Dress and Deviance: Poverty, Crime and Clothing in 19th-Century England

An interactive evening session with Dr Vivienne Richmond - exploring how clothing linked poverty, crime & punishment in 19th-century England

In a time of fast fashion and disposable clothing, it is easy to underestimate the very high value of clothing in nineteenth-century England. For the numerous poor it was a form of currency and, therefore, at the centre of much crime.

During this session, Dr Vivienne Richmond will consider the connections between crime, poverty and dress from two perspectives.

• First, clothing as the object of crime: the types of garments stolen, the varieties of clothing theft, what thieves did with their plunder and the harsh punishments if caught.
• Second, clothing as punishment: the introduction and multiplicity of prison uniforms, the use of badges to identify and stigmatise different criminals, clothing used to restrict bodily movement, withholding clothing to shame and prisoners’ use of clothing as resistance.

What to expect?

This interactive session will focus on visual sources and material culture beginning with a short talk outlining the context and themes. The majority of the session will be discussion of the sources with and among attendees, reflecting on what it all tells us about attitudes to crime and criminals at that time. The topic lends itself to comparison with present day practices if that is a direction participants wish to explore.

The London Archives is open from 10am to 7pm on Wednesdays, so you are welcome to arrive earlier and see our free exhibition before the event starts "Londoners on Trial: Crime, Courts and the Public 1244-1924".

About the Speaker:

Dr Vivienne Richmond is an independent scholar (formerly Head of History, Goldsmiths, University of London). Dr Richmond is author of 'Clothing the Poor In Nineteenth-Century England' (Cambridge University Press 2013/2016)

Please note this event will take place in-person at The London Archives in Clerkenwell.