Fear and Clothing: Dress in English Detective Fiction between the First and Second World Wars

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Through analyzing dress in detective fiction, Fear and Clothing reveals a cultural history of identity affected by the social upheaval caused by war. In-depth analysis of interwar publications by a comprehensive range of writers reveals readers anxieties and fears about class, gender and race and how these changed over the period. Although read and written by both men and women, detective fiction was deemed at the time to be a masculine and high-status entertainment. However the literature demonstrates an admiration and acceptance of the womans identity, performed during the Great War and continuing throughout the interwar period, as girl pal and female gentleman. In chapters that explore age, character, class, masculinity, performative womanhood and race, Jane Custance Baker exposes how dress was a status marker to both male and female readers, made anxious by social change brought about by war. Dress in detective fiction reveals a set of signs to be read, digested, and possibly employed to model the individual reader's personal dress choices. Fear and Clothing sheds new light on dress of the period, the social and cultural environment as depicted in the popular fiction genre in the early 20th century, and is of interest to researchers and scholars within dress history, literary and historical studies, as well as anyone who enjoys the history of detective fiction.

Reviews

An entertaining analysis of the clues provided by descriptions of clothes in interwar crime fiction. * Natasha Cooper, Literary Review *
An appealing book about a less than obvious field of study You might not think that this topic justifies a full-length book - but it does so, and without padding The writing is accessible and lively. * Martin Edwards, author of The Life of Crime *
This lucid, insightful, extensively researched book breaks new ground by revealing how the language of dress and fashion articulated anxieties about class, deception, change and upheaval for the millions who turned to detective fiction for reassurance and escape in interwar Britain. It's an important work and an exciting read. * Fiona Hackney, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK *
A highly original study of cultural significance of dress in interwar Britain, through the lens of detective fiction. Using a new large-scale survey of the representation of clothing across 280 texts, Baker reveals the powerful cultural meanings of clothes and their importance in constructing gender, class and national identities. * Jane Hamlett, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK *

Author Bio

Jane Custance Baker is an independent scholar, who went to university in her 50s, gaining her PhD from Goldsmiths, University of London, UK.