Includes bibliographical references (p. 223-243) and index
Contents:
1. "It cannot be supposed that men make no study of dress" : the "disappearance" of men's fashion and consumption in Victorian Britain -- 2. Outfitting the gent : the emergence of the male consumer and the commodification of the male body -- 3. "Really there is much more to be said about men's fashions than I had imagined" : fashion and the birth of the men's lifestyle periodical -- 4. From dandy to masher to consumer : competing masculinities and class aspirations -- 5. Ready to wear : class performance and the triumph of middle-class sartorial taste
Summary:
"In The Cut of His Coat: Men, Dress, and Consumer Culture in Britain, 1860-1914, Brent Shannon examines etiquette manuals, period advertisements, and fashion monthlies, as well as novels by such authors such as George Eliot, Anthony Trollope, Thomas Hughes, and H.G. Wells, to trace how new ideologies emerged when mass-produced clothes, sartorial markers, and consumer culture began to change." "Although Victorian literature traditionally portrayed women as having sole control of class representations through dress and manners, Shannon argues that middle-class men participated vigorously in fashion. Public displays of their newly acquired mannerisms, hairstyles, clothing, and consumer goods redefined masculinity and class status for the Victorian era and beyond." "The Cut of His Coat probes the Victorian disavowal of men's interest in fashion and shopping to recover men's significant role in the representation of class through self-presentation and consumer practices."--Jacket