From Costume to Indecency. Thematic Roles of Vestimentary Bad Manners

Abstract

This article explores the semiotic and cultural dynamics of "fashion miseducation" – clothing practices that purposely or unwittingly deviate from norms of taste, decency, and social propriety. The core theoretical contribution is a typology of four thematic roles (grossier, parvenu, social climber, and the sloppy persona), each defined by its specific relation to normative taste (good/bad), its degree of stylistic competence, and its intentionality (authenticity vs strategic performance). This framework is formalized as a semiotic mapping that organizes the interplay among authenticity, strategy, good taste, and bad taste. The article argues that fashion bad manners (rude or improper dress) are not simply a failure or error, but a mode of meaning-making: a negotiation of identity, social aspiration, subversion, and cultural capital. Whether instinctive, imitative, ironic or opportunistic, the infraction of dress norms becomes a tool through which individuals affirm personhood, class, subculture, or resistance.