The suit maketh the man: Masculinity and social class in Kingsman: The Secret Service (Vaughn, 2014)

Abstract

This article outlines the ways in which suits are synonymous with masculinity examining the, sometimes paradoxical, nature of suits worn by men of all social classes, and for different reasons. For example, hegemonic men wear suits in a bid to convey power, arguably, by rendering the wearers uniform in appearance so that the focus is on what hegemonic men might say and do, rather than how they might look. Moreover, the uniformity of suits is a means by which men of a lower social class demonstrate aspiration to a higher social class and might affect hegemonic power through wearing them. While much has been written about masculinity and suits, with many authors agreeing that the bespoke suit is at the pinnacle of the hierarchy of men’s clothing, yet there is a little attention paid to the way in which the bespoke suit is represented in media or popular culture. This article examines the role of clothing of the main characters in the film Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) with a particular focus on the contribution that the bespoke suit makes to the masculinity of the bodies of the individuals within the film. Principally, the bespoke suit elevates the body of the wearer from quotidian to tailored, the fitting of which allows for better representation of a man’s body. It will explore representation of middle-class masculinity, hegemony and embodiment in the film, addressing the idea of whether wearing a bespoke suit can help a man transcend the boundaries of ‘chav’ masculinity, which is depicted as male subordination, and rise into middle-class hegemonic masculinity through the character of Gary ‘Eggsy’ Unwin (Taron Egerton).

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