Cultural Pattern and Process: A Study of Stylistic Change in Women's Dress

Using time series analysis and systems theory it is possible to translate Kroeber's idea of a cultural configuration and its processual consequences into a less ambiguous model. By employing a mathematical formulation certain features of stylistic change in women's dress become evident: it is stochastic/probabilistic in nature and it is in stable equilibrium. The sequence of women's fashions through time would appear to arise from simultaneous operation of inertia, cultural continuity, a rule system of esthetic proportions, and an inherently unpredictable element.