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Stuart Suits and Smocks: Dress, Identity, and the Politics of Display in the Late Seventeenth-Century English Court

Brinkman, Emilie M.

Abstract Details

2013, Master of Arts, Miami University, History.
This thesis centers on the language of dress and the politics of display during the late Stuart dynasty (1660-88). In the late Stuart courts, fashion and material possessions became an extension of one's identity. As such, this study examines how elite Englishmen and women viewed themselves, and others, through their clothing on the eve of Britain's birth in response to critical moments of identity crisis during the Restoration period. Whitehall courtiers and London gentility utilized their physical appearance, specifically their clothing, accoutrements, and furnishings, to send messages in order to define themselves, particularly their "Englishness", in response to numerous unresolved issues of identity. Therefore, this thesis argues that the roots of English national character were evident in the courts of Charles II and James II as a portion of the English population bolstered together in defiance of the French culture that pervaded late seventeenth-century England.
Renée Baernstein, PhD (Advisor)
Andrew Cayton, PhD (Committee Member)
Katharine Gillespie, PhD (Committee Member)
57 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Brinkman, E. M. (2013). Stuart Suits and Smocks: Dress, Identity, and the Politics of Display in the Late Seventeenth-Century English Court [Master's thesis, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1376504470

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Brinkman, Emilie. Stuart Suits and Smocks: Dress, Identity, and the Politics of Display in the Late Seventeenth-Century English Court. 2013. Miami University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1376504470.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Brinkman, Emilie. "Stuart Suits and Smocks: Dress, Identity, and the Politics of Display in the Late Seventeenth-Century English Court." Master's thesis, Miami University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1376504470

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)