In the sartorial vein, Philip K. Dick's hilarious descriptions of his character's zany outfits are themselves worthy of an essay. From "Ubik" (1969): "pinstriped clown-style pyjamas";"a sporty maroon wrapper, twinkle-toes turned-up shoes and a felt cap with a tassel"; "Square and puffy, like an overweight brick, wearing his usual mohair poncho, apricot-colored felt hat, argyle ski socks and carpet slippers"; "...his electric-yellow cummerbund, petal skirt, knee-hugging hose and military-style visored cap"; "He wore fuchsia pedal pushers, pink yak fur slippers, a snakeskin sleeveless blouse, and a ribbon in his waist-length dyed white hair"; "black oxfords, wool socks, knickers, cotton shirt, camel's-hair sports coat and golf cap"; "a pinstriped, blue-black, double-breasted suit, suspenders, wide floral necktie and white shirt with celluloid collar."
I definitely find myself reading the same way occasionally. Usually it's when authors start listing things. Jules Verne's 20,000 leagues has a habit of listing types of fish, which would be fun if I had any idea what they looked like.
Ready Player One had a moment where for two full pages it was a literal comma separated list of pop culture references. It was one of many such lists although not normally so long.
It slows things down, but adds some nice visual context.