Fashion and the four parts of the world : time, space and change in the early modern period

Abstract

In all probability [fashion] started in the families of the gentry, where the maidservants copied it, after which [it was] increasingly borrowed by their relatives until it made its way into the quarters of the neighborhood. The wealthy and powerful began by considering innovation to be something wonderful and went on to think surpassing their predecessors to be admirable. Those who managed to do so believed it not to be going to excess but prestigious; while those who failed to achieve this did not think it a cause for being at peace with themselves but for shame… Thus it has become an all but irreversible trend.