‘You must cut your coat according to your cloth’: Frugality and the shaping of British Society, 1750 – 1850

Burnett, Nicole 2026. ‘You must cut your coat according to your cloth’: Frugality and the shaping of British Society, 1750 – 1850. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

Focusing on British culture and society between 1750 and 1850, this thesis explores how frugality was promoted, adapted, and contested across social classes and genders. Drawing on a wide range of didactic literature, it argues that frugality was neither a neutral nor a universal virtue but a socially and politically charged ideal used to reinforce social hierarchies, justify inequalities, and shape identities. It distinguishes between moral frugality, understood as restraint rooted in religious, ethical, or gendered obligations, and productive frugality, which maximises resources to either preserve or accumulate wealth. Using the metaphor ‘You must cut your coat according to your cloth’, the thesis conceptualises frugality as a blade that tailored consumption and behaviour to resources while navigating the competing dangers of luxury and avarice. The ‘cloth’ represented capacity, while the act of ‘cutting’ and the types of blades used differed by class and gender, symbolising the mental and physical capability to manage it. The thesis introduces the Frugal Capacity Dial to show how texts encouraged readers, according to class and gender, to practice frugality within defined bounds. Revealing how those with both capability and capacity, such as the nobleman, gentleman, commercial man and the élite and middle - income woman, were expected to use their frugality to moderate specific reputational and material outcomes. The Frugal Incapacity Dial, meanwhile, illustrates how frugality functioned differently for the labouring poor, who often lacked the skills or the sufficiency to apply it. By analysing frugality across religious teachings, prescriptive literature, and debates on luxury and poverty, this thesis shows that frugality was central to shaping class and gender identities and regulating social behaviour. Ultimately, it demonstrates that frugality served as a moral virtue, an economic management strategy, and a mechanism of social and gender control during a period of profound social and economic change.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Schools > History, Archaeology and Religion
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	26 October 2026
Last Modified:	27 Oct 2026 15:24
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/190401

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