Chapter 31
Why We Follow Fashion Trends
Of the influence of custom and fashion upon our notions of beauty and deformity. There are other principles besides those already enumerated, which have a considerable influence upon the moral sentiments of mankind, and are the chief causes of the many irregular and discordant opinions which prevail in different ages and nations concerning what is blameable or praise-worthy. These principles are custom and faction, principles which extend their dominion over our judgments concerning beauty of every kind. When two objects have frequently been seen together, the imagination acquires a habit of passing easily from the one to the other. If…
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Now let's explore the literary elements.
Key Quotes & Analysis
"Those who have been accustomed to see things in a good taste, are more disgusted by whatever is clumsy or awkward."
Context: Opening movement where Smith frames the chapter's moral problem.
Smith grounds moral judgment in spectatorship rather than abstract decree. The line asks what a fair observer could enter in imagination before calling a passion proper.
In Today's Words:
When Smith writes that "Those who have been accustomed to see things in a good…," he is naming a habit most of us skip under pressure. Smith grounds moral judgment in spectatorship rather than abstract decree. The line asks what a fair observer could enter in imagination before calling a passion proper. In offices, families, and public debate, the people who judge well are usually the ones who slow down long enough.
"265Each of the five orders has its peculiar ornaments, which cannot be changed for any other, without giving offence to all those who know any thing of the rules of architecture."
Context: Middle section where sympathy and propriety are tested.
Here the argument tightens: sympathy is not automatic agreement but measured concord with circumstance. The sentence links inner feeling to social legibility.
In Today's Words:
When Smith writes that "265Each of the five orders has its peculiar ornaments,…," he is naming a habit most of us skip under pressure. Here the argument tightens: sympathy is not automatic agreement but measured concord with circumstance. The sentence links inner feeling to social legibility. Treat this as a discipline: simulate the circumstance, then judge the passion, instead of reacting to the display alone.
"Neither is it only over the productions of the arts, that custom and fashion exert their dominion."
Context: Later passage where the argument turns on spectator judgment.
This passage shows how communities train emotion by rewarding some expressions and mocking others. Smith treats that training as the hidden curriculum of virtue.
In Today's Words:
When Smith writes that "Neither is it only over the productions of the arts,…," he is naming a habit most of us skip under pressure. This passage shows how communities train emotion by rewarding some expressions and mocking others. Smith treats that training as the hidden curriculum of virtue. The practical move is to picture the other person's situation first, then decide whether their feeling fits the facts you can actually see.
"Some of the savage nations in North America tie four boards round the heads of their children, and thus squeeze them, while the 270bones are tender and gristly, into a form that is almost perfectly square."
Context: Closing movement where Smith states the social stakes.
In the closing arc, Smith converts observation into practical wisdom about how people actually gain or lose the sympathy of those around them.
In Today's Words:
When Smith writes that "Some of the savage nations in North America tie four…," he is naming a habit most of us skip under pressure. In the closing arc, Smith converts observation into practical wisdom about how people actually gain or lose the sympathy of those around them. In offices, families, and public debate, the people who judge well are usually the ones who slow down long enough to enter the scene.
Thematic Threads
Class
In This Chapter
Fashion and beauty standards flow downward from elite to masses, creating artificial hierarchies of taste
Development
Builds on earlier discussions of class markers, now showing how aesthetic judgment becomes a class performance
In Your Life:
You might find yourself preferring brands or styles simply because successful people in your field use them.
Identity
In This Chapter
What we think are personal aesthetic preferences are largely borrowed from our social environment
Development
Continues exploring how identity forms through social mirroring rather than independent choice
In Your Life:
Your sense of what looks 'right' on you probably comes from copying people you admire rather than genuine self-knowledge.
Social Expectations
In This Chapter
Beauty standards vary completely across cultures, proving their arbitrary nature
Development
Expands beyond behavioral expectations to show how even basic perceptions are socially constructed
In Your Life:
You might judge others' appearance or choices harshly when they're just following different cultural programming than yours.
Human Relationships
In This Chapter
We form connections partly based on shared aesthetic preferences that aren't actually personal
Development
Shows how relationships form around artificial commonalities rather than genuine compatibility
In Your Life:
You might feel closer to people who share your taste in music or style, not realizing you both copied it from the same sources.
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
This is not a test. Five prompts guide you through the chapter, from how it opens to how it closes, so you notice context and rhythm rather than facts to memorize. Sit with each question in your own words. When you see "One way to read it," treat it as a starting point, not the only answer.
- 1
How does Smith's opening discussion of sympathy frame the argument in 'Why We Follow Fashion Trends'?
analysis • surfaceOne way to read it
One reading is that he sets the spectator's imagination as the test of propriety. The opening line about 'Those who have been accustomed to see things in a good taste' signals that moral approval begins in shared feeling, not in detached rules.
- 2
What middle development turns on the claim that '265Each of the five orders has its peculiar ornaments, which cannot be changed for'?
analysis • mediumOne way to read it
Smith is tracing how spectators move from observation to judgment. The middle section shows that we approve passions when we can keep time with them and condemn them when imaginative substitution fails.
- 3
When have you seen a group misjudge someone's emotions because they could not simulate that person's situation?
application • mediumOne way to read it
Personal answer. The chapter suggests many 'overreactions' are proportion judgments made with incomplete imagination. Managers, clinicians, and family members often err by measuring others on their own emotional scale.
- 4
Near the close Smith stresses that 'Some of the savage nations in North America tie four boards round the heads'. What social cost follows when spectators refuse that insight?
application • deepOne way to read it
Relationships fracture when people feel unseen in their passions. Smith warns that moral communities depend on shareable feeling; when sympathy fails, isolation and resentment replace trust even if no formal rule was broken.
- 5
After 'Why We Follow Fashion Trends', what habit would you change in how quickly you call another person's feeling unreasonable?
reflection • deepOne way to read it
A strong takeaway is to separate 'I would not feel that' from 'they should not feel that.' Smith pushes readers to treat failed sympathy as an imagination problem first, which can slow harsh judgment without excusing harm.
Critical Thinking Exercise
Trace Your Taste Influences
Pick one area where you have strong preferences - music, clothes, home decor, or food. Write down your top 3 favorites in that category. Then trace backward: where did each preference come from? Who did you first see choosing this? What was their status in your life at the time? Be honest about whether you developed these tastes independently or absorbed them from someone you wanted to be like.
Consider:
- •Don't judge yourself for having absorbed preferences - everyone does this
- •Notice patterns in whose taste you tend to copy across different areas
- •Consider whether your current influences are people whose judgment you actually respect
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you realized your taste had changed not because you genuinely preferred something new, but because you were unconsciously copying someone with higher status. How did this recognition change your relationship to that preference?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 32: When Society Shapes Your Moral Compass
Smith now turns from aesthetic judgments to something more serious: how custom and fashion shape our moral beliefs about right and wrong. If cultural habits can make us see beauty in bound feet or square-shaped heads, what does this mean for our sense of justice and virtue?
