Table Of Content

About this e-book Ohio University Press is pleased to make available this electronic version of The Cut of His Coat at no cost to the reader. While it is our hope that as a result of reading this and other e-books in a down- loadable format, readers will be inspired to buy the paper editions of the books, our real goal in providing these e-books to you is to increase your access to our books. Ohio University Press / Please let us know if you appreciate this Swallow Press effort. Ohio University Press, like all 19 Circle Drive university presses, exists as a function The Ridges of the scholarly publishing process. It Athens, OH 45701 is our mission to disseminate the fruits 740 593 1154 of research and creative activity. If this www.ohioswallow.com experiment in new platforms is success- ful and is used as a way to promote the ideas and arguments of our authors and to stimulate more debate and research on the topics they have investigated, we will strive to continue our commitment to this new reach into the scholarly dialogue. About the Author Brent Shannon is a visiting professor of English at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. He has published articles on nineteeth-century literature and culture in Victorian Studies and Studies in Browning and His Circle. Shannon.i-xii 6/29/06 9:23 AM Page ii Shannon.i-xii 6/29/06 9:23 AM Page iii brent shannon The Cut of His Coat Men, Dress, and Consumer Culture in Britain, 1860‒1914 Ohio University Press Athens Shannon.i-xii 6/29/06 9:23 AM Page iv Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio 45701 www.ohio.edu/oupress © 2006 by Ohio University Press Printed in the United States of America All rights reserved Ohio University Press books are printed on acid-free paper ƒ ™ 1312111009080706 54321 Frontispiece: “Temptation.” Cartoon reprinted in Maurice Baren, Victorian Shopping (London: Michael O’Mara, 1998), 74. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Shannon, Brent Alan, 1970 The cut of his coat : men, dress, and consumer culture in Britain, 1860‒1914 / Brent Alan Shannon. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8214-1702-7 (acid-free paper) ISBN-10: 0-8214-1702-9 (acid-free paper) ISBN-13: 978-0-8214-1703-4 (pbk. : acid-free paper) ISBN-10: 0-8214-1703-7 (pbk. : acid-free paper) 1. Male consumers—Great Britain—History. 2. Men’s clothing—England—History. 3. Social classes—England—History. 4. Masculinity—England—History. 5. Con sumption (Economics)—England—History. I. Title. HC260.C6S52 2006 306.30941'09034—dc22 2006017471 Shannon.i-xii 6/29/06 9:23 AM Page v To Sophia Shannon.i-xii 6/29/06 9:23 AM Page vi Shannon.i-xii 6/29/06 9:23 AM Page vii Contents List of Figures ix Acknowledgments xi 1 Introduction 1 “It cannot be supposed that men make no study of dress” 21 The “Disappearance” of Men’s Fashion and Consumption in Victorian Britain 2 Outﬁtting the Gent ﬁ 52 The Emergence of the Male Consumer and the Commodi cation of the Male Body 3 “Really there is much more to be said about men’s fashions than I had imagined” 91 Fashion and the Birth of the Men’s Lifestyle Periodical 4 From Dandy to Masher to Consumer 128 Competing Masculinities and Class Aspirations 5 Ready to Wear 161 Class Performance and the Triumph of Middle-Class Sartorial Taste 191 Epilogue 199 Notes 223 Bibliography 245 Index vii Shannon.i-xii 6/29/06 9:23 AM Page viii