Dress, Feminism, and New Woman Writing

Dress, Feminism, and New Woman Writing explores the connections between dress, feminism, and New Woman writing in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with a focus on Britain. It reveals how dress, tied to Victorian gender norms and stereotypes, became key in feminist literary culture. Authors and publishers used dress strategically, from cross-dressing storylines and dress-based critiques to fashionable attire. Concentrating on Olive Schreiner, Sarah Grand, George Egerton, and Grant Allen while bringing in other writers including Charlotte Perkins Gilman, this book offers interdisciplinary sartorial biographies, literary interpretation, and analysis of book covers. Through dress it reexamines topics including gender views and the New Woman character, proposing a new approach to feminist writing. This book is essential for those interested in feminist literature, dress history, and gender studies.

Includes B&W illustrations.