What does it have to do with the story of any of the songs on foxtrot

And the dogs and strange men that are chasing after the fox what are they meant to represent`?

I dunno, the fact that it's evil!!!  poor fox

BaldFriede wrote: The fox used to be one of Gabriel's disguises on stage, that's why it appears on the album. The disguises did not necessarily have anything to do with the songs.

Ah i though he used the costume because it appeared on the album first...afterall gabriel claims he wears those costumes to EXPLAIN the story of the songs...so which song do he use the dress on?

Hm so the dress does not mean anything? Just a gimmerick thing is it

I belivie this was Gabriel's first real costume? 

I just read in Armando Gallo his book Genesis The Evolution Of A Rock band:

October 1972: Peter Gabriel wore the foxhead with a red dress during the performance of Musical Box. He replaced it with the Old Man mask in February 1973.

Strange...but does this costumes mean anything? Since he uses it under The Musical box is he meant to represent that Cynthia girl

I always thought the costumes of gabriel in genesis had a "meaning" behind them like forexample the costumes he uses to explain the story of The lamb...

i don't know, but what i know is that every time i look at the foxtrot paint, i can smell in my head the omega-3 flax paint oil on the canvas!

According to several sources I read during the years, the Fox with the red dress was a surprise even for the band.

Peter was a really shy guy, he was somehow afraid of public at the beginning of his career with Genesis, if you have a copy of the Belgium TV show, he hardly moved in the stage from a 2 square meters spot and even sung with the hands rossed on his chest.

During the very early shows they didn't had enough money to buy several guitars tuned for each song, so between songs they spent 2 or 3 minutes tunning the instruments and Peter standing up with his mouth closed in front of the audience. So Anthony Phillips was almost the first frontman who spoke to the crowd, but he developed stage panic and left the band.

Peter always wanted to shock the audience so he started telling creepy stories of people rubbing their flesh or girls beheading kids (Shock...boom.....Henry dead!!), but this wasn't enough for him.

During the May 1972 Lincoln Festival he painted his face in white using heavy makeup in his eyes and used the reverse Mohawk heircut for the first time, this shocked the audience, but still it wasn't the reaction he wanted, he expected a mixture of horror and surprise.

So in the same year they had a concert in Dublin's National Stadium, and Peter asked Jill (his wife) for a red dress, Paul Conroy from Charisma records bought the fox head for him.

During the instrumental part of Musical Box Peter always left the stage to leave the band playing, but this time he returned with the dress and the mask, the audience and the rest of the band were really shocked, because as peter later said Dublin was not the best place in 1972 for a guy to wear a red dress.

Happy with the reaction, he decided to go further and started to use a different costume for each song as an aid to understand the lyrics,  like Brittania (The Roman Soldier with the British flag) for Dancing with the Moonlit Knight, the Old Henry mask for Musical Box, three different costumes for Supper's Ready, etc.

So it was not for economic purpose, it was only a product of Peter desire for creating reactions in the audience.

Iván

When Peter was a very young boy he was emotionally neglected by his parents: his mother was more busy with his suster and his father was always busy with his work at home (inventions). Then Peter used to walk alone on the fields of his grandfather, I presume that his huge imagination started there. He was very often in nature, that could be a clue to his obsession to nature that you can trace in many songs. You can say he was emotionally traumatized, this was also during his period on the Charterhouse. I have the opinion that his stage antics were an escape from his many bad memories and feelings. Peter was also a totally different person in normal life and on stage. Once his father in law had the idea that Peter was schizophrenic (because of the misunderstanding that a split personality is a part of schizophrenia), he was astonished that Peter was so shy at home and so extravert on stage! The foxhead and the red dress were Peter his start to his creative visuals, culminating on Supper's Ready, The Lamb and later the innovative video Sledgehammer! Peter Gabriel for president!!