The Great Male Renunciation is the historical phenomenon at the end of the 18th century in which wealthy men of the Western world ceased from using bright colors, elaborate shapes and variety in their dress, and reserved these aspects to women’s clothing. Instead, men concentrated on differences of cut and the quality of the clothes’ fabric.
Coined by British psychologist John Flügel in 1930, it is considered a major turning point in the history of clothing where the male style stopped being as ornate and detailed. Flügel asserted that men ‘abandoned their claim to be considered beautiful’ and ‘henceforth aimed at being only useful.’ The Great Renunciation encouraged the establishment of the suit’s monopoly on male dress codes at the beginning of the 19th century.
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The Daily Omnivore 