Как британцы определяют ваш класс по одежде

There's a paradoxical rule in Britain that no one will explain right away. The more expensively you dress, the lower your class. A new bag with a logo—minus a point. Heels in the daytime— minus another point. Perfect, bright makeup in a bad meeting—minus another point. And most importantly, no one will say anything to you, of course, but you can tell by their looks that something is wrong,

because the British generally don't make public comments; they do draw conclusions. I unraveled this clothing code quite slowly and painfully. And today I'll tell you everything I learned. Which stores do different social classes shop at? Who wears heavy luxury, like Chanel or MC, when going out to buy bread? When is it acceptable to dress up here, and when is it considered bad manners? The whole

world, when it comes to clothing and appearance, is divided into two types of cultures. The first type are demonstrative cultures. Here, clothing is a signal and a status symbol. You dress to be seen, appreciated, and understood . These include the Middle East, South Korea, Italy, Russia, Ukraine, and most Latin American countries. These countries place a strong emphasis on appearance—cars, clothing, and

home improvement styles. The second type is reserved cultures. Here, clothing is also a signal, but in the opposite direction. The less you try to appear rich, the higher up the social ladder your interlocutor ranks you. This applies, for example, to Britain, Scandinavia, some European countries, Germany, and the Netherlands. Here, displaying wealth is seen as weakness. It immediately reveals a person's need

to prove something to someone. To understand how this works, let's go shopping in London. Now we'll explore that very class map. We're on Oxford Street— the most democratic shopping street in London. Here you can find, essentially, all classes at once, from working class to upper-class. But everyone enters the doors of different stores. This is the Priyark, Greggs, or Aldi of clothing. By the way, I