Negotiating Clothing Identities on the Sales Floor

How do salespeople negotiate “clothing identities” with customers? To answer this question, I conducted fieldwork in the women's departments of several luxury goods stores in Paris that sell ready‐to‐wear clothes. In this negotiating context of personalized service, lower‐status individuals (salespersons) propose new identities to higher‐status consumers. This comparison of how saleswomen and gay salesmen negotiate clothing identities with women customers examines both their identification with the customers and the role‐playing involved. The sales area as a “backstage” permits the “expertise” of the sales staff to mitigate the status differences and gives gay male sales staff latitude in their interactions with female clients. Through a construction of clothing identity from articles from the store, saleswomen present an image of possibilities to customers. Playing the role of personal audience, gay salesmen use their ambiguous gender identity to sell clothing.