Dress to impress?

A person’s attire and physique is where we get our first, fleeting, but lasting impression. The outward appearances of Crime and Punishment characters in the descriptions are detailed and rather exhaustive. This helps us almost visualize a persona we have never seen. I think Dostoevsky uses the wardrobe, jewelry and hairstyle of his characters to make readers maybe involuntarily, but all the same, make assumptions and conclusions before they actually “meet” the character. He then, as the book progresses, either proves those wrong or right. I think this is done in order to demonstrate the menace of quick and shallow judgment. Characters like Luzhin seem respectable at first glance, but through the novel become despicable. And although the first presentation of Sonya is obscene and “adorned in street fashion with a clearly and shamefully explicit purpose” (page 183), with time we see an unexpected and unconventional hallo form over her.