Tweed suits, penny loafers: who said philosophers were out of touch? In episode 81 of Overthink, Ellie and David talk everything from Shein to Ferragamo, from high school lunchbox trends to Machiavelli’s nightgowns. As they chart the history of clothing, and the shift from functional Egyptian togas to extravagant medieval breeches, they investigate the refrain that clothes reveal the wearer’s personality. They ask, where does being timely turn into being classist? What does our sense for what’s hip tell us about perception? And, how do we square our drive for style with the injustices of consumption?

Works Discussed

Thomas Carlyle, Sartor Resartus
Gwenda-lin Grewal, Fashion | Sense: On Philosophy and Fashion
Tansy E. Hoskins, The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion
Gilles Lipovetsky, The Empire of Fashion
Georg Simmel, “Fashion”
Iris Marion Young, Responsibility and Global Labor Justice
Amie Zimmer, Mere Appearance: Redressing the History of Philosophy
Funny Face (1957) with Audrey Hepburn
The White Lotus, Season 2

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