The Hidden Consumer Masculinities, Fashion and City Life 1860-1914

This work uncovers the consuming habits of urban men from the second half of the 19th century to the outbreak of World War I. It focuses on the fraught relationships which emerged at this time between ideal models of manly behaviour and attitudes towards the expression of sexual and class identities throught the medium of dress. The period has been identified by many historians as a crucial moment in the development of a commodity culture and its characteristics have generally been discussed in terms of a feminization of practices linked with shopping and fashionable display.