The Politics of the Three-Piece Suit. The Role of Men's Fashion in the Struggle for Social and Political Power in the Late Seventeenth Century

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject History of Europe - Middle Ages, Early Modern Age, grade: 1,3, Humboldt-University of Berlin (Centre for British Studies), course: British History, language: English, abstract: What caused Charles II, a king widely known as the 'merry monarch', to propose thrift and demureness? Is there an explanation for the popularity of the new fashion? Who wore it, and from whom did they want to distinguish themselves? It is the aim of this paper to shed some light on the political and social motives for the rise of the three-piece suit. It focuses on the developments of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, beginning with 1666 and examining the post-Glorious Revolution era closely. Changes occurring in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries are outlined only briefly. A short appraisal of the historical background, specifically Charles II's reasons for introducing the vest, can be found in chapter 2. Chapter 3 gives an overview of the development of the discourse on men's fashion, and chapter 4 contains an analysis of the political, social and economic, as well as moral motives for promoting the three-piece suit. The paper ends with a conclusion.