The Politics of Fashion in Eighteenth-Century America (Gender and American Culture)

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. MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict Cover 1 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 12 INTRODUCTION: That Strange, Ridic’lous Vice 16 ONE: The Many Faces of Fashion in the Early Eighteenth Century 26 TWO: Fops and Coquettes: Gender, Sexuality, and Status 62 THREE: Country Modes: Cultural Politics and Political Resistance 96 FOUR: New Duties and Old Desires on the Eve of Revolution 132 FIVE: A Contest of Modes in Revolutionary Philadelphia 168 SIX: Fashion and Nation 196 EPILOGUE: Political Habits and Citizenship’s Corset: The 1790s and Beyond 232 Notes 242 Index 290 A 290 B 290 C 291 D 293 E 294 F 294 G 296 H 296 I 297 J 298 K 298 L 298 M 298 N 300 P 300 Q 302 R 302 S 302 T 304 U 304 V 304 W 304 Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 12 INTRODUCTION: That Strange, Ridic’lous Vice......Page 16 ONE: The Many Faces of Fashion in the Early Eighteenth Century......Page 26 TWO: Fops and Coquettes: Gender, Sexuality, and Status......Page 62 THREE: Country Modes: Cultural Politics and Political Resistance......Page 96 FOUR: New Duties and Old Desires on the Eve of Revolution......Page 132 FIVE: A Contest of Modes in Revolutionary Philadelphia......Page 168 SIX: Fashion and Nation......Page 196 EPILOGUE: Political Habits and Citizenship’s Corset: The 1790s and Beyond......Page 232 Notes......Page 242 B......Page 290 C......Page 291 D......Page 293 F......Page 294 H......Page 296 I......Page 297 M......Page 298 P......Page 300 S......Page 302 W......Page 304 In eighteenth-century America, fashion served as a site of contests over various forms of gendered power. 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 this book the author explores how fashion influenced gender relations, social order, commerce, and political authority during eighteenth-century America, a time when traditional hierarchies were changing