What are some examples of "fashion" in Much Ado about Nothing? Hi, I have to write an essay on the key theme of Fashion and clothes in Much Ado...

In Act III, scene iv of Much Ado About
Nothing, Hero and Maragaret have a conversation about
clothes:

MARGARET

Troth,
I think your other rabato were
better.

HERO

No,
pray thee, good Meg, I'll wear
this.

MARGARET

By
my troth, 's not so good; and I warrant your
cousin will
say
so.

HERO

My
cousin's a fool, and thou art another: I'll wear
none but
this.

MARGARET

I
like the new tire within excellently, if the hair
were a
thought browner; and your gown's a most rare
fashion, i'
faith. I saw the Duchess of Milan's
gown that they praise
so.

HERO

O,
that exceeds, they
say.

MARGARET

By
my troth, 's but a night-gown in respect of
yours: cloth o'
gold, and cuts, and laced with
silver, set with pearls,
down sleeves, side sleeves,
and skirts, round underborne
with a bluish tinsel:
but for a fine, quaint, graceful and
excellent
fashion, yours is worth ten on
't.

HERO

God
give me joy to wear it! for my heart is
exceeding
heavy.

MARGARET

'Twill
be heavier soon by the weight of a
man.

HERO

Fie
upon thee! art not ashamed?

A
"rabato" is a "collar," and a "tire" is a "headdress."  When Hero says, "that exceeds,
they say," she means that [the gown] "is amazing."  So, the conversation is but a filler
on fashion while Beatrice is fetched, but it reveals the class distinctions between
engaged upper-class Hero (who can afford expensive gowns and hair) and unmarried,
lower-class Margaret (whose nightgown is "quaint" by comparison).  Margaret ends the
conversation by making a dirty joke, so clothes are used to attract a husband as
well.

Earlier in the play, "masks" were the focal point of
the party.  During such masquerade balls, expensive and elaborate costumes were worn by
men and women as part of pagan revelry.  Here, Don Pedro woos Hero for Claudio, and
Benedick and Beatrice argue in disguise.  So, clothing is not only used to show one's
gender, status, and wealth, but also one's inner feelings and secret motivations.  Don
John, a bastard, for example, would most likely wear black to show his melancholy, while
Hero, a virgin, would wear white.  As an example, Beatrice says this of
Benedick:

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Very easily possible: he
wears his faith but as
the
fashion of his hat; it ever changes with
the
next
block.

Giving
outward clues of inward motivations is a kind of "pathetic fallacy" or an "objective
correlative."  What we see outside mirrors what one feels
inside.