History Thing 008 - Fine and Dandy
(This one is incredibly lazy of me, because I know this particular History Thing by heart. Also: bet you thought I'd forgotten these!)
Okay, so, hands up those of you who've heard of Beau Brummell!
... now, put your hand down if you've heard about him from me.
That's what I thought.
I'm willing to bet you have heard the terms 'Fop' and 'Dandy', though, or the egregiously incorrect 'Foppish Dandy' (you'll see why that gives me hives in a moment), and are starting to vaguely picture Regency England. As well you should.
Right, so, Fops, Dandies, and Beau Brummell (also, Prince George, Byron, and assorted other nobility).
Basically, around the time of the Napoleonic War, exciting shit was happening in the world of British fashion (don't laugh). There was a gentleman (well. 'Gentleman' is probably not the right word) named Beau Brummell (actually called George, but nicknamed by the prince when they became bestest buddies, presumably because it's weird calling people by your own name? Or because George was too difficult to spell for him?) who, in short, did not like wearing frilly knickers. So he 'invented' (read: stole from the working classes) the trouser, and passed it off as high fashion in what was the beginning of the three-piece suit.
Somewhere along the line, Prince George made him his sartorial advisor, probably because he wasn't overly fond of frilly knickers either. At least, not on himself.
Anyone bored with the fashion stuff probably wants to know at this point that he started a bit of a gang war between the Fops (the ones wearing the frilly knickers and wigs) and the Dandies (the ones with the trousers). There's an excellent scene in Beau Brummell: This Charming Man (which is genuinely a good film, by the way, if you're into BBC costume drama but less dramatic) that illustrates a kind of high-class, Regency gang rivalry that my actually, for once, extensive research tells me is pretty true to life. Apparently they got into actual fist fights coming out of/going in to clubs.
And now for the dose of tragedy in our story: Brummell, unfortunately, died with not a penny to his name, in Paris (post-war, obviously), holding tea parties in his apartment for no guests at all in an attempt to relive his glory days.
Oh, and he may or may not have been having it off with Lord Byron - the above-mentioned film says yes, and Byron did think very highly of Brummell, and to be fair, having contracted syphilis (I assume it would be literally impossible not to, in Byron's case) from him would *definitely* explain his later decline, but on the other hand, their dates don't quite match up. It would have to have been a very brief affair if it ever happened at all.
I am, of course, prejudiced in all of this, because I spent quite some time getting into Mr. Brummell's head so I could write a book from his point of view. But I tend to view him as a sort of Regency Regina George.
I'll leave you all with a little Regency eye candy ;)
Okay, so, hands up those of you who've heard of Beau Brummell!
... now, put your hand down if you've heard about him from me.
That's what I thought.
I'm willing to bet you have heard the terms 'Fop' and 'Dandy', though, or the egregiously incorrect 'Foppish Dandy' (you'll see why that gives me hives in a moment), and are starting to vaguely picture Regency England. As well you should.
Right, so, Fops, Dandies, and Beau Brummell (also, Prince George, Byron, and assorted other nobility).
Basically, around the time of the Napoleonic War, exciting shit was happening in the world of British fashion (don't laugh). There was a gentleman (well. 'Gentleman' is probably not the right word) named Beau Brummell (actually called George, but nicknamed by the prince when they became bestest buddies, presumably because it's weird calling people by your own name? Or because George was too difficult to spell for him?) who, in short, did not like wearing frilly knickers. So he 'invented' (read: stole from the working classes) the trouser, and passed it off as high fashion in what was the beginning of the three-piece suit.
Somewhere along the line, Prince George made him his sartorial advisor, probably because he wasn't overly fond of frilly knickers either. At least, not on himself.
Anyone bored with the fashion stuff probably wants to know at this point that he started a bit of a gang war between the Fops (the ones wearing the frilly knickers and wigs) and the Dandies (the ones with the trousers). There's an excellent scene in Beau Brummell: This Charming Man (which is genuinely a good film, by the way, if you're into BBC costume drama but less dramatic) that illustrates a kind of high-class, Regency gang rivalry that my actually, for once, extensive research tells me is pretty true to life. Apparently they got into actual fist fights coming out of/going in to clubs.
And now for the dose of tragedy in our story: Brummell, unfortunately, died with not a penny to his name, in Paris (post-war, obviously), holding tea parties in his apartment for no guests at all in an attempt to relive his glory days.
Oh, and he may or may not have been having it off with Lord Byron - the above-mentioned film says yes, and Byron did think very highly of Brummell, and to be fair, having contracted syphilis (I assume it would be literally impossible not to, in Byron's case) from him would *definitely* explain his later decline, but on the other hand, their dates don't quite match up. It would have to have been a very brief affair if it ever happened at all.
I am, of course, prejudiced in all of this, because I spent quite some time getting into Mr. Brummell's head so I could write a book from his point of view. But I tend to view him as a sort of Regency Regina George.
I'll leave you all with a little Regency eye candy ;)