The anthropology of dresses: Clothing industry analysis

Extract

[...] Due to the historical context of Ralph Lauren as a company, the key items which are sold in stores across the world have come to serve as important cultural signifiers. Dick Hebdige further explores these concepts of cultural signifiers in his book, Subculture: The Meaning of Style (1979). While Hebdige describes cultural signifiers in regard to subcultures, Rugby Ralph Lauren has developed itself as the measure of normality and therefore the status quo. The clothing that is sold has been defined as the clothing to dress middle to upper class, white America. [...]

[...] Finally, displays are the most intricate of all presentations, except for the windows. Displays are featured in select glass compartments of vintage wooden tables which are also utilized as latrines for folding. They are also in conjunction with the over-all lifestyle of the room and line and can be considered more intricate versions of select uppers. As they are held behind glass compartments, usually fastened securely with lock and key, displays involve high-end pieces of merchandise and incorporate many of the vintage pieces, such as records and sports memorabilia, which are available from the store's creative corner in the stock-room. [...]

[...] In the formulation of the sovereign state peaceful society ruled under an unquestionable, forever just authority/monarchy), each individual in the community is protected from the of every man against every man”(Pt Ch. 13). For in the state of nature, notions of right and wrong, justice and injustice have there no place. Where there is no common power, there is no law, no injustice. Force, and fraud, are in war the cardinal virtues” (Pt Ch. 13). On the other hand, to follow in the tradition of Kropotkin would be to believe that it is the natural inclination of human beings to aid the weak and lean towards the preservation not only of the self, but also of the other. [...]

[...] In the establishment of these items of clothing as normal, this immediately establishes the people that wear these items as normal. Therefore, anyone who does not participate in this style of dress through the consumption of Ralph Lauren clothing items is outside of the norm and in turn, something other” is defined by a negative; that which is not known. That is to say, that which you are not. As in other groups of animals, it is instinctual and enforced by society, to fear and be wary of that which one does not know. [...]

[...] Sales associates and managers also play important roles in the over-all furnishing of the store as they are central for providing live examples and references for the clothing featured each line. Rugby Ralph Lauren store locations are chosen in accordance with nearby colleges, making the primary demographic of sales associates college-aged. This varies in New York City, where there is a more diverse age-range from sixteen to thirty-six. However, sixteen year olds are an exception at the New York City branch and the primary age range is nineteen to twenty six, as sales associates are responsible for high-price merchandise in large quantities for long periods of time without direct supervision from above management. [...]