherently conservative. The more selective he is, the more he avoids 'sharp' clothes--exaggerations, oddities in styles >+o designed for promotions and for the exhibitionist few." The sales director of the Men's Wear Selling Depart ment of Botany Mills, Inc., expressed some interesting indus- 41 try beliefs in a letter written recently. Mr. walker wrote: From experience we do know that good clothes mean a good bit to the social status rating of men--an 38 "Tailored by Daroff," copyright, 1948, H. Daroff and Sons, Inc. 39 J;big., P• 12. 40 Loe. cit. 41 Personal letter, December 15, 1950, by Alex walker, Sales Director, Men's Wear Selling Department, Botany Mills, Inc. exarople--a colorful suit inspires confidence--a blue suit (and incidentally blue suits are very much in demand) is supposed to 'tighten' the wearer's mind--when we say 'tighten' -we mean-- as a comparison--they tell us that a blue boudoir will 'tighten• the pursestrings or the spouse- this is all hearsay, but tl1at I s as far as we can go. 95 The market analyst for Hart Schaffner and Marx, in one study, advises the salesmen employed by a prominent pharmaceutical concern to let their contacts be their guide 42 for clothing choices. According to the analyst, 90 per cent of the concern•s salesmen's contacts are with doctors (medical). M.D.'s, says the representative of Hart Schaffner and Marx, are professional men with high community position who traditionally respect success as well as conservative habits and good taste. "Therein lies the clue to proper apparel for an Upjohn salesman." The firm of Hart Schaffner and Marx, apart from its market analyst, feels that proper fit in a man's clothing is a crucial factor in his success. This firm recently spent $10,000 for an eight month's research project on the variety or suit sizes that will fit various body types. 43 The impor- tance or proper fit for male clothing is epitomized, says 42 L. N. Rieman, ''The Upjohn Salesman and His Clothes~• reprint by Hart Schaffner and Marx (n.d.). 4 3 Frank Soltan, Daily News Record, November 18, 96 Hart Schaffner and Marx, in an anecdote about the Emperor of Japan. 44 According to the story, in old Japan the Emperor was so exalted a figure that he could not go to a tailor--the tailor had to come to him. And since the tailor was invariably a commoner, he could not touch the royal per sonage, nor even come close to him. He had to estimate the measurements of the emperor from a distance or about twenty feet. Hart Schaffner and Marx commented, "What happened to the Emperor ••• is a matter of history. 11 B. Kuppenheimer and Co., Inc., is another or the largest manufacturers of men's clothing. They have pub lished a series of three books for the use or retail sales men of Kuppenheimer clothes, in which the theme that is stressed is that an investment in good appearance is more 45 important today than ever. According to Kuppenheimer: Dressing well is of prime importance today. With current readjustments and possible tighten ing up of business conditions, you'll have to look 'better than your best.• Good appearance has opened many a door to opportunity. More often than not, the man who looks the part, gets the part! It's an important fact for all busi ness people, parti~arly a salesman like your self, to remember. 44 Related in "Fits and Misfits," loc. git. 4 5 See, for example, Suc~essfµl Salesmen, Fall and Winter 1949 (Chicago: B. Kuppenheimer and Co., Inc., 1949), P• 19. 46 Loe. cit. 97 Another clothing manufacturer, according to a recent popular article, left his training as a potential M.D. to 47 become a clothing specialist. It is said that he did so because he felt that "fashion therapy" would not only be a public service, but that it would pay good dividends in business. His motto is, 11 Ir you look drab, you feel drabl" Of course, the associations of industries interested in male clothing could be expected to fall in line with such beliefs. For example, it was recently reported that the president of the National Association of Retail Clothiers and Furnishers thinks Joseph Stalin is 11 the worst dressed 48 man on the international scene." According to one edi- torial writer, the president of the retail clothiers thinks: "Uncle Joe might be better liked abroad if he'd only get out , or that drab uniform effect and put on a natty summer suit, 49 a good straw hat and brown-and-white shoes." "But," con- cluded the editorial, "if Ana Pauker, the Romanian Red boss, ever goes in for bobby six and form-fitting sweaters--let 'em keep that Iron Curtain downl" l+? "Man witl1 An Idea--Can Clothes Be Medicine?" Parade Magazine, August 27, 1950, P• 8. 48 United Press dispatch, The ~ndi~napolis Times, June 6, 1950. 4 9 "Fancy Duds," editorial page, The IndiAoopolis Times, June 10, 1950. I 98 The editors of men's fashion magazines also reflect industry ideas about male clothing. The fashion editor of EsaUire, recently wrote: Men of so-called lesser importance are also conscious of their clothes and often follow the leadership of the top group. The differences are probably less pronounced at the present time than a few decades ago, mainly because of the improvements in the production of textiles ang apparel as well as the distribution thereof.,, The man who penned those lines also offered the following observations: Men in the apparel field are of the opinion, we believe, that men in so-called high places wear clothes which typify this status. Their clothes are of finest fabrics obtainable made in some cases to their individual order and in others, made with a high standard of tailoring and work manship. These men plan their wardrobes so that they are properly turned out for all occasions required as a result of their positions. The Amalgamated Clothing iorkers or America, a union of the craftsmen who make men's clothing in America, openly expresses its adherence to the beliefs stated in the letter quoted immediately above. In a recent full-page display, this union headlined an advertisement with this statement: "It's easier to go places when you're dressed RIGHT! 1151 The ad included beliefs expressed as follows: 50 Personal letter, December 11 1950, by o. E. Schoeffler, Fashion Editor, Esquire, 11 The Magazine for Men." 5l New York Times Maga~ine, December 17, 1950, p. 6. Even the best of us needs a morale-booster now and then. And what a new hat does for a woman, a favorite suit does for a man. You have more self confidence, when you're dressed right, to meet any important occasion. The going is a lot easier when you're dressed ri 0 ht! 99 Folk ideas !n scientific literatur~. It is somewhat surprising to find, in more scientific sources, expressions of beliefs about clothing very similar to the lay beliefs listed heretofore. Of course, no social scientist can offer objective proof for every single statement he makes--it is assumed that his assertions are based on objective research even when he does not mention the source or his opinions. But whatever the explanation, the fact is that in scientific literature there are many expressions of the common belief that the type of clothing a person wears may significantly affect his social relationships. The expressions of this belief are seldom accompanied, even in social science, with objective evidence. There is little need to go further back than Thomas Carlyle to find a typical example. It is said that Carlyle asserted: "Clothes give us individuality, distinction, 52 social polity; clothes have made men of us." Simmel has 52 Quoted in "Fits and Misfits," loc. cit. 100 been referred to before. He wrote: "Fashion raises even the unimportant individual •••• 1153 Fashion, said Simmel, raises a man on the social scale by making him the represen tative of a whole class, "the embodiment of a joint spirit." According to Stuart Chase, a popular social scientist in his own right, Thorstein Veblen's analysis or the "leisure class" permits one to conclude the following: "Superior people lord it over their pecuniary inferiors by wasteful expenditures, whereupon the inferiors move heaven and earth ~ to improve their status by spending to the limit themselves)' Chase says this phenomenon is illustrated more than anywhere else in 11 Dress, 11 as described in Veblen's chapter, 11 Dress as an Expression of the Pecuniary Culture.u Veblen expressed himself on the subject as follows: Other methods of putting one's pecuniary standing in evidence serve their end effectually, and other methods are in vogue always and everywhere; but expenditurl on dress has this advantage over most other methods, that our apparel is always in evi dence and affords an indication of our pecuniary standing to all observers at the first glance. It is also true that ~dPP:tted exnenqiture ~or displar is more obyiouslY present, and is, perhaps, morg universally ~ractis§S !n the matt~ QI dress than !n any: other l!ne QI conswnptiog. 53 Georg Simmel, "Fashion," InternatioP&il Qµarterly, 10:137, October, 1904. 51+ Stuart Chase in the foreword to Theoij .21.: lli W sure ciass (New York: The Modern Library, 193 , p. xv. 55 Veblen, .212• c!t., p. 167 (italics in original). 101 Veblen asserted that all well-bred peoples cleave to certain styles of clothing, such as silk hats, and the like, and avoid worn or unfashionable clothing as offensive. 56 The economist, Nystrom, in commenting on Veblen's observations, offers the following generalization for sericus consideration: One may construct a business rule from this analysis to the effect that a style, to succeed as a fashion must have qualities that advertise either conspicuous~leisure or conspicuous consump tion for the user.~' I Nystrom feels that garments for which there 1s to be a chance for success must not only carry the suggestion that their wearers belong to higher vocation groups or to the so-called leisure class, but they must look, as the popular saying 58 goes, l;ike !. million dollars. uThe styles should go as far as possible in proving that the owner does not have to 59 work tor a living.rt These generalizations are valid, Nystrom feels, because: "It is a human desire to prove one's superiority by wearing apparel which obviously could not be 56 Jqig., pp. 131-2. 57 Paul H. Nystrom, Economics .QL Fashion (New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1928), p. 102. 58 Loe. ill• 5 9 1Pid., P• 103. worn by one doing manual or dirty labor." 102 60 Kimball Yowig adds his bit or opinion in this state ment: "When we dress in the latest fashions, we are marked as of the elite. The nouveau riche always attempt to keep 61 up with styles in conswnption of goods." If true, this is probably because, as Emory s. Bogardus has put it: nrnsignia give prestige. Both the bishop and the hobo must dress the 62 63 part. 11 According to Bogardus, "Appear well and you win." As Stuart Chase has opined in one of his own works, "Very few men can afford to let people think he doesn't change his shirt every day. 1164 The next three chapters indicate the extent to which this common idea is based on actual social responses. 60 Ibid., P• 131. 61 Kimball Young, Social Pszchology (New York: Crofts Press, 1930), P• 559. I 62 Emory s. Bogardus, FU}}dament~ls .Q! Social Psichol ogy (New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, 1942), p. 109. Also see E. E. Slosson and June E. Downey, Plots and Persoq ~lities (New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, 1923), P• 7].. 6 3 Bogardus, .2J2• c~t., p. 109. 61+ Stuart Chase, The ~§f!gedy Qf f&st~ (New York: The Macmillan Company, 192b), p. • CHAPTER VII CLOTHING AS A STATUS snmoL AMONG MEN OF VARIOUS CULTURES In the preceding chapter, attention was given to the development or popular conceptions regarding clothing as a status symbol among men. That these ideas have not emerged out or a vacuum, but have a real basis in actual experience, will be shown in the present chapter. Socia~ changg in clothing ll !!. status smbol among men. Because clothing is an integral part of culture and not merely incidental to it, it has been found that major changes in the role or apparel as a status symbol have come about in connection with changes in social, political and 1 economic patterns. Some of the data included in Spencer's Principtes _gt poci2logY illustrate the association between social change and clothing changes. Although it is now fashionable to look back on Spencer as an example of how not to proceed in science, Spencer's comments on the subject of badges and symbols of relative status among human beings the world over 1 Report 12, the Ntt¼opal Men's~ Boxs' App £81 Committee, mjmeographedNew York: Robbins, Barber and Baar, n.o.), P• 22. 10~ 2 are still valid. Spencer's data indicated to him that the badge and the dress have a common root. 3 In modern form, this same principle is illustrated by the contention that of the three motives for wearing clothing, the decoration motive 4 is primary. In ancient civilizations, according to Spencer, the decoration motive became especially powerful because it was the custom to keep naked slaves. In this way, relative amounts or clothing became symbolic or class distinction. 5 The use or clothing as a symbol of relative class in ancient societies was correlated, said Spencer, with the degree of despotism of the clique in power: Of course with that development of ceremonial control which goes along with elaboration ot political structure, differences of quantity 1 quality, shape and colour, are united to produce dresses distinctive of classes. This trait is most marked where the rule is most despotic; as in China where between the highest mandarin or prime minister, and the lowest constable, there are nine classes 1 _egch distinguished by a dress peculiar to itseir. Modern psychologist J. c. Flugel has made a similar 2 Herbert Spencer, Pt1nc1nles Qf_ Sociology, Vol. II-I (New York: _ D. Appleton and Company, 1897), Part IV. 3 Ib•d•, P• 185. 4 See Chapter Vo! this study. 5 Spencer, Jm• cit., p. 186. 6 Ibid., P• 188. 105' observation: Where as in the majority of militaristic civilizaiions, differences of rank or office correlate pretty closely with differences of social standing, the same or a similar system ot differences in clothing and ornament may come to distinguish different castes, classes or professions.'l However, social change which resulted in the more complete participation of all classes in all phases of life is believed to have led to the desire to eliminate elaborate status symbols in clothing among men. As one publication has phrased it: "Conservative dress is generally associated 8 with the coming of democracy. st Nystrom has spoken in detail of the effect the French Revolution had on men's st yles throughout the Western world. 9 The immediate r · esult of the Revolution was to make the wear ing of fine clothing in France a dangerous social act. The wealthy classes and the nobility, who had indulged them selves in so much finery before 1789, found their expensive garments a positive handicap when the Revolution began. The mobs or Paris looked upon the upper classes as the enemies or 7 J. c. Flugel, ~ Psychologx ~ c12thes (London: The Hogarth Press, 1930)-;-p. 31. 8 Report iQ. the National Men's 4nd Boy~• Apparel Committee, _gn. cit., P• 23. 9 Paul H. Nystrom, Iru! Economics of Fashion (New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1928), PP• 244and 306-310. 106 society, and they identified their foes primarily by means of their clothing. This led to what Flugel has called "The Great Masculine Renunc1ation 11 ; ever since the Revolution, color and innovation have been socially non-acceptable for men's clothing.lo Most or the nobility fled from Paris when the Revolu tion began, but those who stayed safeguarded themselves by wearing the simplest and poorest clothing for a period of 11 two years. The typical dress of both men and women who remained in Paris was such as would attract no attention at all, or would lead the mobs to believe that the individuals 12 were also members or the Proletariat. Clothing at that time was indeed a significant status symbol. The adoption and development of a particular item in male attire--trousers--1s an example of the status factors involved in men's attire. 13 The customary form of clothing tor gentlemen for many decades prior to 1800 had been lmee breeches, but laboring men wore pantaloons. In France, when it became tmpopular to be recognized as a gentleman, knee breeches gave way to pantaloons. However, the more 10 Flugel, ~• cit., PP• 111-117. 11 Ibtg., P• 244. 12 ~bid., PP• 306-7. l3 Ibid., PP• 307, 309-310, 316. 107 conservative elements in other Western countries refused to \ adopt trousers tor many years. Established institutions, especially, frowned upon their use. Thus, students at Oxford and Cambridge were forbidden to wear this now familiar garment, and when they persisted in doing so, were counted absent. One ot the most famous incidents regarding the first use ot trousers in England occurred when the very popular Duke of Wellington was turned away at the door of London's best restaurant because he was wearing trousers. In this fashion, the use of trousers became a symbol or 14 liberalism. Men who wore the new garments were considered free of convention, and thus radicals. The new types or apparel--trousers, coats free or color and tine clot~, and the like (velvet coats in gay colors, lmee breeches and stockings were considered the marks or aristocracy 15 )--were generally worn by the restless and the dissatisfied. "• •• [they] came to be considered as characteristics of people who were in opposition to the gov- 16 ernments of that day.u Thus, styles or men's clothing have functioned as symbols of political opinion. 14 Ib!d., P• 309. 15 Ib19•, P• 310. 16 Loe. cit. 108 Flugel's and Nystrom's observations are confirmed by Davenport's data. The latter maintains that during the Revolution, French gentlemen were wearing working men's loose blue linen trousers and the Jacobin red stocking-cap which 17 had been the mark of a galley-slave. In England, the round hat of the times had revolutionary connotations, but by 1812, men or all stations of 18 wear. As Davenport This was the cloth coats I a· elegance an<1 f fashion among Revolution ap1, Among the Er. followed political u~ rebellions of the 17th Cen_ ~~nted this type of head- , tailored 'lpearance, out ot s the for men had long the Puritan .#senters were distingU.ish- able from royalists because the former toned down everything they wore. Instead of embroidered coats of light colors, they adopted dark and severe coats which were trimmed with small plain bands in place of the lace used by the royalists. 20 And they wore worsted stockings instead or silk. After l? Millia Davenport, Book .Qf. Costume, Vol. I (New York: Crown Publisher, 1948), P• 651. lB Ibid., P• 799. 19 Ibid., P• 652. 20 Ibid., P• 576. 108 Flugel's and Nystrom's observations are confirmed by Davenport's data. The latter maintains that during the Revolution, French gentlemen were wearing working men's loose blue linen trousers and the Jacobin red stocking~cap which 17 had been the mark of a galley-slave. In England, the round hat of the times had revolutionary connotations, but by 1812, men of all stations or life had adopted this type or head- 18 wear. As Davenport has observed: This was the time when our trousers, tailored cloth coats 1 and top hats make their appearance, elegance anct good grooming actually go out or fashion among French afd English men, as the Revolution approaches. 9 Among the English, clothing styles for men had long followed political ups and downs. During the Puritan rebellions of the 17th Century, dissenters were distinguish able from royalists because the former toned down everything they wore. Instead or embroidered coats of light colors, they adopted dark and severe coats which were trimmed with small plain bands in place of the lace used by the royalists. 20 And they wore worsted stockings instead of silk. Arter 1 7 Millia Davenport, Book _2!: Costume, Vol. I (New York: Crown Publisher, 1948), P• 651. lB Ibid., P• 799. 19 Ibid., P• 652. 20 Ibid., P• 576. 109 Cromwell seized power, however, conservative styles were ordered by decree, and men who wore fine shirts, especially, 21 were suspected of treason. Following the restoration, in reaction to the Cromwell puritanism, luxurious shirts were brought back. The style dictated that gentlemen must wear shirts bloused at the waist and trimmed heavily with lace and ribbons. It was this type or sartorial distinction among men which went out ot fashion tor good when industrial democracy made its influence felt. According to Nystrom's study or the economics of fashion, the upsurge of democratic political ideals in the 19th century 22 led in general to a fashion of indifference to dress. The trousers which once were the mark or low status radicals only, were common to all men by 1835. 23 Veblen has noted the decline of male gentry as style leaders. He, too, attributes the change to a desire to play down symbols of leisure as a consequence of the development of industrial democracy: During the past one hundred years there is a tendency perceptible, in the development of men's dress especially, to discontinue methods ot ~ The St~1~ ,gt Sh13ts El Manhattan Shirt Company, 1 9), PP• -7. 22 Nystrom,~• git., P• 312. 23 Ibig., P• 316. (The Manhattan 110 expenditure and the use or symbols of leisure which must have been irksome which may have served a good purpose in their time, but the continuation or which among the upper classes today would be a work or supererogation; as, for instance, the 2 ~se of. powdered wigs and of gold lace •••• But even so, because some classes or people are more interested in new fashions than are others, new fashions are likely to become predominant in these groups earlier than elsewhere. As noted in Chapter v, in the discussion or industry reactions to the power of fashion, men's clothing manufacturers employ style reporters to watch the style cen ters and attempt to make predictions on what will become popular. However, according to Nystrom and others, "What the notables wear apparently means less and less to the 25 masses of intelligent fasl1ion-conscious people.u It has been suggested that a more realistic ocedure for the men's industry to follow in attempting to predict fashions would be to make a coldly dispassionate count or what the so-called i . 26 average man swearing. "Whatever may have been the case in times past, fash ion leadership seems to be no longer the result or birth or 24 Thorstein Veblen, Theq~ of the (New York: The Modern Library, 1931+), p. 25 Nystrom, .2J2.• cit., P• 32. 26 Loe. cit . Leisure C].ass 186. 111 27 position." The empirical manifestation of this phenomenon was demonstrated to the Columbia Bureau ot Applied Research in their depth interviews or men. According to this research, men today are suspicious of style leaders, and wish only to emUlate the styles of men who are leaders in a particular 28 field of interest that has nothing to do with clothing. The reaction against notables as style leaders was demonstrated in a practical way in the United States as far back as 1850. That year, President Pierce, in response to popular request, decided that American representatives abroad should not wear fashionable court clothing, but shoulD. be clothed in business suits on all occasions. It was felt that it was unseemly for the representatives of a democracy to assume clothing that symbolized exalted rank, thus deny ing the equality of all men. According to the reports, the reaction to President Pierce's order was trouble at nearly 29 every European court. For a period of several months, American newspapers carried more dispatches on the difficul ties of American ambassadors trying to wear business suits at court functions than about the wars or the time. ' 27 IRig., p. 33. 28 Renort 12. the NatioQAl Men's smd ~oys' ~pP§rei Comm!ttee, .2.2• Qi~., p. 39. 2 9 Nystrom, .2J2• cit., P• 332. 112 Western European and Medite~rfW.ean cultures. As long ago as 3000-2500 B .c., in ancient Babyl nia, according to the authoritative Boo~ 2t Custome , kings and nobles were distin guished from commoners by the former•s high turbans in con trast to the latter's r ound, low hats. 30 In Assyria (1700 B.c.), numerous articles or clothing, the most conspicuous of which was the scarf w orn by officials, were used to desig nate rank. On the scar ves, the number, disposition and width of the fringe indicated the wearer's position in the govern- 31 ment. But in Ancient Egypt, during the first eight dynas- ties, the dress of nobles and of commoners differed little except, perhaps, i n t he quality of materials used. By the time or the seventeenth dynasty, however, common men's attire was almost universally white, while gold was reserved for the 32 ruler and the nobility. Then, centUries later, the Greeks when at their height or power and influence, used colors to designate rank. It is said that all of the ancient Greek men wore simple shirt like garments which were called chitons. The colors purple, red, blue and saffron were specified for particular ranks in 30 Davenport, .QR.• .ill•, P• 3. 31 Ib•d•, P• 4. 32 Ibiq., P• 16. 113 the total social organization. 33 The Persians or the same period separated nobles from commoners by means of shirt lengths; the former wore shirts which reached halfway down the thigh, but the latter wore theirs ankle length. 34 Among the ancient Romans, the toga was the mark of a citizen of Rome and slaves were not permitted to wear the garment. Furthermore, the Romans used c],ay:f. on their under garment, the twlic, to indicate the wearer's rank. 35 These tunics were girdled with great care to the exact length 36 which was considered proper for the rank of the wearer. At a later period, in areas where Mohammedans were in control, white or red turbans were used to designate members of the approved faith, while 9hristians were forced to wear black turbans, and Jews yellow. 37 More recent usages of clothing as symbols of status in western European countries are more familiar, although there are some details which seem important. Davenport observes, for example, that with the early eighteenth cen tury Englishman, 11 As his income increases, his costumes 33 The Story .Q!. Shirt§ ll Manhattan, .212• cit., P• 3. 3 4 Davenport, .212• cit., P• 5. 35 lbid•: P• 73. 36 1. Ibid., P• 7'T. 37 Ibid., P• 20. 111+ become mor e elegant •• • • 1138 Such elegance evidently became somewhat of a burden, at that time, when it was cus tomary for the well-born male of England never to be seen without a hat . Hats of one sort or another were worn indoors and out . Davenport quotes John More, the eccent ric rector turned Baptist in 1699, who related that when he found him self without a hat while passing through Worcest er, felt it 39 necessary to drape a handkerchief on his head. In France, especially in Paris, as the capitol of fashion, it might be expected that clothing differentiations would reach their height . Under Louis XIV (1655-1715), men's fashions became increasingly elegant and artificial. There was a great deal of what, on the stage, w ould be call ed 1+0 nbusiness." There were wrist-ruffles, and lace dripping f r om nwnerous pockets. It was fashionable for men to manipulate frilly handkerchiefs attached t o rings, and to carry beribboned canes; and gloves, which were carried, not worn , were absolutely~ figueur. But t her e were strange anom alies. A coat profusely covered with brai d on the upper 41 arms and chest s was the connotation or livery and service. 38 Ibid., V ol. II, P• 596. 39 Ibid., P• 568. 4-0 Ibid•, P• 519. 41 lbiq., p. 525. 115 In tact it was this braid which was the only difference between the cost or a distingUished gentleman at court and that or the livery page. 42 In other western European countries, dress of the saas period was not so elegant as that used by the men of France, but it was nevertheless the principal mark of one's station in life. In Germany, for example, there was a definite, codified costume worn by the bourgeoisie to distinguish the members or this group from the peasants. As the bourgeoisie tended to become gentry, their costume was taken over by the ~ well-to-do peasantry. Then, of course, Scottish clan costume has become world-famous. These costumes were a development or the late sixteenth century, at which time every detail of the clan hierarchy and their outfits, includ ing methods of wearing the latter and their accessories, ~ became rigidly established by convention. Cyltu,res outside the ma!nstream ~ Western Europe. It is not only among Westerners that varieties of dress have mar ked social rank. Hearn has described ancient Japanese costume as a reflection of the rigid Japanese hierarchical 42 Ibid., P• 535. 4 3 Ibig., Vol. I, P• 376 • . 41t Ibid., Vol . II, P• 822. 116 system. Japanese peasant men, in the past, were forbidden to wear stockings and only bamboo was permitted for their sandals • • • • prior to Meiji, there were sumptuary laws prescribing not only the materials of the dresses to be worn by the various classes 1 but even the 4 , colors of them, and the designs or the patterns. One French observer has noted that fashions appear in nonliterate societies only when there are status levels: "• •• Bushmen have no fashions, while Kaffirs have: the presence or fashion among the latter being connected with 46 their well-marked social differentiation." Flugel's sur- vey of the available evidence has led him to conclude that in general, among primitives, the amount of clothing corres ponds with social rank. 47 Lowie's review of dress among nonliterates hypothe sizes that this aspect of material culture is important because the primary motive for wearing clothing in all cu.1- 48 tu.res is that of enhancing or maintaining status. However, 4 5 L. Hearn, Japan, An Attempt~ I~t~rgretation (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1904), p 1 3. 46 Mustoxidi, Qu 1 est-s.2 gue la m~q)? (Paris, 1920), p. 68 (quoted in Flugle, 21?.• cit., p. l 1. 4 7 Flugel, .Q.P• cit., P• 56. 48 Robert H. Lowie AD, Introduction 1Q Cqltura~ ~thropologx (New York: Ainehart and Company, 1934), apter VI. 117 the evidence from anthropology seems conflicting. Turney High, for example, in his survey of dress among major cul ture areas, never once mentions the use of forms of dress as 49 status symbols among nonliterates. On the contrary, he lists the following major cultures as those in which dress is almost unknown, either for protection or for ornamenta tion: American Indians from some tribes of the Southeast, Indians of northern South America, Africans from the Congo basin, Africans from the Uganda region, the Hottentots, Polynesians, Melanesians, Australians, and the men of Furtrer Asia. It seems to be Turney-High's belief that residents of temperate climates do not use clothing for ornamentation, but resort instead to devices such as jewelry, plugs and the 50 like. Nevertheless, there are some interesting examples of men's clothing among nonliterates serving as a major symbol of status rank. Spencer, of course, has gathered a number or such illustrations. He says, for instance: ••• in Ukimi 'the skin [of a lion] ••• is prepared for the sultan's wear 1 as no one else dare use it'; that 'a leoparo-skin mantle is the insignia of rank among the Zoolus'; and that in Uganda, certain of the king's attendants 4 9 Harry Holbert Turney-High, Generat Anthrouology (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1949, Part III. 50 8 Ibid., P• 29 • 118 wear 'leopard-cat skins girt round the waist, the sign of royal blood. 1 5i In modern anthropological writines, Low1e 1 s observa tions on the subject of clothing as a status symbol among men of various cultures are typical. He mentions, for example, the use of white scarfs as emblems of rank among the Ibo of Southern Nigeria, 52 and the practice ot the Tahitians of stripping themselves to the waist when they are in the presence ot the king. 53 Among the Philippine Bagobo, according to Low1e, a special head covering marks the enhanced social status of a man who has killed at least two enemies. 51t Still another example has been published by Kluckhohn in a Navaho personal document. The document contains this interesting--and typical--spontaneous comment: My father said 'Take care of yourself. Have good horses, bridie, saddle blankets so I could go anywhere to a sing without being ashamed!' ithout good clothes you couldn't z.2 an,vwnere where there were lots of people. ~ght get ashamed where they had a good time.55 5l Spencer, .2:2• cit., P• 179. t ion between Spencer and Turney-High 5 2 Lowie, .2:2• cit., p. 268. 5 3 Ibid., P• 271. 5~ !big., P• 474. (Note the contradic on the Uganda). 55 Clyde Kluckhohn "A Navaho Personal Document," in Per sonal Character and Cu1tural Milieu, compiled by Douglas G. Haring (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1949), P• 460 (italics supplied). 119 In reporting on Thailand as an example of "A Loosely Structured Social System,n the late John R. Embree contends that the Thai are not concerned with differential status or rank. Even the Thai royal family, after the fifth genera tion, is without special status differentiating it from commoners. "The first characteristic or Thai culture to strike an observer f rom the West ••• is the individualis tic behavior of the people. 1156 This ini'ormal social organ- . ization, said Embree , is reflected in the typical Thai dress: "Even in dress the Thai are individual, or rather ununifor~. A less r egular form of dress than the loosely draped panun,g would be difficult to find. 1157 In another source, he wrote: So far as I know male dress is not in itself an important symbol of status. The old fashioned panung varied i n quality of material and nobility wore better ones than commoners. But even women traditionally wore the panung and from behind, at first glance, neither the ~§X nor the social class of a person was too clear. On the other hand, in countries which have strictly structured social organizations with reciprocal rights and duties clearly outlined, clothing appears as a relatively 5 6 John R. Embree, "Thailand--A Loosely Structured Social Syst em," American Anthropologist, 52:182, April-June, 1950. 57 Ibid., P• 190. 58 Personal letter dated December 6, 1950. 120 important status symbol. Veblen's discussion of this point was as follows: It is well known that certain relatively stable styles and types of costume have been worked out in various parts of the world; as, for instance, among the Japanese •••• These national or popu lar costumes ••• belong in countries and locali ties and times where the population, or at least the class to which the costume in question belong~, is relatively homogeneous, stable, and immobile.,~ Current cross-cultural data. The caste system of India 1s often referred to as the epitome of immobile social structure, and according to Kimball Young, "The castes 0£ India have not only distinctive language forms, but rigid 60 forms .QI. dress and manner." Young observes that wherever class lines are sharply drawn there is a 11 tendency to con servatism" involving persistence in class dress that is unlike the fashions open to all in the United States. Shirras has recorded some interesting data on the differential clothing expenditures of 603 single males liv ing in Bombay, India, in 1923, as summarized in this table: 61 59 Veblen,~• cit., P• 175. 60 Kimball Young Socig~ Psychologz (New York: F. s. Crofts Company, 1930), p. 5~3 (italics supplied). 61 G. Findlay Shirras, Refort .2!! !J! Enquiry into Working Clas~ Budgets !n BombazBombay: Labour Office, Government of Bombay, 1923), Table XXIV, pp. 124-125. 121 Tn~ome ·~.1 mi ts in Runees ner Month °' °' °' °' °' ~ • M ...:I- \i\ '° ~ =- tll r-i 0 J.t I I I I I p. . r-t 0 0 0 0 0 (J)Q 0 i:Q M ("() _.::f- \i\ '° ['... C() Per cent or income for clothing for 6.o self 5. 5 5. 2 4.5 4.1 4.o 2+. 1 Number or men , in each group 69 167 207 65 58 27 10 These data are especially significant becaus e the pattern or expenditures seems to indicate that a s a Bombay w orking man goes up in i ncome status , he spends a smal ler percent age of his income f or his clothing. The opposite trend prevails to some extent in the United States , as data in the next chap ter will indicat e. These opposing expenditure trends suggest that clothing is given a different place in the scale of J values of some men in the two cultures; in turn, this means that clothing could not act as a status symbol in the same way in both cultures . Shirras has also collected figures which show the relative expenditures for clothing of people living in a number of countries in the 1920 1 s . These data follow: 62 62 lbi~. , Table XXII , p. 122. Country Germany (Berlin) •••·•·•••·•·••••••••• Australia ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Hungary ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• U.S.A••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• D el'lJlla.r k. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • France ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Sweden•···••••·•··••••••··••··•••·••• Norwy ••••••••••••••••• , ••••••••••••• Trinidad ( lest Indies) ••••••••••••••• Italy (Milan) ••••••••••••••••••••••••• United Kingdom•••••••••·•·••••••••••• Japan (Tokyo) ••••••••••••••••••••••••• Italy (Rome) •••·•••••••••••••··•••••• Trinidad (East Indies) •••••••••••••••• India (Bombay) ••••••••••••••••••••••• 122 Average per cent of total family income spent for clothing In comparing the expenditures for people living in different sized cities, Shirras points out that expenses for clothing in smaller cities are often greater than those in the largest cities. The following data are typical: The percentages are--Tokyo, 7.3; Osaka, 11.7; Rome, 10.2; Milan, 63 12; Oslo, 12; Bergen, 15. There are exceptions to this pattern. In Shanghai, for example, expenditures for cloth ing amount, on the average, to 13 per cent of total incomes, whereas in villages near Peking they average 6.7 per cent. 63 Ibid., Table XX 1 PP• 106-119. The data used for these ~omparisons, according to Shirras, include different elements than do the data used to compare total cowitries. 123 But, on the whole, these data seem to indicate a different pattern than that which prevails in the U nited States , as Will be explained in the following chapter. Another foreign pattern which differs from one preva lent in the United States is revealed by stat istics from Osaka, Japan. In Osaka, a 1920 study of 416 skilled factory laborers (male) indicated that men in the a ge group 26- 30 spent more for their clothing than did any other age groups, . 64 men and women included. If the unit n1u stands for the expenditures of the age group 26-30, relative expenditures of various groups may be compared as follows : Men 26-30 •••••••• 1.0 21-25 •••••••• • 7 31-45 ••••••••• 7 46-60 •••••..•• 6 16-20 ••••••••• 6 61-75 ••••••••• 4 11-15 ••••••••• 3 76-90 ••••••••• 3 1-10 ••••••• $ .2 Women 16-20 •••••••• • • 9 21-25 •••••••••• 8 26-30 .•••••.••• 6 76-90 ••••••• ••• 1 - Thus, in Osaka in 1920, Japanese males of two age groups spent more for their clothing when compared with Japanese women of various ages. This will be contrasted with the 64 Monthly LAbor Re~ie~, Bureau or Labor Statistics, 13:800-802, November, 1921. 124 United States pattern described in the next chapter, where it will be shown that today's United States males spend less for their clothing than do women at every age and at almost every income level. The clothing expenditures or Bombay working men may be compared with the expenditures or Bombay clerical employees. According to one study of 1,748 families of the latter types of workers, the average expenditures for cloth- 65 ing amounted to 10 per cent of the total income, whereas it will be remembered that the highest expenditure or work ing men was the 6 per cent spent by the lowest income group. Another study revealed that in 1927-8, working class families living in Shanghai spent 9 per cent of their income for 66 clothing. In England, on the other hand, it has been found that middle-class families spend an average or 11 per 67 cent of their income for clothing. These patterns are of interest because they may be compared with data for the United States, which indicate that clothing expenditures in 65 "Standard or Living among Middle-Class Indian Families in Bombay," Monthly Labor Reviey, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 21:65-07, July, 1925. 66 s. Young and L. K. Tao, 11 A Study or the Standard of Living of Working Families in Shanghai," (Peiping: Insti tutional Social Research Monograph 3, 1931), P• 38. 6 7 D. Caradog Jones, "The Cost of Living of a Sample of Middle Class Families,_" Journal 9I_ the l\oyal Statisti.cal Societx, 91:480, July, 1~28. 125 the latter country also tend to rise as the occupational status goes up. Data gathered in the nineteenth century fran various cultural regions indicate that this pattern has by no means prevailed for all workers in general when various areas 68 are compared: ·Area Turkey69 Russ1a70 Denmark7 1 Sweden7 2 Tangier:143 Algeria"/ : Year . Type of Occupation 1845 feudal 1844 serf 1897 "worker" 1845 skilled worker 1858 entrepreneur 1884 Chief Per cent of Income for cJ,otning 21 22 12 14 12.5 6 68 These data extracted and interpreted from the works cited. 6 9 A. Dauz and F. LePlay °Forgeron Bulgare Des Usines a Fer De Samako,m. (Turq~e Centrale). In Les Ouvriers Europeens, Vol. II, 2nd Ed., PP• 231-271. Paris,W77 • . 70 F. LePlay and M. Daniloff, Les Ouvriers Europeans, .21?• cit., PP• 99-141. 71 i1arcus Rubin, "Consommation De Familles D'Ouvriers Danoisi" Bulletin of the International Institute Qt Statis tics, 3:21-80, January, 1903. 72 A. De Saint-Leger and F. LePlay, Les Ouvriers Europeans, Vo. III,~• cit., PP• 1-53. 73 N. Cotte "Menusisier-Charpentier (Nedjar) De T ang1er," I,es Ouvr!e~s des Deµx- .fondes , 2: 105-14-l+ ( first series), February, 1 58. 71+ August Geoffroy 11 Bord1er (Fellah) Berbere De La Grande-Kabylie (Province rl 1 Alger)t Mes Ouvriers des Dewc Mondes, 2:52-92 (second series), January, 1890. 126 These data, to the limited extent that they are comparable, indicate that in the 1800's, the percentage of income spent for clothing for men in various occupations in various cul ture areas generally went down as occupational status rose. This pattern 1s of interest when compared with the percentage rise in clothing expenditures which accompany most occupa tional status rises in the United States of today (see Sec tion IV, Chapter VIII, for the latter details). In addition to expenditures, which are one objective sort of data from which values may be inferred, one may com pare the attitudes regarding clothing of residents of differ ent culture areas. In the United States, for example, it is believed that young boys are less concerned with clothing than are girls. According to :Macauley, the same trend is 75 visible among British children. In his study of children 6-15 years of age, Macauley found that although 13 per cent of the boys would wear 11 any old thing" for daily wear, not a single girl asked said she would do so. But, as Kimball Young has pointed out, eviaently the British male youngster acquires different attitudes as he grows older-- In England, [says Young], there 1s more con servatism than here. n English merchant, for 75 E. Mac uley, "Some Notes on the Attitudes of Chil dren to Dress 1 11 British Journa]. of Medical Psychology, 9:154, February, 192;,. 127 example, would not feel right about going to dinner without 'dressing,' whereas in Amer1ca 76 this is reserved for the most formal affairs. This contrast betw~en Englishmen and Americans in values regarding clothing, will perhaps be made clearer by the data in Chapter VIII. There, it will be shown that apparently the American male is putting less and less stress on "dress ing," and is becoming more and more informal. In the United States, role distinctions based on clothing are difficult to sharpen and perpetuate because almost anyone--if he can find the monetary means to do so- can adopt the type of clothing important as a symbol to groups of which he wishes to be counted a member. Thus, as Newcomb has pointed out, "It is hard to make the distinction between immigrant and native-born American •stick' because immigrants soon learn to adopt our customs, to wear our clothes •••• u 77 On the other hand, submission to the latest £ashion--as discussed in the chapter on the social psychology of men's clothing fashions--is a means of sharpen ing status lines through the use of clothing, even in a society where almost everyone can adopt clothing symbols or various kinds. The great popularity or fashion in America, 76 Young,~• cit., P• 554. 77 Theodore Newcomb~ Soci 9 1 Psychology (New York: Dryden Press 1950), p. 410. 1 128 says Weber, is a reflection or the fact that our social differentiations are based primarily on "styles of life," and not on social classes . According to Weber, therefore, "Submission to fashion exists among men in America to a 78 degree unknown in Germany." Such submission decides, at least prima faci~, that a man will be treated as a gentle- 79 man. Thus, the early use of clothing as a status symbol was assured in America, where there was little tradition of formal status differentiation. The use or male apparel for this purpose is illustrated by the fact that men's ready made clothing was first manufactured, during the 1830's, for wear by the servant class as a means of publicly announcing Bo nhere is an indentured servant or slave." Other deviants of the early 1800 1 s ,ere also marked by their clothing. Prisoners, for example, were forced to wear stripes because humiliation was one of the main 7 8 Hans s. Gerth and c. in Sociologx {New York: P• 188. 79 Loe. cit. Wright Mills, F om Max Weber: Oxford University Press, 80 L. Neville Rieman, The fen's Suit Industry (Boston: Bellman Publ.shing Com~any, 1947), p. 10. 129 81 objectives or early penal treatment. New York adopted prison stripes in 1815. Another state, Massachusetts went even further in its effort to down-grade its prisoners. In thi s state, until 1812, the regular garb was half red and hal.f blue. Then the prison officials wanted some means of classifying the prisoners into first, second and third offenders. To the red and blue of the firsttermers, the second termers had yel low stripes added. And to this medley of colors, black stripes were added for third offenders. Bar nes, quoting Lewis, has this to say about the Massachusetts system: It is hard to form a picture of such an inhar monious combination of colors, that must have l ooked like a prismatic nightmare, and have trans formed the . inmate into a deplorable object . The wearer's humiliation and degradation were deliber ately sough~ 2 as one of the purposes of prison discipline. Even today, to make escape more difficult, some chil dren' s i nstitut ions enforce the wearing of conspicuous cloth ing. The coar se clothing usually prescribed becomes unmis takable to t hose w ho live near the institution and helps in 83 capturing runaways. 81 Harry lmer Barnes and egley • Teeters , New Horizons in Criminology (New Y ork: Prentice-Hall, Inc . , 1944), p.585. 82 Ibi d., P• 532. 83 Ibid., p. 585. 130 In discussing the problem of finding the potentially delinquent child, Lowell Julliard Carr suggests the use of a 84 scale for rating children as adjusted or unadjusted. The scale consists of descriptions of five hypothetical children, ranging from the badly maladjusted to the best adjusted. Attention or lack of attention to personal appearance, inclu:1- ing clothing, is said to be one important key to the degree pf adjustment of the child in question. Descriptive sta e ments, supposed to be keys to adjustment, are phrased in these terms: "He is unkempt and very slovenly with regard to his personal appearance," "He is concerned about his dress," and the like. The phenomenon of type of clothing marking the status of boys probably reached its height in the "zoot suit" con troversy which raged in Southern California and the South west during the second world war. According to Ruth Tuck, any boy who wore 11 drape shape" clothing was marked as a 85 "Mexican" and was treated accordingly. In fact, it is said the Los Angeles police had orders to pick up any boy or man dressed in a so-called zoot suit. Just as in the French 84 Low 1 Julliard Carr, Delinquency Control (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1941), facing P• 211. 8 5 Ruth Tuck, Not ;w1.th the [1st (New York: Harcourt Brace and Company, 194bJ, PP• vii-viii. 131 Revolution, it suddenly became dangerous in Los Angeles to appear on the streets i n distinctive gar b . In one very important study, Bernice Neugarten has measured the extent t o which types of clothing are associ- 86 ated with social class status among children. Her result s are not broken down by sex because she found no significant sex differences: therefor e , her findings may be said to apply to boys (as well a s t o girls), and these findings ar e of interest to the present study. Neugarten's sample include 174 fifth and sixth gr ade children, and 206 tenth and eleventh graders . These chil dr en were divided into repr esentatives of "classes," using the Warner-Lunt techniques . Four classes in both age groups wer e described: Groups B--children whose families rank above the "common man"; Groups C - - children whose families constitute the top half of the common man grouping; Groups D--childr en whose families are w or kingmen, poor but respectable ; Groups E--families of the l owest status who lack most of the charac teristics which m ake for acceptance and respectability. Dr. Neugart en asked the children to write down the mes of boys and girls they associated with ten positive 86 Bernice L. Neugarten "Family Social Position and the Social Development of the ~hild" (unpublished doctoral d s sertation, University of Chicago, Chicago, 1943). 132 traits, among which was the trait "well dressed. 11 She also asked them to write down the names or children they associ ated with ten negative traits, among which was the phrase 11 not well dressed . " The subjects were told nothing about t he nature or the study, of course, but nevertheles s the children named as well dressed were found to be m ost often representatives or the upper class, and children named as not well dressed were round to be most often representatives of Group E (the lowest status group) . 87 That the di ffer ences in dress were not necessarily a consequence of rela~ t i ve ability to pay was demonstrated by other associations . Being well dressed was especially discriminating among t he younger children, who apparently felt that such a person ality attribute is the most conspicuous trait of those who com e f rom upper class families. 88 The high school children named well dressed second to good manners as the most con spicuous trait of children who were found to be representa- 89 tives of the upper class. ttNot well dressed" was found to be associated with 8 7 Ibid., pp. 47-48 and 57. 88 Ibig., Figures 4-13; the data presented in these figures pr ovide the authority for the remaining statements concerning t he grade school children in the Neugarten study. 89 Ibid. , Figures 17-27; the data presented in these £igu es provide the authority for the remaining statements concerning the high school children in the Neugar t en study. 133 the low status grade school children as their most conspicu- ous negative trait. Among the high school youngsters, not well dressed was associated with the low status children second most often (after "not good looking"). However, with both age groups, not well dressed was also found to be asso ciated with the upper class group as their second most . con spicuous negative trait. But, the total amount of negative traits associated with the upper class groups was very much smaller than the same type of traits associated with the lower class groups. For example, type of dress was fowid to be four times as important as a positive trait for the upper class children as it was a negative trait for them, whereas, "not well dressed" and 11 well dressed" were equally associated with the lower status children. In another part of her study, Neugarten found that the younger children of the upper classes consistently named the lower class children as people with whom they would not want to be friends. Among the high school pupils, however, friendshi p rejection did not f ollow class lines. Neugarten explained the change with increasing age by observing: As the lower class child grows older, he drops out or school, or, by taking on the behavior and values of middle-class associates, he tends to lose his distinguishing features as a lower-class individua1. 'JO 9 o ;&bid., P• 69. Neugarten feels that the implication is that low status individuals are not rejected as a class when they grow older because they lear n to assume the traits which are valued by the upper status groups. One of these traits is that called "well dressed. 11 In short, Neugarten found that types of clothing ("well dressed 11 vs . "not well dressed") are significantly associated with social class, and that a low status child who begins to be r egarded as well dressed (among other thing$ will cease to be r ejected as a friend by upper status chi l dren. Accordi ng t o Thomas and Znaniecki, it is not only in America that clothing of a certain type tends to determine social relationships among young men. In their discussion of the disorganization of the community, the authors of The Polish Peasant quote a document purporting to show the effects of new values in clothing on the disruption of the given way of life in Poland: There are , I dare say, some good-for-nothing boys who, having donned a pretty, nice looking overcoat or a stylish suit of clothes and shoes, not only would not salute reverently one who wears a peasant's coat, but would not stop to converse with him . Every one of these profligate boys reflects thus : "I dress better than that one does, I may possess a bigger fortune; then why sh.oul d I speak to him?" Should you visit his home , however, you would never suppose that such a dressy young man lives thee, for the house is 135 filled thick with dirt and filth. 91 Perhaps everyone has read human interest news reports of children unable or unwilling to go to school or to go outside to play because they lacked the proper clothing. Weinberg, in summarizing the case history of a typical schizophrenic, relates the following to indicate the impor tance of clothing as a status symbol among children gener ally: uHer predominant feeling, even as a child, was that of being 'different' and 'inferior' because her playmates dressed better than she did." 92 These subjective estimates on the importance or cloth ing to young people were confirmed in studies conducted by the Columbia University Bureau of Applied Research. 93 The Bureau drew two pertinent general conclusions from its data: (1) Boys are in· general unwilling to wear clothing that differs markedly from the norms of other boys, and (2) Cloth ing represents a status symbol to boys, especially boys above ten years of age. 9l W. I. Thomas and Florian Znaniec i, The Polish Peasant in ~ur oRe ~ America, Vol. IV (Boston: The Gorham Press, 1920), p. 50. 92 s . Kirson Weinberg, "A Sociological Analy is of a Schizophrenic Type , 11 American SoQiologj.cal Revie:w;, 1,:606, October, 1950 • . 93 Report to the N~t1onal Men's .wl!l Box~' Apparel Committee, .2:2• qir., P• 3 • 136 Among adults, the apparently casual differences in men's clothing can often assume important proportions when the differences symbolize variations in power or status. Melville Dalton has reported the effects of such differences in the conflicts between "starru and "line" officers in three industries. 94 In describing the situation, Dalton has this to say: Staff members w ere also much concerned about their dress, a daily shave, and a weekly hair cut. On the other hand , line officers, especi ally below the level of departmental superintend ent, were relatively indifferent to such matters. Usually they were i n such intimate contact with production processes that dirt and grime prevented the concern with meticulous dress shown by staff members •••• These f actors ••• assisted in raising a 9 barr1er between them and most line officers.!) Dalton quotes the spontaneous resentments of a representative line officer: They [the staf f officers] don't go in the cafe teria to eat and r el ax while they tallt over their problems. They go i n there to look around and see how somebody i s dressed •••• Well, that kind of damn stuff don't go with me. I haven't any time to put on a 6 rs and make out I'm some thing that I'm not . ~ Dalton's r esearch in three plants led him to believe 9 4 M elvill e Dalton, "Conflicts Between Staff and Line Managerial O f ficers ," ,American Sociologica~ Review, 15:342- 351, June, 1950. 95 Ibid., p. 31+1+. 96 Loe . cit. 137 that there were five major causes of conflict between stat£ and line officers in industry. One of these major causes, according to Dalton, is the fact that the two groups of officers have different status group affiliations: ••• the staff officers being younger, having more education but lower occupational potential, and forming a Rrestige-oriented group with dis tinctive dress and recreational tastes.97 lndustri reactions. Officials associated with the men's clothing industry are convinced that the evidence is overwhelming that a man's clothing plays a significant part in his social ratings by others. In an effort to raise the ratings by means of clothing, the industry has sponsored a number or innovations that are supposed to make men seem closer to the American ideal of what a man "should be. 11 The program of B. Kuppenheimer & Company is typical. Combining lower set buttons and waistline with broad, deep lapels and a long lapel opening, Kuppenheimer attempts to "add inches to a man's height," and "accent the width of 98 his shoulders." "The Duncanu (a suit style), says Kuppenheimer, 11 works magic with a man's appearance: It seemingly adds height and subtracts pounds. 1199 "The Clyde 97 Ibid., p. 350, italics supplied. 98 Successful Sales~eni Fall and Winter 1950 (Chicago: B. Kuppenheimer and Company, 950), p. 27. 99 Ibid., P• 30. 138 is longer to make a man taller, lower to make him chestier; and looser to make him slimmer.ulOO An athletic and masculine look is also cultivated. It is claimed that "Deft Kuppenheimer designing accents your 101 customer's masculinity, 11 "The Duncan ••• gives a vigor- 102 ous, athletic appearance." "'It's a Kuppenheimer' means gracefully tapered sleeves give the wearer a more athletic appearance by creating an illusion of broader shoulders and fuller ch.est. 0103 Kuppenheimer coats are designed to make the wearers appear to belong to the upper strata of society. The "Browning" topcoat, for example, is said to be nA standout because of its roomy comfort and aristocratic appearance, 111 o4 whereas the "Ascot" should be nshown to men who ask for •something with a lot of distinction.• 1110 5 On the basis of their own research and that of the Columbia Bureau of Applied Research, the public relations lOO Ibid., P• 25. 101 Ibid., P • 27. l0 2 Ibid., p. 30. l03 Ibid., P• 77. 104 Successful Salesmen, Spring and Summer 1950 (Chicago: B. Kuppenheimer and Company, 1950), p. 41. l05 Successful S 1 d 1950 a esmen, Fall an Winter , .QI?.• c~~., P• 41. 139 firm of Robbins, Barber & Baar, believes that the Kuppen- heimer stress on the status factors in men's clothing is completely justified. The men's clothing industry has been advised, on the basis or objective facts, to use advertis ing that stresses "the value .Q! a12parel in §Chieving and Dl.O O ..-4 ~ t'S 0 CJ CD aS CJ s:; .c: .µ ~ (I) {/) r-4 0 .,... Q) aS Cl) r-1 0 ~~ 53 J.. (lj -gi (I) (I) ~ .µ Cl) Q) t/l cd .µ ::s ::s (1) 00~~ f'd ~ ~ 0 00 0 0 Pt r-1 C) G> Cl) t= H ~ ~ e-. ~tco I' t><~tl,. E-4 (d. ~ 1929 78.8 21.4 21.9 12.1 11.8 1930 70.8 19.5 20.4 10.6 10.0 1931 61.2 16.3 18.5 9.1 8. 2 l.932 49.2 12.~ 15.6 6.8 6.4 193~ l+6.3 12. 11+.2 6.o 6.1 193 51.9 15.6 14.6 7.2 7. 0 193, 56.2 17.7 1,.2 7.7 7.8 1936 62., 20.0 16.5 8.4 9.1 193~ 67.5 21.6 17.7 8.9 9. 8 193 64.5 20.7 ii·' a.a 8. 8 19~ 67.5 21.1 1 .lt- 9.3 9. 7 19 ~2.1 22.6 19.5 9.9 10. 7, 1941 2.~ 26.5 21.6 11.7 12. i 1942 90. 32.8 22.8 14.6 9. i~ 101.6 aa.1 23.6 18.0 9. 9 110.l+ 1.6 2,.0 19.9 10. 6 1945 121.7 46.7 26.6 22. 2 12. 1 1946 143.7 55.1 30.7 21+.5 18. 8 i * ~ * ~ ~~ .C: r-C Cl> .µ QS .µ 0 0 G> ..... C, r-1 re, M <D ..µ ◄ :E: Q) 11. 5 10 . 2 9.1 7.7 7. 2 7. >+ i·a . 5 9. 0 8. 8 9. 0 9. 3 10. 0 10. 8 12. 0 1a. >+ 1 . 1 14. 6 * Source: Nationa;L J;ncome Supplement !2 Survey 2.t Current Busieess (Washington: United States Department of Commerce, 19 7), adapt ed from PP• 41-1+4. ** Includes medical care and death expenses, personal business, private education and research, religious and wel fare activities, and f oreign travel and remittances. in various years, they consistently hold third place 1n total consumer expenditures. The breakdown in Table I includes "accessories, jewelry, and personal care" with clothing, which probably accounts tor the fact that clothing on this table appears to be the third most important (rather than the fourth most important) item for consumer expenditure. In any case it is clear that clothing represents a tremen dously important value in American society; out or a total of $143,700,000,000 spent for all consumer items in 1946, 5 $24,500,000,000 was spent for clothing and accessories. The data included in Table I indicate that relative expenditures for clothing (and accessories) have been rising since 1938. For example, of the total spent for consumer items in 1938, 13.6 per cent was spent for clothing. In 1942, clothing expenditures bad risen to 16.o pe~ cent of the total, and in 1946, they bad risen to 17.0 per cent. On the other hand, expenditures for "Housing and Household Operation" fell from 28 per cent in 1938 to 21 per cent in 1946. Superficial analysis might lead one to say that here is concrete evidence that the value of clothing is apparently rising for American consumers, at least in comparison to . "housing." However, other evidence indicates that the rise 5 income Su~lement to Survez of Current Busines! (~~shington,: f:I::te States7Jepartmenrot Commerce, July 1947), PP• 41- • 146 in the total per cent spent for clothing is probably more a reflection of differentially rising prices than it is or changing values. Although the data are limited, the consumer price index tor moderate income ramjlies in large cities indicates that clothing has experienced a disproportionate rise in price since 1935-6, when compared with items that go to make up "housing and household operation." Referring to Table II, it can be seen that wearing apparel had risen to an index or 160.2 by 1946, where the index number 100.0 represented prices as they were in 1935- 36. But "rent," "fuel, electricity, and refrigeration," and "house furnishings" (the factors that make up "housing and household operation") have risen respectively, only 8.6, 12.4, and 59.2 (an average of 23.4) from the base ot 100.0 in 1936. On the other hand, food has gone up in price since 1936 almost as much as has wearing apparel. And in 19>+6, it too, like clothing, took a larger share 9f the total expendi tures for consumer items when compared with the share spent for st food and · tobacco" in 1938--food and tobacco took some what less than one third ot the total in 1938, and somewhat more than a third in 1946. Thus, it cannot be said on the basis of the available economic eviden~e, that the value of clothing has been ris ing in the total value scheme of Americans in recent years. TABLE II SELECTED ITEMS FOR CONSUMER'S PRICE INDEX fOR MODERATE-INCOME FAMILIES IN LARGE CITIES (1935-39 : 100] ITEM All items • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Food••••·•···•••••••••·••••••• Apparel·•••••·••••••···••·•••· Rent •••••••••••••••••••••••••• Fuel, electricity, and refrig- eration••••••••••••••••••••• House furnishings••••••••·•••• Miscellaneous•••••••••····•••• Ye a r 1929 122.5 132.5 115.3 141.l+ 112.5 111.7 104.6 1946 139.3 159.6 160.2 108.6 112.4 159.2 128.8 * Source: Monthll Itarbo~ Re~ie~, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 71:539, October, 1950. 148 ti:ellds iD e*pe;qqitB;tes. for ~l~ clothing. According to the lengthy report prepared for the two major national associations interested in selling men's and boys' clothing in the United States, "The proportion o! income spent on men's and boys' apparel has fallen sharply from the 1929 6 high and is apparently continlling to fall." The evidence cited for this statement is the data contained in a report or the National Industrial Conference Board. 7 The reasons for the decrease in the proportion of consumer income spent tor men's and boys' clothing is thought to be due to four 8 major factors: a. The fact that the trend in the manufacture and retailing or men's apparel is toward attempting to satisfy customers with lower prices. b. There is increasing male conswner satisfac tion with lightweight and informal clothing which can be produced for lower prices. This indicates that the standards for male dress are "going down," that the bases for "critical comparison" are being lowered, and hence "the amount of money which must be spent on male apparel may likewise be lowered ... c. Durable consumer goods have historically gotten a progressively larger share of 6 Report 12 the National Men' s and Boys ' Anparel Com mit tee, mimeographeITNew York: Robbins, Barber and Baar, n.d.), P• 15. ? Loe. ci~. 8 Adapted from ibiq., pp. 15-16. d. consumer income, thus increasing the competition for the male apparel indus try. The durable goods industries, which are large and aggressive, are said to be working hard to obtain an even larger share of consumer income than they now get. The male clothing industry spends too little, proportionately, on advertising.9 Althougl1 ttThe American man should be the best-dressed in the world, and indeed he is reputed to be so," one large scale manufacturer of men•s clothing has lamented, "he buys less than one suit of clothes every two years! 1110 The chair man of Allied Stores Corporation is reported to have said, in an item headlined ironically, "Conspicuous Non-Consump tion," that "It is our job to make men and women unhappy with what they have in the way of apparel." He added that the money that "should haven gone into new clothes has been t i . .11 going in o II excess ve savings.• Apparently in an effort to stem the declining demand for male apparel, aggressive firms such as Kuppenheimer•s have recently inaugurated large-scale advertising campaigns. Within a period or sixty days, in the Fall of 1949, Kuppenheimer bought seven full-page ads in four nationally 9 Ibid., p. 16. lO "Tailored by Darorr, 11 (H. Daroff and Sons, Inc., 1948), P• 3. 11 "Bandwagon," Ne)! Re12u]2lic, July 17, 1950, P• 23, reprinted from an article in the New York Post. 150 circulated magazines (Esquire, Time, Post, and Newsweek), 12 which 1s some indication of the time and effort being expended. Kuppenheimer feels that "the prestige or owning a Kuppenheimer 11 will be enhanced if clothing salesmen take care 13 to have the proper issues or these magazines on hand. Although most reliable sources seem to point to a declining market, relatively speaking, tor male apparel, there are some studies which indicate that this trend is not true or the clothing market as a whole. H. Darorr and Sons have compiled figures which seem to them to indicate that "The American market 1s an expanding one. 1114 And Time maga zine recently published a series of advertisements (aimed, it is true, at whetting the appetite of the apparel industry) in which figures were quoted to show that clothing expendi tures would increase 14 per cent by 1960, and that a l arger per capita share woUld go for clothing by that time. These figures were taken from the Twentieth Century Fund survey 15 titled "America's Needs and Resources." In addition, one 1 2 SQcces§~Ul Salesment Fall and Winter 1949 (Chicago: B. Kuppenheimer and Company, 1949), pp. 4-5. 13 lbid., P• 5. r 14 "Tailored by Daroff, 11 .Q.:2• ill• , P• 2. 1 7 Quoted and discussed in ReRort ~ ~ Ha,~onal M en's~ Boys' Aupatei Committee, op. cit., PP• 1 1;. 151 study made or Tennessee farm families suggested that consid- erable data indicate clothi.ng expenditures do not change whm income changes. Comparing two large groups of representa tive Tennessee families whose incomes had changed (gone up or down), the investigators found that percentages spent for various types of articles changed except in th, a case of rood, 16 housing and clothing. Despite the fact that a preponderance or evidence shows a declining market for male attire, the fact remains that this type of clothing still plays an immense part in the national scheme of values. However, these values are relative to particular groups. As one government survey commented, "Clothing expenditures are affected by many fac tors •••• Family income; place of residence, such as farm or city; age; number of children in family," et cetera. 17 It is to these specific groups that attention is directed. III. OCCUPATIONA.L GROUPS AND VALUES REGARDING CLOTHING It is obvious that men working at different 16 Jean L. Pennock and Elizabeth L. Speer Ch~es 111 Rural Family income and S~ending 111 Teooessee--1943-=-; Mis cellaneous Publication 66 (Washington: United States Department of Agriculture, March, 1949), p. 11. l7 H(~ F~iltes Use Their tncome Miscellaneous Publi cation 653 as IJ.g on: United sates nepa.rtment of Agricul- ture n.d.), P• 28. 152 occupations may need different clothing outfits in the pur suit of their work. But this obvious fact, when analyzed in some detail, reveals several interesting factors that bear directly on the subject ·of the present study. For example, the exclusive ma.nufacturer of men's clothing for Botany Mills, Inc., reels that the "increas ingly large middle class" in America portends good tidings for the male clothing industry. 18 The evidence tor this feeling is said to be the fact that whereas the American population has increased only 43 per cent in the last thirty years, the factors that create a middle class have been expanding at a much faster rate. These factors are believed to be the greater number of professionals, college graduates, and technicians. Thus, in the last thirty years, the number of salaried professional workers has increased 126 per cent, the number of technicians 226 per cent, and since 1900, the number of college graduates has increased 1000 per cent. Actually, there is good evidence to support some of the enthusiastic industrial responses to the growing middle class. The available facts suggest that in general members of higher status occupational groups spend a larger per cent or their income on clothing when compared with lower status 18 "Tailored by Darorr, 11 loc. ill• 153 occupational groups. Perhaps the growing middle class will tend to stem the tide of lowered standards, and hence lower expenditures, for male clothing in general. Wage earners qompared witb other workers. In one urban area chosen for its representativenes, s, a government survey revealed the following male clothing expenditure 19 patterns: Family Income Average clothing expenditures of husbands in specified occupational ~rouns Class Wage Earner · Clerical Business and Professional $ 500 - 999 $1~ 7 28 1,000 - 1,499 33 26 1,500 - 1,999 28 31 36 2,000 - 2,999 49 60 51 3,000 - 4,999 45 101 111+ Another study revealed the following: 20 Occupation Salary Clothing Costs Wage earners Clerical Bus $3,000 - 3,999 same s $ 78 117 1 9 Fam1J,z Expenditures for Clothing, Urban and Village Series, Miscellaneous Publication 422 (Washington: United States Department of Agriculture, 1941), P• 21. 20 FamiJrlr Expenditqr 0 es, 9.I?• cit., Table 51+. 1~ Family sizes in the three occupational groups were held con- stant. The data indicate that in general, men occupied in business and professional work spend more tor their clothing or all kinds than do clerical workers and wage earners with the same income and number in the family. And clerical workers spend more than comparable wage earners. The impor tant point, however, 1s that one cannot jump to the conclu sion that this is merely a reflection of the fact that clothing worn for work by wage earners does not need to be as rine or as expensive as that worn by men in white-collar jobs. "The £act that the clothing expenditures of the wives in wage-earner families were also usually smaller than those of wives in the white-collar groups [even where income and size of famJ.ly is the same] may indicate less exacting 21 standards with respect to dress" among wage earners. There is further evidence on this point (i.e., that the relative lack of concern with clothing among wage earners is not entirely a reflection or the type of work clothing needed by the men for their jobs). It would be expected that wage-earners with large families would spend greater totals for their family clothing when compared with the 2l Famill: ~penditure§ fo• Clotn1ng, Urban and Village Series, ioc. ~. 155 generally smaller families of other occupational groups. However, this was not found to be so; instead, the clothing expenditures for the large wage-earner families were found to be the same as or smaller than the expenditures for the smaller families in other occupational groups at the same 22 income levels. Since occupational groups other than wage earners usually are accorded a relatively higher status, it might be expected that the former would be less concerned with enhancing or protecting their status by means of unique , clothing consumption patterns. However, according to DeG~, although the wage earner (often a union member) may have a lower occupational status, he has the security which is fre quently a product of knowing that one is part of a unified whole. The middle class man, on the other hand, is sub jected to feelings of isolation, to anomie, as a consequence of the relative lack of organization among middle class workers. In an objective sense, this lack of organization manifests itself by increased competition for socio-economic ~ position, a significant part of which would be attempting to use clothes as rungs on the ladder to more security. 22 Loe. cit. , 2 3 Gerard DeGRE "Ideology and Class Consciousness in the Middle Class," Social Forces, 29:176, December, 1950. ~ Says DeGRE: As compared to his middle class cousin, who must face his socio- economic environment equipped to a great extent only with his own resources in his bi tter struggle for survival, the labor union member can draw upon the collective economic , pol1tical 2 ~nd moral resources of his organization. 156 Nystrom has pointed out that occasionally, members of very high income or occupational statuses may indulge in dis reputable or "freakish 0 dress. 2 5 But not so the uneasy mem- , bars of the middl e strata, who, DeGRE observes, may often be 'more Royalist t han the King himself,' because of the ener- 26 vating pressure or continuous competition for social stattE. Farmers. The country bumpkin, the "hayseed," has long been the butt of national ridicule . This ridicule has ext ended to the supposedly rude clothing or farmers; there appears to be a widespread belief that, "Clothing seems to have been given a less important place in the scale or wants 27 by farm than urban groups . 11 Although clothing expenditures 24 Loe. cit. 2 5 Paul H. ystrom, Economics of Fashion (New York: The Ronald Pres s Company, Inc . , 1928)-;-p. 34. 26 " DeGRE , .2J2• cit . , P• 174. 27 Famil y ExJ?8nditures for Clothing, Farm Series, M iscellaneous Publication 428 (Washington: Unit d State D epartm ent of Agriculture, 1941), p. 2. 157 of both husbands and wives, in family spending units, increase appreciably as income increases: "For farm hus- bands, the increase with income is somewhat less. 11 28 Even though these facts are unmistakably so (if expen ditures can be a guide), the first experiment described in the next chapter indicates that there is another side to the story. In this experiment, it was found that the chil dren or farmers, at least, are apparently no less affected by differential clothing than are the children of men in other occupations. That is, the college students who par ticipated in the experiment, and who were the children or farmers, tended to rate men lower when the men wore old clothing, and higher when the men wore good clothing, just as often as they appeared to be uninfluenced by changes in clothing. Of course, the children of farmers are not neces sarily farmers themselves, but families are the major pri mary groups in which values are learned. The reactions of these students, children of farmers, may be a reflection of a new trend in clothing costs and values among farmers. As Rankin observed after his study of Nebraska farm families, farmers may spend less for their clothing when compared to 28 How Famjlies Use Their Income, _sm. cit., P• 28. 158 city workers, but the gap is closing. 29 On the other hand, it has been found that Tennessee farmers can be differentiated from other rural residents of the same sex and area by the amounts spent on clothing. This Tennessee study revealed some interesting differences in clothing expenditures between rural farm and rural non farm men over sixteen years of age at different income levels . The data are as follows: 30 Income Average yearly expenditures for cloth ing by rural farm and rural non-farm men over sixteen at different income lees Te essee 1 41+ $0000 -- 999 $31.29 20.73 1,000 - 1,999 49.60 52.13 2,000 - 2,999 64.87 80.44 3,000 - 3,999 79.00 1o1+.12 4,ooo - 4,999 79.09 132.4o The most important thing to notice in this array or figures is that men who are not farmers but who live in rural areas spend more, on the average, tor their clothing 29 J. o. Rankin, "The Cost of Clothing for the Nebraska Farm Farnily 1 11 Nebraska Agricultural Experiment tion Bulletin 248, L ncoln, 1930, p. 3. 30 Data adapted from Pennock and Speer, .2:2• ill•, Table 25, PP• 56-57. Sta- 159 than do farmers in the same area. This difference is probably a reflection or different occupation needs, although the greater differences at high.er income levels are possibly due to differing values regarding clothing. Ih,i §ssociation between men's shirts and occupational groul2§_. There are a number of male clothing items which appear to differentiate between certain occupational groups. This is true for business suits, 31 for example, and for 32 winter suits and ties. But this phenomena is especially marked in the case of men's shirts. Since it is the owner ship and wearing 0£ this clothing item that differentiates more than any other between occupational groups, perhaps a bit more attention should be paid to it. In a consumer survey of the men's shirt market for the makers of Arrow Brand shirts, it was reported that the following occupational groups in urban areas own the average number of shirts stated: 33 professional and semi-profes sional, 12.2 shirts; proprietors and executives, 11.6; 3l Fam11X Cloth1Ilft !nventories .l2z Income, Preliminary Report No . 1 (Washington: United States Department of Agriculture, June, 1950), p. ,. 32 Famt1Y Clothing Pµrch.a,ses .12z l,ncome, Preliminary Report No. 2 Washington: United States Department of Agriculture, November, 1950), P• 4. 33 "The Customer Confesses u A Report on the 191+7 Con sumer Survey of the Men's Shirt Market for Cluett, Peabody and Company, pamphlet, no paging, n.d. 160 clerical and sales personnel, 10.3; skilled wage earners, 7.1; unskilled wage earners, 6.3; and domestic and protec tive services (and all others), 7.3. The sources and reliability of these data have not been ascertained. According to the same source, men in the following 34 occupations need the following number of shirts: profes- sional and semi-professional, 14.7 shirts; proprietors and executives, 14; clerical and sales personnel, 12.2; domestic and protective service (and all others), 9.1; skilled wage earners, 8.8; and unskilled wage earners, 8.5. A more reliable source found a small positive corre- lation between the occupational status of men and their ownership of numbers of business shirts. 35 In a survey of men's preferences among selected clothing items, a large scale government study found--as would be expected--that professional persons own more business shirts than do other occupational workers. Self-employed men own the next largest number of such shirts, white collar workers the next, followed in order by skilled workers and semiskilled workers, unskilled workers, and farmers. 36 3 4 Loe. cit. 3 5 Men's Preferences f1(n& Selected Clothin& Items, Miscellaneous Publication ?O Washington: United States Department of Agriculture, 1949), Tables 11, 26, PP• 64, 73. 3 6 Ibid., Table 11, P• 64. 161 If these occupational groups are considered as descending in status rank (i.e., professional persons are commonly ranked highest in occupational status, followed by self-employed, white collar workers, etc.), it can be said that a positive correlation exists between a man's occupa tional status and the number of business shirts he owns . With regard to textile preferences and occupational status, there was foWld to be a descending preference, in the following order, for cotton shirts among professional men, self-employed men, white collar workers, skilled and 3? semj-skilled workers, unskilled workers, and farmers . An ascending preference for rayon shirts was found among the same occupational groups (in the same order) . That 1s, few er professional men express a preference f or rayon shirts than do sell-employed men. And, although m ore self-employed men express a preference for rayon shirts than do professional men, white-collar workers prefer them more than do self employed, and so on. Relatively m ore men preferring rayon shirts are unskilled workers and f arm ers. 38 In summary, then, a survey of the available data ndicates that there are few occupational differentiations mong men which in themselves appear to be significant in 37 Ibid., Table 26, P• 73. 38 Ito~. cit. affecting values regarding clothing. However, within the limitations of the representative facts presented--no con sideration has been given, for example, to occupational uniforms which designate rank among policemen and the like- the following points stand out: 1. Men in upper occupational strata in the United States spend a larger per cent of their income on clothing when compared with men in lower occupational strata. This may be compared with data included in the preceding chapter. There, it was indicated that in the nineteenth century, when occupational groups are considered cross-culturally, per centage of income spent for clothing went down when occupa tional status went up. 2. Wage earners spend less on their clothing when compared with members of other occupational groups, even where income and family size are held constant. 3. Farmers spend less for their clothing when com pared with men in other occupational groups considered as a whole. Furt_ hermore, their increase in clothing purchases as their income rises is less rapid than that of men in other occupational groups. However, the gap in clothing consump tion patterns between farmers and men in other occupational groups appears to be growing less noticeable. 4. Men's shirts appear to be the male clothing item that differentiates most between men in different occupa tional strata. This is trt1e both in numbers or shirts owned and purchased, and in textile preferences. Men in so-called upper occupational strata tend to own larger numbers ot shirts and to prefer cotton to rayon, whereas men in so called lower occupational strata tend to prefer rayon shirts and own fewer numbers of shirts when compared with men 1n the former occupational groups. Apparently clothing consumption patterns among men are not associated as much with occupation strata as they are with income and educational strata, as the discussion or business suits and other items in Section IV indicate. IV. INCOME AND EDUCATIONAL GROUPS AND VALUES REGARD NG CLOTHING Because a number of studies have shown that there is considerable overlapping in the association between types or men's clothing and men's income and educational groups, these two groups will be treated together. Also, of course, there is a considerable overlap between income and occupa tional groups, relative to clothing -types, but since this is not so pronounced as the association between education and income, occupation has been treated alone. As w-111 be indicated in this section, however, income and occupation are sometimes so closely associated that it is impossible to separate them with respect to their influence on values regarding clothing. The association between incre~sing income and clotn ing nurchase~. Although it would be expected that individ uals and families with higher incomes would spend more on their clothing, the relationship is more complicated than it might at first appear. For example, there is considerable evidence to prove that the higher a man goes up on the ladder of income status (here the reference is to 11 ordinary 11 incomes, not to the comparatively few astronomical ones), the greater the ~ercentage of his income which is spent for clothing. That this is not a one-to-one correlation, how ever, was indicated in Section III or this chapter, where it was shown that men who are wage earners spend propor tionately less for their clothing, irrespective of their income, when compared with men in occupations higher on the status ladder. 39 As the report to the National Men's and Boys• Apparel Committee has phrased it, ••• clothing expenditures within each income group are determined independently of income, and are based on such factors as community and 39 See "Wage Earners Compared with Other Part III, of this chapter. orkers 11 ' social status, occupation and employment needs, and personality.40 Nevertheless, it has been shown that the ability to pay tor clothing has more to do with clothing standards than do the 41 desires or the clothing buyers concerned. Table III, 42 indicates in graphic form the relation ship between increasing income and family clothing expendi tures. According to the data in this table, as income increases, a greater and greater share of the income is spent tor clothing. There appears to be only one study which fails to show this relationship. When a large sample or Tennessee farm families was surveyed, it was found that the proportion spent by families for clothing was not 43 appreciably affected by income level. However, this evidence seems to deviate from that presented in all other studies. For fear that a false impression will have been con veyed, it should be noted that percentage expenditures for 40 Report~ the National Men's and Boys 1 Apparel Committee, .2J2• cit., P• 6. 41 Ellis L. Kirkpatrick and J. T. Saunders, "The Relation Between the Ability to Pay and the Standard of Liv ing Among Farmers 1 " United States Department of Agriculture Bulletin 1382, 1926. 42 Data adapted tor Table III from Family Expend1- turep, .2J2• cit., Table 2, P• 11. 43 Pennock and Spear, .2J2• cit., P• 12. TABLE III FAMILY EXPENSES FOR CLOTHING AT SELECTED INCOME LEVELS Yearly Family Per cent o! Income Per cent of 166 Income Expended for Families Expend- Clothing ing for Clothing 250- 499 7.7 89 500-- 749 7.5 98 750 .. 999 8.3 100 1,000-1,249 9.5 100 1,300-1,499 9.8 100 1,,00-1,749 9.9 100 1,800-1,999 10.7 100 2,000-2,249 10.9 100 2,2,0-2,499 11.1 100 2,500-9,999 12.0 100 Source: Adapted from Family Expenditures Mis cellaneous Publication 396 (Washington: United States Department of Agriculture, 1941), Table II, P• 11. 167 clothing are not the only expenditures which take an increas- ing amount of total family income, as income rises. The per cent spent for furnishing and equipment, automobiles and transportation, recreation, formal education, gifts, and taxes also rise. Per cent expenditures for the following items decrease as income rises: food, housing, household 41+ operation, personal care, medicine, tobacco and reading. In the present study the greatest concern is, of course, with what happens to male clothing expenditures when income goes up. As would be expected, these expenditures rise, both materially and in th. e per cent of the total income taken. This has been found true in large studies of family spending, where a typical conclusion has been stated as follows: "Clothing expenditures of both husbands and wives increase appreciably with income. • • • ,/+5' It has also been indicated in smaller, regional studies. For example, in a study of Nebraska residents, Rankin states: "Men in the higher income groups spend proportionately more 46 for their clothing. 11 These data may be compared with the pattern which prevailed among working men in Bombay, India, in 1920, as ¥t FDmiJy Expenditµres, .Q:P• cit., Table 2, P• 11. 45 How Families Use Their Income, .Q:P• ~it., P• 29. 46 Rankin, .Q:P• s.!i•, P• 13. 168 discussed in the last chapter. There it was indicated that as the Indian's income rose, he spent proportionately lesi for his clothing. The fact that United States men of today spend larger and larger proportions of their income for clothing as their income increases is apparently a recent development. Bureau of Labor Statistics data gathered in 1918-19, indicated that this relationship did not hold at that time tor men who were part or family spending uni.ts. Cowles found that hus bands' clothing expenditures at incomes of $900-1200 per year were expressed by the index number 1.05. 47 This index dropped steadily to .83 for incomes of $2,500 and over. Since the conclusions by Cowles were based on data gathered by many of the same sources used for the present study, there may have been a significant change among men since 1919 in their clothing expenditures. The change is probably not a reflection of price fluctuations because family clothing expenditures appear to have taken about the same percentage or income in 1919 as 48 they do at present. If it is concluded that the change must then be a reflection of changing values, it would appear to contradict the data which indicate a declining 4 7 Cowles, .2.2• cit., Table 19, p. 186. 48 Ibid., P• 116. market for men's clothing. The only explanation which seems to solve this apparent contradiction would be that probably men or upper income statuses have declined in relative and absolute numbers since 1919. If this were true, there could be a declining clothing market for men at the same time that men or upper income brackets were tending to spend more, relatively, for their apparel. Income apd the preference for, ownershi:o £!:, J2£ Rur chase ,l2I. men, .Q!: specific male clothing items. The rela tionship between particular male clothing items and income occupational differences is expressed in these two state ments: For a number of the men's work clothing items an appreciable decrease in per cent purchasing was apparent as income increased, indicating the shift in occupatio~ 9 that often is associated with a shift in income. The occupation differs, as indicated by the proportion of men wearing business suits to woU; this proportion increases as income increases., 0 According to one government survey: The effect of income 1s most apparent in the figures for average expenditures •••• From the lowest to the highest income groups [incomes P• 4. 49 Famil~ Clothing Purchnses ~ Income, .QR• cit., 50 Family Clothing Inventories~ ncome, _sm. cit., 2000-2999 up to l+o00-5999] ••• average expenditures for various items of clothing more than doubled for many items or both men's and women's clothing. Expenditures for men's year-round and winter suits, dress or business shirts, street or dress gloves~ 1 and woven sport shirts tripled, approximately. ✓ 170 Other purchase patterns (apart from ownership) influenced by income level are in the number of articles purchased. In fact, the most marked increase with a rise in income is in the average number of articles purchased. Men in upper income strata purchase appreciably greater numbers of year round and winter suits, woven sport shirts, and some under wear items when compared with men in lower income strata. 52 It has been noted already that the ownership of num bers of shirts differentiates between occupational groups. This same item also, as would be expected, differentiates more than any other single item between income groups as far as purchasing patterns are concerned. 11 The greatest increase in per cent purchasing [as income increased] was for men's dress or business shirts. 1153 The consumer survey made for Cluett, Peabody and Co., indicates that there is also an association between a man's 5l FamilY Clothing Purchases~ Income, .2J2• cit., 5 2 ;&bid., P• 4. 53 Loce cit. income and whether or not he will prefer a certain brand when he buys a shirt. The following associations were noted : 54 Income Prel'·er (;er-ca1n l~O Brands Preference . Under $2,000 44.2% 55.8% $2,000-2,2+99 59.8 4o.2 2,500-2,999 6~.4 36.6 i,ooo-a,999 6 .o 32.0 ,ooo- ,999 69.3 30.7 5,000 and over 69.5 30.; 171 This customer survey indicates that as a man's income status increases, he is more and more likely to prefer a particular brand in shirts. Somewhat the same trend was noted in the association between education and whether or not a man will prefer a certain brand of shirt: Education Grade school only High school only College ~rerer c;er'tain Brands No Preference Thus, although the type of sample used in this survey was not indicated, there may be some association between a man's educational status and whether or not he will express a brand preference when he buys a shirt. 51.t- Source of data, "The Customer Confesses," loc. ci'tt 172 In the preceding paragraphs, t he discussion has been concerned with unique purchasing patterns. Associations between the number or certain clothing items owned and a man's income status have also been noted. The items that show an appreciable proportionate increase with income in numbers owned are for the most part, i t ems of the str eet or dress type. In men's clothing, articles which men own in larger numbers as their income increases have been round to be as follows: year-round and winter suits, hats, heavy jackets, woven sport shirts, socks f or dress or general pur poses, shoes for street, dress, or sport, handkerchiefs, 55 ties, bathrobes, and dress shirts. The number of shirts owned by urban men in various inc ome statuses is said to be as follows: under $2,000, 5.9 shirts ; $2,000-2,,00, 7.1; $2,500-3,000, a.o; $3,000-4,ooo, a.a; $4,ooo-5,ooo, 10. 7; and 13.3 for men in the "over $5 ,000" income bracket . 56 The above relationship (between numbers of shirts owned and income status) would be expected. A less obvious finding on textil e preferences was revealed by the govern ment survey on men's prefer ences in clothing. It was dis covered that the higher a man' s income status, the more 55 F 9 m~lX Clothing Inventories .!?z Income, 2:2• cit . , p. 2; and M en's Preferences ~mong Selected Clothing Items, 2:2• cit., Table 12, P• 65. 5 6 "The Customer Confesses , " lac . cit . 173 likely it is that he will prefer cotton shirts to rayon shirts. 57 Another finding, not unexpected, included the relationship between a man's income status and his ownership of summer sport shirts. Seventy-seven per cent or men in 58 the upper income group own summer sport shirts, compared to 70 per cent of men in the middle group and 52 per cent 59 of those in the lower group. The number or sport shirts 60 owned follows the same trend, as does the ownership of 61 all-wool shirts. Fiber preferences in sport shirts were found to be somewhat similar to those in business shirts. That is, the higl1er a man's income status, the more likely it is that he will prefer cotton sport shirts, and the lower his income status,ttie more likely it is that he will 62 prefer rayon sport shirts. 57 Men's Preferences Aplong Selected Clothing items, £.2• cit., Table 25, P• 7. 5 8 "Upper income group" in the government survey from which this finding is extracted, refers to men whose annual family incomes are 3,660 and over. The "middle-income grouptt is that in which the families have an average annual income of '"2,461- 3,659, and the "lower income group 11 is t hat in which the income is $2,460 and less. See ibid., p. ,. 59 Ibj.q., Table 41, P• 83. 60 Ibid., Table 45, P• 85. 61 Ibid., Table 71, P• 100. 62 Ibld., Table 52, P• 89. The government survey, Men's Preferences Among Selected Clothing Items, from which the facts mentioned in the previous paragraph we~e extractea, provides a large number of additional related items of interest to this study. They will be presented in the remainder or this section of Chapter VIII. Because this government survey was meant to be interpreted by interested parties for their own purposes --"interpretations in the report are being left to those who wish to apply the findings to specific problems" (p. 3)--the facts and figures are presented in broadside fashion. Therefore, the many tables and charts have been combed for facts relevant to this portion of the present study. These facts have been extracted, and, where justifiable, combined with other findings in the report to ascertain relationships significant for the present report, as follows: The ownership of extra trousers was not found to follow other trends between income and the ownership of num bers or specific clothing items. That is, men in the upper income groups were found to own fewer extra trousers when 63 compared to men in the middle income groups. This is a reversal in the relationship between education and ownership of extra trousers, noted below. The preference for wool in 6 3 Ibid., Table 76, P• 102, and Table 81, p. 105. See footnote 58, above, for explanation of the terms "upper income group," et cetera. 175 extra trousers was, however, found to follow the other trends. Considerably more men in the upper income group preferred wool for their trousers than did men in the middle income group, and more of the latter preferred wool than did 64 men in the lower income groups. The wearing of types or socks and underwear is also related to income status among men. More men (64 per cent) in the upper income group wear the sd.IIle kind of socks the year round when compared to men in the middle and lower 65 groups. Sixty-one per cent of men in the middle income group wear the same kind of socks the year round, whereas 66 only 51 per cent of men in the lower income group do so. The same trends were found when income status was related to the wearing of underwear. Seventy per cent of men in the upper income group wear the same type of underwear all year, in comparison to the 63 per cent and 45 per cent respectively 0£ men ir. the middle and lower income groups. 67 Little relationship has been found between income and fiber prerer- 68 ences in socks, although such preferences in underwear 64 Ibid., Table 88, P• 109. 65 Ibid., Table 104-, P• 119. 66 Loe. cit. 6 7 lbiq., Table 149, P• 145. 6S Ibid., Table 107, P• 121. 176 were related to income. Only 30 per cent of men in the upper income group wear heavy underwear in winter, compared to the 37 per cent or men in the middle income group and 55 per cent of men in the lower income group who do so. 69 As would be expected, more men in the upper income group own summer suits than do men in the other two income groups; the percentages are respectively, from upper to lower, 56 per cent, 42 per cent and 26 per cent. 70 As with business and sport shirts, the higher the income group a man belongs to, the more summer suits will he own, although this rela tionship is not as obvious as might be expected. The great est difference has been round to fall in the area of owning three or m re summer suits, where 29 per cent or men in the upper income group have said they own this number, compared to the 17 per cent or men in both the middle and lower income groups who claimed to own this number of swnmer suits. 71 A much greater difference in the income groups relative to their summer suits was round in their textile preferences. For example, wool was preferred for these suits by 48 per cent of men in the upper group, by 31 per cent of men in the middle group, and by 29 per cent or men in the lower 69 Ibid•, Table 149, P• 145. 70 ib!d., Table 131, P• 131. 7l ibid., Table 127, P• 133. • 177 group. 72 A much more significant relationship was found between income and the ownership and use of pajamas. Sixty-four per cent of men in the upper income group use pajamas as sleep ing attire, compared to the 60 per cent or men in the middle income group and 38 per cent or men in the lower group. 73 Little relationship was found between income and the owner ship of numbers of pairs or pajamas. 74 The ownership or robes and raincoats does not differ entiate between income groups as much as it does between educational groups (noted below), although the relationship between income and the possession of robes is still striking. Thus, 70 per cent of men in the upper income group own robes, compared to 59 per cent of men in the middle and 33 per cent of men in the lower income group. 75 With reference to rain coats, the percentage or men in the various income groups (higher to lower) who own raincoats is respectively 66 per 76 cent, 62 per cent and 56 per cent. 72 Ibid., Table 134, 137. P• 73 Ibid., Table 170, p. 155. 74 Loe. cit. 75 Ibid., Table 182, P• 160. 76 IPid., Table 194, P• 167. 178 Education M.d incpme statuses smd their relationship !-2. preference§ for style• Clothing preferences involving style and appearance factors were found to differentiate between men occupying differential educational and income 7? statuses. In summary, they are as follows--Style and appearance features were found, in general, to be much more important to upper income and educational groups than to the other groups delineated. Thus, the lower income and educa tional groups usually mentioned "stands washing we11n more often than did .the upper groups, whereas (in shirts, for example) the upper income and educational groups mentioned "Has shape of collar you want--style of collar you like" more often than did the other groups. 78 In similar fashion, appearance factors were more important than was com.fort to groups who wore (for example) the same type or socks all year round. 79 Perhaps it will be remembered that (as noted above) there seems to be a signifi cant relationship between upper income and educational statuses and wearing the same type of socks the year round. Thus, it can be concluded that appearance factors are more 77 For example see, ibid., Table 16, p. 68. 78 Ibid., Table 18, P• 69. 79 Ibid., Table 110, P• 124. 179 important than is comfort in socks, for example, to the upper educational and income groups when compared with the lower and middle income and educational groups . The same conclusion grows out of other findings . Fr example, more men in the upper educational and income groups preferred wool for their extra trousers. When the men were asked what they did not like about w ool for these trousers, 81 per cent 80 said they were not comfor table . Still, 4o per cent of men in the upper income group ~ho had extra trousers for summer 81 wear only said tney w ore wool ones. This may be compared with the 20 per cent of men in the lower income groups who gave a similar answer. Aside from the ability to purchase wool trousers and the other items mentioned, the total evidence seems to point unmistakably to the fact that upper educational and income groups are more concerned with style and appearance and less with comfort when compared with lower and middle educational and income groups. The findings revealed by salience questions, men- tioned in Chapter Vin another connection, confirm in still another fashion the conclusion just stated, i.e., that men in the upper income groups are more concerned with SO Ibid., Table 93, P• 114. 81 Ibid., Table 88, P• 109. 180 appearance factors in clothing than are those in the lower income groups. When the men interviewed were asked, What are the most important things to look for when buying a shirt? style was mentioned spontaneously most often by the upper income group, next most often by the middle group, and 82 last (or the three groups) by the lower. The relationship between~ man's educational status and his clothing Breferences. Although this government sur vey of men's clothing preferences does not present figures i ndicating the statistical significance of its findings, examination indicates that there is a considerable, probably significant, correlation between a man's educational level and his ownership or preference for a number of clothing item s. The more formal education a man has, the more likely it is that he will own or prefer the following clothing items : cotton business shirts (rather than rayon), 83 summP.r 84 85 ~port shirts. wool shirts for special occasions, extra 82 Ibid., Table 16, 68. P• 83 !bid., Table 24, p. 72. 84 ~~id., Table 42, P• ~- 85 l~id., Table 71, P• 100. trousers, 86 and wool summer suits. 87 181 There also appears to be a very definite relationship between educational level and the wearing of underwear. That is, the more formal education a man has, the more likely it is that he will wear the same kind or underwear the year 88 round. Relatively few men with a college education (only 11 per cent) wear heavy underwear in winter, whereas 22 per cent of men with a high school education only wear heavy winter underwear, and 48 per cent of men with a grammar school education or less wear this type of underwear. 89 A similar definite relationship exists in the use of pajamas. Seventy-seven per cent of men who have had a college educa tion wear pajamas, whereas only 38 per cent of men who have had a grammar school education ·or less use these sleeping 90 garments. One of the most significant relationships between educational status of men and their ownership of clothing items appears to exist in the case of robes (the type used for lounging) . whereas only 35 per cent of men who have 86 Ibid., Table 75, p. 102, and Table 89, P• 110. 8 7 Ibid., Table 124, P• 131, and Table 135, P• 138. 88 Ibid., Table 150, P• 145. 8 9 ~oc. cit. 90 Ibid., Table 172, P• 156. 182 had a grammar school education only own robes, 83 per cent of male college graduates own this clothing item. 91 In contrast, 58 per cent of men who did not go beyond high 92 school in the educational world own robes. A similar, but not so pronounced relationship exists between education and the ownership of raincoats. Seventy-eight per cent of men who have attended college own raincoats, whereas this cloth ing item is owned by only 62 per cent of men with a high school education, and by 52 per cent of men with a grammar school education or less. 93 It may be concluded, on the basis of these many facts, that a man's income and educational status is related in a general way to certain selected clothing items and styles. These articles and fashions are often associated with the groups in question consistently enough to function as tenta tive symbols or their relative social status. There are data which show the development of a recent trend among upper income men to spend relatively more for their clothing when compared with men in lower income brackets. However, the declining market for male clothing indicates that for American men as a total group, clothes have apparently 9l Ibid., Table 183, P• 161. 92 Loe. c1t. 9 3 Ibid., Table 193, P• 166. 183 become less important in the scheme of social values. Because the trend is toward an increasing popularity or i nexpensive and informal clothes among almost all groups, t here probably will be a decreasing association between income and educational groups and particular clothing styles .c, or items. V. ECOLOGICAL AREAS AND VALUES REGARDING CLOTHING There seems to be little evidence, referring specifi cal l y to men, on the possible influences different ecologi cal areas may have in affecting clothing values. However, t here is some evidence that clothing consumption patterns and choices in general are associated with particular areas. A r epresentative selection of this general information, along with the few available specific references dealing with m en, is herewith presented. From it, for what it .is wor th , the part played by ecological areas in affecting male clothing values may be inferred. Rura.l and urpan 't{alues concerning dress. On the strength of its many surveys in the field, the United States Department of Agricult ure has come to this not unexpected conclusi on: ••• cl ot hing has a greater prestige value, 1s more i m portant as evidence of economic status and ~bility to pay in an urban community where little may be known about a man's business than in a . ... _.., 184 farming section where land, buildings, and 9 4 herds provide such evidence to any passer-by. That city residents have higher standards or dress and give clothing a more important rank in their scale or values, whe compared with rural folk, is probably common knowledge. 95 But what may be less well-lmown is the fact that this manifestation or ecological differences appears to be less marked today than it once was. 96 Reflection should bring to mind the immense part played in modern rural life by the automobile, motion pictures and the radio. Rural residents are no longer isolated in small in-group communi ties where everyone knows everyone else's business. The automobile has promoted the growth of shopping centers, serving a conside~able rural area, with stores that offer a larger assort ment of cloth~ng than 9 ~ould be carried by the cross-roads merchant. 1 According to the government research accomplished in this field, "Rural people have become more style conscious with the spread or urban inf'luences. 1198 91+ Famil~ Exnenditures for C!o~lµng, Farm Series, .212• cit., P• 3. 95 Family Expenditures for Clothi~g, Urban and Village Series, .212• sit., P• 22. 96 Loe. cit. 97 Loe. cit. 98 Loe. cit. 185 Perhaps a manifestation of this new trend in clothing values among farm folk 1s the fact that among Tennessee farm families whose incomes had gone down, for example, it was found that per cent expenditures for most items changed in response to the change in income. Clothing expenditures, however, were one of the few which continued to take the 99 same percentage or income despite a drop in the total. . Possibly another reflection of the change is contained in the responses to an experiment involving college students' ratings of men known to them, described in the next chapter. There, it is indicated that students who grew up in rural areas are no less affected by different types of clothing 100 than are urban residents. Even so, it is said, "Dress still has less value as an evidence of financial status or ability to pay in the village than in the city. 11101 For example, in a compilation of data on the way families spend their incomes, it has been demon strated that for husbands (as well as for wives) the spend ing for apparel rises markedly as a shift is made from farm 99 Pennock and Speer, .2!2• _ill., p. 11. lOO See the description or the first experiment in Chapter IX. lOl Familz Etxpenditure~ for Clothing, Urban and Village Series, loc. cit. 186 to village and from village to small city. 102 The general social conservatism attributed to rural folk appears to manifest itself in the relative slowness of rural men, in comparison to urban men, to adopt new clothing styles. If the Collier's data are valid and can be relied upon for present purposes, the rural reaction to the new style widespread shirt collars illustrates this phenomenont° 3 . Shirt Collar Preferences by Rural Collar Areas and Citv Sizes Style Less than 2,,00- 2,,000- 100,000- ,oo,oo 2,500 2,,000 100,000 ,00,000 and 0 over Widespread 15.5% 17.1 22.8 20.a 26.5 Regular 82.6 81.4 74.6 76.3 70.3 The interaction ,Qi ecologi~al area, inqome, and values £egarding clothing. The pattern of rise or expend!~ tures for clothing which occurs from farm to small cities does not prevail from small cities to metropolises at inter mediate income levels. This may be compared with the data presented in the last chapter, where it was indicated that 102 Ho¼ F~milies Use Their ~42,ome, -Sm• cit., Figure 22, P• 33• l03 ~en's Wear, A Survey of the Collier's Market, June 1949 (copyright, Crowell-Collier Publishing Company, 1949), P• 34. in countries other than the United States, total averag~ expenditures for clothing are generally higher in small , 187 cities than in large ones. Clothing expenditures of United States families of intermediate income in large and middle sized cities and in metropolitan areas tend to be lower than 104 those of the same type of families in small cities. Thus, although .Qll ~h~ average, city residents spend more for their clothing than do residents of other types of areas, still, intermediate income residents of areas with great congregations of people spend less than their com patriots in small cities and villages of the United States. The explanation that has been offered for this phenomenon has been this: Because city stores have more tempting and expensive offerings in clothing, residents of small cities are led to spend more for their clothing. Also, more fashionably dressed persons are seen on the streets of the city because there are more people with incomes sufficient 10, to stand the assaults of fashion. It is said that the same in£luences would continue to operate in large cities and metropolises if it were not for high rents, forcing 106 economies in other parts of the budget. l0 4 Family ExRenditures for Qlothing, Urban and Village Series, .Qll• ~it., P• $. l05 Loe.ct. 106 Lo~. cit. 188 However, it seems tha what may actually be occurr ng is the opposite of what was described in the quotation, II clothing • is more important as evidence or • • • • • economic status and ability to pay in an urban community. ti In small cities and villages, where most everyone 1s • • • known by everyone else of consequence, few men can afford (as Stuart Chase has said) to let it be known that they do not change their shirt every day. But in the impersonal atmosphere or the large city, one is fairly safe if he appears on the street in some unconventional garb--"I won't see anyone I know, anyway." As one student has expressed it, "I don't mind wearing jeans to the show in Indianapolis, but I wouldn't do it in Muncie .. " Despite the fact that at intermediate income levels, large city families spend less for clothing than do village and small city families, it is still true that farm families spend less on their wardrobes than do city families with 107 comparable incomes. This is so despite the fact that farm families generally have a larger number of members to be clothed. The difference between the average outlays for cloth ing of rural families and city families increases sharply as l07 Family xpend~tures for Clothing, Farm Series, .QJ2• cit., PP• 1-2. 189 income increases. The difference is more and more notice- able as incomes go up. For example, in New England, small city families in the income level $1,000-1, 249 , spend 83 per year on clothing, whereas rural families i n the same area spend $18 less for this item. Small city families in the income level $2,500-2,999, spend $220 per year on clothing , whereas farm families or the same income spend $128 per 108 year. Referring specifically to the spending of men as income rises, it has been tound that farm m en tend to increase their outlays for street clothes mor e than for work cl othes as their income goes up. 109 They also make more frequent · replacements of all their garm ents , and pay some what higher prices for them. Geographical qreas @illd differential values ~egardip,g c~othing. The difference between small ci ty and village famil y clothing expenditures of one incom e range in several 110 geographical regi ons may be seen in the f ollowing data: lOB Ibid., P• 2. io 9 ~bid., PP• 37-38. l l O Data extracted f r om Faroil~ Expenditures, • cit . , P• 84. 190 Average Clothing Expenditures of REGION Families in Income Range $1.':>00 - ~l.74Q Small Cities Villages North Central $137 135 Plains and l-1owitair. 175 154 Pacific 166 131 Southeast 162 172 Several studies or values regarding clothing have been made of rural families in different geographical regions or the United States. One such study was conducted in Tennessee. This study found a number or male clothing items which differentiated significantly between rural non-farm men of various income levels. The differences may be noted \ in the following breakdown: 111 Per cent of Rural Non-Farm Men in Tennessee O n elected Clothin Ite oats, rain- Robes coats, jack- Suits and Accessories* ets and Pajamas * Accessories include ties, gloves, belts, scarfs, handkerchief, et cetera. 111 Data extracted from Pennock and Speer, .Q.n• £ t., Table 25, PP• 56-?. 191 Rankin has compared the per cent of the total income spent by the average Nebraska rural family for its clothing (11.8 per cent) with the per cent spent by farm families in 112 other states. He compiled the following data: State Per cent for State Per cent tor Clothing Clothing Vermont 11.5 Iowa 14.5 Tennessee 17.7 New Hampshire 13.3 Kansas 13.5 Massachusetts 12.6 Kentucky 14.9 Alabama 15.9 Connecticut 14.6 M~issouri 14.1 South Carolina 15.7 New York 13.8 Ohio 15.4 Texas 20.; Although Rankin offers no explanation for the varying per centages spent by farm families in the different states (why-, for example, do Texans spend so much?), he does point out several interesting facts. For instance, he found that rural families in Nebraska spend about the same amount on their clothing as do city wage-earning and low-salaried groups. 113 And he found that farm men and boys under twenty-one years of age spend 15 per cent less on their 112 Rankin .2.12• cit., PP• 21-22. 113 Ibid., PP• 6-9. 192 clothing when compared with city men and boys of the same ages. 114 The difference 1s even greater for men over twent}"- one. In smnmarizing the limited data available to indicate the part played by ecological areas in values regarding clothing, the following important facts seem to predominate: 1. There is a marked contrast between rural and urban areas with respect to the values regarding clothing in these areas. In general, clothing seems to have a greater prestige value as a status symbol in urban areas. But the difference in values in the two areas is steadily growing less important as the influence of urban areas is making itself felt in the rural environment. Rural residents are becoming more and more style conscious. 2. The differences in dress standards that prevail when rural areas are compared with urban become more and more apparent at higher income levels. 3. Expenditures for clothing tend to rise as one goes from farm areas to villages, and to small cities. But for intermediate income families, this trend shifts as large cities are examined. A possible explanation for this fact is that although clothing in general has a higher prestige value in more urban areas than it does in less urban areas, 11>+ Ibid., P• 9. 193 the impersonal nature of the large city environment may mean that people can often be more careless about their dress in such an environment than they can in one where almost everyone lmows everyone else. 4. The differences between expenditures for clothing by rural men and urban men grow larger as age increases. This observation suggests that age-sex factors play some part in the determination of values regarding clothing. VI. AGE AND SEX AS FACTORS IN VALUES REGARDING CLOTHING Age and values regarding clothing. The importance or age as a factor which has a large part to play in men's . values regarding clothing has been emphasized as a crucial point for the male clothing industry to keep in mind in its advertising campaigns. It has been pointed out that an awareness of roles--the parts we play in various aspects of social life--1s so subtly learned that the values involved 115 seem to most people to be part of the order of nature. Thus, in American culture, it is widely assumed that the aspects of personality called masculine are inborn in males. The clothing response to these subtly inculcated 115 Report~ the ~tiopal Men's and Boys' Apparei Cqmmittee, .QR• cit., P• 2. 194 values, manifests itself in the fact that most men"• •• will usually unconsciously dress in the manner which [their] class, family and other relationships expect. 11116 The atti tudes which men acquire, and which lead them to dress, usually, as they are expected to dress, 11 ••• are generally established at a verx early age.ull7 This fact, say the pub lic relations firm of Robbins, Barber and Baar, in its advice to the male clothing industry, should "emphasize the !@portance -2!:, tying .1:m the promotional effort for men's aRparel wi,th one for boys• Qpparei. 11118 If manufacturers of men's clothing hope to prosper they must exercis their influence on boys. "Unhappy experiences involving apparel during childhood, particularly restrictions upon the child related to his apparel, tend to create resistance to apparel which is retained in later life. 11119 Therefore, the indus try is advised to stress comfort and convenience in boys' clothing, thus developing a heightened clothing interest in 120 these future male customers. 116 Lo1c. cit. 11 7 Loe. cit., italics in original. 118 Loe. cit., italics in original. 119 Ibid., P• 32. 120 Ibid., PP• 31-32. 195 It has already been observed that people soon learn that 0 What is right for a 'grandaddy' is not for a younger man. 11 These notions or what is and what is not right are empirically observable in the changes in clothing purchases and ownership as men change in age. In American culture, it has been found: "The peak [in clothing expenditures] is reached when men and women are in their twenties or thir- ti 11121 es. This phenomena is manifested in the average number of shirts said to be owned by men of different ages. Males from fifteen to nineteen years of age own 6.1 shirts; men twenty to twenty-four, 7.6; twenty-five to thirty-four, 8.8; thirty-five to forty-nine, 9.3; and men over fifty, 8.1. 122 As with education and income groups, there seems to be an association between the age of a man and whether or not he will ask for a certain brand when he buys a shirt. Although preference for particular brands goes up steadily as income and education rise, this is not generally true with age. The peak of preference for certain brands is reached in the age group twenty to twenty-four, and drops off gradually through the age group thirty-five to forty-nine, then takes 121 How Families Use Their Income, .Qn• cit., p. 29. 122 uThe Customer Confesses, 11 loc. ct. 196 a precipitous drop a£ter £i£ty. 123 Somewhat the same pattern is seen when clothing expen ditures or certain single males are considered alone. In Nebraska, this type or man spends more for his clothing from his twenty-second through his twenty-fifth year than at any 124 . other time. However, the average costs of male clothing in general, among Nebraska farm men, rises steadily until they are thirty, by which time they are spending $70 yearly for their apparel. After thirty, a gradual decline sets in, so that by the time they are fifty-nine, the average male rural resident in Nebraska is spending only 40 per year for his clothing. This pattern has been found to be generally true among all men in the United States. Spending for cloth ing decreases with the age or both men and women, but women's spending declines much more precipitously than does that of 125 men. Perhaps this latter point is explained by the fact that more men, relatively, than women, continue to feel they must keep up appearances because of their generally greater responsibility as breadwinners. The survey by Collier's of the clothing consumption 123 Loe. cit. 124 Rankin, .2.ll• cit., P• 12. 12 5 How F lies Use Their ~come, .Q2• cit., Figures 23 and 24, pp. 3 and 35. 197 patterns of its male readers brought out some interesting age differentials among the men surveyed. The decided preference of young men (among Collier's readers) for style 126 in their footwear has already been mentioned. Perhaps it will be remembered that 59.3 per cent of men under twenty six years or age think "style" is the most important item to consider in buying shoes. The percentage mentioning style first for shoes dropped off gradually with age, so that only 21.3 per cent o~ men over forty-five mentioned style ahead or comfort. Other interesting Co~lier's results illuminate the well-known conservatism of older men when compared with their younger brethren. For example, the preference for the newer style zipper front trousers ver· sus the older style fly 127 front brought out these differences: Age Groups Per cent Who Prefer Zippers Under 26 years 97.6 26-35 years 96.4 36-45 years 92.8 46 years and over 78.4 Per cent Who Prefer Buttons 2. 1+ 3.6 7.2 21.6 126 See "Fashion versus Comfortn in Chapter V. 12 7 en's Wear, Collier's, £.2• cit., p. 16. 198 Preference for the new style widespread collars on shirts is 128 also associated with age among the male Collier's readers: Age Groups Under 26 years 26-35 years 36-45 ye i s 46 years and over Per cent Prefer ring Regular Collar 61.9 70. 9 79.9 88.4 Per cent Prefer ring Widespread Collar 10.0 - Sex and values reg 9 rd1ng clothing. It is claimed that the history of the shirt illustrates the fact that at one time there was little sex differentiation visible in clothing. 129 The earliest form or shirt is said to have been worn in the Middle East, in Egypt, Babylon and Assyria, where both men and women wore a shirt-like garment that was called a lmlasiris. 130 This garment began its history as a sheath for women only, but was later incorporated into male costume as well. However, with social change, it became the custom 128 Ibid., P• 34. 12 9 The Storr .Q.!: Shirts~ l:fqnhattan (copyright by the Manhattan Shirt Company, 1949) P• 3. l30 M illia Davenport, The Book of Costume, Vol. I (New York: Crown Publisher, 1948), p.15. 199 for the sexes in most cultures to mark their sexual status or place in society, with different clothing items. This custom has, perhaps, reached the stage of a more in America, where it is considered degrading for men to wear "feminine apparel," although women under certain circumstances, are not so limited. According to psychologist J. c. Flugel, sexual clothing differentiations in the United States have become so powerfully intrenched that men may be suffering psychologically from the fact that they are usually prevented from using bright colors in their clothing. Boys especially, says Flugel, "• •• frequently seem to suffer from a real but often half-suppressed longing for more colour in their 131 clothes." There is some unsystematic evidenc- e of a recent change in the customs regarding lack of color in male clothing. It is not unusual now to see vivid Hawaiian style shorts on the men at beaches. Handpainted ties that are often garish seem to be coming into popularity. And sport shirts with vivid colors and bold designs are common sights on college cam puses. An article in a popular magazine has suggested that these new developments may reflect widespread social changes -- where by the role of the male is not now confined to hard 200 work outside the home. Mechanization and shorter working hours have resulted in greater leisure for men, hence it is said they no longer need to be the 100 per cent masculine creatures society once called for. Therefore, it has been suggested, it is no longer unseemly for men to "brighten 132 their pluroage.n Despite the fact that women have apparently inherited most of the historical permission to wear more flamboyant clothing, while men are considerably restricted, women play_ a very large part in the selection or men's clothing. There has been at least one publication on the influence of women in the purchasing of men's appa.rei. 1 33 According to the manufacturer of Arrow brand shirts, more men buy shirts for themselves between the ages twenty and thirty-four than at any other ages, but even during these ages, women buy thirty five per cent of the shirts . 134 Industry has been advised, "Women are a major influence affecting the interest in men's and boys' apparel, 11 and therefore manufacturers and retailers of men's clothing would do well to plan their advertising so 132 Don Wharton, 11 How Female Is Your Husband," McCall's, 78:48, January, 1951. l33 Fairchild Publications, Inc., "Influence of \vomen in the Purchasing of Men's ear. " 1 3 4 "The C'ustome Confesses," loc. cit . 201 that it will apneei 1,Q WQmen as well as to man. 135 A significant change seems to have occurred during the last thirty years in the relative expenditures by hus bands and wives for their c~othing. Figures gathered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1918-19 indicated that men who were part of family spending units at that time spent more on their clothing than did their wives. As summarized by .Cowles, these figures were said to tell the following story: The wife's expenditure is uniformly lower than that of the husband at each income level. At the lowest income, the husband receives about one-third of the clothing money, the wife less than one-third and the children as a group more than one-third. As income rises, children as a group receive more until at the highest level the husband receives about one fifth, the wife one-sixth and the chil dren r~ee-fifths of the total clothing expendi ture. The story in the United States today seems entirely different. In addition to being the current peacock of the species and a major influence in men's clothing purchases, women today spend more for their clothing than do men. Con sidered in family units, men almost invariably spend less than their wives. 137 For example, in Tennessee, farm wives 1 35 Report to the National Men's and Bors' Appa_rel Committee, .QJ2• cit., p. 8. 136 Cowles, .QJ2• cit., P• 319. 1 37 FamilX Expenditures, .QJ2• cit., p. 24. 202 or all income levels spend an average of 52 per year on clothing, while their husbands spend 45. 138 It has been noted already that clothing expenditures of men rise appreci ably with income. This is true of women also--and at each income level, the women spend more, on the average, than men. 139 The same pattern prevails in urban and rural areas. The United States Chamber of Commerce estimates that, nationally speaking, the pe~ capita expenditure for women's clothing in the United States amounts to 208.60, w. ereas that for men amounts to only 145.60. For boys, the total is 140 $80.00 and for girls, $120.00. It is claimed that these sex differences may be accounted for by the fact that there is so much more advertising of women's clothing. Public relations firm Robbins, Barber and Baar, in a survey of forty-three major cities, found that expenditures for the promotion of women's apparel are 300 per cent of the expendi- 141 tures for advertising or male clothing. But perhaps a more realistic explanation or the larger sales of women's clothing is this: in American culture, if 1 3 8 Pennock and Speer, .QJ2• cit., p. 12. 139 How FAmilies Spend Their Income, .QJ2• cit., p. 29. 14o Cited in the Report to the National Men's and Boys' App 9 rel Committee, .QJ2• cit., P• 16. 141 Loe. cit. 203 clothing expenditures can be a guide, apparently clothing does not now play as large a part in the life of men as it does in the life of women. Therefore, women expend more time, energy and money on their apparel. Since this is apparently so, obviously more (or at least more expensive) women's clothing is sold. The more of a product that is sold, the more advertising it can support. Hence, perhaps the greater expenditure for women's clothing advertising is a result, not a cause. Social psychological realism forces one to admit that attitudes are what lead people to act as they do, and advertising can only play upon these already existing attitudes. That commercial advertisers are very effective in this respect is admitted. As Aldous Huxley has observed, advertising has frequently changed more opinions than have extensive propaganda campaigns serving social causes. 142 And, of c~urse, clever, propagandistic campaigns have led people to take certain actions; but it is widely admitted that propaganda is not effective if it does not appeal to existing needs in people. The advertiser is not the creator of psychological values. "He is simply utiliz ing those which he discovers extant in the general public, so that he may distribute the maximum quantity of goods. 1114 3 142 Aldous Huxley, "Notes on Propaganda," Harpers Magazine, 174:32, December, 1936. 143 illiam Albig, Public osin104 (New York: Hill Book Company, 1939), PP• 307- • McGraw- 2o4 Thus, it can hardly be a guide for the male clothing industry to suggest that it will increase its share of the consumer dollar going for men's clothing by buying more advertising space. Perhaps ample justification for these remarks is contained in the fact that Negro men, despite the preponder ance of advertising for women's clothing, spend more for their clothing than do Negro women. It is not advertising which plays the most crucial part in clothing consumption patterns; it is the values current among the people involved. These values, as they are associated with age and sex, may be summarized as follows: 1. Age plays such a large part in values regarding clothing among men that the male clothing industry has sought professional advice on the subject. Directors of industry have been told that if they expect men of the future to be concerned with clothing, they must try to tie up their pro- motional campaigns for men with their campaigns for selling boys' clothing. It is said that boys must be influenced while they are still impressionable if they are to grow up to be clothes conscious men. 2. The peak in male clothing expenditures is reached while men are relatively young (during the ages from twenty to thirty-five). Clothing expenditures or men decline as their age advances, but the decline of male expenditures for clothing after fifty is not so precipitous as it is with 205 women. This may reflect the fact that more men than women, relatively, must continue to impress others; after fifty, more women than men remain at home. 3. Style is much more important to younger men than it is to older men, on the whole. It is particularly impor tant to men twenty-four years of age and younger. 4. Younger men, when compared with older men, seem more willing to try innovations in clothing; for example, more younger men prefer widespread shirt collars and zipper front trousers when compared with older men. 5. Contrary to the pattern which prevailed thirty years ago, men at every income level now spend less for their clothing than do women; still, women are a major in£luence in male clothing purchases and have, in general, more freedom than do men to express themselves with bright colors, new styles,and innovations in their clothing. 6. The greater relative spending for women's cloth ing has been attributed to lack or advertising by male cloth ing manufacturers and retailers; but a more likely social psychological explanation for the difference is probably that the men of today appear to give clothing a lower place in their scale of values than they once did. The fact that it is not adverti sing alone which affects the differential patterns of spending is suggested by the fact that available evidence indicates that Negro men spend more for their clothing than do Negro women. VII. RACE AS A FACTOR IN VALUES REGARDING CLOTHING 206 Limitations of data. At present there seems to be only a very limited amount of evidence that would bear on the subject of race as a possible factor in values and atti tudes centering about the sµbject of clothing. There are, however, some restricted studies which appear to reveal cer tain of the attitudes of some Negroes regarding clothing. These studies are restricted because they include very few Negroes from upper income brackets; furthermore, the studies have been made in one geographical area only (the Southeast). Within these serious limitations, some interesting patterns are evident . Since almost all or the data presented heretofore have referred to Caucasians primarily--particularly American Caucasions--the facts on Negroes brought forth in this sec tion of Chapter VIII may be compared and contrasted with those referring to the larger racial group. In particular, two consumption patterns evident in Negro behavior with respect to clothing (within the limitations of the data), seem relevant for present purposes when compared with pat tens evident in white society. These patterns refer to clothing expenditures by Negro families and to clothing 207 expenditures by Negro men. Clothing expenditures~ Negro families. The data available for the comparison of clothing expenditures by Negro families with those or white families are not too valid because or the concentration of Negroes at low income 144 levels. However, certain conclusions seem justified. The first or these is that Negro farm families tend to spend less for clothing -than do white families of the same income and tenure status. 145 These differences are not large, nor are they entirely consistent in one direction. Furthermore, they are largely restricted to comparison of tenant farmers, and hence refer to the very low income families only. And, as soon as one moves on to compare Negro and white families at other income levels, especially in more urban areas, an opposite trend is visible. The opposite trend seems to be far more consistent. That is, tt ••• the percentage of income expended for clothing by Negro families in villages was greater than that 146 for the white in every comparable income class." When 144 F,tily Expenditures for Clothing, Farm Series, cit., P• 9. 145 Ibid., p. 91. 146 FamilX Expenditures for Clothing, Urban Series, .2l2• cit. p. 27. When size o? families Isneld constant, tliis pat~ern is consistent except for minor variations in two of the seven family sizes delineated. 208 the two racial groups are compared in small cities, the same pattern is manifested. Furthermore, this difference seems to grow greater the higher the income levels at which the groups are compared. The following data indicate the per centage differences spent for clothing by Negro and white fam1.lies of various sizes in one income group ($500-749 per 147 year): Family Size 2.02 people 3.50 people 4.60 people 6.25 people Per cent of Total Expenditures Used for Clothing by Selected Families in Villa~es Ne~ro White 11.5 10.4 11.1 11.4 14.8 10.8 14.8 11.8 These data are accompanied, in the government report in which they appear, by the observation that the generally larger expenditures by the Negro families appear to increase considerably with income class. 148 On the other hand Negro and white families are similar in their clothing expenditures in the sense that both 14 7 Data extracted from Family Ex2eqd~tyres, gn. cit., P• 98. 148 T.n~ • t ~• CJ. • 209 groups tend to expand their percentage outlays for clothing as their income increases. This pattern was evident in Southeast village Negro families, tor example. At the low est income level, these families expend 9.7 per cent or their total income for clothing. At the next level, $750- 999, 12.6 per cent goes for clothing, and at $1,000-1,249, 149 13.3 per cent. These increases are not necessarily due to increasing family sizes, because the family sizes riuc tuate at the different income levels. What the increases probably reflect is a shift in occupation or the major bread winner. Although conclusions are hardly justified on the basis or the evidence available, it is felt that the greater expen ditures of many Negro families for clothing, when compared to similar white families, may reflect different values cur rent in the two groups. As the Bureau of Home Economics has observed, "dress may have ranked higher in the whole standaro of living of the Negro families than of the white," at cer- 150 tain levels of income and family size. ~~pendit\,\res .Q£ Negro mle~ for clothing. With the 11+9 Family Expenditur:es for Clothing, Urban Series, -Sm• cit., P• 26. 210 the major exception of Negro males in the low income tarm families, it appears that Negro men spend more tor their clothing than do Negro women. This is the reverse ot the situation that generally prevails in white society. In both racial groups, in low income farm families, male members of the families fare better than females with 151 respect to expenditures for clothing. But as income rises, Negro men on farms continue to exceed women in their clothing expenditures, whereas among the whites, as income rises, the women soon begin and continue to fare better than 152 the men. In villages and small cities, there is a marked difference between the two racial groups with respect to the amounts spent on clothing by the members of the two sexes. Among whites, it is almost always true that females fare better than males, but among Negroes it is the reverse. Except at the lowest income level, Negro boys and young men (especially) spend more £or their clothing than do Negro girls and young women. At income level $500-900, for example, Negro men in the age group sixteen to twenty-nine spend $32 per year for their clothing, whereas Negro women in these 151 ~ ExRenditures ill•, P• 95. for Clotlµ.ng, Farm Series, 152 Loe. cit. 211 ages spend $2~. This may be compared to the same sex-age groups among whites, where the females spend $35 and the 1;3 males $31. In small cities, also, Negro husbands appear to spend more for their clothing than do their wives. There is no way or telling, with the evidence now available, whether or not these Negro-white differences in relative spending for clothing by the two sexes would prevail in sections or the country other than the Southeast, where the above figures were gathered. But until such further evidence is brought to bear on the problem, it can be said that so far as is known at the present, Negro males appear to give clothing a higher place in their scale of values when compared with the place given this commodity in the scale of values or white men. VIII. CLOTHING AS A SYMBOL OF STATUS IN MILITARY AND RELIGIOUS GROUPS Militarl groups. It is so widely known that clothing is a factor in the social status rating of soldiers, that it surely would be a glaring example or an elaboration or the obvious to swell on the points involved. Therefore, it is the aim of this section merely to illustrate the subject l5 3 Fam11X Expenditures for Clothing, Urban and Village Series, .Qll• ci~., P• 28. 212 briefly with observations made by the writer during his four years as an army officer. These subjective observations will be buttressed by data and quotations from the series on the 154 American soldier in World War II. It did not take much imagination on the part of army officials to realize the value of clothing symbols when men were needed for hazardous duty. According to Stouffer, it was primarily for this reason that the army glamorized cer tain units by permitting them to adopt distinctive symbols such as badges, boots and the like. In most cases the man who deliberately - chose such an outfit probably did not seek it for the thrill alone but for the associated status symbols as well. This is illustrated by the reaction or paratroopers in training who were 'browned off' because ordinary infantryman's boots were substituted for the high laced j~p boots, which according to 75 per cent of the sample of 500 men interviewed were the most distinguishing mark or the paratrooper. Ninety-five per cent of the men said the jump boots meant a great deal to them as symbols, and three quarters of the men who did not have them claimed that they would pay $16 a pair or higher out of their own 155 pocket for the boots if they could be purchased. The general public was made painfully aware that clothing plays a tremendous part in the status rating of soldiers during the "G.I. rebellions" following ·the last war. 154 Samuel A. Stouffer, §1 il•, Studies in Social Psychology 1n World War ll, Vol. !\Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1949). 155 Ibid., P• 329. 213 After the various "V" days were proclaimed, dissatisfied enlisted men spontaneously, in widely separated commands, began to circulate petitions asking that certain reforms be made by the army. They asked that court martial proceedings be revised, and that a point system tor discharge be adopted. But perhaps the most far-reaching demand was that officers and enlisted men should wear the same uniforms, irrespective of rank. The daily press was full or reports concerning t hese demands, and it was 1Jidely recognized that the feelings about different uniforms centered in the fact that when a man wore officer's clothing he was treated a s a gentleman, whereas an enlisted uniform resulted in being treated as a lackey. The reason the enlisted demands concerning the unifom were so far-reaching is that the army is or ganized in a rigidly enforced strata system, with the duties and obliga tions ot the members of each strata carefully designated. Soldiers are taught to perform certain acts and to go through given procedures when they see the symbols--usually the ' uniform--wh1ch call for the acts or procedures. For one thing, the soldier must go through "the chain of command." If a soldier wishes to request something or report something to a man occupying a position several strata above that which the s oldier occupie~ , he must scrupulously send his request or report through all the intervening strata . Likewise, it 211+ is almost mandatory for orders and observations from above to be sent down through the chain of strata. Interpersonal relations between the members of the strata are also subject to rigid control. For example, when two soldiers walk side by side, the lower ranking man is supposed to walk on the left and slightly behind his superior. Saluting procedure is carefully outlined. Enlisted men must salute all officers, and they must offer their salute first, "when six paces apart, or at the point of nearest approach," holding the salute until it is answered. An officer must salute all officers in strata above his own. These and a myriad or other relationships are taught soldiers in the American army and probably in almost all armies. The relationships are governed primarily by the major division among the strata--one whicl1 has been compared to a caste system. This is the officer-enlisted man dichot omy, copied from the noble and peasant army of royal France of 1788, according to a professional soldier's account. 156 And it is at this point that the uniform differences are crucial. It is here that the G.I. rebels demanded that reforms be instituted. They have been taught that they are 156 Maj. Thomas R. Philips "Leader and Led," Infan try Journal Reader (Washington: infantry Journal, 1945), P• 290. 215 saluting the uniform, not the man, but it is this very sym- bolization of differential status which galls the enlisted · personnel. The different un:l.forms are a constant reminder ot differential treatment, with the officers always faring the best. As would be expected, "The higher the rank of the officer, the more likely he was to defend the system of 157 social segregation and special privilege.re One can only speculate on what would happen to the organization of the army, based as it is on a hierarchy of command, if the symbol dividing the major strata groups were eliminated. Stouffer has noted that the swelling chorus ot criti cism motivated the army to appoint a board of investigation, headed by Gen. Doolittle, to review the problems of officer enlisted man relationships. This board recommended revolu tionary changes involving elimination or the officer-enlistoo man dichotomy. But as Stouffer remarked, 11 The extent to which the •cake of custom' will be broken remains to be 158 seen." At the present, four years later, it is notable that few changes have been made. Officer-enlisted clothing, which symbolizes the army strata system, is not merely different in appearance. It differs in quality and in the variety of combinations 1 57 Stouffer, .Q.2• ill•, P• 374. 158 Ibid., P• 381. 216 possible. Officers are given a uniform allowance and allowa:i to purchase their clothing where they wish, pay as much as they wish, and even have the clothing made to order. But the enlisted man must accept what he 1 issued. Enlisted personnel wear only one color and one combination; in winter, the color is a light olive-drab with the articles to be worn specified in advance. In summer, the color is khaki. Winter uniforms for officers may include dark green trousers as well as olive-drab. And the blouses (or coats) are fully draped and dark green in color. Types of overcoats are purely optional. "Pink" (light grey) trousers are authorized, as ar,1 various colors of boots and breeches for particular occa sions. Except for special circumstances, the combinations of a~ticles to be worn by officers may be chosen at their discretion. An officer may continue to wear uniforms which have been superseded by new regulations as long as the older articles are in good condition. But not so the enlisted man, even if he has gone to the expense of having his uniform fit t ed to him. To i l lustrate the lengths to which the regu lations go, it is n~teworthy that even the buttons on the uniforms differ for the two castes; those of enlisted men are flat and have a simple symbol attached to them, but those of the officers have elaborate raised designs. Amon 6 the off icers , there ar ◄3 few uniform differen tiations below the rank of general. But generals are 217 authorized to design their own uniforms, as Eisenhower did when he adopted the Eisenhower Jacket, later termed the com bat jacket. General officers must, however, designate their relative status by wearing black stripes on the lower part of the arms of their coats, the number of stripes designating the rank. During the recent war, General MacArthur's hats became famous because he insisted that his visors must have "scrambled eggs" on them. Higher ranking naval officers are required to have this type of gold embroidery on their visors. These military clothing differences are important only because they illustrate the extremes to which clothing I in a rigidly stratified sub-society may become a factor in the social status rating of men. Soldiers are accord-d differential treatment--among themselves and in their inter action with civilians--almost solely as a result of the type of clothing they wear because the clothing types are symbols of differentially valued strata in an hierarchical system. The importance of these symbols can perhaps be summed up best by the following quotation from a report to the Secre tary of War following orld War I: Yet the possession of a Sam Browne be~t in the A.E.F. has carried w i th it advantages out of all proportion to disciplinary requirements or the needs of the occasion and officers have been allowed and encourageJ to claim and even monopol ize such advantages in ways that have shown a total lack of the spirit of fair play •••• [Drafted men] are not willing to subordinate themselves in order that a few men wearing Sam Browne belts, coming from the same environ ment in America from which they come, shall have special privileges and a ~uperior social status which is denied to them.1,9 218 Religious and educational groups. That clothing types symbolize relative statuses in many religious groups is again an obvious fact. One need only mention the various statuses in the Roman Catholic Church, marked by different clothing, to see thi phenomenon in operc.tion. Among Catholics, the bishops have more elaborate apparel than priests; and archbishops supersede the bishops - in authority and in cloth.ng. Cardinals are still more elaborately dressed. And the man at the t op of the hierarchy, the Pope, is said to bes burdened with costly vestments that on some sate occasions his clothing is so heavy he is unable to move about freely and must be carried. The first distinguishing vestments to appear in the Roman Catholic Church were the Pall and the Stole, which were well established by the beginning of the fourth century as a 160 mark of the bishop and the deacon. The paenUla, common among laity and clergy from the thi rd t o the fourth century, l59 Stouffer, loc. cit. 160 Thes e and other details in this paragraph are from Davenport, .Q.n• cit., PP• 93-99. 219 was separated for liturgical use only by the beginning of the latter century. Two centuries later, deacons were dis tinguished from sub-deacons by the fact that only the former could wear the dalmatic, and the tunic was prescribed for the latter. At the same time, the cowl, a hooded outer gar ment, was accepted as an essential part of all monks' cos tumes. It was perhaps five centuries later that the color red was reserved for the garb of cardinals, and in 1245, Pope Innocent IV decreed that cardinals must wear the dis tinctive headgear they still use. It would be interesting to know if the elaborate dress differentials which exist in churches characterized by hierarchical systems such as that in Roman Catholocism are a reflection of status differentials in the church, or merely a part of the general conservatism of such churches. That it might be the latter is suggested by the fact that the essentials of most of the elaborate ecclesiastical costumes of such churches were once worn by all men. According to Davenport, it was only during the sixth century A.D. that men in general began to dress in relatively simple short cloaks, whereas, "The long hooded garments of earlier cen- 161 turies were retained by the conservative church." Some historical incidents indicate the part types of 161 Ibid., P• 75. 220 clothing may play in religious orders. As far back as c550 B.c., Persian high priests were distinguished from other ecclesiastics by means of distinctive clothing. The Persian high priest wore a purple girdled kandys , a purple cape and a spreading cylindrical bat. At the same time, the 162 lesser priests wore a plain white shirt with a belt. In the development of Christianity, white robes came to be associated with the highest form of purity and were pre- . 163 scribed for baptismal ceremonies. The white vestments worn by high Papal authorities today are said to be develop ments of these ancient ideas. Among the early Buddists, a yellow robe symbolized one's freedom from material interests. It indicated that one had accepted the importance of searching for soul-peace , 164 and was adopted by the Buddhist Order as its only garm ent . Buddha himself reported that in one of his visions he saw a calm ascetic dressed in a yellow robe. It seemed to him t hat here was a man who had gained peace of soul despit e the realities of life. Hence, wrote Buddha, "I cut off m y hair and beard, donned the yellow robe and went forth from home 162 Ibid., P• 5. 16 3 John B. Noss Man's Religions (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1949~, p. 614. = 16 ~ Ibid., P• 153. 221 to homelessness. 11165 Veblen felt that religious vestments were a supreme example or clothing as a symbol of a man's place in the economic scheme or things. Men of high income status adopt clothing that will indicate their leisure, and dress their hired help to indicate the place of the latter as servants. And, says Veblen, religious men, being servants, also wear clothing that symbolizes their function. Veblen's comments follow: Besides servants ••• there is at least one other class or persons whose garb assimilates them to the class of servants and shows many of the features that go to make up the womanliness of woman's dress. This is the priestly class. Priestly vestments show, in accentuated form, all the features that have been shown to be evidence of a servile status and a vicarious life. Even more strikingly than the everyday habit ot the priest, the vestments, properly so called, are ornate grotesque, inconvenient, and, at least ostensibly, comfortless to the point or distress. The priest is at the same time expected to refrain from useful effort and, when before the public eye, to present an impassively disconsolate countenance, very much after the manner of a well-trained domes tic servant •••• This assimilation of the priestly class to the class of body servants 1 in demeanour and apparel, is due to the similarity of the two classes as regards economic function. In economic theory, the priest is a body servant, constructively in attendance upon the person of the divinity whose livery he wears. His livery is of a very expensive character, as it should 16 5 Further Dalo es Qt the BuddbA, Vol. I, trans lated by Lor d Chalmers London: Oxford University Press, 1926) , p. 115 (quoted in Noss, .Qn• cit., p. 153. 222 be in order to set forth in a beseeming manner the dignity of his exalted master; but it is contrived to show that the wearing of it contributes little or nothing to the physical comfort of the wearer, for it is an item of vicarious consumption, and the repute which accrues from its consumption 1s to be imfg~ed to the absent master, not to the servant. More objective data have been published by Murray H. Leiffer. He investigated the living standards of 1,038 representative Methodist ministers and found that in 1931-2, they spent, on the average, only 7.5 per cent of their total income for clothing their entire fam1.lies, including their 167 own clothing, both official and personal. In contrast, the average American family spends from 10 to 15 per cent of its income for clothing. During the years when the data men- . tioned were being gathered, there did not seem to be as much concern with clothing as a symbol of their priestly class among Methodist ministers, at least, as Veblen felt was typical. Some ancient priests also seem to have been free of concern for elaborate dress for themselves. It is said that during the eighteenth dynasty of the Egyptian empire, lay costume became more and more elaborate, but the priesthood 166 Thorstein Veblen, Theory of the ~eisure Class (New York: The Modern Library, 19.34), p. 1 2. l67 Murray H. Leiffer Stand~rds of Living in the Ministry, Methodist Episcopal Chu.re Boa'ra or Pens!ons and Relief, Pension Program, 24th Year, No. 42, 1932, pp. 17-24. 2~ retained the simple white loin cloth as its basic garment. 168 Nevertheless, Flugel feels the following statement is justi fied: Indeed, there are certain kinds of occupational costume which exhibit a hierarchical development only second in complexity to that of the military group--such, for instance, as the ecclesiastical or the academic.l 9 The close relationship between traditional ecclesias tical costumes and the garb worn by scholars from time imme morial is, of course, an outgrowth of the fact that at one time the only scholars were men of the church. Davenport relates that in old Italian pictures it is impossible to tell if some of the figures depicted are supposed to be ecclesiastics or scholars. 170 But just as among most religi ous groups, _ clothing as a symbol of status seems to have declined in importance among educational groups. This is not true everywhere, or course. In the famous English uni versities professors must still not appear without their academic regalia, and students must wear student cloaks. But these basic costumes have been simplified from the seven types of costumes w hich were in vogue at Oxford in 1675. 171 168 169 170 Davenport, .Qll• c~t., Flugel, .Q.2• cit., P• Vol. I, P• 15. 131. Davenport, .QR• cit., Vol . II, p. 497. 171 5 L ~big., P• 9~. 224 At that time, one's rank was designated more carefully than it is today, although a man's social success is still more or less assured in England if he is pri_ vileged to wear an 11 old school tie. 11172 In modern Korea, too, it is said that students and teachers have their special rank distinguished 173 by distinctive uniforms. And even in sophisticated America, professors must don their robes and boards on cere monial occasions, and these garments are so cut and decorated that one's degree in the academic world is advertised for all to see. Although the examples presented in this section do not in any sense give a picture coherent enough to justify generalization, they do illustrate the importance clothing may have as a status symbol among the members of some impor tant social groups. The most significant fact that stands out above the others is that unsystematic observation sug gests that rather elaborate clothing differentials appear in parts of societies which are characterized by a relatively high degree of stratification. These "parts of society" are exemplified, in particular, by military groups, and to some extent by some religious groups. As an authority on the 1 7 2 Flugel, ..212• cit., P• 132. l73 Example related by a soldier recently returned from Korea. 225 psychology of clothing, Flugel has summed up the situation in these words: In the group of uniforms the military (wl1ich for our purpose must include the naval) stand out, both because of their unique social and historic impor tance an also from the fact that they exhibit an e~reme 7 development or the hierarchic features or dress. 1 4 The clothing symbols in the relatively more strati fied sections of society are not, obviously, examples or fashion. As Flugel has remarked, uniforms are fixed cos- 175' tumes. Perhaps Blumer's admonition will be recalled at this point: 176 society. fashion cannot exist in an unstratified - Fashion is a consequence of stratification; but when stratification reaches an undetermined point of rigidity, evidently the fashion for various strata is s~ecified • • • • fashion implies a certain fluidity of the social structure or the coiumunity. There must be differences of social position, but it must seem possible and desirable to bridge these differencesi 7 in a rigid hierarchy .fashion is impossible. 7 This observation is similar to eber's statement that there are relatively few fashion addicts in societies where one's place is more or less given. In this connection, he 1 7 4 Flugel, .Q.2• cit., p. 131 (italics in original). 175 Ibid., p. 132. 1 76 See the introduction to Chapter IV. l77 Flugel, .Q.2• cit., p. 140. 226 observed that there are relatively many more fashion addicts among men in America, when compared with Germany, because in America there is theoretically, at least, more possibility for a man to assume a higher status if he will but adopt the symbols of that status. Thus, fashion appears relatively less in societies or sub-societies where it is somewhat difficult to change one's statuses. In such societies, how ever, prescribed clothing types often appear to be used as symbols of the various strata ma~ng up the organization ot society. Summary .2.£ chapter. This chapter has consisted of data which indicate the unique clothing consumption patterns of men in the various groups delineated. The data provide a basis for the following summary: 1. The importance of clothing to men appears to be declining slowly. Clothing consumption patterns among American men as a total group indicate that they are now spending proportionately less on their clothing; this trend seems to be a continuing one. The current emphasis on informal and relatively inexpensive clothes is another mani festation of the trend. One may conclude that the increas ing uniformity of male clothes means that in the future fewer distinctions will be made on the basis of clothes. 2. Unique styles and articles of clothing are 227 associated fairly consistently with particular gr oups of men, especially income groups. Some or these arti cles or fashions may function as symbols of status or the groups i nvolved . It is true, of course, that none or the clothes are associated exclusively with any of the groups named. But when the items or styles are considered as a whole, they ar e so often associated with men having particular statuses in var ious groups that they can be said to be potentially significant factors in the social status ratings of men. 3. Although particular styles and articles of cloth ing are often associated with certain groups, t here does not seem to be a consistent relationship between the socio economic statuses of men and their concern with cl othing. There is a fairly close relationship between t he income educational status of a man and his concern with f ashion, but this may be a reflection of ability to buy because within income strata purchasers often differ. In addi tion, the data indicated that there are probably some men with very high social status w ho sh ow little concern for their clothes, while some men with very low status (Negroes) show an exaggerated concern. Hence, it may be concluded that appar ently there is a f actor or f act ors m ore important than socio economic statuses 'Which infl uence the value a man places on clothing. CHAPTER IX EXPERD!ENTAL MEASUREMENT OF CLOTHING AS A FACTOR IN SO:ME SOCIAL RATINGS OF SELECTED AMERICAN MEN In an attempt to measure the extent to which clothing is a factor in the social status ratings of certain merican males, several experiments have been conducted. The purpose of the first experiment was to see the part played by differ ential clothing when college student judges are rating college-age men they know. The second experiment was an attempt to measure the part played by differential clothing when student judges are rating men they S2 not know. The third experiment was a pilot study in which the factor or pluralistic ignorance regarding male clothing was examined. All of these experiments involved the use of ques tions or questionnaires. In answer to the objection by many that the real way to study a person's attitudes is to observe what he does, rather t han to collect his verbal reactions to questions, Newcomb has made the following pertinent com ments: Most social psychologists, however, have little sympathy with this point or view. An Attitude is a predisposition to behavior of any and all kinds. All kinds or behavior--not just the verbal kind- are subject to concealment, distortion, or even deception. It is possible to· arrange conditions so that an attitude scale is responded to in genuine, sincere ways, particularly if the sub jects are convinced that their responses will not be identified •••• It is probably easier to do 229 so, in fact, than to arrange conditions so that open 1 observable behavior corresponds to the sub- jects genuine, sincere attitudes. As a valid index of attitudes, "deeds and actions" have no inherent 1 uper1or1ty over "merely verbal" behavior. or course, an attitude scale may violate the actual atti tudes , but under most conditions, they attempt a greater degree of refinement than is suggested by a statement such as, "He is a liberal." Furthermore, it is frequently the discrepancy between verbal behavior and other behavior that 2 1s the most important social fact. And the only way to discover where these discrepancies lie is to find what the verbal behavior is and then, if possible, attempt to see whether or not the verbal behavior corresponds to action. Why college students were studied. The college environment was chosen for experimental evidence bearing on the subject of this study primarily for the practical reason that college students are readily available as subjects of study. However, bowing to this practical state of affairs, as one often must, may not be as limiting as it might be because it is in schools that people form many of their most 1 Theodore Newcomb) Social Psychologi (New York: Dryden Press, 1950), P• lb3. 2 George Lundberg , "Human Values--A Research Pro gram," Research Studies ~ the State College ~ \vashington, 18:107, September, 1950. 230 important and lasting attitudes. As Sorokin has pointed out, Many do not realize that our schools are not only training and educational agencies but also- and perhaps even to a greater extent--testing, selecting, and distributing agencies for all the other contemporary groups.j In addition, American culture puts an accent on youth, hence the values current in youthful groups have an especial impor tance. On the other hand, it is obvious that when experimen tal evidence gathered in colleges and universities is used for generalizations about the populace as a whole, caution must be exercized. Further, such evidence can do a lot to determine whether or not more general studies will be worth while. It is in this spirit that the present experiments are viewed. The first experiment. After a suitable pre-test, the co-operation of thirteen men lmown to forty-six student judges was obtained. 4 The men were similar in age, race and 5 marital status. Holding numbered cards by which they were identified, these men stood before the judges on two 3 Pitirim A. Sorokin Society, Culture and Person ality (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1947), p. 441. 4 The men and the student judges were members of a large "principles of sociology" class. 5 They were bet een the ages of eighteen to twenty three, all Caucasians, and single. occasions. The first time, the men wore clothing chosen without forethought of the test in mind. On cards provided for the purpose, the men were rated in terms of the follow ing factors: best looking, man I'd most like to date or double date with, man I'd like to have as my class president, personality, most likely to succeed after college, and intelligence. These phrases were described to the judges in the words accompanying a sample of the rating card included in the Appendix. The total ratings received by the men on 6 this test were then computed and scored. The four men rated lowest were asked, in secret, to'tiress up" for the second test. The four men rated highest were asked, again in secret, to wear old and sloppy (but not obviously so) clothing for the second test. For a control group, the five men who received average ratings were asked to dress for the second test exactly as they had dressed for the first. Two weeks after the first test, the men--dressed as planned--were again rated on the same items by the forty-six judges . In an effort to allay suspicion, the judges were told that a second rating was necessary because so many 6 The judges were asked to list, in order from first to last choice, only the first four men they would choose for any of the categories; the pre-test had revealed that it would be confusing to list more than four. The answers were scored by assigning a four to a first choice, three to a second choice, two to a third choice, and one to a fourth choice. 232 persons had misunderstood directions the first time. Results: \men the ratings were computed, the men judged were divided into three basic groupings in order that the total picture might be as clear as possible: Group I, the men who dressed up for the second test; Group II, the men who "dressed down" for the second test; and Group III, the controls who dressed the same for both tests. The scores for each group for all the categories are included in Table IV. A glance at Table IV, especially at the totals for each group, will indicate that no real changes occurred in the ratings given the men on the two tests. The negligible results may be summarized as follows: The total ratings on Group III, the controls (men who wore the same clothing for both tests) changed the least of any; the total ratings for Group I, the men who dressed up for the second test, rose slightly on the second test; but the total ratings for Group II, the men who dressed down for the second test, also rose. Thus, the clothing changes were not associated with the changes in ratings, as might be expected if clothing actually does play a significant part in the social status ratings of college men. After these findings were revealed, two methods were adopted in an effort to explain them. First, an independent group of twenty-six judges was asked to rate the various 233 TABLE IV SOCIAL RAT ING SCORES* OF THE MEMBERS OF THREE GROUPS RATED TWICE BY JUDGES WHO KNEW MEN BEING RATED Groups Categories Rated 1 . "Best l ooking" Group I-- 2. "Like to date" "dressed t Class Pr esident up" for "Personality" 2nd test 5. Post- college success 6. Intelligence Totals for Group I 1. "Best looking" Group II-- 2. u11ke to date" 11 dressed a: Class President down" for "Per sonality" 2nd test ,. Post- college success 6. Intelligence Totals for Group II 1 . "Best looking" Group III-- 2. "Like to date" controls t Class President dressed "Personality" same for ,. Post-college success both t ests 6. Intelligence Totals for Group III Grand totals for all groups on both tests Scor es of Scor es of Ratings on Ratings on 1st Test 2nd Test 93 99 107 102 164 93 95 80 97 89 84 551 570 197 205 202 219 224 217 199 222 212 212 211+ 216 1 , 21+9 1 , 293 168 156 i~ 1~9 1 5 157 14~ 148 14 148 157 907 890 * Scores obtained by according a four to a first choice, t hree to a second choice, two to a third choice, and one to a fourth choice (only four men chosen for each cate gory) . ** Totals differ because on some items on both tests too f ew ratings were made by some judges. 234 clothing outfits worn by the men for the two tests. The out- fits were judged on cleanliness, neatness, taste, and appro priateness, all of which terms were defined to the rating 7 group. The data in Table Vindicate that the clothing outfits of those who wore good clothes for the second test were rated considerably higher than were the outfits of the same men worn for the first test. The opposite occurred for the men who wore old clothing for the second test. The clothing or the control group of five men was judged about the same each time. Therefore the outfit changes, where made, were notice able; hence, the negative findings of the ratings involving social judgments probably cannot be explained by the possi bility that the clothing outfits did not change sufficiently. The second method used in an attempt to explain the negative results or the experiment was to have the forty-six judges express their degree of social closeness with each of the thirteen men they had judged. This was done by having the judges indicate which one of five statements best 7 In essence, the definitions were as follows: "Cleanliness"--is the clothing 'spotless' or soiled? "Neat ness"--Are the clothes in good order indicating that some attention is given them? "Taste"--Are the combinations or color and style pleasing? "Appropriateness"--Are the outfits suitable to the school situation? As on the social ratings, only the first four men were chosen for each category, and the results were scored in the way described in footnote 6. TABLE V * 235 CLOTHING RATING SCORES OF THE MEMBERS OF THREE GROUPS RATED TWICE ON THEffi CLOTHING ALONE Groups vlhose Scores of Rat- Scores or Clothing \vas Categories ings on Cloth- Ratings on Rated ing Worn tor Clothing Worn 1st Test for 2nd Test Group I-- 1. Cleanliness 179 211 ttdressed up" 2. Neatness 172 200 for 2nd test 3. Taste 168 209 4. Appropriateness 162 169 Totals for Group I 681 789 Group II-- 1. Cleanliness 124 100 "dressed 2. Neatness 132 97 down" for ~• Taste 131 101 2nd test • Annron~iateness 1~1 122 Totals for Group II 538 420 Group III-- 1. Cleanliness 152 149 controls 2. Neatness 153 143 dressed ~: Taste 150 150 same for Appropriateness 157 139 both tests Totals for Grouo III 612 581 - Grand totals for all 1,831** * groups on both tests 1,790 * Scores obtained by according a four to a first choice, three to a second choice, two to a third choice, and one to a fourth choice (only four men chosen for each cate gory). ** Totals differ because on some items on both tests too few r tings were made by some judges. ~6 expressed their degree or friendship with each of the thir teen men. These statements (arranged from most to least- for degree or social closeness expressed--as they were arranged by a panel of three independent judges) were as fol lows: 1. Is a very good friend of mine. 2. Is a good acquaintance of mine. 3. Know fairly well. 4. Know to speak to, but that's all. 5. Know very slightly. The degree of social closeness of the raters with the m en rated was then computed by scoring the degree of social 8 closeness expressed. The men rated were then assigned to ranks representing their relative position on social close ness w i t~ the judges as a whole. These ranks may be comparErl with t he ranks held by the men on their total social ratings for both tests on Table VI. It will be noted that there is a fai r l y high degree of correlation (+. 665) between the ranks held by the men in their social ratings and their ranks on social closeness. Thes e data are limited, but it 8 Stat em ent one was given a score of five, st at ement two a score of four, statement three a score of three, statement four a score of two, and statement five a score of one . (Because of the limited purposes for which the experi ment was designed, no attem pt was made to see if the state ments are actually equi-distant from one another.) 237 TABLE VI RANK OF lv!EN RATED ON GENERAL SOCIAL RATINGS COMPARED WITH THEIB RANK ON SOCIAL CLOSENESS WITH THE RATERS Rank or Men on Rank or Men on Ranks Social Ratings Social Closeness 1st Man No. 8 Man No . 10 2nd Man No. 2 Man No. 2 3rd ?vlan No. 1 Man No. l 4th Man No. 4 Man No. 8 5th Man No. 9 Man No. 11 6th Man No. 10 Man No. 3 7th . Man No. 11 Man No • 4 8th Man No. 6 Man No. 6 9th M an I'lo. 13 Man No. 5 10th 11an No. 5 Man No. 13 11th ~Ian No. 12 :Man No. 9 12th ian No. 3 Man No. 12 13th Man No. 7 Man No. 7 Note: Correl ation of the two sets of ranked data is 238 seems that for present pu~poses it is safe to say that there is a fairly strong association between the men's general social ratings and their ratings on social closeness. This association may explain the negative results obtained in the test involving social judgments. Thus, to the degree that this experiment tested what it was meant to test, it indicates that the college student judges were not affected by clothing types when they judged college men they knew on items such as "best looking," "would like to date, 11 and the like. If anything affected their ratings, it would appear to have been--as far as this test goes--their degree of social closeness with the men being judged. The next step was to analyze the judges. It was noted that although total ratings on the men being judged had not changed, still 44 per cent of the ratings of the forty-six judges on each of the eight men whose clothing had been varied had changed from the first test to the second. If the total ratings of each of the forty-six judges on eight men are considered separately, it means that 368 ratings could have changed one way or another. Approx:imately 1+1+ per cent of these ratings went up on the second test for the men who dressed up or went down for the men who dressed down. If the ratings which changed in this 239 way may be considered as having been narrectedu by the clothing changes (or, more scientifically, "associated with" the clothing changes), the judges who made the ratings may then be compared with the judges whose ratings did not appear to have been so affected (or "associated"). This com parison was made possible by the £act that the judges had been asked, when both tests were given, to include six items of personal data about themselves. These items were: sex, race, age, area in which reared, father's occupation, and family income. Comparison of the two types of judges--those whose ratings were associated with the clothing changes and those whose ratings were not associated--revealed several interest ing differences and likenesses. These comparisons are made in Table VII. The data in this table reveal that judges whose ratings appeared to be associated with the clothing changes came from families with average annual incomes or $4,551 per year, whereas judges whose ratings appeared to be unassociated with the changes came from families with incomes of only $3 982. An unexpected result (in view of the belier that rural residents are less concerned with dress than are urban residents) manifested itself in the fact that the two groups of judges ("associated" and "not associated" with the clothing changes) were equally city and rural residents and were the children of farmers to an equal degree. But the 24o TABLE VII JUDGES WHOSE RATINGS APPEARED TO BE AS OCIATED WITH THE CLOTHING CHANGES OF EIGHT MEN RATED, COMPARED WITH JUDGES WHOSE RATINGS APPEARED TO BE UNASSOCIATED WITH THE CLOTHING CHANGES Comparisons Made Average Year Income Sex Residence Occupation or Father * ssociate witb Unassociated Change with Change hose whose rat- Those whose rat- ·ngs of eight ings of eight en were appar- men were appar ntly associ- ently unassoci ted with cloth- ated with cloth in C No. 160 204 12 32.5 0 21.2 Since forty-six judges' total ratings of eight individual men are involved here, the comparison is made on the basis of 368 ratings (forty-six times eight), with each of the judges considered each time they made a total rating on each of the eight men rated . 21+1 two groups of judges differed from one another on other occupational items or significance. The "associated" judges came from families in which there were relatively more professionals and fewer laborers when compared with the judges whose ratings were apparently not associated with the clothing changes. In summary, then, it can be said that this experiment did not find that under the conditions involved, clothing was a factor in the ratings received by the college men being judged. However, it did reveal that the ratings of some individual judges appeared to be associated with the changes in clothing. In certain significant respects, these judges differed from, and were similar to, the judges whose ratings were not associated with the clothing changes. The validity and reliability of this experiment will be dis cussed later. The second exper~ment. Introduction: This experi ment was an attem pt to ascertain the effects of varied clothing outfits on certain social status ratings of college age men unknown to the coll ege students who did the rating. The ratings wer e made of pictures of men, not the men them selves. Probably no responsible person believes today that one can est i m ate a person's character real istically merely 242 by looking at his picture. Such a procedure went out with Lombroso. But, since this study was not an effort to deter mine how realistically character could be determined by looking at pictures, the question of realism was not an issue here. The study merely attempted--by giving two con trol groups the same test twice, and introducing one varia ble in the second test given the experimental groups--to find how much certain social rating could be changed, if any, by altering pictures systematically. On the first test, both experimental and control groups rated the heads of men. The same heads were rated later by the control group, but the heads were attached in a realistic way to various cloth ing outfits for the experimental groups' second test. The aim of the experiment, then, was primarily to see what changes could be induced in the social ratings of the experi mental groups by the introduction of the various clothing outfits--the study was not designed to measure attitudes on clothing as such. Picture tests as a means of studying attitudes have been honorably established by such men as Horowitz, 9 9 E. L. Horowitz, The Development of ~titudes toward the Negro (N ew York: Archives of Psychology, Columbia University, 1936). 243 Lindsey-Rogolsky and Razran, 10 and Allport and Kramer. 11 The development of the thematic apperception test in psychology is an example of the use of pictures to measure attitudes. The Michigan State College departments of sociology and or home economics have recently inaugurated a large scale study 12 of attitudes toward clothing by means of pictures. It has been pointed out that one or the biggest objections to the use of pictures is that the cost of administering such a test is often prohibitive. 1 3 But one of the distinct advantages of such a method is that the stimulus is non-verbal, thus eliminating one of the objections to many attitude studies. Description: First, ten pictures of yowig men gradu ates of high schools were obtained. An effort was made to obtain pictures of men who would be unknown to the raters. Only three raters had to be eliminated because they thought they knew one or more of the men pictured . The pictures were arranged on a single card, numbered, and copies of the resulting composite picture reproduced. (A sample of the lO Journa~ s;;I_ Abnormal 8 pd Social Psychology, 45:7-27 and 37-53, January, 1950. 11 G. w. Allport and B. M. Kramer, "Some Roots of Prejudice," Journal s;;I_ Psychology, 22(1):9-39, July, 192+6. 12 See Chapter II. 1 3 George Lundberg, Social Research (New York: Longmans, Green and Company, 1942), P• 227. , - 244 composite photo is included in the Appendix.) The copies of the pictures, together with a questionnaire, were distrib uted to 205 student raters at Indiana Central College; 101 of the raters acted as a control group, and 104 acted as an experimental group. The same pictures and questionnaires were presented to a control group of twenty-five students and an experimental group of twenty-four students at lilchigan State College. The questionnaire (sample copy included in the Appendix) consisted or an introductory statem ent, four pages on which the raters were asked to rate each picture on four cl1aracteristics, and a final page for perso:nal data on eacl1 rater. The construction of the page for personal data was guided by suggestions in Lundberg's Social Resear~h, 14 and by the revisions which grew out or three pre-tests. As Newcomb has observed, "The best way of avoiding error is to pre-test the questions. • • • An introductory statement was used on the question naire in an effort to gain co-operation from the raters. The statement was not, or course, meant to be necessarily a state nent of fact. For example, because science is, as has 14 Lundberg, Social Researcl1, loc. cit. 1 5 Newcomb, .Q.ll• ct., p. 177. 245 been said, a "sacred cow" in American culture, the word scientific was used in the introduction explaining the experiment, on the assumption that student raters would be more willing to contribute to science than they would to a questionnaire given merely for school purposes. The directions on the questionnaire were pretested for their clarity several times. That they were specific enough for the purposes at hand is indicated by the fact that of the 253 students who used the questionnaire, appar ently only one person miswiderstood the directions. Thls one person put all her marks on the scale at one extreme or the other--her questionnaire was eliminated. The directions on tl1e questionnaire attempted to make of t his study a specific situation familiar in some respects to the student raters. There is evidence that attitudes expressed toward concrete behavior situations have higher reliability than do attitudes studies in relation to some purely theoretical situation foreign to the respondee's 16 exper ience. The raters were asked to make their responses some where bet,.,een the two extremes of each cl1aracterist1c listed. 16 D. D. Day and o. F. Quackenbush, "Relation between ar Attitudes and Opinions," Sociv;Logy: and Social ReseBgrch, 25:19-27, September, 1940. 246 The responses were given a numerical value in the computa- tion. "• •• the purpose of an attitude scale is to asstgn !.Q. mi individual a numerical value somewhere between the two extremes of maximum favoring of something and maximum disfavoring of it. 1117 Scaling on a line was chosen as the method of procedure because, "Actual attitudes tend to differ 18 by infinitely small shadings and gradations." It was felt that a relatively unstructured situation would encourage the students to make some response. It has been found that more people are willing to respond when they are not forced to chose between exclusive alternates. 19 Social psycholo gists are interested in attitudes on questions on which there is much difference o! opinion, not on questions where it is 1 d l th t th 1 t 1 ·t 2 ° F thi a rea y mown a ere s grea unan mi y. or s reason, it is usually better to proceed in such a way that the finer gradations in attitudes will manifest themselves. Using a line for this purpose in scaling has been established 21 by such people as Gaudet, and the procedure is cited by 17 Newcomb, .9.2. ~!t., p. 177. 18 Lundberg, Social Re~earch, .Q.2• cit., pp. 222-223. 19 Ibid., P• 223. 20 Stuart A. Rice, "The Political Vote as a Frequency Distribution," Journal of ~he American Statistical Associa tion, 19:70-75, January, 1924. 21 Hazel Gaudet, "The Favorite Radio Program," Jour nal .2f. Applie~ Ps~chologr, 23:120, February, 1939. the arch methodological critic, Lundberg, as a suitable method of avoiding the objections to more arbitrary scalesf 2 It probably would have been better, on the present scale, to label the middle, as done by Gaudet. However, since the present study was designed merely to measure the extent to which expressions of apparent atti tudes on a certain subject can be changed by altering a given variable, the method of procedure may be regarded as being in a different category than it would have been if the study's purpose had been to ascertain specific attitudes on male clothing. This is the important point: The test was designed to observe changes, if any, in expressions toward a certain subject, under a controlled situation, rather than to measure particular attitudes on the subject itself. If the aim had been to measure particular attitudes on clothing, the procedure then would have been entirely different. It is because the study was designed to find whether certain changes could be ilduced by varying one condition for the experimental group, that the categories used for the expressions of the raters' opinions are relatively unimpor tant for the purposes of the study. Actually, almost any categories could have been used if the results were phrased in this way: "When applyin "X" word (or descriptive term) 22 Lundberg , Social Research, .Q.2• cit., PP• 229-230. , 248 to the subjects rated, the judges were found to alter--or not to alter--their ratings when certain changes were made." Of course, it would be desirable to use an Xterm that would have some social significante, and for this reason, before the categories were decided upon, fifty students were asked to write down the factors they thought they could estimate about a person merely by looking at his picture. (Perhaps it should be noted that only two students objected that such estimates are unreliable.) The terms most mentioned were attractiveness, intelligence, capability, and co-operative ness. Only four categories were used in order that the questionnaire might be kept within practical size limits. It is obvious that the last three of the categories used for rating purposes are just about as subjective as they could be. In the first place, no one can tell how co-operative a person is by looking at his photograph. And, as has been asked, the term capable might evoke the rejoinder, Capable of what? For these reasons, the last three cate gories were not broken down when computations were made. And it is interesting to note that these subjective cate gories were very much less discriminating when compared to the first, more objective category, attractiveness. A per son's attractiveness to some extent, can be estimated from a photograph. Therefore, the reactions to this one category were treated alone. It was found that attractiveness, 249 however subject it too may be to individual interpretation, was a very discriminating item. After the test was administered at Indiana Central College the first time, the attractiveness ratings made by the experimental group on the ten pictures were computed. The head which was ranked highest in attractiveness by the experimental group on this first test was superimposed in the proper position on a body clothed in an outfit that had been ranked the lowest of ten outfits (these outfits were ranked by ten independent judges, and the average rankings used--pictures of the clothing outfits alone, ranked from first to last, may be seen in the Appendix). The head ranked next highest was combined with the clothing ranked next to the lowest, and so on, so that the head ranked low est was combined, finally, with the clothing that had ranked highest. The heads were rated on 11 attractiveness 11 by the experimental group on the first test in the following rank order: No. 2, 7, 8, 3, 5, 9, 10, 1, 6, 4. Number 2 was first, Number l+ last. Therefore, I~wnber 2 was "dressed" in the clothing which had been ranked last by the independent judges, No. 7 in the clothing ranked second to last, and so on. The resulting combinations were numbered and placed on a card in the same relative positions the heads had had on the p~cture presented for the first test. The new arrange ment was phof°ographed (a sample of the composite picture is 250 included in the Appendix) and reproduced in sufficient num- bets to give one copy of it to each member of the experimen tal group for the second test. As controls, the same body in the same position was photographed to produce the various outfit pictures, and the final arrangement was reproduced in such a way that the heads were the same size in the large picture as they were in the small picture with heads alone. Six weeks after the administration of the first test, the second test was given. The control group received the same pictures as before, and the experimental group received the pictures altered by the different clothing outfits. Thus, so far as is known, the only major variable introduced to the experimental group was the group of different-ranking clothing outfits. Examination of the altered pictures indi cates that two uncontrolled variables could not be avoided. One was the fact that the heads did not fit the bodies as evenly as they should have done for perfect control. The other occurred when it was discovered that the negatives for some of the heads had to be reversed to make the composite photograph as realistic as possible. What influence these factors had is not known. A number of students nbet 0 the investigator the pictures were faked, but others wagered they were not. The gr oups at 11ichigan State College used the pictures prepared f or the Indiana Central College experiment. One 251 further alteration was found to be unavoidable in giving the tests at Michigan State--the time between the tests was reduced to three weeks, in contrast to the six weeks' span at Indiana Central. Before the final results were computed, the control and experimental groups at each college were matched, as indicated in Table VIII. The r.c.c. groups were matched by frequency variation on six items: sex, age, race, family income, type of area in which the respondent grew up, and father's occupation. These fairly extensive controls and a few discarded questionnaires reduced the initial control group at r.c.c. from 101 individuals to sixty-nine. The experimental group at the same institution was also reduced to sixty-nine, from 104. The losses were by no means seri ous considering the original sizes of the groups. The reasons no more cases were lost in matching were probably due t o these three factors: some care was exercised in the f i rst place to choose for the experimental and control gr oups, students as much alike as possible; frequency dis tri bution matching is not as rigorous as individual case matching, although it is probably the most frequently used 23 method of control in contemporary social science; and r.c.c. is a small college with a rather homogeneous student 2 3 Ibid., P• 70. TABLE VIII MATCHED GRO UPS AT MICHIGAN STATE COLLEGE AND INDIANA CENTRAL COLLEGE ICC Michigan 252 Item Controlled Experimental and Experimental and Control Groups Control Groups Race Age Family Income * Occupation or Father (69 Students (23 Students each) each) 0 d 1 U skilled labo Skilled labor rmer ite collar Profession 1 * This item not controlled in 1vlichigan State groups . body. The Michigan State groups, also included in Table VIII, were matched on five items only. These were: sex, race, age, type of area in which the respondent grew up, and family income. Occupations of fathers were not con trolled because it was discovered that establishing this control would have reduced the groups to fourteen cases each. As it was, establishing five controls reduced the size of the groups very slightly--from twenty-four to twenty-two for the control group and from twenty-five to twenty-two for the experimental group. Thus, the groups were so similar on the five items controlled that only five cases were lost when the controls were applied. When the results obtained by the questionnaires were computed, each mark made by the respondents was given a 24 numerical value ranging from one to ten. The total rat- ings of each man on each item -were then computed by addition, with the items intelligence, capability, and co-operative ness considered as a unit (as noted above). For purposes of m aking numerous comparisons and finding correlations or lack of correlations, as well as for making the mass of data intelligible to the reader, the men were then ranked, from 2 4 Since the scale was five inches long, values were assigned by measurin~, in half-inch units, from the right side of the scale. · one to ten, depending upon their ratings on a particular item. The ratings and resultings ranks are depicted in Tables IX and X. Results obtained at r.c.c.: The r.c.c. control group ratings of the pictures on the two tests, for the item attractiveness, were practically identical (compare Column 2 with Column 10, Table IX). The correlation of their ratings on this item on the two tests, when the rating are con sidered as ranks, is expressed by the figure +.976, where a correlation of +l.O would have indicated exactly similar results, and a correlation of -1.0 would have meant com pletely dissimilar results. 25 When the ratings given by the experimental group on the item attractiveness on the first test are considered as ranks, and are compared with the ratings made by the control group for the same test, the correlation between the groups' 26 ratings is expressed by the £1gure +.928. Thus, there was almost no difference, on the first test, between the two groups on their estimations of the attractiveness of the ten men rated when the ratings are translated into ranks. (Since all the ratings were transposed into ranks, the term "ranks 11 2 5 All correlations figured by means of Spearman's formula for establishing correlation of ranked data. 26 Correlation between Columns 2 and 6, Table VII. 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' ~ .382 1 ' ' - - - - - --- I 112 8 )94- 9 11~ 10 I .395 + 8 116 8 -'87 ~ .119 1 9 - - -- - ·- 104- .3 .38 7 5 112. ,3 7- .3~ 7 /12 10 380 4- Iif t . .. 378 . . .,. --- -- - ' 2 - ' 93 9 .35 3 1 105 9 .375 1 9 7 1 I 368 8 1.1 1 ........ .. .3 I ._, - - - - - -· ~ ' - ..... ,,, ;-r 92 f :350 e, 10 ~ l . t 356 5 96 I 9 i :351 J ~ 0 6 10 •• •c .. 367 f 06 ~ .. , .. ,,. 0 .. . -· - - 4 T - - ..... ,_. - 85 6 .3f4 .3 98 4 35~ 3 9 -' 6 I -'*' 5 352 _1__:43 6 I 3 4 , 6 r : ~ .. j J_ _ _ ,_ I 8 4 4 J19 6 96 6 _ j 84 4 ./Of 5 ~·~ .. ~: . .330 .. - -- ,. N ~ 260 the correlation between its reactions on the item attrac tiveness on the first and second tests (Columns 6 and 14, Table X) is expressed by the negative figure -.078. This means that the rankings or the total group or men rated on the item attractiveness were changed ,1+.5 per cent between the tirst and second tests by the Michigan experimental 30 group. As at Indiana Central, results obtained at Michigan on the items co-operativeness, capability, and intelligence are questionable. Thus, the experimental and control groups at Michigan differed on their initial ratings (see Columns 4 and 8, Table X--correlation +.637), so that even though the experimental group changed its reactions considerably after the introduction or the variable--differential clothing- there 1s no way or knowing how much of the change was due to the variable introduced. The total change noted, e~essed 31 as a percentage or the change possible, was 58.l per cent. This change may have been due to the dissimilarity or the interpretations of the experimental and control groups on these items, as indicated by their differing initial reac tions expressed on the first test. But whatever the 30 The method or arriving at the percentage 1s explained in footnote number 27. 31 The method or arriving at the percentage 1s explained in footnote number 27. explanation, the results obtained at both schools on the three more subjective items are very questionable. Thus, it probably was unwise to use these subjective terms even it they were named by students as characteristics which may be estimated from pictures of men. The apparent effect of clothes rated high on men rated low and clothes rated low on men rated high: In gen eral, as would be expected from the data presented up to this point, clothing rated high (when the clothing outfits were ·rated alone) was associated with a rise, on the second test, in the rank of the men wearing it, whereas the cloth ing rated low was associated with a lowering or the rank ot the men wearing it. The data which justify this generaliza tion are included in Table XI. Referring to Table XI, it will be noted that the men rated by the experimental groups were divided into two equal sized sections. One section consists of the men who wore the outfits which were ranked first through fifth when the clothing was ranked by the ten independent judges. The other section consists or the men in the outfits ranked sixth through tenth. Listed under each of these two groups are notations as to whether the men rose or fell in rank when rated on the four factois. It will be seen that the higher ranked clothing is fairly consistently associated with the men who rose in rank, and the lower ranked clothing TABLE XI THE ASSOCIATION OF CLOTHING Otr.rFITS RANKED FIRST THROUGH FIFTH AND srxrH THROUGH TENTH WITH A RISE OR FALL IN THE STATUS OF MEN RANKED ON FOOR FACTORS BY MICHIGAN AND ICC EXPERIMENTAL GROUPS Number of Men Who Wore Clothing Ranked First Through Fifth, with Number of Ranks They Rose _or__Fell Raising or Lowering Status or Not Changing Men Ranked on - I Men Ranked on "Attractiveness" "Intelligence'' "Cooperativeness" "CaDabili ty" Raised Status Number or Men When Rated on J 8 Four Fact_or.s Lowered Status When Rated on I 1 Four Factors Did not Change in Status Whed 1 Rated on Four Factors NWllber of Ranks Rose or Fell 30 (rise) 3 (fall) 0 Number I Number or of Ranks Men Rose or 7 2 1 F_ell 2, (rise) 6 (fall) 0 Number of Men Who Wore Clothing Ranked Sixth Through Tenth, with Number of Ranks TheY_Ra__s_e___or Fell Men Ranked on I Men Ranked on "Attractiveness" "Intelligence" 'Olopera ti veness 11 11 Cat>abilitY" Number! Number or or Ranks Men Rose or 2 7 1 Fell 4 (rlle.J 30 (fall) 0 Number! Number ot of Ranks Men Rose or Fell 3 7 0 6 {ri.Se) 30 (fall) 0 I\) °' I\) 263 1s associated with the men who lost in rank. The men wearing the higher ranked clothing rose in social rank fifteen times (both Michigan and r.c.c. ratings are considered, making it appear as if twenty men had been rated) for a total ot fifty-five ranks, while the opposite effect occurred only three times for a total of nine ranks. The men wearing the lower ranked clothing had their social ranks lowered a total of fourteen times for a total of sixty ranks, whereas they rose in rank only five times for a total or six ranks. Validity apd rel!abilit~ QI. the two experiments. The first experiment described in this chapter, where college students rated college men with whom they were acquainted, was apparently reliable, at least in certain respects. Reliability stands for, nnoes it give consistent results?" Since the control subjects were rated the same, tor all practical purposes, on both the first and second tests, the experiment gave consistent results where conditions were held constant. This, of course, does not mean that the entire experiment was reliable. But was the first experiment valid? That is, did it actually test what it was meant to test (the effect of clothing changes on certain status ratings)? The fact that the raters who changed their ratings in association with the clothing changes, were the type of people who would be 261+ expected to be affected by differential clothing (i.e., chil- dren or upper income, upper occupational families), may be some indication of the experiment's validity. The second experiment in which college students rated pictures ot college-age men unknown to them appears to have been both reliable and valid, at least to some degree. The similar results at two widely separated colleges is a strong indication of the experiment's reliability. And the fact that the single known variable was associated markedly with the changes made in the status ratings is an indication that the test actually tested what it was meant to test (i.e., the effect of differential clothing outfits on certain status ratings). Circumstances prevented the consideration of equal appearing intervals for both the experiments. If unlimited time and money had been available, for example, a large num ber of pictures possibly could have been obtained. Prelimi nary testing could then have been utilized to determine which of the pictures (of both clothes and men) were equi distant from one another in terms of the categories to be applied to them. However, it was found to be very difficult to obtain only ten pictures which fulfilled the requirements desired (same age, same race, same pose, and the like). It is not known how important equi-distant intervals are in attitude studies involving the use of pictures; none of the sample studies consulted mentioned this factor as would probably have been done if it had been considered. Nonethe less, post-experiment speculation leads one to suspect that equi-distant intervals are as important for studies using pictures as they are for other procedures designed to study attitudes. A ~ilo~ study of pluralistic ignorance regarding clothing. In Chapter VI, considerable space was devoted to setting forth the widely accepted belief that a man's cloth ing strongly affects his social ratings in the eyes of others. But what may actually be occurring, when people assert their belief that a man is judged by the type of clothing he wears, is what Floyd Allport has termed plw;:al- istic +gnorancg. Although many persons will confess that they actually do, partially at least, judge a man by his garb, possibly many others would maintain that they do not make judgments on the basis of such externals even though they believe almost everyone else does. It is pluralistic ignorance where "Everyone assumes that everyone except him self accepts the norms uncritically. 1132 The fact that there is pluralistic ignorance with reference to male clothing among college students was 3 2 Newcomb, .2.n• cit., p. 608. 266 indicated in a brief experiment. This experiment was not meant to be a fUll-fledged scientific demonstration, but only an objective view of the phenomenon of pluralistic ignorance as it might operate regarding male clothing at the college level. First, after an informal pre-test, thirty college stu dents were asked to write on a card provided for that purpose, their answer to the following question: "How often do you think the average person other than yourself uses the type or clothing worn by a man as one or the criteria by which they decide whether or not the man is a member of their own social class?" The question was clarified by informal discussion, and the concept o~ class was discussed so that there was sub stantial agreement on the meaning of the term. The students were asked to answer in terms of the five categories, always, frequently, sometimes, seldom, and never. They were also asked to put down six items for control purposes: sex, race, birth date, type or area in which the students were reared, father's occupation, and average family income per year. These are the control items which have been found to be most as sociated with unique values regarding clothing. similar group of t hirty-eight students was asked to answer t he following question in term s of the same five cate gories: "H ow often do you (not other people ) use the type of clothing a man wears as one of the criteria by which you decide whether or not he is a member or your own social class?" These students also included data on the control items mentioned above. 267 First, the answers of the total groups were compared (see Section I, Table XII). An answer of always was given a score or four; treguentlx, a score of three; sometimes, a score of two; and seldom, a score of one. The results were scored in this way for only one reason--in order that the total responses of the groups might be reduced to single numbers that woUld be compat'able. The single numbers that represent the average responses of each group are in the bottom row or Table XII, designated as average scores. Referring to Table XII, it will be noted that when the groups were compared as totals before peing matched, the group asked how often they think others view clothes or men as a class symbol, gave an average response designated as 3.06. This group gave frequently as its most frequent answer. On the other hand, the group asked how often they use the type of clothing a man wears as one criteria or his social class, gave somet1me 2 as its most frequent answer. -t Expressed as average scores, the first group gave 3.06 as its answer, compared to the 2.18 average of the second group (where 1+ represents alwaY§ and "one" represents seldom), a difference of . 88 . Thus, when these two groups were compared the members of the group asked how often they use clothing TABLE XII REACTIONS BY UNMATCHED AND MATCHED GROUPS TO QUESTIONS ON THE USE OF CLOTHING AS A SYMBOL FOR ESTIMATING SOCIAL CLASS OF MEN SECTION I I SECTION JI Gro_ups Unmatched-~--_ __ Grouns_ Matched CATEGORIES Group asked how Group asked how Group asked how Group asked how often others view often they view af'ten others view often they view clothes of men as clothes or men as clothes of men as clothes 0£ men as class __ SYmb_Ql _ class symbol class s_ym_b_0_l_ ___ __________ __e_la_s___S__SYmbol Cases I Scores Cases Scores J Cases Scores ... Cases I Scores Always 6 24 2 8 4 16 Frequently 21 63 11 4 3~ 12 36 1 4 4 12 18 2 0 Sometimes 2 19 Seldom 1 1 4 Never 0 0 2 Average I 3.06 Scores * 1 \. 0 0 0 2.18 3.17 2 0 0 9 2 1 2.11 Chi square of the distribution or cases for the groups matched on six items or personal data is 35.78, which means that the different questions appeared to evoke answers so different that there is less than one chance in one thousand that the difference was due to chance or to the size of the samples. ** Scores obtained by giving each case that answered atwaYs a score of four, each case that answered fregue4tzy a score of three, and so on. ~ CX) 269 as a social class criteria said they use it less often than the first group thought others use the same criteria for that purpose. Next, the groups were matched by frequency distribu tion for the six factors or personal data obtained. Apply ing the controls reduced the two groups to seventeen members each. When controlled, both groups were made up as follows: fourteen males, three females; thirteen whites, four Negroes; ten in the age group l?-20, five in the grotp2l-25, two in the group 26-30; seven reared in rural environments, two in towns 2,500-24,999, two in cities 25,000-100,000, six in cities of more than 100,000; seven children of wage earners, six children of professional, salaried and business personnel, four children of farmers; two from families in which the family income was from 0-$2,999, ten in which the income was $3,000-4,999, and five in which the income was from $5,000- 8,000 per year. The answers given by the controlled groups may be seen in section II of Table XII. It should be noted that there was a greater difference between the two groups with respect to their answers after controls were applied than there was before. This may mean that if the groups had been perfectly matched, still greater differences would have been found. Expressed as an average score, the controlled group asked, "How often do you think the average person other than 270 xou.rself uses the type or clothing worn by a man as one of the criteria by which they decide whether or not the man 1s a member or their own social class?" answered 3.17, which may be called frequently-plus. The members of the matched group asked about their own use or clothing for this purpose, answered 2.11, which may be called sometimes-plus • . The difference between the average scores of .the two matched groups is 1.06 (3.17 minus 2.11); this may be compared with the .88 which separated the average scored responses before the groups were matched. When the distribution of cases is analyzed for statis tical significance, an unquestionably significant difference is foWld in the answers given by the two controlled groups to the two questions. 33 It appears that in the college group studied, there was a real difference between the beliefs the students said they have about others using clothing as a criteria for male class status and the degree to which they said they use the same criteria for that purpose. Apparently, these college students feel clothing is much more signifi cant for others as a factor in a certain type of social status rating than they claim it is for themselves. This is - probably an example of pluralistic ignorance regarding male 33 Chi square 35.78--less than one chance in 1000 the difference was due to chance or to the size of the samples. 271 clothing as a symbol or the social class of men. But it should be recalled that no special scientific validity is claimed for this sketchy experiment. The results are limited by, among other things, the small size of the groups involved, the fact that only a single question was asked the respondents, and the ambiguity of the term socia! class (the pre-test revealed that more definite terms provoked questions such as, Under what circumstances?). Furthermore, salience was not considered. However, the pur pose of the experiment was merely to provide in a measurable form a demonstration of the subjectively accepted belief tmt clothing is widely if not universally believed to be a sig nificant factor affecting the social status rating of men. Swnma,.U Qt the fipqings 2.t the exneriments. Keeping in mind the limitations mentioned throughout the chapter, the following results seem to have been obtained with the above-described experiments: 1. To the extent that the first test was valid, it appears that when college students who were rating men known to them on such items as best looking, would like lQ date, would vote for 2.2, clqss £resident, and so on, they were apparently unaffected by different clothing outfits worn by the men rated. This or a similar experiment at other colleges would have to be attempted before wider 272 generalizations would be justified. 2. Where college students were rating men known to them, the students whose ratings seemed associated with the clothing changes were the children of families w hich have relatively high incomes and relatively upper or middle class occupations. However, ecological areas in which student raters are reared did not seem to differentiate between stu dents whose ratings were associated with the clothing chan£J3s and students whose ratings were not so associated. Further, the ratings made by students whose fathers are farmers were apparently neither more nor less associated with the cloth ing changes when their ratings were compared with the rat ings made by students from other occupational groups. 3. When college students from two schools were rat ing pictures of college-age men unknown to them, their rat ings appeared to be very definitely associated with differential clothing outfits when ratings were made in terms of the word attractiv~ness. The students' ratings were somewhat less associated with differential clothing outfits when they were rating the pictures on subjective items such as co-operativeness, capability, and intelligence. The changes associated with these latter three items do not appear reliable since the initial ratings made by the con trol and experimental groups in terms of the items were not sufficiently similar. The negative results of the 273 experiment so far as these ·items were concerned are mitigats:l by the fact, as the Murphys have pointed out, that it is not one's rating in terms of capability and so on, which is most crucial in Western culture so far as personal security is concerned. In this culture, according to the Murphys, it 1s concern with Rersoool 1tt~activeness which plays one or the biggest parts in inner conflicts. 32 Therefore, the results or the experiment so far as the single item attrictiveness are concerned are probably a good deal more important than are the negative findings on the other words in terms of which the ratings were made. The experiment indicated that attractiveness ratings or college-age men by judges not knowing the men judged may be changed as much as 69.5 per cent by different types of clothes. "When this fact is coupled with the importance of attractiveness to members of American culture, the vital part played by clothing in one of the most crucial social status ratings of men under certain circumstances is made readi ly apparent. 4. Clothing ranked relatively high was associated, in general, with a rise in the status ratings of men wearing such clothing when the men were rated on items such as 32 G. and L.B. M urphy, Experiment§l Soc1ai Psychology (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1937), p. 432. 274 attractiveness, capability, and the like. Clothing ranked relatively low had the opposite effect. Points 3 and 4 above, may be applicable to college students in general, since these points are based on data gathered in two dissimilar schools. ,. The experiment on pluralistic ignorance, although reported merely as a pilot study, indicated that the college students used as subjects felt that clothing is much more significant for others as a factor in a certain type of social status rating than they claim it is for themselves. This is probably an example of pluralistic ignorance. If the patterns of belief revealed by this suggestive experiment were found to be generally true, knowledge of this fact might have widespread consequences. If people in general qctuallY SQ (distinguished from what they say) put less stress on clothing than they think others put on it, and 1r that fact became generally known, clothing consumption patterns might be significantly altered. PART I.V CONCLUSION CHAPTER X SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS The purpose ot this study was to organize, within a relevant social psychological framework, facts which demon strate the importance of clothing as a factor in social ratings or men, particularly American men. These facts were systematized in terms of the concept status rating. Exten sive literature dealing with fashion indicates that the social psychology of men's clothing fashions stresses such ra- tings. Summary sir_ the findings. The principal findings of this study are as follows: 1. Clothes have played and do play a very important part in varied types of social status ratings of men in most cUltures. A considerable amount or evidence shows that clothing is almost unlversally believed to contribute to these ratings. Economic and other data indicate the extent to which these conceptions of male clothing are based on actual responses. 2. Some articles and styles of clothing are associ ated with particular groups of men consistently enough to function as tentative symbols of the relative statuses of the members of such groups. These associations are not 277 necessarily the result of occupational needs or of the abil- ity to buy. 3. Considerably less relationship than might be expected exists between the socio-economic statuses of men and their concern for clothing. Ordinarily it is expected that men with higher incomes will spend relatively more of their income for apparel; among many groups this spending pattern does prevail, especially for those in lower income brackets. However, in some groups, as income rises, the percentage expended for clothing goes down. Furthermore, observations of limited scope suggest that some men with very high statuses show small concern for their clothing, and there is reliable evidence that some men with very low statuses exhibit such concern to an exaggerated degree. 4. Male clothes have become increasingly uniform in relative inexpensiveness and informality; this trend is a continuing one. Economic data reveal that during the last thirty years there has been a steady decline in the per centage of the consumer dollar spent for male clothing; the reverse has been true for iomen's clothing. Present and anticipated future demand among men is for inexpensive sport clothing. Directors of industry have been greatly concerned with this shift in values, and have attempted to meet the issue by appealing to men to improve their dress. Industry has received professior 1 advice to stress the 278 status appeal in its advertisements because it has been determ ined that in the past men have purchased clothing pri m arily in an effort to maintain or raise their respective statuses. 5. Clothing does not appear to be associated with important social ratings of some college men when they are rated by acquaintances in a specified experimental situation; degree of friendship, rather than clothing, is more closely r elated t o such ratings. 6. Clothing appears to be associated markedly with the attractiveness ratings of the pictures of some college age men when they are rated by strangers in a specified experimental situation. Under these circumstances, attrac tiveness ratings are changed as much as 69.5 per cent in association with types of clothing. Attractiveness ratings for m en previously rated low go up when the men are shown wearing cl othing independently rated high in appropriateness; conver sely , clothing rated low 1s r elated t o a lowering or attractiveness rat i ngs. 7. Conceptions about male clothing as a social class symbol involve a degree of pluralistic ignorance among some college students i n an experim ental situation. Students who participated i n a pilot experiment on t his phenomenon claimed , to a stat istical ly significant degree, that they observe the clothing of men as a class symbol less often than they believe others do. Conclusions. The findings of this study provide a basis for the following co11clusions: 2?9 1. Interpersonal relationships may be affected by men's apparel. This conclusion is justified by the fact that many of a man's statuses, except possibly among his friends, depend in part on the type or style of clothing he wears. Status ratings affect interpersonal relationships because men interact in terms of the ways they judge one another. 2. Clothing 1s a significant factor in attractive ness ratings of many men in the United States. This conclu sion is based on the experiment involving the ratings of college-age men by strangers. 3. Clothing is a factor 1n individual emotional security. Since it 1s a basic psychological principle that emotional security is founded largely on one's imagined attractiveness status, the fact that clothing may affect such a status indicates that it may in turn affect emotional development. 4. Clothing has significance for role-playing and role-behavior. By wearing the type of outfit associated with men in certain desired positions, a man may actually 280 achieve a higher status and thus be enabled to play a diffel'- ent role; at the same time, popular conceptions of the role he assumes because of his clothing may be changed somewhat because of his unique style of life. 5. Clothing does not play as important a part now as it once did in the status ratings of American men. Since most men are now wearing relatively less expensive and simpler clothes, men with lower statuses can imitate the fashions of those in h.igher status positions. The resulting greater uniformity in dress means that there are fewer occa sions when clothing can act as a front. 6. If current trends continue, in the future clothing probably will be even less significant for social status rat ings of American men. Further research !ndic~ted. The facts disclosed in this study indicate that further research might put these facts tn work in two practical areas. The data which showed the lack of association between the socio-economic statuses of men and their concern with clothing, indicated that there was some association between concern for clothing and men's feelings of insecurity. In the findings, the data were mentioned which suggested that some men with very high statuses demonstrate small concern over their clothing, while some men in very low status st~ata 281 exhibit the concern to an exaggerated degree. Possibly these opposite reactions are products of the relative secur ity gained from high as compared to low status. Data not mentioned in the findings, but included in the body of the study, demonstrated that even when income, occupational needs, and family sizes are held constant, men who are mem bers of such large organized groups as unions, typically purchase fewer clothes and exhibit less concern over fashion than do men who may be members of higher status, but unorgan ized, groups. Possibly these varying forms of behavior involving clothes are a consequence or the fact that those who are members of organized groups have relative security as contrasted with that anomie so characteristic of the members of the middle strata of American society. Although the data are too incomplete to justify any conclusive state ment, they indicate that a fruitful hypothesis might be stated as follows: The extent to which people are concerned with clothing is associated with their feelings of insecur ity rather than with their socio-economic statuses as such. If this hypothesis were substantiated, data would be avail able for the construction of a scale on attitudes regarding clothing, thereby providing an indirect measure of feelings of insecurity. An approach to personality assessment such as this might prove more valid than the direct questions used in many adjustment inventories constructed by 282 psychologi The experiment in which types or clothing were asso ciated with changes in the attractiveness ratings ot the college men being judged has implications ror further research. With controlled experiments, it might be possible to discover the exact degree to which varieties or clothing are important under a number or varied social circumstances. Experimental data obtained in this way would provide mate rials for still another or the many predictive instruments needed for sociology to add to the body or known laws of social interaction. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY SELECTED BIBLIOGRAP HY The works listed below are t he most significant o~ those which have been used and cited i n this study. A. BOOKS AND BOOK-LENGTH MANUSCRIPTS Albig, William 1 Public Opinion. Company, l':139. New Y ork: McGraw-Hill Book Barnes] Harry Elmer, and Negley K. Teeters, New Horizons in Cr~minol9gy. New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1944. - Blumer, Herbert, "Collective Behavior," in An Outline .Q.t the Pr1nciples of Sociology, Robert Park , editor. New York: Barnes and Noble, Inc., 1939. Pp. 222-280. Bogardus, Emory s., Fundamentals .Q.t Social Psychology. New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, 1942. Br1tt 1 s. H., Social Psyc~q~ogy of Moder n Life. Nev, York: R1nehart and Company, Inc., 1949. Carr, Lowell Julliard, Delinguencx C ontrol . New York: Harper and Brothers, 1941. Chase, Stuart, in the f oreword to Theorx .Q.t the Leisure Class, by Thorstein Vebl en. N ew York: Modern Library, 1934. Chase, Stuart, The Traged~ .Qi W ast e. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1926. Clerget, Pierre, "The Economic and Social Role of Fashion," in Smithsonian Annual Report, 1913, pp. 755-765. Cole, Louella, Psycho~ogx of golescence. and Rinehart, 193. New York: Cooley, Charles! Human Nature~ t he Social Order. Charles Ser bner's Sons, 1922. Farrar llew York: Cowles May Louise, "Variations in Demand for Clothing at Dilferent Income Levels--A Study in the Behavior of the Consumer." Unpublished D octoral dissertation, The Uni versity of Chicago, Chicago, 1929. 285 Dawe, A. , and F. LePlay, 11 Forgeron Bulgare Des Usines A Fer De Sall}akowa (Turquie Centrale). In Les Ouvriers Europeans, Vol. II, 2nd ed., pp. 231-271. Paris, 1877. Davenport, Millia, Boo~ of Costume. 2 vols.; New York: Crown Publisher, 194'87 Davis, Kingsley, Human Society. New York: The Macmillan Company, 191+9. Dearborn, G., "The Psychology of Clothing," Psycl1ological Review Mqnographs, 26:No. 112, 1918-1919. Dickens 1 Charles, M:artin Ch~zzle\o{it. 4 vols.; New York: Sheldon and Company, 18 2. Dollard, John, "Drinking Mores of the Social Classes, 11 in Alcohol, Science .sDS Society. New Haven: Yale Univer sity Press, 194;. Pp. 95-104. Flugel, J. c., The Psichologx of Clothes. London: The Hogarth Press, 1930. Fox , ltilton s., "Clothing and Personal Adornment as Expres sions of American Life," in 40th Yearbook .Q£ the Natiojj!l Societ~ for the Study .Q1: Education, 1941. Pp. 11 -119. Gerth , Hans H., and c. I/right Mills, From Max Weber: E~s~s in Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press, 194. Hearn , L., Japan, An Attempt at Interpreta~ioq. The Macmillan Company, 1904. New York: Hiller , E.T.~ Socigl Relations mg Structures. Harper and Brothers, 1947. New York: Hollingshead, August B., Elmtown' s Youth. Ne,1 York: John Wiley and Sons, 1949. Chapter 16. Horowitz, E. L., The Development .Q£ Attitudes toward the Negro. New York: Archives of Psychology, Columbia University , 1936. Howells, William Dean, Life in Letters. 2 vols.; New York: Doubleday, Doran and Company, 1928. Hurlock, E. B., Motivation in Fashion. New York: Archives Psycholog, Columbia University, 1929. 286 Kinsey, Alfred, et al. , Se;uaJ, B~ha vio~ !n the Human Mal:,e. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Company, 1948. Chapter 10. Kluckhohn, Clyde 2 11 A Navaho Personal Document," in Personal 9harac~er ana Cultural ~lieq compiled by Douglas G. Haring. Syracuse: Syracuse bn1versity Press, 1949. Pp. 41+9-471. Leiffer, Murray H., Stanq 9 rqs .Ql Living in the Ministry. Methodist Episcopal Church Board of Pensions and Relier, Pension Program, 24th Year, No. 42, 1932, Pp. 17-24. , LePlay 1 F., and M. Daniloff, Les Ouvriers Europeans, Vol. II, 2na ed., PP• 99-141. _ Paris, 1877. , Lowie, Robert H., An Igtr<;>duction to Cultur 0 ~ Anthropology. New York: Rinehart and Company, 1940. Lundberg 1 George, Foundations of Sociologx. New York: The Macnu.llan Company, 1939. , Social Research. New York: Longmans, Green and --C-ompany, 1942. · Maciver, R. M ., The eb of Government. Macmillan Company, 1'947. ___ 1 and Charles H. Page, Society. anct Company, 1949. New York: The New York: Rinehart Marshall.1 Robert, Arctic YilJ.age. and Hobert Haas, 1933. New York: Harrison Smith Morris, Charles w., Si~ns, Languag~ and Behavior. Prentice-Hall, 194. New York: Murphy, G., and L.B. Murphy , Experimental Social Psrc~ologz. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1937. Neugarten, ernice L., "Family Social Position and the Social Development of the Child." Unpublished Doctoral disser tation, University of Chicago, Chicago, 1943. Newcomb, Theodore, Social Psychologi. New York: Dryden Press, 1950. Noss, John B., ~ Religions. Company, 19~ New York: The Macmillan 287 Nystrom, Paul H., Ecoqomics of Fashion. New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1928. Oxford English Di~tionarr, Vol. II. Oxford, England : Oxford University Press, 1933. Parsons, Frank A., The Pslchology .Q!: Dress . New York: Doubleday, Page and Company, 1920. Pearson, Karl, The Grammar.of Science. London: J.M. Dent and Sons Ltd., 1892 and 1937. Roucek, Josephs., editor, Social Contra~. New York: D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc., 1947. Saint-Leger, A. De, and F. 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Centers, Richard, "Nominal Variation and Class Identifica tion: The Jerking and the Laboring Classes," Journal of Abnormal and §ocial Psychology, 45:195-215, April, 19,0. '{!onsumers Price Index 1 ° Monthly Labor Review, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 71:53~, October, 19~0. Cotte, N. , "J'.1enusisier-Charpentier (Ned jar) De Tangier!'' in Les Ouvriers des Deux-Mondes·, 2:105-144 (first ser es), February, 1858. Dalton, 1'1elville, "Conflicts between taff and Line ~fanager ial Officers,n American Sociological Review, 15:342-351, June, 1950. Day, D. D. 1 and o. F. Quackenbush, "Relation between War Attitudes and Opinions 1 n Sociology and Social Research, 25:19-27, September, 1~40. , DeGRE, Gerard, "Ideology and Class Consciousness in the Middle Class,• Social Forces, 29:173-179, December, 1950. Devereau, George, and Florence R. Jeiner, "The Occupational Status of Nurses," American Sociological Review, 15:628- 634, October, 1950. Dix, Dorothy, Chicago Sug-Times, July 12, 1950. Embree, John R., "Thailand--A Loosely Structured Social System," America.Jl Anthropologist, 52:181-193, April-June, 1950. 290 Fitzsimmons, G •• , and • L. Perkins, "Some Illinois Cloth ing Consumption Patterns," Journal !JI_ Home conomics, 39:495-7, October, 1947. Gaudet, Hazel, "The Favorite Radio Program, 11 Journal !JI_ ApRlied Psycpology, 23:~15-26, February, 1939. Geoffroy, Auguste, "Bordier (Fellah) Berbere De La Grande Kabylie (Province D'Alger)," Les 0uvriers des Dawe Mond~ 2:52-92 (second series), January, 1890. Goldhamer, Herbert, and Ed,.rard A. Shils, *'Types of Power and Status, 11 American Journal of Sociology, 1+5:171-82, September, 1939. Gordon, !lilt on M., "Social Class in American Sociology," American Journal !JI_ Sociolog¥, 55:262-8, November, 1949. Hartmann, G •• , "Clothing: Personal Problem and Social Issue, 11 Journal .Q! Home Economics, 41:295-8, June, 1949. Hatt, Paul K., "Stratification in the Mass Society" American Sociological Review, 15:216-222, Aprii, 1950. Hughes, Everett c., book review of w. E. Noland and E.W. Bakke, Workers Wanted (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1949), American Sociological Review, 15:595, May, 1950. Huxley, Aldous, "Notes on Propaganda," Harpers }1agazine, 174:32-41, December, 1936. Ind~ar.pob~s (Indiana) Star, September 10, 1950 and November 2, 19 o. The Indianapolis (Indiana) Times, December 26, 1950 and June 10, 1950, and August 21, 1950. Jensen, M. B., and M. N. R. Jensen, "Instruction in Personal Grooming," Journal !JI_ Home Economics, 24: 703-705, August, 1932. Jones, D. Caradog, 0 The Cost of Living of a Sam ple of Middle Class F'amilies," Journal of the Royal Statistical s,ocietx, 91:325-35, July, 1928: Kephart, \>l1111am • , "Status after Death," American Sociolog ical Review, 15:635-643, December, 1950. 291 Kluckhohn, Flor nee Rock.wood, "Dominant and Substitute Pro files of Cultural Orientations: Their Significance for Analysis of Social Stratification," Social Forces, 28: 376-393, May, 1950. Kohrs, Karl, "How to Look Better--for Less," Parade Magazine, pp. 12-13, July 16, 1950. Life, 29:26-28, December 4, 1950. Locke 1 Harvey J.I and Helen P. Beem, st A Continuum of Scien t1fic Reliab lity: Illustrated by Some Principles of Informal Group Behavior" Research Studies of the State Colleg~ _Q!: Washington, 18:112-116, September, 1950. Lundberg, George, 11 Human Values--A Research Program, 11 Research Studies _Q!: the State College .Q!: Washington, 18: 164-111, September, 1950. -~-' "The Measurement of Socio-Economic Status, u American Sociological Review, 5:29-39, February, 194o. Lynes 1 Russel, "The New Snobbism," Harper's Magazine, 201:>+o- 50, November, 1950. Macauley, E., "Some Notes on the Attitude of Children to Dress," British Journal _Q!: Medical. Psychology, 9:150-158, February, 1929. "Man with An Idea--Can Clothes Be Medicine(" Parade Maga zine, August 27, 1950, p. 8. McQuire, Carson, "Social Stratification and Mobility Patterns 1 " J\,merican Sociplogical Review, 15:195-204, April, 1':150. Morton, G. M., 11 A Basis for Self-Expression Through the Arts of Personal Appearance , 0 Journal of Home Economics, 29: 232-234, pril, 1937. New York Times Magazin~, D ecember 17, 1950, p. 6. 11 osaka, Japan n Monthly Labor Review , Bureau of Labor Statis tics, 13:~00-802, November, 1921. Perrin, F. A. c., uphJ•sical Attractiveness and Repulsiveness,u Journal of Experime11t" al Psychology, 4 : 203-217, March, 1921. 292 Pfautz, Harold, and Otis Dudley Duncan, "A Critical Evalua tion of Warner's Work in Community Stratification 11 American Sociological Review, 15:205-215, April, 1950. Philips, Major Toma R., "Leader and Led," in the rnrentry Journal R,e~der. Washington: Ini'antry Journal, 19 3. Pp. 289-30. Pringle, Henry F.~ "High Hat, 11 Scribner's Maga~ine, 104:19- 25, July, 193~. Rice, Stuart A., "The Political Vote as a Frequency Distribu tion," Journa.l. .Q,[_ the American Statistical Association, 19:70-75, January, 1924. Rubin, Marcus, "Consommation De Familles D'Ouvriers Danois, 11 Bulletin or the ~nterr.ationa~ Institute or Statistics, Budapest, 13:21- o, January, 1903. Selznick, Philip, 11 Institutional Vulnerability in Mass Society,u Americap Journal or Sociology, 56:320-331, January, 1951. Simmel, Georg, "Fashion," International Quarterlx, 10:130-55, October, 1904. Stafford, Burt Lanier, III, un1scrimination against the Visibly F.andicapped Viewed in Terms of Minority Group Treatment, n (Colwnbia Research Studies, 1950). "Standard of Living among Jvliddle-Class Indian Families in Bombay, 11 Monthly Labor R,eview, Bureau of Labor Statis tics, 21:65-67, July, 1925. Symonds, P. M., "Sex Differences in Life Problems and Inter ests of dolescents, 11 School and §.Qcietx;, 43:751-52, October, 1936. Thorndike, E. 1., "Science and Values,u Science, 83:1-8, January, 193b. T. R. B., "Washington ire," New Rep1=1_blic, March 2, June 12, and July 10, 1950. Tully, Andrew, "Potomac Patter, 11 The Indianapolis Times, November 19, 1950. 293 Weinberg, s. Kirson, 11 A Sociological Analysis of a Schizo phrenic Type, 11 American Sociological Review, 15:600-610, October, 1950. · Wharton, Don, "How Female Is Your Husband ,u 1-4cCall's 78:l+B, January, 1951. C. GOVERNMENT PUBLIC T IONS Family Clothing Inventories~ Income, Preliminary Report No. 1. lashington: United States Department of Agricul ture, Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics, June, 1950. amjly Clothing Purchases~ Income, Preliminary Report No. 2. Washington: United ~tates Department of Agricul ture, Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics, June, 1950. Family Expenditure.§., Miscellaneous Publication 396. ashington: United States Department of AgricUlture, 19l+o. Family Expenditures for Clothing, Farm Series , Miscellaneous Publication 428. Washington: United States Department of Agriculture, 1941. Family Expendi ture,s f o:r_ .QJ,othi~ , Urban and Village Series, Miscellaneous Publi~ation 22. ·ashington: United States Department of griculture, 1941. How Families Use Their Income, Miscellaneous Publication 653. Washington: United States Department of Agriculture , n.d. Income SupBlement lg Survei of Current Business. lashington: United States Department of Commerce, July, 1947. Kirkpatrick, Ellis L., and J. T. Saunders, "The Relation between the Ability to Pay and the Standard of Living among Farmers," United States Department of Agriculture Bulletin 1382, 1926. en's Preferences amon~ Se acted Clothin Items, Miscellane ous Publication 70. rashington: United States Depart ment of Agriculture December, 1949. 294 Men's Preferences among Wooi Suits, Coats, and Jackets, Preliminary Summary Report. Washington: United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Agricultural Economics, November, 1950. · Pennock 1 Jean L., and Elizabeth L. Speer, Change in Rurai Family lncome and Spendi;n.g in Tennessee--1943-!2±, Miscellaneous Publication 6b0. Washington: United States Department of Agriculture, March, 1949. Rankin, J. o., "The Cost of Clothing the Nebraska Farm Famill~" Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Stat;ion Bulle tin 2~~, Lincoln, 1930. D. INDUSTRY PUBLIC T IONS "The Customer Confesses , n A Report on the 1947 Consumer Survey 0£ the Men's Shirt Market for Cluett, Peabody and Company, Inc., 10 East 4oth Street, New York 16, New York. "5th Annual Business Shirt Survey 1 ° Men's ear, Fairchild Publications, October 13, 195u, pp. 66-71. 11 Fits and M isfits," by Hart Schaffner and Marx (n.d.). "14th Annual Summer Clothing Survey of Men's Wear M agazine," Men's~, Fairchild Publications, September 22, 1950, pp. 82-=wT: Men's ear, A Survey of the Collier's 4arket, June 1949. Copyrigl1t, The Crowell-C llier Publishing Company, 191,.9. Report to the National Men's and Boxs' Apnar~~ Committee, mimeographed. New York: Robbins, B rber and Baar, 270 adison venue, New York 16, NAw York (n.d.). Rieman, L. Neville, The Men's suit Industrx. Boston: Bellman Publishing Company , Inc., 1947. Rieman, L •• , "The Upjohn Salesman and His Clothes," reprint by Hart, Schaffner and Marx (n.d.). Soltan, Frank, "Body, Model Charts Dev loped for Better ... it ting," Dail~ ews Record ( wholesale and retail mer chandislng publication, 8 E. 13th Street, Iiew York 3, 295 New York), N ovember 18, 1949. The Storl .Q! Shirts~ Manhattan. l'lew York: The Manhattan Shirt Com pany, 1949. Successful Sales~en, Fall and Winter 1949. Chicago: B. K uppenheimer and Company, Inc., 1949. Success(ul Salesmen, Fall and Winter 1950. Chicago: B. Kuppenheiroer and Company, Inc., 1950. Successful Salesmen, Spring and Summer 1950. Chicago: B. X uppenheimer and Company, Inc., 1950. "Tailored by Daroff," pamphlet. Copyright, 1948. H. Daro!'! and Sons, Inc., 23rd and Walnut Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. APPENDIX SAMPLE OF CARD USED FOR EXPERIMENT INVOLVING JUDGMENTS OF MEN KNOWN TO JUDGES (sex) (race) -- -(birthdat-eY-(tjpe~ot -area in- -{father's (average annual which reared) occupation) _ tamil_y income) 1. Best look1,ng-------------------------------------: 2. Girls-Most like to date-------~------------------: Boys-Most like to double date with---------------: 3. If in class, would vote for for class president--: 4. Personality--------------------------------------: 5. Most likely to be success a.£ter college----------: 6. Intelligence-------------------------------------: Categories explained on the next page. I\) '° ~ EXPLANATIONS USED TO DESCRIBE CATEGORIES ON CARDS (Sample on Preceding Page) 1. Best looking--"Put the number or the man you think "best looking" or handsomest, first; put the number of the man you think next best looking next, and so on until you have the numbers or four or the thirteen men. 11 2. Dating--"Girls--put first the number of the man you'd most like to date, second the nwnber of the man you'd next most like to date, etc." "Boys- put first the number of the fellow you'd most like to double date with, etc." 3. Class president--"If all these men were in your own college class, put first the number of the fellow you'd most like to see as your class presi dent, second the number of the fellow you'd like next, etc., until you have the numbers of four fellows again." 4. Personality-- 11 Put first the number of the fellow you think has the most attractive personal ity. Then write the number of the fellow who has the next most attractive personality, etc., until you have four numbers." ,. Most likely to succeed after college-- 11 You know that college graduating classes usually vote for the man they think will be most successful and happy in his business and social life. For this category put first the number or the man you think is most likely to succeed after college; then put the number of the man you think next most likely to succeed, etc. , until you have four numbers again." 6. Intelligence-- 11 Put first the number or the man you think is most intelligent, then the number of the man you think is the second most intelligent, etc." 298 No., No. 1 No.10 PICTURE USED FOR FIRST TEST INVOLVING JUDGMENTS OF MEN UNKNOWN TO THE JUDGES AT MICHIGAN STATE AND AT INDIAll~ CENI'RAL COLLEGE 299 IOTtt OUTFITS ALONE /ITH THEIR RELATIVE RA , JUDG D IN TERMS OF 11 APPROPRLI\TENESS FOR COLLEGE !-'IE , 1 ACCORDING TO TE I~ID~PENDENT JUDGES (Picture reduced from size used in experiment) 300 QUESTIONNAIRE USED IN EXPERIMENT WHERE MEN JUDGED WERE UNKNOWN TO JUDGES 301 THIS IS A SCIEN.rIFIC STUDY OF A TYPE OF SOCIAL RATINGS. YOUR C.A.REFUL COOPERATION W LL BE APPRECIATED. REMEMBER-- THIS QUESTIONNAIRE IS STRICTLY AI~ONYMOUS. NO ONE WILL KNOW WHAT YOU ANSWER. PLEASE TRY TO ilISWER rr AS THO'UGHTFULLY AND HONESTLY AS YOU CAN. Directigps: You have been given the pictures of ten young men about to enter college~ Imagine that they are potential candidates for your favorite campus society. Imagine further that their pictures, taken during registration, are being presented to you for your preliminary rating as to their desirability for membership in your group. Rate each picture on four characteristics in the appropriate spaces provided below and on the pages that follow. Notice that to the right of each of the four characteristics listed under each of the ten numbers below, there is a scale or line. The ends of the scales represent the extremes of the characteristic they accompany. IQ make your ratings on each characteristic, simply place a mark some,n1ere along each line to indicate your judgment, relative t o the extremes, of the picture in question. Please be sure to rate each picture on all four characteristics. 1. (J\1y judgments on picture umber 1): Attractiveness- Intelligence- Capabili y- Cooperativeness Appears very attractive Appears very unattractive .__ __________________ / Appears very intelligent Appears very unintelligent ____________________ ! Appears very capable ppears very cooperative Appears very incapable Appears very uncooperative 302 QUESTIONNAIBE (Continued) 2. (My judgments on picture Number 2): Appears very Appears very attractive una ttra.cti ve Attractiveness- I Appears very Appears very intelligent unintelligent Intelligence- I Appears very Appears very capable incapable Capability- L Appears very Appears very cooperative uncooperative Cooperativeness- 3. (My judgments on picture Number 3): Appears very Appears very attractive unattractive . Attracti ver1es - Appears very Appears very intelligent unintelligent Intelligence- I Appears very Appears very capable incapable Capability- Appears very Appears very cooperative uncooperative Cooperativeness- I 303 QUESTIONNAffiE (Continued) 4. (My judgments on picture Number 4): Appears very Appears very attractive unattractive Attractiveness- Appears very Appears very intelligent unintelligent Intelligence- Appears very Appears very capable incapable Capability- Appears very Appears very cooperative uncooperative Cooperativeness- 5. (Jv!y judgments on picture Number 5): Appears very Appears very attractive unattractive Attractiveness- Appears very Appears very intelligent unintelligPnt Intelligence- I Appears very Appears very capable incapable Capability- I Appears very Appears very cooperative uncooperative Cooperativeness- L 301+ QUESTIONMAIRE (Continued) 6. (My judgments on picture Number 6): Appears very Appears very attractive unattractive Attractiveness- I Appea.;.. 11 S very Appears very intelligent unintelligent Intelligence- I Appears very Appears very capable incapable Capability- I Appears very Appears very cooperative uncooperative Cooperativeness- 7. (My judgments on picture Number 7): Appears very Appears very attractive unattractive Attractiveness- Appears very Appears very intelligent unintelligent Intelligence- Appears very Appears very capable incapable Capability- L Appears very Appears very cooperative uncooperative Cooperativeness- 305 QUESTIONNAIRE (Continued) a. (My judgments on picture Number 8): Appears very Appears very attractive unattractive Attractiveness- Appears very Appears very intelligent unintelligent Intelligence- I Appears very Appears very capable incapable Capability- L I Appears very Appears very cooperative uncooperative Cooperativeness- 9. (My judgments on picture Number 9): Appears very Appears very attractive unattractive Attractiveness- Appears very Appears very intelli ant unintelligent Intelligence- I Appears very Appears very capable incapable Capability- Appears very Appears very cooperative uncooperative Cooperativeness- I QUESTIONNAIRE (Continued) 10. (My judgments on picture Number 10): Appears very attractive Attractiveness- Appears very intelligent Intelligence- Appears very capable Capability- Appears very cooperative Cooperativeness- L 306 Appears very unattractive Appears very unintelligent Appears very incapable Appears very uncooperative (Note: You probably do not know any of the men whose pic tures you have rated. If by chance you are personally acquainted with any of the men, please write that fact on your questionnaire, giving the number of the picture con cerned.) (Continued on the next page) 307 QUESTIONNAIRE (Continued) AS SOON AS YOU HA VE FILLED IN THIS PAG~J. YOU ARE THROUGH WITH THE QUESTIONNAIBE. THE INFORMATION AS~D FOR BELO\'/ IS NEEDED IN ANY STUDY OF OPINIONS IN ORDER THAT VALID COMPARISONS MAY BE MADE BETWEEN GROUPS. THEREFORE, PLEASE AliSWER EACH QUES- T ION CAREFULLY. PLEASE DO NOT Ptrr YOUR NAME ANY' PLACE ON THIS QUESTION@llRE IN ORDER THAT IT WILL REMAIN ANOl{YMOUS • • l. 2. 4. 6. 8. Age: ..,.{_N-ea_r_ . e_s_t_b_i_r_th_d_a_y .... )-· Sex (check one): male -- :female - Race (check one) : __ Negro __ Oriental __ White __ Other In what country were you born? 10. Months of s. ervice in armed forces (check one): 11. _None _1v1ore than l2 Less than 12 - In general, what type or area did you grow up in? (check one): Rural - _Less than 2,500 _2,500-41999 _5,000-10,000 _More than 10,000 If born in u. s., what 12. state ? What has been the occupa tion of the major wage earner in the family in Marital status (check one): whi

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Creator Hoult, Thomas Ford (author)

Core Title Clothing as a factor in the social status rating of men

School College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Sociology

Degree Conferral Date 1951-08

Publication Date 08/01/1951

Defense Date 08/01/1951

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

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Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Vincent, Melvin J. (committee chair), McClanahan, Bessie A. (committee member), McDonogh, Edward C. (committee member), Neumeyer, Martin H. (committee member), Nordskog, John E. (committee member)

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