Oh, William

Clothes are a crucial motif that tracks the social ascent of Catherine and Lucy. Fashionable clothing signifies middle-class status that enables these women to establish themselves as modern urbanites who have left behind their undesirable rural origins. Catherine especially is a preppy, immaculate dresser who has fine things like white embroidered nightgowns and white loafers. The color white, which easily shows dirt, is a symbol of Catherine’s leisured lifestyle and the fact that she has left manual labor in her past. While Catherine initially suggests to Lucy that she too will “live” in white loafers as she sees her daughter-in-law struggle with aspects of middle-class life, she concocts a transition wardrobe for Lucy, where she imagines that she is buying her things that are better than her original clothes, but not so fancy as to be intimidating. Similarly, Catherine gives Lucy her old nightgowns because while they are fine, they have already been used and are therefore not too much for her. Lucy likes the second-hand nightgowns and also favors thrift-store clothing for its unique style. However, Catherine, who has come from poverty, is sensitive to signifiers of deprivation in Lucy’s thrift store coat and so gives it away.