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Introduction: Premise

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Consuming Mass Fashion in 1930s England

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Fashion and the Body ((PSFB))

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Abstract

As a research field, the impact of the purchasing power of young, employed, modern working-class women on the development of mass ready-to-wear manufacture, has yet never been thoroughly explored. The intention of this research is to “fill the gaps” left in many published dress histories of the period where the focus has been, in the majority, on the fashion practices of those in a financially stable position who would have purchased clothing from established retailers, dressmakers, home dressmaking, and couture houses. The Introduction, therefore, outlines how this book builds on previous social, business and economic histories, and explores how there remains a lack of recognition for the importance in investigating the actuality of the garments produced. It is close analysis of the materiality (both the tangible and intangible) of these mass manufactured garments, their design, production, retailing and their intended consumer that is the focus of this book, an analysis that is, as yet an area little explored in either business or fashion history frameworks. The Introduction also outlines the structure and a definition of terms that will be applied throughout.

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  1. Humanities, The Royal College of Art, London, UK

    Cheryl Roberts

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Correspondence to Cheryl Roberts .

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Roberts, C. (2022). Introduction: Premise. In: Consuming Mass Fashion in 1930s England. Palgrave Studies in Fashion and the Body. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94613-5_1

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