April 2, 2025

Money, Fashion, and the Aesthetics of Class Politics

Money, Fashion, and the Aesthetics of Class Politics

From underconsumption to dressing like the 1%.

When I met Véronique Hyland, author of the bestselling book Dress Code about how fashion intersects with politics, gender, and class (and the person who coined the term ‘millennial pink’!), I wanted to talk to her about:


  • 👊🏼 The role of aesthetics in labor movement-building and persuasion campaigns, from tradwife influencers to union leaders
  • 🎽 Why one-size-fits-all flammable crop top brand Brandy Melville also sells literature about libertarian economic policy
  • 💰 What current income and consumption trends—like that almost 50% of all consumption is driven by the top 10% of earners—might portend for fashion trends like “underconsumption”
  • 🥂 And finally, how the time-honored fascination with mimicking “upper class” dress reveals the underlying assumption that the only way to have (or look like you have) a nice life, is to be rich


Transcripts, show notes, production credits, and more can be found at: https://moneywithkatie.com/fashion.


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