'Putting on a Posh Voice'

Shaw, J (2010) 'Putting on a Posh Voice', Shopping: Social and Cultural Perspectives, Polity: Cambridge, pp 109-124
Shoppers memories of both the past and present, as well as perspectives of key sociological thinkers, assist Shaw (2010) in gaining insight into the role shopping plays in cementing older class differences as well as creating new ones.
Geographically, expensive shops are often found in upmarket districts and used by upmarket people, although department stores see facilities merge somewhat and an environment such as this presents a test in knowing ones place.
The geography and design concerning department stores is an integral part of physically structuring class difference and tends to encapsulate the social order of the wider society. The layout subtly symbolises social structure, with womenswear below menswear and for the upper classes, luxury goods are often placed on a higher floor still. Domestic labour goods on the lowest level resemble the dated social order of a servants place in the basement. Bennett (2005) reflects on his experience when as a boy, his mother would take him to the County Arcade in Leeds. Fully aware of his social class he states extra privileges were available to wealthier families, a consistent reminder of his class inferiority that continued even after the leaving the Arcade.
Spaces such as this provide an environment for social relationships to be acted out in abstract ways. In these earlier times it was more clear cut whom belonged to which social class and how one was supposed to act. The 'Army and Navy Store' is a clear example of this clarity. They supplied goods exclusively to officers of the forces whilst overtly excluding lower ranking men. The paid members would receive literature too, which for oversees British officers helped them keep in touch with their nationality and their class.
However since then many changes have occurred. The shift from the manufacturing industry to the service industry was rapid and a shoppers experience in relation to class has become increasingly challenging to comprehend. More women are working, more people are continuing in higher education and as part of a richer nation, British people have found comfort in familiarity and convenience. The rise in supermarkets and department stores, along with the subsequent decline in high street and village shops, are an example of such change.
Behaviour between classes appears to have changed too and the condescending manner that the middle class once spoke to the working class with, is not as apparent as it once was, nor is the polite compliance of the working class to accept their inferiority. Class difference, although not disappeared, has become more difficult to decipher and the social structure has somewhat changed.
The noticeable growth in the middle class and the ambiguity of social class in general, has seen stores such as John Lewis, M&S and Laura Ashley keep up with the change. They manage to appeal to what Pollard and Adonis (1997) describe as 'the classless middle class'. Bourdieu (1977) coiled the term 'habitus' to describe how a person may feel attuned with the place they are in. Middle-class shoppers expect the store to adhere to their standards, which is both doing class and showing off.
Saunders (1982, 1990) argued that class relations have been brought on through the change in class ratios. Parkin (1979) states that class difference has taken an 'individualistic turn' and in pursuing class two competing strategies have formed between the existing privileged class and those wishing to join or replace them. In current times it appears that lifestyle is just as important as occupation in defining ones social class.
When an environment is inviting to all social classes, an opportunity to practice social class is presented to shoppers. The supermarket is one space where shoppers can compare their lifestyle's with one another and may at times cast judgement on other shoppers, who by the contents of their shopping trolley, reveal a less wholesome lifestyle.
Class prejudice is still very much felt, especially for those who see themselves, or at least believe others see them, as working class. Aware of the label of 'shoplifter', which is applied almost solely to the lower class person, can cause a person to feel as if they are being singled out when shopping somewhere prominently middle-class, such as M&S, instead of a cheaper store, such as Iceland. Channel 4's Cutting Edge programme, 'Shops and Robbers' offers a striking illustration of this point.
Shopping continues to remind people on a conscious and unconscious level that class still exists and is to be carried out with shop assistants, managers, security, other customers and most importantly, oneself. The internalisation of class means that the shopper experiences class and thus becomes aware of their class, which is to be acted out. Class is not something held by person, but instead class is something to be done and indeed perpetuated.
Language is an important aspect to consider when analysing the relationship between class and shopping. Upmarket shops present a context in which individuals may still be addressed formally as 'Sir' or 'Madam' and class relations in these circumstances have changed little. The presence of someone who does not look the part in an upmarket establishment, such as a private jewellers, might not be privy to such formal customaries and can still expect to feel out of place.

However, today social transactions are often non-verbal and through visual interpretation social class is maintained. As altricial mammals, humans rely heavily on facial expressions during neonatal dependency and this early learning of facial expressions is key to the social relationships encountered later on in life. Through looking and being looked at, ones social place is both formed and performed.
Channel 4's latest series 'Gogglebox' offers an interesting glimpse into how shoppers continue the class experience whilst in the more comfortable and less performance based setting of their own home. The programme films people from different social and economical backgrounds watching television and The John Lewis Christmas advert created conversation amongst many viewers. Long, expensive and showing no products at all, the advert remained anonymous until the end and kept the viewers guessing was it Harrods, M&S or somewhere equally expensive? Viewers who had known about John Lewis's seven million pound spend on a recent advertisement managed to guess correct. This is a stark contrast to the middle-class couple from Kent who, whilst drinking champagne, consistently mock Iceland's cheap goods, that are of course priced on advertisements. How the viewers experience the adverts of well known department stores and supermarkets shows that class is still acted out and reaffirmed through shopping whilst not shopping.