The Fashion System
"Barthes's treatment of fashion in The Fashion System is his most  elaborate attempt to reveal the little worlds of meaning enclosed in each nuance  of social life. . . . In a magisterial effort that has been superbly translated  by Matthew Ward and Richard Howard, Barthes certainly draws our attention to  some fascinating aspects of fashion. . . . One is able to hear the voice of a  sensitive and sensible critic who was alive to the symbolic vitality of the  world."  --Flint Schier, New York Times Book Review