Jonathan C. Kaplan-Wajselbaum: An Evening with the Author

Join Jonathan C. Kaplan-Wasjelbaum, in conversation, as he discusses his book Jews In Suits, Men's Dress in Vienna (1890-1938) in-store at Gertrude & Alice Cafe Bookstore.

WHEN: Wednesday, 30th of April 2025, at Gertrude & Alice Cafe Bookstore. Please arrive at 6:45pm for a prompt 7pm start.

TICKETS: 

1 x Admission: $30.00 (excluding external fees), includes admission for one, a glass of wine and nibbles upon arrival.

1 x Admission + 1 x Book Ticket: $75.00 (excluding external fees), includes admission for one, a copy of Jews In Suits, Men's Dress in Vienna by Jonathan C. Kaplan-Wasjelbaum (RRP: $59.95), a glass of wine and nibbles upon arrival.

2 x Admission + 1 x Book Tickets: $100.00 (excluding external fees), includes admission for two, a copy of Jews In Suits, Men's Dress in Vienna by Jonathan C. Kaplan-Wasjelbaum (RRP: $59.95), a glass of wine and nibbles upon arrival.

Surviving photographs of Jewish Viennese men during the fin-de-siècle and interwar periods all share a striking sartorial detail: the tailored suit.

About Jews In Suits:

Surviving photographs of Jewish Viennese men during the fin-de-siècle and interwar periods – both the renowned cultural luminaries and their many anonymous coreligionists – all share a striking sartorial detail: the tailored suit. Yet, until now, the adoption of the tailored suit and its function in the formation of modern Jewish identities remains under-researched.

Jews in Suits uses a rich range of written and visual sources, including literary fiction and satire, 'ego-documents', photography, trade catalogues, invoices, and department store culture, to propose a new narrative of men, fashion, and their Jewish identities. It reveals that dressing in a modern manner was not simply a matter of assimilation, but rather a way of developing new models of Jewish subjectivity beyond the externally prescribed notion of 'the Jew'. Drawing upon fashionable dress, folk costume, religious dress, avant-garde, oppositional dress, typologies which are often considered separate from one another, it proposes a new way of reading men and clothing cultures within an iconic cultural milieu, offering insights into the relationship of clothing and grooming to the understanding of the self.

Shortlisted for the Leslie and Sophie Caplan Award for Jewish Non-Fiction.

About the Author:

Jonathan C. Kaplan-Wajselbaum is a senior educator and manager of research at the Sydney Jewish Museum and adjunct fellow at the University of Technology Sydney. He holds a PhD in dress and design history and has published on the intersections between dress, acculturation and Jewish identity in central Europe at the fin de siècle.

About Gertrude & Alice Cafe Bookstore

Rated as one of the top 10 bookstores in the world by National Geographic, Gertrude & Alice Cafe Bookstore is an oasis for writers, readers, and coffee lovers. Books overflow from the shelves of their store, featuring a mix of new, second-hand, antiquarian and rare books. Stay a while & enjoy some homemade chai, and amazing coffee, and unearth a book treasure or two. Read more about the bookstore's story here, and about the real Gertrude & Alice here.