Better Than the Movies

Clothing and shoes are an important symbol of identity and connection in the novel. Liz’s sense of fashion is constantly referred to as old-fashioned and feminine, and Wes and Joss often tease Liz about her vintage-style dresses. When Liz wears a flowery jumper to a party, Michael thinks she is wearing a work uniform, and Liz quickly lies by telling him she works at a diner.

When Ashley vomits all over Liz, she is forced to wear Wes’s baseball sweats and sweatshirt. This switch in clothing signals their growing connection as they scheme to woo Michael. Their machinations involve a shopping trip, as Wes helps Liz pick out clothes that he believes will make her more appealing. Although Liz resents this “makeover,” she finds outfits that she likes that also have Wes’s approval. Wes also surprises Liz by buying her a pair of new sneakers. When they get ruined in the rain, she is dismayed because they represent Wes’s kindness: “They were covered in wet, sticky mud, and that made me more upset than it should’ve. They were just sneakers, after all. And it was just mud. But […] I’d wanted them to stay as perfect as they’d been when Wes had walked them over to the counter at Devlish and paid for them” (258).