Dress and Identity in America is an examination of the conservatism and materialism that swept across the country in the late 1940s through the 1950s—a backlash to the wartime tumult, privations, and social upheavals. The study looks at how American men sought to recapture a masculine identity from a generation earlier, that of the stoic patriarch, breadwinner, and dutiful father, and in the process, became the men in the gray flannel suits who were complacently conventional and conformist. Parallel to that is a look at how American women, who had donned pants and went to work in wartime munitions factories or joined services like the WACS and WAVES, were now expected to stay at home as housewives and mothers, dressed in cinched, ultrafeminine New Look fashions. Through these examples it explores how the social constructs and identity traditions that men and women had fostered since the end of the war began to unravel at the beginning of the 1960s. As the Space Age dawned, their baby boom children rejected the conventions of their elders and experimented with their own ideas of identity and dress in an emerging era of counterculture revolutions.

The Peacock Revolution in menswear of the 1960s came as a profound shock to much of America. Men's long hair and vividly colored, sexualized clothes challenged long established traditions of masculine identity. Peacock Revolution is an in-depth study of how radical changes in men's clothing reflected, and contributed to, the changing ideas of American manhood initiated by a 'youthquake' of rebellious baby boomers coming of age in an era of social revolutions. Featuring a detailed examination of the diverse socio-cultural and socio-political movements of the era, the book examines how those dissents and advocacies influenced the youthquake generation's choices in dress and ideas of masculinity. Daniel Delis Hill provides a thorough chronicle of the peacock fashions of the time, beginning with the mod looks of the British Invasion in the early 1960s, through the counterculture street styles and the mass-market trends they inspired, and concluding with the dress-for-success menswear revivals of the 1970s Me-Decade.

If clothes make the man, who makes the clothes--and the trends they inspire? Fashion historian Daniel Delis Hill takes readers on a fascinatingly detailed tour of America's changing sartorial landscape, tracing menswear from the tailors and "slop shops" of the early nineteenth century to Calvins, tattoos, and the Armani tux. Each chronological section covers the full range of men's clothing by category, including suits and evening wear, outerwear, sportswear, accessories, sleepwear, swimwear, underwear, and grooming. Documenting the panorama of men's dress with 650 illustrations (many never before gathered in book form), Hill describes the social developments that contributed to and sprang from changing styles of masculine clothing. Additionally, he demonstrates how technological innovations as small as the inch measuring tape or as sweeping as the treadle sewing machine revolutionized the manufacture of menswear, and how mass production, distribution, and marketing democratized men's fashion. Examining evolving ideas and ideals of masculinity across two centuries of American history, Hill thoughtfully considers the societal implications of men's choices in dress. American Menswear contributes a much-needed resource to the fields of costume history, fashion design and merchandising, men's studies, advertising and marketing history, popular culture, and American history--as well as a treat for the casual reader and an eye-catching addition to any art reference library.

The Peacock Revolution in menswear of the 1960s came as a profound shock to much of America. Men's long hair and vividly colored, sexualized clothes challenged long established traditions of masculine identity. Peacock Revolution is an in-depth study of how radical changes in men's clothing reflected, and contributed to, the changing ideas of American manhood initiated by a 'youthquake' of rebellious baby boomers coming of age in an era of social revolutions. Featuring a detailed examination of the diverse socio-cultural and socio-political movements of the era, the book examines how those dissents and advocacies influenced the youthquake generation's choices in dress and ideas of masculinity. Daniel Delis Hill provides a thorough chronicle of the peacock fashions of the time, beginning with the mod looks of the British Invasion in the early 1960s, through the counterculture street styles and the mass-market trends they inspired, and concluding with the dress-for-success menswear revivals of the 1970s Me-Decade.