Beau Brummell

George Bryan "Beau" Brummell (7 July 1778 – 30 March 1840) was an iconic figure in Regency England and for many years the arbiter of men's fashion. At one time he was a close friend of the Prince Regent, the future King George IV, but after the two quarrelled, and Brummell got into debt, he had to take refuge in France. Eventually he died shabby and insane in Caen France.

Brummell was remembered afterwards as the preeminent example of the dandy and a whole literature was founded upon his manner and witty sayings which has persisted to this day. His name is still associated with style and good looks, and it has been given to a variety of modern products to suggest their high quality.

caricature of Brummell by caricaturist Richard Dighton, 1805

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chronicle

1778 Birth

Picture of Beau Brummell, the most elegant man in England

Brummell was born in London to William Brummell a politician of Donnington Grove in Berkshire. The family was middle class, but the elder Brummell was ambitious for his son to become a gentleman, and young George was raised with that understanding. Brummell was educated at Eton and made his precocious mark on fashion when he not only modernised the white stock, or cravat, that was the mark of the Eton boy, but added a gold buckle to it.

He progressed to Oxford University, where, by his own example, he made cotton stockings and dingy cravats a thing of the past. After only a year, he left the university at the age of sixteen.

1794 military officer and first gentleman of England

In June 1794 Brummell joined the Tenth Royal Hussars as a cornet, the lowest rank of commissioned officer, and soon after had his nose broken by a kick from a horse. Although a junior officer, Brummell took the regiment by storm, fascinating the prince, who thought Brummell "the first gentleman of England", by the force of his personality. He was allowed to miss parade, shirk his duties and, in essence, do just as he pleased. Within three years, by 1796, he was made a captain, to the envy and disgust of older officers who felt that "our general’s friend was now the general.

Brummell´s father died in 1795 and left an inheritance of £65,000, of which Brummell was entitled to a third. Ordinarily a considerable sum, it was inadequate for the expenses of an aspiring officer in the personal regiment of the Prince of Wales. The officers, many of whom were heirs to noble titles and lands, "wore their estates upon their backs – some of them before they had inherited the paternal acres." Officers in any military regiment were required to provide their own mounts and uniforms and to pay mess bills, but the 10th regiment, that of the Prince of Wales in particular had elaborate, nearly endless variations of uniform and their mess expenses were unusually high as the regiment did not stint itself on banquets or entertainment.

In 1798, when his regiment was sent from London to Manchester, Brummell immediately resigned his commission, citing the city's poor reputation, undistinguished ambience and want of culture and civility.

1795 inheritence of a gentleman

Picture of Beau Brummell, the most elegant man in England and first dandy

Although a civilian now, Brummell's friendship with, and influence over, the Prince of Wales continued. He became the arbiter of fashion, and established a mode of dress that rejected overly ornate clothes in favour of understated but perfectly fitted and tailored bespoke garments. This look was based on dark coats, full-length trousers rather than knee breeches and stockings, and above all, immaculate shirt linen and an elaborately knotted cravat.

Brummell took a house on Chesterfield Street in Mayfair and for a time managed to avoid the nightly gaming and other extravagances fashionable in such elevated circles.

Where he refused to economise was on his dress: when asked how much it would cost to keep a single man in clothes, he was said to have replied: "Why, with tolerable economy, I think it might be done with £800." That amount is approximately £52,000 ($67,000) in 2016 currency (the average wage for a craftsman at that time was £52 a year.).

Brummell also claimed that he took five hours a day to dress and recommended that boots be polished with champagne. This preoccupation with dress, coupled with a nonchalant display of wit, was referred to as dandyism.

Brummell put into practice the principles of harmony of shape and contrast of colours with such a pleasing result that men of superior rank sought his opinion on their own dress.

His personal habits, such as a fastidious attention to cleaning his teeth, shaving, and daily bathing exerted an influence on 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.

Beau Brummell in Harpers

1813: "Alvanley, who's your fat friend?"

Picture of Beau Brummell the first dandy and most elegant man in Regency England

Unfortunately, Brummell's wealthy friends had a less than satisfactory influence on him; he began spending and gambling as though his fortune were as ample as theirs. Such liberal outlay began to deplete his capital rapidly, and he found it increasingly difficult to maintain his lifestyle, although his prominent position in society still allowed him to float a line of credit.

This changed in July 1813, at a masquerade ball jointly hosted at Watier's private club by Brummell, Lord Alvanley, Henry Mildmay and Henry Pierrepoint. The four were considered the prime movers of Watier's, dubbed "the Dandy Club" by Byron. The Prince Regent greeted Alvanley and Pierrepoint at the event, and then "cut" Brummell and Mildmay by staring at their faces without speaking. This provoked Brummell's remark, Unfortunately, Brummell's wealthy friends had a less than satisfactory influence on him; he began spending and gambling as though his fortune were as ample as theirs. Such liberal outlay began to deplete his capital rapidly, and he found it increasingly difficult to maintain his lifestyle, although his prominent position in society still allowed him to float a line of credit. This changed in July 1813, at a masquerade ball jointly hosted at Watier's private club by Brummell, Lord Alvanley, Henry Mildmay and Henry Pierrepoint. The four were considered the prime movers of Watier's, dubbed "the Dandy Club" by Byron. The Prince Regent greeted Alvanley and Pierrepoint at the event, and then "cut" Brummell and Mildmay by staring at their faces without speaking. This provoked Brummell's remark, "Alvanley, who's your fat friend?".

The incident marked the final breach in a rift between Brummell and the Regent that had opened in 1811, when the Prince became Regent and began abandoning all his old Whig friends. Ordinarily, the loss of royal favour to a favourite meant social doom, but Brummell ran as much on the approval and friendship of other leaders of fashionable circles. He became the anomaly of a favourite flourishing without a patron, still influencing fashion and courted by a large segment of society.

A ball at Almack's, supposedly in 1815; the couple on the left are annotated as 'Beau Brummell in deep conversation with the Duchess of Rutland'.

1816: Flee to France

In 1816 Brummell, owing thousands of pounds, fled to France to escape debtor's prison. Usually Brummell's gambling obligations, as "debts of honour", were always paid immediately. The one exception to this was the final wager, dated March 1815 in White's betting book, which was marked "not paid, 20th January, 1816".

He lived the remainder of his life in French in exile, spending ten years in Calais without an official passport before acquiring an appointment to the consulate at Caen in 1830 through the influence of Lord Alvanley and the Marquess of Worcester. This provided him with a small annuity but lasted only two years, when the Foreign Office took Brummell's recommendation to abolish the consulate. He had made it in the hope of being appointed to a more remunerative position elsewhere, but no new position was forthcoming.

Beau Brummel (Original) (Signed) by Paul Rainer

Illustration of Beau Brummel (Original) by Paul Rainer

1840 death

Rapidly running out of money and grown increasingly slovenly in his dress, Brummell was forced into debtors' prison in early 1835 by his long-unpaid Calais creditors; only through the charitable intervention of his friends in England was he able to secure release later that year.

In 1840 Brummell died penniless and insane from syphilis at Le Bon Sauveur Asylum on the outskirts of Caen; he was 61. He is buried at Cimetière Protestant, Caen, France.

statue of Beau Brummell by Irena Sedlecká in London's Jermyn Street, 2002

style

Mode of Dresses

It rejected overly ornate clothes in favour of understated but perfectly fitted and tailored bespoke garments. This look was based on dark coats, full-length trousers rather than knee breeches and stockings, and above all, immaculate shirt linen and an elaborately knotted cravat.