At the Mercy of Their Clothes: Modernism, the Middlebrow, and British Garment Culture
At the Mercy of Their Clothes: Modernism, the Middlebrow, and British Garment Culture
Cite
Abstract
In much of modern fiction, it is the clothes that make the character. Garments embody personal and national histories. They convey wealth, status, aspiration, and morality (or a lack thereof). They suggest where characters have been and where they might be headed, as well as whether or not they are aware of their fate. This study explores the agency of fashion in modern literature. Celia Marshik’s study combines close readings of modernist and middlebrow works, a history of Britain in the early twentieth century, and the insights of thing theory. She focuses on four distinct categories of modern clothing: the evening gown, the mackintosh, the fancy dress costume, and secondhand attire. In their use of these clothes, we see authors negotiate shifting gender roles, weigh the value of individuality during national conflict, work through mortality, and depict changing class structures. Marshik’s dynamic comparisons put Ulysses in conversation with Rebecca, Punch cartoons, articles in Vogue, and letters from consumers, illuminating opinions about specific garments and a widespread anxiety that people were no more than what they wore. Throughout her readings, Marshik emphasizes the persistent animation of clothing—and objectification of individuals—in early-twentieth-century literature and society. She argues that while artists and intellectuals celebrated the ability of modern individuals to remake themselves, a range of literary works and popular publications points to a lingering anxiety about how political, social, and economic conditions continued to constrain the individual.
-
Front Matter
- Introduction: At the Mercy of Their Clothes
-
1
What Do Women Want? At the Mercy of the Evening Gown
-
2
Wearable Memorials: Into and Out of the Trenches with the Modern Mac
-
3
Aspiration to the Extraordinary: Materializing the Subject Through Fancy Dress
-
4
Serialized Selves: Style, Identity, and the Problem of the Used Garment
- Coda: Precious Clothing
-
End Matter
Signed in as
Institutional accounts
- Capital Medical University
- National Science & Technology Library
Sign in
Personal account
- Sign in with email/username & password
- Get email alerts
- Save searches
- Purchase content
- Activate your purchase/trial code
- Add your ORCID iD
Purchase
Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.
Purchasing informationMonth: | Total Views: |
---|---|
October 2022 | 1 |
January 2023 | 2 |
January 2023 | 1 |
January 2023 | 4 |
January 2023 | 1 |
January 2023 | 4 |
February 2023 | 6 |
March 2023 | 6 |
August 2023 | 1 |
August 2023 | 2 |
September 2023 | 1 |
September 2023 | 1 |
September 2023 | 1 |
October 2023 | 3 |
November 2023 | 4 |
November 2023 | 1 |
December 2023 | 2 |
March 2024 | 2 |
April 2024 | 2 |
May 2024 | 1 |
July 2024 | 3 |
August 2024 | 1 |
August 2024 | 1 |
August 2024 | 2 |
August 2024 | 1 |
August 2024 | 1 |
August 2024 | 1 |
August 2024 | 1 |
August 2024 | 1 |
August 2024 | 1 |
August 2024 | 1 |
August 2024 | 1 |
August 2024 | 1 |
August 2024 | 1 |
October 2024 | 1 |
October 2024 | 1 |
October 2024 | 3 |
October 2024 | 1 |
October 2024 | 1 |
November 2024 | 2 |
November 2024 | 1 |
December 2024 | 8 |
January 2025 | 1 |
February 2025 | 1 |
February 2025 | 1 |
February 2025 | 2 |
February 2025 | 1 |
March 2025 | 2 |
March 2025 | 1 |
March 2025 | 2 |
March 2025 | 2 |
April 2025 | 2 |
April 2025 | 2 |
April 2025 | 3 |
Get help with access
Institutional access
Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:
IP based access
Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.
Sign in through your institution
Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.
If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.
Sign in with a library card
Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.
Society Members
Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:
Sign in through society site
Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:
If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.
Sign in using a personal account
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.
Personal account
A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.
Viewing your signed in accounts
Click the account icon in the top right to:
Signed in but can't access content
Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.
Institutional account management
For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.