Both women's and men's elite looks are achieved by a process of rejection -of the current, the showy, the superfluous. Moderate-length hair, never dyed or tinted, which is a middle-class or high prole (short for proletariat) sign, as the practice of President Reagan indicates. They wear scarves -these instantly betoken class, because they are useless except as a caste mark. They wear superbly fitting dresses and expensive but always understated shoes and handbags, with very little jewelry. 'We don't have to go all the way with Raban to perceive that there is an elite look in this country. It is a little dated, but much still rings true, denoting that most features of class defy time and generation.

What tell-tale signs differentiate us along this ladder, from top to bottom? Here are a few of my favorite excerpts from this groundbreaking (and rather humorous) book. Fussell brought an erudition, a gift for readable prose, a willingness to offend and, as many critics noted, a whiff of snobbery to subjects like class, clothing, the dumbing down of American culture and the literature of travel.' He was unapologetic in his views and commentary, and completed a well-dissected analysis of the social classes within American society. As New York Times writer, Bruce Weber described it: ' Mr. In 1983, the departed literary writer, cultural historian and scholar, published his book, Class, A Guide Through the American Status System. Nearer the top, people perceive that taste, values, ideas, style, and behavior are indispensable criteria of class, regardless of money or occupation or education.' - Paul Fussell In the middle, people grant that money has something to do with it, but think education and the kind of work you do almost equally important.

'At the bottom, people tend to believe that class is defined by the amount of money you have.

Class book paul fussell