Roland Barthes: Système de la mode (Editions du Seuil 1967). One exits in near comatose dejection from this mind jellying exercise whose only distinguishing mark is to take an inherently enjoyable subject and reduce it to impossible tedium.

Yes, the written and photographic representation of fashion is to condition the reader to the acceptance of a certain fantasy life as normative, and yes, the perpetual revolution of clothing styles is very much a part of this fantasy. The only problem is this hardly counts as a discovery. The analysis was unnecessary. The world of fashion would simply have told us, that is exactly what it is about.