Dressing Up: Menswear in the Age of Social Media

185 Pages·2021·2.601 MB·English

by  Joshua M. Bluteau

Dressing Up

D U
RESSING P
Menswear in the Age of Social Media
Joshua M. Bluteau
berghahn
N E W Y O R K • O X F O R D
www.berghahnbooks.com
First published in 2022 by
Berghahn Books
www.berghahnbooks.com
© 2022 Joshua M. Bluteau
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages
for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this book
may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information
storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented,
without written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Bluteau, Joshua M., author.
Title: Dressing up : menswear in the age of social media / Joshua M. Bluteau.
Description: New York : Berghahn Books, 2022. | Includes bibliographical references and
index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2021028788 (print) | LCCN 2021028789 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781800732766 (hardback) | ISBN 9781800732773 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Men’s clothing—Social aspects. | Social media—Infl uence. | Fashion
merchandising. | Masculinity.
Classifi cation: LCC GT1710 .B58 2022 (print) | LCC GT1710 (ebook) |
DDC 391/.1—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021028788
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021028789
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-80073-276-6 hardback
ISBN 978-1-80073-277-3 ebook
For André, Patricia, Raynette and Roy

C
ONTENTS
List of Illustrations viii
Preface xi
Introduction. Men Who Shop 1
Chapter 1. Let’s Go Shopping 14
Chapter 2. Fashion Week 36
Chapter 3. Other Elizabethans and Digital Individuals 60
Chapter 4. Gazing on (In)Visibility 82
Chapter 5. @anthrodandy 98
Chapter 6. Time to Leave the Field 129
Conclusion. Unpacking My Bags 147
References 160
Index 169
I
LLUSTRATIONS
2.1. An image taken by the author at the Joshua Kane Houndsditch
fashion show, showing the interior of the venue. Th e image is
heavily edited in keeping with the experimental style of the
author in the early days of digital fi eldworking. Th is image
was posted to the author’s Instagram account on 8 January 2016. 40
2.2. An image taken by the author at the Joshua Kane Houndsditch
fashion show, showing a model wearing a red and white checked,
shearling trimmed greatcoat and oversized houndstooth mittens.
Th is snapshot is of poor quality, but the best that the author was
able to capture from his position at the show. 45
2.3. An image taken prior to Sir Tom Baker’s AW16 catwalk show,
showing the interior of the 100 Club. Th e image is heavily edited
in keeping with the experimental style of the author’s early digital
fi eldwork and was posted to Instagram on 11 January 2016. 50
2.4. An image taken during Sir Tom Baker’s AW16 catwalk show,
showing a model wearing a frockcoat featuring embellished
pockets, chain link detailing and western inspired pointed rear
collar. Th e image was posted to Instagram on 11 January 2016
by the author. 54
4.1. An image taken during Joshua Kane’s Journey catwalk show at
the London Palladium, showing models in suits and the fl at caps
that featured heavily in this collection. Th e image was posted to
Instagram on 17 February 2017 by the author. 94
5.1. An image of the author wearing a Mark Powell gingham waistcoat
and Alexander McQueen bow tie. Th is image of a torso, dressed
in tailoring with a neck tie, typifi es one form of highly desirable
image in the Instagram network where fi eldwork was conducted.
Th is image was posted to Instagram on 23 September 2016. 108
llustrations • ix
5.2. Close-up of a cuff from a bespoke suit made for the author by the
off shore tailors A Suit Th at Fits. Cuff features fi ve covered buttons
and a turnback – sometimes referred to as a gauntlet cuff . Th is
image was posted to Instagram on 16 February 2016. 109
5.3. Close-up torso shot of author. Th is headless style of image was
popular in the digital fi eld. Th is image features a Joshua Kane
shawl collar houndstooth jacket and vintage paisley pattern tie.
It was posted to Instagram on 8 March 2017. 110
5.4. Image of author, this time including the face. Note, the jacket
worn here is the same as in illustration 5.3. Demonstrating how
specifi c items can be worn in diff erent contexts and dressed up or
down is part of displaying one’s knowledge and sartorial skills to
other online users. Th is image was posted to Instagram on 3 June
2017. 111
5.5. Close-up torso shot of author wearing a three-piece Tommy
Nutter glen check suit, vintage pocket watch chain, William
Hunt spotted tie and bespoke tab collar shirt. Th is image was
posted to Instagram on 30 August 2017. 112
5.6. A screenshot from the author’s smartphone showing a series of
photographs that have been taken of an outfi t prior to the
selection of a specifi c image for publication. 114
5.7. Close-up torso shot of author wearing the same outfi t featured
in illustration 5.6. A Clements and Church striped suit with
Christian Lacroix tie and a bespoke tab collar shirt. Th is image
was posted to Instagram on 1 April 2017. 115
5.8. A screenshot from the author’s smartphone showing a series of
notifi cations on his Instagram app following an Instagram post
on 25 July 2017. Th e post featured a Boomerang image of a look
book he received at the Joshua Kane Cruise show. Note both
Joshua Kane’s and Mark Powell’s accounts have liked the post. 117
5.9. Image of author en route to Joshua Kane’s AW17 show at the
London Palladium, wearing a Joshua Kane houndstooth Fawcett
coat, oversized black and white striped Shaw scarf and navy blue
Gostick hat. Th is image was posted to Instagram on 17 February
2017. 124
6.1. A screenshot from the author’s smartphone showing his
Instagram page after his 800th post on 25 August 2017. 136