>But, for early modern people, fashion was just as connected to identity. Most could not afford to change their clothes often, but their outfits became part of

>But, for early modern people, fashion was just as connected to identity. Most could not afford to change their clothes often, but their outfits became part of how they were seen and how they saw themselves. i remember a mid-80ies article in a USSR magazine discussing pros and cons of Western jeans for 180 roubles (a monthly salary of an engineer, and for many people who could get a flashy Western piece of clothing it was a part of their identity) vs. USSR made jeans for 30 roubles - the main point was that the former can be worn for 5 years and still look better during all that time than the USSR made that one would have to buy new every year due to their low quality (yep, such supposedly unpatriotic things sometimes made their way into mass media under the premises of healthy criticism and to show that criticism of some supposedly rare yet still existing issues of USSR economy is allowed).