Virginia Woolf's "The New Dress", as is characteristic of "stream of consciousness" works, lacks a great deal of structure or plot-driven action. Instead, it focuses primarily on internal emotions and psychological occurrences. On the surface level, the story only appears to be about a girl named Mabel Waring at a party given by Mrs. Dalloway. Mabel is much poorer and of a lower class than all the other guests, and therefore feels incredibly inferior. She feels completely ridiculous in the dress she had made specially for this event, and seeing herself in a mirror only intensifies her self-hatred. That is essentially the story's plot, however there is much more to it beneath the surface.

The setting itself helps to intensify Mabel's feelings of inferiority. Mrs. Dalloway is renown for her high social status and lavish, high-brow parties. Mabel compares her own dingy, shabby drawing-room with the elaborate one...