Though Hester prison's disaster, ignomity, she is still not obscured,dimmed and she dressed herself well and even more decently and smart than before. There is sharp contrast between her beauty, wearing smart and fantastic dress and other woman's dull dress, which makes her feminism outshine others and the author uses the contrast to despise the conventional value of woman must be traditional and humble and extol the natural beauty of woman.
Secondly, Hester also apply her extraordinary embroidery skill into her dress and even the scarlet letter "A", which shows her capacity and haughty towards conventional value. Hester use her embroidery skill to fight against the reserved, dark social environment that noble, ability and self-dependant can break the barriers and let the freedom and humanity fly. As other people sees, "A" may be an insult and the symble of evil; but to Hester, "A" is epitome of something transcend time and space. But at the same thing, scarlet letter A represents the misfortune amd misunderstanding of Hester's trying to gain freedom and ideal love.
Thirdly, Hester's beauty and artistical dress represents her inner world. Hester value something beautiful and artistic, so she expresses herself outwardly in her dress. When in misfortune, ordinary woman will not put energy and time in their looks and dress, but Hester is different and she dresses up like a queen to show her high self-esteem and powerful inner world.