In the eighteenth century, fashion constituted a fundamental criterion for consumption for broader parts of the European (and Viennese) population. This article investigates, through various sources, like probate inventories, fashion magazines and pattern books, the consumption of clothes and accessories of female servants in the period 1760-1823 and associates it with debates on their appearance at the time. It compares their wardrobes to those of a broad part of the Viennese female middle-class population, and examines the relation of their wardrobes to fashion, notably in the period of the emergence of Viennese fashion. Finally, it investigates whether female servants could function as intermediaries of the prevalent fashion between the elites and this middle stratum, and, consequently, as trendsetters for this group.
University of Vienna, Austria
Chapter Title
The catalyst of change. The clothing of the Viennese servants and their relation to fashion in the period 1760-1823
Authors
Aris Kafantogias
Language
English
DOI
10.36253/978-88-5518-565-3.15
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2022
Copyright Information
© 2022 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
La moda come motore economico: innovazione di processo e prodotto, nuove strategie commerciali, comportamento dei consumatori / Fashion as an economic engine: process and product innovation, commercial strategies, consumer behavior
Editors
Giampiero Nigro
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
422
Publication Year
2022
Copyright Information
© 2022 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/978-88-5518-565-3
ISBN Print
978-88-5518-564-6
eISBN (pdf)
978-88-5518-565-3
eISBN (xml)
978-88-5518-566-0
Series Title
Datini Studies in Economic History
Series ISSN
2975-1241
Series E-ISSN
2975-1195