Meanwhile, classics are “timeless” choices with historical associations stronger than contemporary associations. The little black dress, the Chuck Taylor sneaker, and blue jeans have achieved a “permanent value”—“you can’t go wrong”—despite the fact that many people with lower status have adopted these same items. Button-down shirts endure because memories of Miles Davis and JFK wearing them override the negative status value of modern-day suburbanites in identical garments. Most classic clothing comes to us from hobbies of the affluent: boater hats, deerstalker caps, Norfolk jackets, and
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