Classics Without All the Class discussion

I find it interesting how a lot of the expression of people in this novel involves their initial or day to day clothing choices. The reader will only know what the narrator observes about people, and a lot of what Iris observes in life is what people are wearing and how they are wearing the item. Does this make sense to anyone else, or am I way off in left field here?

Interesting. I didn't notice the fashion a great deal (except Winifred), but fashion's not really my thing. I did, however, notice many specific mentions of green: mostly, but not entirely, relating to clothes. It’s usually related to coldness, rather than jealousy, but other than that, I couldn't interpret the significance.

The recurring trope I noticed even more, was the way Iris' contemporary sections invariably opened with vivid descriptions of the seasons and weather.

I did notice the descriptions of the seasons, but assumed that, like the descriptions of clothes, they were just ways of setting the scene (or in the case of clothes, the year). This is probably simplistic of me and I should go back and have another look.

I wonder if there was any significance to the button factory? Buttons being insignificant, workaday little things that hold everything else together...

Emma, I don't think that's simplistic at all! And I hadn't even considered the importance of buttons - seemingly so insignificant, as you say, but this being Atwood, almost certainly symbolic.

Cecily wrote: "Interesting. I didn't notice the fashion a great deal (except Winifred), but fashion's not really my thing. I did, however, notice many specific mentions of green: mostly, but not entirely, relatin..."

Always the weather, yes, as well.

Yes, I noticed about the fashion a great deal as well, I think that it was also had to deal with classism mentioning the fashion. I feel as though the fashion represented where an individual was on the monetary social ladder.

Jeane wrote: " I feel as though the fashion represented where an individual was on the monetary social ladder."

And where you wanted to be seen to be on the social ladder (Winifred).

Cecily wrote: "Jeane wrote: " I feel as though the fashion represented where an individual was on the monetary social ladder."

And where you wanted to be seen to be on the social ladder (Winifred)."
I thought this as well. I wish I had remembered to bookmark one of the statements about Winifred. Perhaps I will find it later.

Just looking back at my review, I found this gem:

“A black dress, simply cut but voraciously elegant.”

(But I didn't not any specifically about Winifred and clothes.)

I agree that the descriptions of the clothing were a classification system for Iris of where people belonged, or as someone else stated, wanted to. They were evidence of their downward slide as a family as their wealth diminished when they were children, and another point was how their father even bade them to dress down a little bit so as not to seem so much more well off than their employees.