Stores sell blouses, people buy outfits.
Companies make products, people buy lifestyles.
Much more work is needed to understand consumers' cross-category associations and how knowledge of choices in one category can influence design and merchandising strategies in others. This approach entails a novel application of Bayesian statistics to consumer choice issues. Bayesian choices are not restricted to apparel categories. For example, decorating the body and the home have much in common. Both are fashion statements, and product selections are used to make important inferences about the purchaser s lifestyle and social standing.