Empire and the Fashioning of Whiteness: Im/Material Culture in the British Atlantic World, c. 1660–1820

Abstract

Abstract Textiles played a crucial role in defining gender, rank, and race in British imperial expansion during the long eighteenth century. This period saw an emphasis on whiteness in skin and cloth, symbolizing social status and racial hierarchy, with laundering, largely performed by low-ranked and racialized women, maintaining pristine garments representing social “whiteness.” Everyday clothing, its care, and the opulent societal lifestyle of the elite, characterized by events such as masquerade balls, upheld the imperial ethos of race and reinforced social hierarchies. A critical history of empire must examine fabrics and their use, as well as the motivations behind material whiteness.