Synopses & Reviews
Clothing occupies a complex and important position in relation to human experience. Not just utilitarian, dress gives form to a societys ideas about the sacred and secular, about exclusion and inclusion, about age, beauty, sexuality and status. In Dressing the Elite, the author explores the multiple meanings that garments held in early modern England.
Clothing was used to promote health and physical well-being, and to manage and structure, life transitions. It helped individuals create social identities and also to disguise them. Indeed, so culturally powerful was the manipulation of appearances that authorities sought its control. Laws regulated access to the dress styles of the elite, and through less formal strategies, techniques of disguise were kept as the perquisites of the powerful.
Focusing on the elite, the author argues that clothing was not just a form of cultural expression but in turn contributed to societal formation. Clothes shaped the configurations of the body, affected spaces and interactions between people and altered the perceptions of the wearers and viewers. People put on and manipulated their garments, but in turn dress also exercised a reverse influence. Clothes made not just the man and the woman, but also the categories of gender itself. Topics covered include cross-dressing, sumptuary laws, mourning apparel and individual styles.
Review
"This will be a very important publication. Susan Vincent uses techniques of historical and literary analysis to move beyond the conventional narratives of clothing history. It is a significant contribution and should be read by more than those with an existing interest in Early Modern England."--Evelyn Welch, University of Sussex
Synopsis
For centuries clothing has been used to say something about the wearer's personality, individuality, social standing, profession, social affiliation, and so forth. In the early modern period dress was a powerful and much used medium with a value that went far beyond utilitarian and financial considerations. In examining evidence such as pictorial evidence, personal documents, sumptuary laws and conduct manuals, Susan Vincent explores the social, political and moral implications of clothing in 16th- and 17th-century England. She assesses how clothes influenced behaviour, thoughts and relationships, decision-making with regard to garment choice, gender and power relations played out through dress, and the manipulation of appearance which helped individuals to create social identities and also to disguise them'.
About the Author
Susan Vincent is an independent scholar.