Background:

The modern understanding of fashion can be traced to Thorsten Veblen's The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899) and Quentin Bell's On Human Finery (1948). Veblen introduced the notions of "conspicuous consumption" and "conspicuous leisure." Bell proposed that the principal engine of fashion comes from two social dispositions:

• emulate those to whose social station you wish to below
• distinguish yourself from those you wish to exclude from your social group

Analytic Approach:

A fashion sociologist might approach the analysis of a musical work as follows:

1. What elements of the music-making suggest conspicuous leisure or conspicuous consumption? (CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION)
   
   
2. What social group does this music-making seek to emulate? What are the distinguishing marks of this emulation? (EMULATION)
   
   
3. What social group does this music-making seek to exclude or avoid? What are the distinguishing marks of this exclusion? (EXCLUSION)

An optional evaluative component to fashion analysis would ask the following question:

4. Are the sociological markers indigenous to the music-makers or are they appropriated from a different group? (AUTHENTICITY)

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