Uniforms: Why We Are What We Wear – A Revelatory History from Brass Buttons to Blue Jeans and the Hidden Meanings of Attire

by Paul Fussell

According to the renowned social critic and historian Paul Fussell, we are what we wear, and it doesn't look good. Uniforms parses the hidden meanings of our apparel -- from brass buttons to blue jeans, badges to feather flourishes -- revealing what our clothing says about class, sex, and our desire to belong. With keen insight and considerable curmudgeonly flair, Fussell unfolds the history and cultural significance of all manner of attire, fondly analyzing the roles that uniforms play in a number of communities -- the military, the church, health care, food service, sports -- even everyday civilian life. Uniforms is vintage Fussell: "revelatory, ribald, and irresistible" (Shirley Hazzard).

Genres: Nonfiction, Sociology, Fashion, History, Essays, Psychology, Cultural

204 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Paul Fussell was an American cultural and literary historian, author and university professor. His writings covered a variety of topics, from scholarly works on eighteenth-century English literature to commentary on America’s class system. He was an U.S. Army Infantry officer in the European theater during World War II (103rd U.S. Infantry Division) and was awarded both the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. He is best known for his writings about World War I and II.

He began his teaching career at Connecticut College (1951–55) before moving to Rutgers University in 1955 and finally the University of Pennsylvania in 1983. He also taught at the University of Heidelberg (1957–58) and King’s College London (1990–92). As a teacher, he traveled widely with his family throughout Europe during the 1950s, 60s and 70s, taking Fulbright and sabbatical years in Germany, England and France.

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

If ever a book needed pictures, it’s this one. I had to Google “Army pink trousers” to see that they weren’t really even remotely what I think of as pink, and maybe it’s my fault my education didn’t cover what a “Sam Browne belt” is, but I was frequently distracted while reading this wishing I could see what the heck he was writing about. I finished it not feeling any more enlightened about “why we are what we wear” than I had been when I started, as the text was more a collection of observations than an analysis that came to a conclusion.

[Guy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps I should have read his "The Great War and Modern Memory" (for which he won various major awards) instead. This is not a book of scholarship... it is a book for fetishists. Amusing anecdotes at times, yes, and he can write well, but overall the book is principally a list of different uniforms described in dull (at least to this non-fetishist) detail.

Don't bother.

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book needed illustrations. Failing that, I would advise reading it with access to the internet close at hand. The only problem is that the internet is bound to be more compelling.

I have liked several of Fussell's other works, but this one is less about why we wear what we wear than what Paul Fussell thinks about what we wear. If you care about his opinion, go ahead and read it.

[Tracey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not quite as compelling as some other object-history nonfiction I've read; in fact, I don't remember a whole lot about the book at all.

[Nigel Ewan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute but very lightweight.

[Nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a collection of very short meanderings on the subject of uniforms by someone who used to know what he was talking about. Paul Fussell's The Great War and Modern Memory was a really good book. book:Class] was a pretty good book. The only reason I gave this book two stars was that I did finish it, and it gave me a chuckle or two. Had it not been a library book, I might have thrown it across the room a time or two or three, because of simple errors of fact. For example, the Army has not tucked its neckties between the second and third shirt buttons in my memory, which goes back at least as far as the introduction of Army green. Whether or not the Army Rangers are currently the only ones allowed to wear the black beret, I had one as a WAC in 1973. And the Girl Guides are not "now called Girl Scouts" -- they are still Girl Guides in England and Girl Scouts in the US as they have been from the beginning. When I find this many inaccuracies about things I do know about, it makes me loath to believe the statements Fussell makes about things I don't know about. Don't bother reading this, instead read The Great War and Modern Memory, from which you may actually learn something.

[m · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Paul Fussell, even of this light-hearted pamphlet.

[John Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

A disappointment; pick one of Fussell's many other wonderful books, like "Class", before reading this collection of vague, fairly-charming rambles.

[Heidi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Basically an opinionated ramble. The part that drove me crazy was that there were no illustrations! Thank goodness for google.

[Christina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pedantic, male-centric, and unevenly researched, as if his main source of information was a search of the New York Times archives.

[Sharron · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining and quirky exposition about all sorts of uniforms and the people who wear them from airline pilots and Amtrak conductors to nuns and priests and Hare Krishna adherents to national park service rangers and police officers to members of the military - all the branches - to Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts to doctors and nurses to football players and cheerleaders to head chefs and fast food servers. Well, you get the idea.
More unexpected, however, was the inclusion of “uniforms”of a different sort, those worn by brides, members of the KKK, prisoners held in concentration camps, and those receiving graduate degrees at university ceremonies to name but a few. After reading this book I don’t think I will look at the person delivering mail or packages - whether employed by USPS, FedEx or UPS - or anyone else in a uniform the same way again.

[Debra Daniels-Zeller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now that I've put this book aside, I'm not even sure why I picked it. A lot of this book was about various military uniforms and I was soon bored, even though I'd picked this book from the librarian's "Best Bets" shelf. I thought the author might have more insight about why we choose to wear what we do when we go out the door. Why is it that people at the gym all wear similar t-shirts (no politics) and clothing? There was one interesting section about blue jeans and how everyone has at least one pair and the history of blue jeans, but it wasn't quite enough. This was a random pick and not really the book for me.

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really excited about this book as someone who is very interested in fashion and creating my own personal uniform. Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me. The author’s tone was at times very judgmental, when this seems like it should be a more academic piece. Additionally, the author spends most of the time naming a uniform or piece of clothing without photos or illustrations or even descriptions! This made it dull to read and not very helpful.

[Aaron Ambrose · Rating 3 out of 5]

An amusing stroll through the hall of uniforms by a writer I greatly admire for his humanistic balance of gravity and judiciously aimed irreverence. Fussell is the model of a mensch to me. This book is a skim, and it never goes very deep, but there are some poignant riffs on the special kind of loneliness of “self-made” Americans, and how that affects our simultaneous embrace and disdain of wearing a uniform. And the trivia cabinet in my brain is freshly stocked up now.

[Dray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul's book are gems. i rally appreciate the arcana and observational power that he brings to his topics. Where else can you get this type of information? So...if you want to know about uniforms, from military to bridal, its history and development, notable events and kind of crazy stories, this book is for you.

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as Fussell's earlier "Class" but interesting enough. I thought he'd talk more about uniforms metaphorically, in terms of how ordinary clothes can function to express group identity, but there's just a little of that. It's mostly about literal uniforms of soldiers, nurses, etc. Interesting enough but could have gone further to talk about uniformity throughout society.

[Alex Broughton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Random collection of facts about uniforms over time. The book presumes that you have seen the various uniforms, as there are no illustrations. The subtitle of the book is "Why we are what we wear." The book does not address this issue at all.

[Amalia]

This book was so silly I ended up not using it at all in my thesis but I loved the chapter on what makes UPS workers sexier than USPS or FedEx workers, gotta love a man who’s built such a reputation in this niche and can therefore just write whatever the hell he wants

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fussell is simultaneously clever/funny and deeply insightful.

[Stacy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terribly boring; did not make it past 30 pages

[Colin]

“And what about the general rejection of the necktie? For one thing, ties serve no purpose except vanity.”

[Henry · Rating 3 out of 5]

- (I read the book twice and still don't get what this book is about - I'm such a big fan of Fussell's Class but this book is simply "???")

[Kyle Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick interesting read about how our line of work effects what we wear, and how what we wear effects what we do

[Chris Burnette · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, Fussell hits it right on the head.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this book on tape. Some of these recordings are not what
I would normally chose for reading, but they do prove to introduce new
topics and ideas. This was a "lighthearted look at the personal, cultural, and historical meaning of uniforms and what they reveal about class, gender, and the need to belong." It was written by a literature professor. I was particularly interested in the section on military uniforms, which included generals Patton and Eisenhower. As is generally acknowledged, people rise to the level of their clothing. As much as I enjoy being casual, the crisp, distinctive uniforms definitely have a place.

[Amberjean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining, but disorganized. Reads a little more like discussions with a charming old fellow who likes to talk; entertaining in vignettes, but tiresome as a steady diet. The book doesn't seem to explore any one thing very deeply, but rather skips from point to point, always returning to discuss the Nazis and the US armed forces.

[Larry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Paul Fussell rates if for no other reason that he is responsible for coining the term "X" as in "The X Way Out" in his chapter in Class, the X of which was used to describe a whole generation. I would read anything he writes just because of that. He also here takes a rather mundane subject and with his writing makes it more interesting than it is.

[Sarah Castillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't expecting this book to be rivetting but I was at least expecting it to be interesting and informative. The problem is that it's mostly "What We Wear" and very little of the Why.

[MIL]

我就是深深著迷歐陸軍事制服的人啊
這本書啥都好就是沒圖
雖然喜歡軍服(嚴格來說應該是聯合王國禮儀用軍服)
但基本沒概念
這樣的話作者用文字描繪的再仔細
我還是無法想像啊
但只要有張照片，就瞬間都懂了

[Ginger Heskett]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14340662