Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

• Men, masculinities and menswear advertising, c.1890-1914

  Ugolini, Laura (London: I. B. Tauris & Co. Ltd., 2002)

  "A Nation of Shopkeepers" reflects research on retail history and cultures of consumption. The contributors challenge existing ideas about retail development, showing how, for example, large-scale retailers played a far lesser role in the development of the modern city that is generally thought, and how the success of department stores was determined less by "entrepreneurial" spirit and more by the unforseen consequences of legislation. With the growing interest in cultures of consumption, this book should be useful to specialists and students in retail history, human geography and social and cultural history. (I.B. Taurus publishers)
• Men and Menswear: Sartorial Consumption in Britain, 1880 -1939

  Ugolini, Laura (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007)

  Despite increasing academic interest in both the study of masculinity and the history of consumption, there are still few published studies that bring together both concerns. By investigating the changing nature of the retailing of menswear, this book illuminates wider aspects of masculine identity as well as patterns of male consumption between the years 1880 and 1939. While previous historical studies of masculinity have focused overwhelmingly on the moral, spiritual and physical characteristics associated with notions of 'manliness', this book considers the relationship between men and activities which were widely considered to be at least potentially 'unmanly' – selling, as well as buying clothes – thus shedding new light on men's lives and identities in this period. Contents: General editor's preface; Introduction; Part I Consuming Menswear: Identities, 1880–1939; Non-conformity, 1880–1939; Menswear and war,1914–1918; The democratisation of menswear? 1919–1939. Part II Selling Menswear: Tailoring and manliness, 1880–1914; Menswear retailing and war, 1914–1920; The struggle for survival, 1920–1939. Part III Buying Menswear: Shopping decisions, 1880–1939; Making a purchase, 1880–1939. (Ashgate)
• Ready-to-wear or Made-to-measure? Consumer Choice in the British Menswear Trade, 1900–1939

  Ugolini, Laura (London: Maney Publishing, 2003)

  This article explores British men's attitudes towards the purchase of a particular commodity — the suit — in order to shed some light on the nature of male consumer demand in the four decades before the outbreak of the Second World War. The focus is on men's motives for choosing between a ready-to-wear and a made-to-measure suit. Financial considerations aside, the article suggests that interested and well-informed male consumers generally preferred to buy bespoke suits : while usually more expensive than their ready-made counterparts, these were also perceived to be better quality, better looking, and better value, and therefore most likely to enhance the wearer's sense of self-worth as a manly, discerning and successful consumer. (Ingenta)