Learning About Fashion as a Means of Integration ?
Simmel’s text on fashion, describing the mechanisms of imitation and distinction, allows us to clarify the manner in which beneficiaries of this improved image adopt and incorporate a professional sophistication. Appearance is crucial in gaining access to the pool of desirable jobs. This presupposes a familiarity with the current fashion in economic milieus, particularly that of finance. Reworking a person’s image aims to make membership in a specific social group a choice, through providing access to a familiar and socially acceptable appearance. As long as appearance is perceived as a vector of social mobility, fashion becomes an issue, in the same way as a diploma. Through experience in an American charity that assists women in difficulty to improve their image to help them integrate into the professional milieu, this article focuses on the transmission of corporal codes through the adoption of a particular style of dress.