Dress Code: Unlocking Fashion from the New Look to Millennial Pink

by Véronique Hyland

Overview

A New Yorker Magazine Best Book of 2022 * An Esquire Best Nonfiction Book of 2022 * A Town & Country Must-Read Book of 2022 * A Fashionista Summer Read

“Smart, funny, and impressively thorough.”—The Cut

In the spirit of works by Jia Tolentino and Anne Helen Peterson, a smart and incisive essay collection centered on the fashion industry—its history, its importance, why we wear what we wear, and why it matters—from Elle Magazine’s fashion features director.

Why does fashion hold so much power over us? Most of us care about how we dress and how we present ourselves. Style offers clues about everything from class to which in-group we belong to. Bad Feminist for fashion, Dress Code takes aim at the institutions within the fashion industry while reminding us of the importance of dress and what it means for self-presentation. Everything—from societal changes to the progress (or lack thereof) of women’s rights to the hidden motivations behind what we choose to wear to align ourselves with a particular social group—can be tracked through clothing. 

Veronique Hyland examines thought-provoking questions such as: Why has the “French girl” persisted as our most undying archetype? What does “dressing for yourself” really mean for a woman? How should a female politician dress? Will gender-differentiated fashion go forever out of style? How has social media affected and warped our sense of self-presentation, and how are we styling ourselves expressly for it?

Not everyone participates in painting, literature, or film. But there is no “opting out” of fashion. And yet, fashion is still seen as superficial and trivial, and only the finest of couture is considered as art. Hyland argues that fashion is a key that unlocks questions of power, sexuality, and class, taps into history, and sends signals to the world around us. Clothes means something—even if you’re “just” wearing jeans and a T-shirt.  

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063050839
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/15/2022
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	436,569
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Véronique Hyland is ELLE’s fashion features director. Her work has previously appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, W, New York magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, and Condé Nast Traveler.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

Part I Underpinnings: Why We Wear What We Wear 1

Chapter 1 Think Pink 3

Chapter 2 The Kids Are Alright 19

Chapter 3 The "French Girl" Industrial Complex 35

Chapter 4 Patagonia on Bedford Avenue 45

Chapter 5 Caviar on a Potato Chip 57

Part II The Top Layer: Fashion and the Wider World 75

Chapter 6 Déjà Hue 77

Chapter 7 Who Is She? 95

Chapter 8 Why Can't I Be You? 107

Chapter 9 Trial by Fashion 127

Part III High Heels: Dressing Up for the Patriarchy 145

Chapter 10 Gaze of Our lives 147

Chapter 11 The Revolution Will Be Spandex-Clad 167

Chapter 12 Politics and Fashion: We Can't Win 183

Part IV Moon Boots and Jumpsuits: The Future of Fashion 201

Chapter 13 Dress for the Job You Want: The Tyranny of the Uniform 203

Chapter 14 Basic Instinct: Why We're All Starting to Dress the Same 223

Chapter 15 The Couture Body 237

Epilogue 261

Acknowledgments 265

Further Reading 267

Editorial Reviews

Controlling what you wear is a proxy for controlling what you do,” Hyland writes in this examination not only of fashion but also of sartorial life more generally. Hyland finds meaning in what we wear, whether in the nineteenth-century vogue for bloomers or in courtroom attire, which is chosen to convey its wearer’s respectability.” — New Yorker

“Smart, funny, and impressively thorough.” — The Cut

“Whether you realize it or not, every outfit you choose makes a statement, telling the world who you are and who you want to be. With a rich sense of history and firm grasp on the current culture, Véronique Hyland is your fashion trend translator. Her debut essay collection—wry, thoughtful, and always provocative—is a must read for anyone who cares about clothes…which is to say, everyone.” — Nina Garcia, ELLE Editor-in-Chief and Project Runway judge

“This riveting, mind-expanding book made me see the world differently. I'll be thinking about Hyland's funny, incisive observations for years to come — she has a way of putting things that makes the world snap into focus with its colors slightly sharper and brighter. You will not be able to stop talking about the things you learn from this book!” — Emily Gould, author of Friendship and Perfect Tunes

"Anyone who opts in to wearing clothes (and even those who opt out) should pay attention to this book." — Library Journal (starred review)

"Véronique Hyland's tremendous essay collection is for fashionistas who like their frock talk served with politics." — Shelf Awareness, starred review

From the Publisher

This riveting, mind-expanding book made me see the world differently. I'll be thinking about Hyland's funny, incisive observations for years to come — she has a way of putting things that makes the world snap into focus with its colors slightly sharper and brighter. You will not be able to stop talking about the things you learn from this book!

Emily Gould

"Véronique Hyland's tremendous essay collection is for fashionistas who like their frock talk served with politics."

Shelf Awareness

“Whether you realize it or not, every outfit you choose makes a statement, telling the world who you are and who you want to be. With a rich sense of history and firm grasp on the current culture, Véronique Hyland is your fashion trend translator. Her debut essay collection—wry, thoughtful, and always provocative—is a must read for anyone who cares about clothes…which is to say, everyone.

Nina Garcia

★ 01/01/2022

"Clothes make the person" is perhaps not a statement one usually associates with feminist politics but a concept that fascinates and perplexes feminist historians and gender theorists while also often frustratingly seeming to trap women in a superficial set of standards related to the body. This book by Elle magazine fashion editor Hyland is a welcome addition to this conversation (preceded by the likes of Emily Robinovitch-Fox's Dressed for Freedom). Here Hyland powerfully argues that to dismiss fashion as something stereotypically feminine and ephemeral, would mean denying its dailiness and its iterative creation of individuals as they engage with the world. Hyland contends that such a dismissal reifies a binary opposition that privileges masculine values over feminine ones. She effectively unpacks why clothing is a political choice and carefully considers the particular scrutiny of the personal appearances of women of color. Calling up her previous research for blogs such as The Cut, along with analysis of primary sources, the author delves into cultural fascination with youth and beauty—a phenomenon that is accompanied by dissection and often criticism of the fashion choices and influences of teenage girls. VERDICT Anyone who opts in to wearing clothes (and even those who opt out) should pay attention to this book.—Emily Bowles

Library Journal