‘“Clothes maketh man”… in part, I have to agree’: Clothing in the Mass Observation Project
Examples from observer S521's wardrobe. © Mass Observation Archive Trustees. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
The participants in the Mass Observation Project, whose archive from the 1980s has just been released by Adam Matthew and which covers topics ranging from the Falklands War to European elections and gardening, were asked about their clothing in spring 1988. The requests started with ‘A complete inventory of every single item of clothing that you own’ and went on to cover maintenance of clothes, buying habits, one’s greatest sartorial mistakes and attitudes to other people’s clothes (‘what does ‘respectably dressed’ look like, what is ‘flash’? Be precise.’).
Part of the spring 1988 directive on clothes. © Mass Observation Archive Trustees. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Responses came back in the chatty, exhaustive style which had become as characteristic of the observers’ writings as of the directives they were sent. Observer I1556 started with her inventory and finished 24 pages later with her thoughts on see-through clothing and the distinction between flashiness and vulgarity (‘same [as flashiness] only more so but less conscious & more honest’).
A25 was equally candid in his assessment of his personal style, responding to the question about care of his clothing with ‘I am a complete and utter slob and none of my clothes have ever been washed or ironed or repaired’ (though, intriguingly, he also admits to the ownership of 67 floral ties, ‘which I never wear’).
Of course, dilating on one’s style first requires knowing what it is. Observer M1994, a 43-year-old stay-at-home mother from Norfolk, tells us simultaneously that she appreciates freedom from the constraints of office wear and that she finds this freedom comes at a personal price:
From observer M1994's response to the spring 1988 directive. © Mass Observation Archive Trustees. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
She goes on to give examples of suitable dress for different occasions that might strike one as being oddly calibrated – I have never put on a jacket, for instance, to eat a takeaway:
From observer M1994's response to the spring 1988 directive. © Mass Observation Archive Trustees. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
In conclusion:
From observer M1994's response to the spring 1988 directive. © Mass Observation Archive Trustees. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Mass Observation Project is available now. For more information on this resource, including free trial access and price enquiries, please email us at info@amdigital.co.uk.
Recent posts
Meu Mapa, by Atlas Weyland Eden, is a short piece of historical fiction inspired by digitised archival maps in AM databases, and written as part of the Imagining History UK programme.
In a guest blog, Kuba Jablanowski, a lecturer in Digital Sociology at the University of Bristol, explores how the university's use of AM Digital collections have enabled students to access crucial interdisciplinary content to support their research.