Ready-Made Democracy explores the history of men's dress in America to consider how capitalism and democracy emerged at the center of American life during the century between the Revolution and the Civil War. Michael Zakim demonstrates how clothing initially attained a significant place in the American political imagination on the eve of Independence. In a time when homespun attire was a popular expression of civic virtue, homemade clothing was widely regarded as a reflection of America's most cherished republican values: simplicity, industriousness, frugality, and independence.
But as early as the nineteenth century, homespun clothing began to disappear from the American cultural landscape. Exhortations of industry and modesty, however, remained a common fixture of the public imagination, and began to express themselves during this time in the form of the business suit. Here, Zakim traces the evolution of homespun clothing into its ostensible opposite--the woolen coats, vests, and pantaloons that were "ready-made" for sale and wear in cities across the country. In doing so, he brilliantly demonstrates how traditional notions of work and property actually helped give birth to an industrial revolution. For Zakim, the evolution of men's dress in America mirrored profound changes in the nation's social and material landscape: profit-seeking in newly expanded markets, organizing waged labor in the city, shopping for clothes at cut-rate prices, and standardizing a business persona.
In illuminating the critical links among politics, economics, and fashion in antebellum America, Ready-Made Democracy will prove essential to anyone interested in the history of the United States and in the rise of modern culture in general.
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