His father, Pietro, was a successful cloth merchant in a time when the mercantile class was on the rise and clothes very much made the man.

NEWYORKER: Rich Man, Poor Man

The poor enjoyed as many or more cars, trucks, clothes dryers and refrigerators in 2001 as the middle class in 1971.

FORBES: The Equality Of Reaganomics

Oh, what will the middle class teen in Brazil do without someone to cook their rice and beans, press their clothes and make their beds every day?

FORBES: In Brazil, Maid Service Becoming Thing Of The Past

Since these are for the most part produced in Rio de Janeiro and feature characters drawn from the upper-middle class, they tend to reflect a world where good-looking white people in expensively casual clothes flit around in a perpetual summer, attended by maids.

ECONOMIST: Brazil: Half the nation, a hundred million citizens strong | The