Fashioning change : nationalism, colonialism, and modernity in Hong Kong

Few would disagree that a society’s material culture provides rich information about its political, symbolic and cultural economy. As exemplified by the works of anthropologists and archaeologists, a society’s social relations, mode of production, level of affluence, links with the global capitalist system, and above all, the subjective identity of the people themselves, can all be, to a greater or lesser extent, revealed through its material culture, of which dress and fashion are important components. Can we therefore say that the ways of dress and fashion are useful for distinguishing one society from another?