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#beau brummel
jerrylevitch · 4 months
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Hi, I wanted to ask you about “beau brummell”. What is it or who is it. I’ve read it was a private joke between Dean and Jerry and had something to do with the watch that Dean gave Jerry.
It's this dude, who had a great sense of style and apparently hygiene
Beau Brummell - Wikipedia
"His personal habits, such as a fastidious attention to cleaning his teeth, shaving, and daily bathing exerted an influence on the ton—the upper echelons of polite society—who began to do likewise. Enthralled, the Prince would spend hours in Brummell's dressing room, witnessing the progress of his friend's lengthy morning toilette."
I love the movie Beau Brummel with Stewart Granger, Elizabeth Taylor, and Peter Ustinov from 1954.
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clove-pinks · 2 years
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Hello there I had some questions and thought you might help. When did men’s clothing start the transition from breeches to trousers? What was the average man wearing at the start of the 1820s vs a fancily dressed gentleman? And by 1830 had breeches totally gone out of style? Thanks for your insight!
It's easier to answer this question for a fancy gentleman, as dress history books are generally focused on lifestyles of the elite; even though trousers were initially worn by working class men. Farid Chenoune writes in A History of Men's Fashion:
The affluent classes had been dressing their little boys as "sailors" ever since 1770 or so, in long, comfortable pants that buttoned to a short jacket. Liberation from this costume signified the end of childhood. Sailors' and workers' pants had not yet breached the barriers of age and class, however, so French revolutionaries in 1792 were defined not by what they wore, but by what they did not wear—sans culottes meant without breeches.
During the same decade, on both sides of the English Channel, casual yet elegant morning dress began to include clinging pants known as "pantaloons". [...] Brummell began wearing them in the evening as well around 1810—black, tight, buttoned above the instep. In 1815, the Prince of Wales, after having forbidden pantaloons, allowed them at court.
Pants—in the form of pantaloons or trousers (which were more casual and, though occasionally tight-fitting, never clung to the calves like pantaloons)—definitively ousted breeches during the Restoration and the 1820s.
"Definitively ousted" maybe isn't the least controversial statement. According to Valerie Cumming, trousers didn't completely replace breeches for formal evening dress until 1850 (The Dictionary of Fashion History). Joseph Couts' A Practical Guide for the Tailor's Cutting-room (1843) has an illustration of men in evening costume, with one wearing breeches.
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More specific to the 1820s, The Handbook of English Costume in the 19th Century states that in that decade, "Breeches were correct for Court wear; for ordinary evening costume, pantaloons or pantaloon-trousers."
(Pantaloon-trousers are "strapped under the foot and sometimes buttoned up a side slit").
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Straps and buttons: 1827 fashion plate.
The Handbook of English Costume in the 19th Century (C. Willett Cunnington and Phillis Cunnington) is a great reference because it quotes and reproduces primary sources. Breeches are cited in very formal Court dress, wedding dress, and in hunting or riding costume (pantaloons could also be worn when riding).
Until 1820 both breeches and trousers continued in vogue, the former were always worn at Court and on formal occasions but the latter steadily gained in popularity. [...] when George IV came to the throne in 1820, he gave a definite lead towards the adoption of trousers for wear on all occasions.
— Doreen Yarwood, Illustrated Encyclopedia of World Costume
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Even the older gentleman wears trousers, not breeches, in this c. 1822 print. (Then again he's also French, and gleefully checking out the greatest assets of a statue of Hercules).
The same rules apply by 1830, for a fancy gentleman: he would wear trousers, not breeches, except possibly on the most formal occasions (and even then, he might wear pantaloons instead). Liveried servants often wore breeches, but in their case it's an old-fashioned and traditional uniform, and not fashionable.
I think the "average man" of the 1820s would also be wearing trousers. Working class people still dressed much like the upper classes in the 19th century, as others have pointed out, unless they were crushingly poor. They would simply use cheaper fabric, less ornamentation, and alter and repair clothing more than wealthy people.
Still, you occasionally see breeches in the 1820s working class, like this 1825 watercolour by George Scharf of Old Covent Garden Market (British Museum):
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Most men appear to wear trousers, however.
I would love to get my hands on more of the plates from Frederic Shoberl's 'The World in Miniature' series, published 1821-1827. It covers various foreign countries in different volumes (and some of these are on Archive), but also English working class people, like this bricklayer's labourer (source):
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He appears to be wearing both breeches and gaiters (occupational dress?), but the men on scaffolding in the background have long trousers.
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Any thoughts on Prinny/Brummel?
Oh there was a match made in...who knows what. They're definitely the sort to bring out the absolute worst in one another.
That said, I don't know much about Beau Brummel, aside from the high level basics. So I can't really expound in the depth on the matter. Other than the fact that Beau was Savage when Prinny cut him in public with that "alvenly whose your fat friend" line. like bro. bro. chill bro. Granted being cut was a Big Deal and Beau's personality was such that he absolutely would not take that calmly or with grace.
Anyway - I don't have that many thoughts, alas. Though others might! In which case, have at it.
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byneddiedingo · 1 year
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Mary Astor and John Barrymore in Beau Brummel (Harry Beaumont, 1924) Cast: John Barrymore, Mary Astor, Willard Louis, Carmel Myers, Irene Rich, Alec B. Francis, William Humphrey, Richard Tucker, George Beranger. Screenplay: Dorothy Farnum, based on a play by Clyde Fitch. Cinematography: David Abel. Film editing: Howard Bretherton This slow, stagy, and occasionally cheesy-looking costume drama was the film that lured John Barrymore away from Broadway to Hollywood. It's about the rise and fall of George Bryan Brummel (usually spelled with two l's) in the court of the Prince of Wales, later Prince Regent and then George IV. Barrymore gets to load on the old age makeup -- which makes him look startlingly like his brother, Lionel -- as the film goes on. The supporting cast plays a gaggle of semihistorical figures who are mostly there for atmosphere; I was surprised, for example, to discover that the rather ordinary fellow (George Beranger) limping around in the background was supposed to be Lord Byron. None of the film's history can be trusted, of course, so there's really not much to be said about it other than that Barrymore chews the scenery with aplomb and that the 18-year-old Mary Astor is pleasant to look at.
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luckydetectivelight · 2 years
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Elizabeth Taylor in 1954 at age 21 in film Beau Brummell.
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rayless-reblogs · 2 months
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Reading so many Regency romances is starting to feel weird because the same early nineteenth century celebrities keep popping up in the background as extras. How many times am I going to hear about Lady Jersey being sophisticated, or Beau Brummel being the sartorial aspiration for this or that romantic hero, and -- oh look -- it's HRH Prinny again, I hear he's large and he's here to flirt.
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gentlyepigrams · 2 years
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George Bryan "Beau" Brummell, the iconic Regency figure and arbiter of men's fashion, was born On This Day [June 7] in 1778. This navy broadcloth greatcoat was made for Brummell by the London tailor John Weston in c. 1803, but never claimed by Brummell 
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vinceaddams · 1 year
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have you ever had the urge to fistfight beau brummel? i certainly have
I assume you're referring to the infuriating popular myth that he somehow transformed all menswear and made everything boring during the relatively brief time that he was popular and influential, even though menswear was already well on its way to becoming more plain when he was a small child and there were plenty more fancy & exciting styles after he died, so no.
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I would much rather fight the ignorant fool who wrote that goddamn bullshit twitter thread and that goddamn bullshit esquire article about him.
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boxwright · 14 days
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The Beau Brummels - Sal Valentino
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If Dorian is a swan, Henry Wotton is a peacock. He wears a sack coat; this coat would have just begun to grow popular in the early 1890s. The coat Henry wears over his shoulders is called an opera coat—I used an article from Vogue 1892 as reference. When it comes to fashion Henry is ahead of everyone—sometimes even being the one to set trends. Fashion is both a pleasure and tool for Henry and he uses them in every way he can, from genuinely expressing himself to creating pretentious outrage (yall just wait for when I get Henry in the Rudi Gernreich bathing suit!)
Henry’s status as a middle child (2 of 5) contributes to his desperation for attention. He loves being the center of attention—this man does not have a shy bone in his body. Because of this, he is the only one of the trio to consistently use color in his outfits, often accenting in golds or silvers.
Even the frame of his glasses (he is nearsighted and not happy about it) are plated in gold, catching in the light, because attention, like his glasses, is a necessity in his life. Henry also wears a cravat as a nod to Beau Brummel—the original dandy. My Henry idolizes Beau Brummel which is my excuse for not giving him facial hair; it’s just a dandy thing.
Henry’s hair, unlike Basil’s, loosely hangs around, only styled so it doesn’t catch on fire from his cigarettes. My version of Henry was directly inspired by Basil to have longer hair back when they were in Oxford. Until he met Basil, he hadn’t realized he was allowed to just have long hair. This realization was accompanied with further desire to break away from Victorian norms in the most flamboyant (but not openly illegal) way he could.
A lot of decisions that Henry makes are a result of something he fancied in Basil/something Basil did for him. In the Modern Reimaging AU, Henry lives to be 75, dying in 1940. But even when he was mostly with Dorian or living as an old ass man, Henry kept his hair long, never quite able to forget Basil.
Fun story: My friend and I were talking about cigarettes, so I showed them this page and they said they “no longer like cigarettes because that dude made them too pretentious.” Honestly iconic of them.
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uncouthriot · 9 months
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here have a prinny edit
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clove-pinks · 1 month
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Once again I am asking you to read fashion historian Cassidy Percoco's Twitter thread about changes in men's fashion in the 18th and 19th centuries.
It's a quick read and informative! In brief:
Men's fashion became more subdued over the course of the 18th century
Beau Brummell had nothing to do with the move away from earlier styles
I quote: "Brummell made his name by wearing the hell out of what already was considered fashionable - working within the parameters of normal dress"
Colourful men's fashion was a thing for most of the 19th century!!!! It didn't go away in the Regency period!!!!
Stop with the long-debunked "Beau Brummell ruined men's fashion" canard, I'm begging you.
I looked up this "Great Male Renunciation" concept, since I have never heard of such a thing even in books dedicated to the history of men's fashion, and surprise! It was coined by a psychologist in 1930!
One of the sources cited by Wikipedia is Nicholas Storey's book History of Men's Fashion: What the Well-dressed Man is Wearing, which I own, and it's so dull and lazy and awful that I still haven't moved it to my new apartment. The author is literally a British barrister with no academic background in dress history, who openly admits to not owning more than two fashion history books in a 2013 interview, and that checks out with what I remember about his book: his opinionated blather on what he thinks is a good man's suit, as a rich lawyer guy.
I'm not saying that you couldn't find more respectable sources to support the "Great Male Renunciation" idea, but I don't think it's very supported by the historical record. You can say a lot about changing fashions and ideas about masculinity without setting up an over-hyped and dramatic break from past styles.
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villainsidechick · 9 months
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It's not fair --
That we are completely denied the pleasure of seeing Peter as Darcy.
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Not to mention seeing him as a complete dandy, as Beau Brummell
No man should look that good in regency period style.
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forthegothicheroine · 10 months
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I ended up googling Beau Brummell’s sexuality to understand a thing I was reading and every single link had a different answer in the first sentence.
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fancycolours · 7 months
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THE BEAU BRUMMELS. (Circa 1965.)
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