Dressed: The History of Fashion · Dressed Media

Fashioning the Enslaved Servant, an interview with Dr. Jonathan Michael Square (Dressed Classic)

October 31, 2025·38 min·3 clips

Enslaved valets wore coats with custom falcon buttons, branding them as possessions of a wealthy slave-owning family.

Fashion historian Dr. Jonathan Michael Square discusses his research on Brooks Brothers' connection to slavery, revealing how the brand's early ready-made clothing was designed for enslaved people and how corporate archives control narratives to obscure this history. The conversation explores object-based analysis of coats worn by enslaved valets and the broader implications of fashion in reinforcing social hierarchies during slavery.

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