Barnard, M. (2007) 'A tale of inscription/fashion statements', London: Routledge, P161.
"The consumption communication thesis clearly requires that sociologists should demonstrate first that consumer goods possess symbolic as well as instrumental meanings, second that consumers have a common understanding of these meanings, and third that their consumption activities are guided by them. In other words to speak of the symbolic meaning carried by clothes is to presume the existence of a shared system of symbols; one known to the wearer and observer alike, and hence one that allows the acts of selecting and displaying certain itms of clothing to serve as a means of communication, such that a message is passed between the wearer and observer(s). "