Vicarious Leisure and Consumption

Veblen describes how the leisure class delegates the performance of leisure and consumption to dependents, such as wives and servants, whose conspicuous idleness and expenditure serve to enhance the master's prestige and honor.

Servants and wives perform vicarious leisure for the master, their trained subservience and conspicuous waste of time enhancing his status.

Veblen details how servants, retainers, wives, and children perform leisure and consumption on behalf of the master, with the resulting repute imputed to him through badges, liveries, and proximity.

Women and servants perform conspicuous leisure and consumption on behalf of the master, and their dress reflects this delegated role, with the lady of the house being the chief menial.

Middle-class women serve as a vicarious leisure class, their piety reflecting conservatism due to their sheltered economic position.