A Question of Trousers: Seafarers,Masculinity and Empire in the Shaping of British Male Dress,c. 1600–1800 |
| |
| Authors: | Beverly Lemire |
| |
| Institution: | 1. Department of History &2. Classics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada |
| |
| Abstract: | Trousers have a history. The British-imperial biography of this garment reveals the significance of ready-made clothing production for naval and merchant administrations with global reach. This history demonstrates the significance of male sartorial experiments in colonial settings. And it also confirms the rising importance of imperial and maritime cultures in shaping masculine ideals and habits of dress. Ultimately, middle ranked and elite male Britons came to rethink their allegiance to breeches and hose, a mnemonic of the ancien régime. Social cross-dressing ensued, with men of higher status adopting the garb of nautical working men, at a time when mariners were increasingly esteemed. The study of trousers opens new vantage points from which to assess the forces altering British masculinity, forces that also reshaped material norms. |
| |
| Keywords: | Fashion masculinity Britain imperialism trousers sailors mariners Royal Navy empire ready-made clothes consumerism working men clothing material culture |
|
|
