The article tries to link the history of the book O espírito das roupas reception to fragments of the author’s trajectory. Gilda de Mello e Souza, when coming from fiction to essay, has produced one of the most innovative analyses on fashion, interpreting it as a symbolic language that creates plasticity and expression to diffuse ideas and feelings. This work goes beyond the point of seeing fashion solely as a means of social belonging and distinction. Thus the book, written more than half a century ago, keeps nowadays its vigor.
Gilda de Mello e Souza; Fashion; Gender; Social Distinction; Essay of Esthetic Sociology