"For the heat is beyond your conception": men's summer dress in the American south during the long eighteenth-century

Abstract

During the long eighteenth-century, large numbers of men from northern Europe and particularly Great Britain, moved away from the comforts of their temperate climate to the tropical climates of India, China, Africa, islands in the Caribbean, Central, South, and North America, bringing with them their cultural traditions. Climate determines or strongly influences culture. The material culture of these uprooted Europeans serves as evidence of adaptation as people moved into regions that challenge their comfort. Architecture, foodways, and daily routine, changed due to the extreme heat. Clothing, the most outward and visual representation of culture also modified in order to meet the human desire of comfort. This thesis uses the experience of individuals living in the southern regions of North America as a case study to examine how colonists, merchants, manufacturers, and tailors adapted textiles, cut, and construction of men's clothing in pursuit for personal comfort.