Mészáros, Zsolt. "The gentleman turned “enemy”: Men’s fashion in the Hungarian press, 1914–18." Fashion, Society, and the First World War: International Perspectives. Ed. Maude Bass-Krueger, Hayley Edwards-Dujardin and Sophie Kurkdjian. London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2021. 231–245. Bloomsbury Collections. Web. 2 Oct. 2021. <http:// dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350119895.ch-015>. Downloaded from Bloomsbury Collections, www.bloomsburycollections.com, 2 October 2021, 17:27 UTC. Copyright © Selection, editorial matter, Introduction Maude Bass-Krueger, Hayley Edwards- Dujardin, and Sophie Kurkdjian and Individual chapters their Authors 2021. You may share this work for non-commercial purposes only, provided you give attribution to the copyright holder and the publisher, and provide a link to the Creative Commons licence. 15 Th e gentleman turned “enemy” Men’s fashion in the Hungarian press, 1914–18 Z s o l t M é s z á r o s Conditions were by no means favorable for the men’s clothing industry in Europe during the First World War. Trade was disrupted between the countries in the Central Empire (Germany, Austria- Hungary, Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire), the Triple Entente (France, the United Kingdom, and Russia), and their allies (the United States, Italy, and Romania, among others). Textile industries were monopolized by various needs of the army and sales to the civil sphere declined all over Europe. Supply issues were further aggravated by shortages of raw materials such as wool and cotton and other necessary goods such as canvas.1 M o s t s i g n i fi cantly, a majority of workers and consumers were sent to the front. In the case of Austria-Hungary, partial mobilization was announced on July 25, 1914, with full mobilization following on July 31. Nevertheless, throughout the war, Hungarians wrote articles, drew fashion illustrations, took photographs, and produced advertisements that advocated for continued purchases of men’s clothing and a renewal of the male wardrobe. Th e magazine Szab ó Otthon (Home of the Tailor), primarily a trade journal, summarized the situation as such: “Th e First World War has provoked fundamental changes in all aspects of public life; male society cannot but be infl uenced by the war, even in matters of the wardrobe.”2 Various studies written in the past twenty years have showcased the importance of consumption and dress in the construction of modern masculinity.3 Th is article seeks to examine how the male civilian wardrobe changed during the First World War through a study of visual representations, military propaganda, and discourse in the fashion media. Th is analysis focuses on the case of the well- dressed upper-middle-class male in Hungary’s capital, Budapest. Th rough a study of the oft en 231 232 Fashion, Society, and the First World War contradictory messaging on the masculine ideal, we aim to show the ways in which Hungarian and, more broadly, European fashion and public discourse were shaped by the extraordinary circumstances of the war. Th ere are relatively few sources from the era that cover the subject of men’s fashion in depth and there were no periodicals devoted entirely to the topic published during the war. Th e magazine F é rfi Divat (Men’s Fashion) was the fi rst and only Hungarian fashion journal targeted towards men published during the period of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy (1867–1918). Published between 1899 and 1908, it had ceased production when the war broke out. Leading up to 1914, newspapers and women’s magazines would occasionally devote several paragraphs to men’s dress, sometimes accompanied by illustrations. Aft er the declaration of war, however, they no longer featured men’s civilian clothes. Th ey replaced the space reserved for a discussion on menswear with patterns for hats, mittens, scarves, socks, and the like that women could knit or crochet and send to the front. Th e press began championing the military uniform, celebrating its “pike gray” tint, instead of talking about menswear. 4 Between 1914 and 1918, most general interest magazines stopped printing articles on men’s fashion. Only the few active theatre journals, and certain other culture-oriented magazines (Divat é s M ű v é szet , Sz í nh á z é s Divat , Sz í nh á zi É let , A T á rsas á g ), continued to cover the subject, publishing photographs, illustrations, and advice on men’s dress. Trade journals intended for tailors ( Szab ó Otthon , Szab ó H í rlap , Ú ri Szab ó k Divatlapja ) are another valuable source of information. Analysis of these last two sources—further complemented by information from French and Austrian magazines (Le Carnet de la Semaine , Le Figaro , Le Gaulois , Le P ê le-M ê le , Le Temps , Neues Wiener Journal , Neuigkeits-Welt-Blatt , Reichspost )—allows us an understanding of the practices and ideology associated with men’s fashion in Hungary, and Europe more broadly, during the war. Soldier versus civilian: Men’s fashion discourse during wartime One month aft er the war broke out, the satirical weekly magazine Magyar Figar ó (Hungarian Figaro) published a front-page illustration depicting a soldier seated in a caf é and surrounded by women, while a fi nely dressed man sits alone in the background, seemingly distressed by the soldier’s success. Th e caption for the drawing reads, “Today a wounded soldier is worth more than yesterday’s dandy in good health” 5 (Figure 15.1). It is no surprise the uniform became associated with authentic masculinity following the declaration of mobilization; men’s suits and civilian clothes were in turn associated with eff eminacy and cowardice.6 A patriotic distrust for fashion and luxury products arose in the public Men’s Fashion in the Hungarian Press 233 eye, and these suspicions extended more broadly to any form of non-essential consumption. 7 A similar attitude predominated in the French press as well. In 1916, the French illustrated satirical magazine Le Carnet de la Semaine published a poem by Jean Bastia (1878–1940) entitled, “Masculine Fashion,” which bade farewell to the fi gure of the dandy: Despite your style, Your cravats and shined shoes I can assure you, Th at in Paris, your reign is over.8 In that same year, Le Gaulois criticized French tailors who advertised new menswear designs, claiming, “Real men’s fashion, for two years now, has been the military uniform.”9 In Hungary, this derisory attitude towards men’s fashion soft ened somewhat aft er the fi rst months of the war. Magyar Figar ó , aft er mocking the dandy in August, published an article in November that noted that any indignation directed towards crowds in restaurants, theaters, and other venues for Figure 15.1 Cover illustration, “A n ő k kedvence” (Th e ladies’ sweetheart), artist: Dezs ő B é r. Magyar Figar ó (Hungarian Figaro) 32, 35 (August, 30, 1914) . 234 Fashion, Society, and the First World War leisure was misplaced. “Th e capital of a victorious nation must not live like a town under siege,” the writer stated.10 Readers were advised that avarice (here meaning the unwillingness to spend) was a crime as dangerous as the spreading of false news, as both were capable of contributing to the nation’s moral and fi nancial distress. In addition, the magazine insisted that joyous civil life was benefi cial for the relaxation of soldiers on leave—a strong, unifi ed home front guaranteed a strong army, and thus, victory. Certain Hungarian political fi gures shared this perspective, including Budapest mayor Istv á n B á rczy (1866–1943), who advocated in an article in 1916 for the necessity of fashion, entertainment, and consumption during wartime. 11 He considered these as necessary outlets, not only for the economy, but for morale as well. In B á rczy’s words, soldiers would not want to come home only to fi nd a valley of tears. 12 In many ways, Hungarian society responded to this call to participate in public life; the First World War coincided with a golden age of Hungarian theatre and cinema.13 Fashion was not paused for long in Budapest. “Th e arrival of the war in the summer of 1914 had an eff ect on men’s fashion like that of the spring frost on the fruit tree ready to fl ower,” wrote B é la Kolos Mangold (1859–1945) in 1916 in Budapesti H í rlap , one of the prominent Hungarian newspapers of the era. 14 Mangold was the former editor-in-chief of F é rfi Divat and respected voice on fashion. His metaphor acknowledges that fashion did indeed face a period of dormancy in the early days of the war, as the public’s attention turned towards the pike-gray uniform, but Mangold claims that this was soon followed by reemergence of interest in fashion on the part of non-combatants and soldiers on leave. While he gives no in-depth explanation for the shift in attention, another anonymous author pointed out that: “If one walks through the streets during the hour of the promenade, one happily notices that a number of well-dressed men with fi ne taste reside in Budapest.” 15 Hungarian tailors were, of course, in favor of this propagandist discourse which imbued commerce and fashion with a greater economic and patriotic signifi cance. Szab ó H í rlap (Tailor’s Journal), the offi cial magazine for multiple tailor’s guilds, published an appeal to this eff ect in November 1914, under the title “Ne Takar é koskodjunk az Ipar Rov á s á ra” (“Don’t Economize at the Expense of Industry”).