The politics of fashion in eighteenth-century America

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Title:

The politics of fashion in eighteenth-century America

Author:

Haulman, Kate.

ISBN:

9780807834879

Personal Author:

Haulman, Kate.

Publication Information:

Physical Description:

xiv, 290 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Series:

Gender and American culture

Gender & American culture.

Contents:

Introduction : that strange, ridic'lous vice -- The many faces of fashion in the early eighteenth century -- Fops and coquettes : gender, sexuality, and status -- Country modes : cultural politics and political resistance -- New duties and old desires on the eve of revolution -- A contest of modes in revolutionary Philadelphia -- Fashion and nation -- Epilogue : political habits and citizenship's corset : the 1790s and beyond.

Subject Term:

Politics and culture -- United States -- History -- 18th century.

Fashion -- Political aspects -- United States -- History -- 18th century.

Clothing and dress -- Political aspects -- United States -- History -- 18th century.

Symbolism in politics -- India -- History -- 18th century.

Nationalism -- United States -- History -- 18th century.

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Library	Material Type	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
Searching... Sugar Grove - Todd Library	Book	E163 .H38 2011	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

In eighteenth-century America, fashion served as a site of contests over various forms of gendered power. Here, Kate Haulman explores how and why fashion--both as a concept and as the changing style of personal adornment--linked gender relations, social order, commerce, and political authority during a time when traditional hierarchies were in flux.

In the see-and-be-seen port cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston, fashion, a form of power and distinction, was conceptually feminized yet pursued by both men and women across class ranks. Haulman shows that elite men and women in these cities relied on fashion to present their status but also attempted to undercut its ability to do so for others. Disdain for others' fashionability was a means of safeguarding social position in cities where the modes of dress were particularly fluid and a way to maintain gender hierarchy in a world in which women's power as consumers was expanding. Concerns over gendered power expressed through fashion in dress, Haulman reveals, shaped the revolutionary-era struggles of the 1760s and 1770s, influenced national political debates, and helped to secure the exclusions of the new political order.

Reviews (1)

Choice Review

Historian Haulman's answer to a seemingly straightforward question--What role did fashion play in the politics of the British North American colonies in the 18th century?--is nuanced and complex. Focusing on major port cities, the author (American Univ.) considers the often-ambivalent attitudes toward fashion that prevailed among the American gentry. Fashion was an important part of the British economy and a marker of status and breeding, but at the same time it could be manipulated, allowing the unworthy to pass as their social betters; while some attention to fashion was required of both men and women, men's obsession with appearance could undermine gender boundaries. When the colonies began to argue with Parliament over taxation, the political significance of fashion increased alongside demands that American men and women show their support of the patriot cause by wearing unfashionable but virtuous home-produced styles. This discourse continued into the 1790s, particularly when the Federalist government attempted to improve the American economy by protecting domestic cloth producers. Haulman successfully explains popular debates over the meaning of fashion without oversimplifying her analysis. Summing Up: Recommended. All academic levels/libraries. R. A. Standish San Joaquin Delta College

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction: That Strange, Ridic'lous Vice	p. 1
1 The Many Faces of Fashion in the Early Eighteenth Century	p. 11
2 Fops and Coquettes Gender, Sexuality, and Status	p. 47
3 Country Modes Cultural Politics and Political Resistance	p. 81
4 New Duties and Old Desires on the Eve of Revolution	p. 117
5 A Contest of Modes in Revolutionary Philadelphia	p. 153
6 Fashion and Nation	p. 181
Epilogue: Political Habits and Citizenship's Corset The 1790s and Beyond	p. 217
Notes	p. 227
Index	p. 275

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