Studying at York
Rags to riches: Clothing, culture, and society in eighteenth-century England - Semester 2 - HIS00171H
- Department: History
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: H
- Academic year of delivery: 2024-25
Module summary
The eighteenth century (c.1700-1830) was a key period of change for clothing in England. Not only did fashionable silhouettes look drastically different by the close of the century, but increasing numbers of people had gained access to a wide range of colourful textiles and accessories. Indeed, foreign commentators frequently noted how well dressed even the poorest members of English society appeared to be. An expanding empire also impacted on what people wore at home, providing them with new textiles and patterns as well as new understandings of their place in the world. At the same time, some scholars have characterised the century as one in which people continued to make, mend, and assign emotional value to their textiles alongside these dramatic developments. Looking across society, we will engage with and interrogate these changes and continuities.
In Semester 1, we will explore a range of primary sources including diaries, newspapers, accounts, court records, prints, and surviving clothing. By doing so, we will consider the different approaches and challenges involved in studying eighteenth-century clothing. In Semester 2, we will draw on our knowledge of sources to consider broader themes and debates, looking at key questions such as the relationship between clothing and gender, as well as at specific groups within society to explore what clothing reveals about their lives. By looking at everyday histories of dress, we will engage with a broad range of issues in eighteenth-century culture and society including (but not limited to) gender, race, status, empire, emotion, and dependency.
Related modules
Students taking this module must also take the first part in Semester 1.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 2 2024-25 |
Module aims
The aims of this module are:
- To introduce students to in depth study of a specific historical topic using primary and secondary material;
- To enable students to explore the topic through discussion and writing; and
- To enable students to evaluate and analyse primary sources.
Module learning outcomes
Students who complete this module successfully will:
- Grasp key themes, issues and debates relevant to the topic being studied;
- Have acquired knowledge and understanding about that topic;
- Be able to comment on and analyse original sources;
- Be able to relate the primary and secondary material to one another; and
- Have acquired skills and confidence in close reading and discussion of texts and debates.
Module content
Students will attend a 3-hour seminar in weeks 2-4, 6-8 and 10-11 of semester 2. Weeks 5 & 9 are Reading and Writing Weeks (RAW). Students prepare for and participate in eight three-hour seminars in all. A one-to-one meeting between tutor and students will also be held to discuss assessments.
Seminar topics are subject to variation, but are likely to include the following:
- The fashion system: Knowledge and circulation
- Global connections
- Making and mending
- Gender 1: Patterns of consumption
- Gender 2: Constructing gender
- Servants and dependents
- Clothing the poor
- Continuity and change
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Additional assessment information
For formative assessment, students submit an essay draft of 2000-words.
For summative assessment, students complete a 4000-word essay relating to the themes and issues of the module. This comprises 100% of the overall module mark. Summative assessments will be due in the assessment period.
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Module feedback
Following their formative assessment task, students will receive a one-to-one meeting with the tutor to discuss the essay and their plans for the assessed essay.
Work will be returned to students with written comments in their tutorial and may be supplemented by the tutor giving some oral feedback to the whole group. All students are encouraged, if they wish, to make use of their tutor’s student hours. For more information, see the Statement on Feedback.
For summative assessment tasks, students will receive their provisional mark and written feedback within 25 working days of the submission deadline. For more information, see the Statement of Assessment.
Indicative reading
For semester time reading, please refer to the module VLE site. Before the course starts, we encourage you to look at the following items of preliminary reading:
- Serena Dyer and Chloe Wigston Smith (ed.), Material literacy in eighteenth-century Britain: A nation of makers (New York: Bloomsbury, 2020).
- John Styles, The dress of the people: Everyday fashion in eighteenth-century England (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2007).
- Giorgio Riello and Tirthankar Roy (ed.), How India clothed the world: The world of South Asian textiles, 1500-1850 (Leiden: Brill, 2009).