BA1 CLASS VISUALS - INTRODUCTION TO FASHION THEORY - CONSUMER CULTURE (BEAU BRUMMELL)

KEY TERMS

sans culottes
neoclassicsm
levee
dandy/dandyism

KEY POINTS FOR DISCUSSION

1. The importance of the aristocracy and the army in the early 19th C as a part of elite society ...

2. The development of men's trousers from the French Revolution ...

3. Neoclassicism's display of the body and how this was adopted by Beau Brummell ...

4. Beau Brummell's sense of 'performance' for his audience ...

5. Contemporary dandyism ...

1. The importance of the aristocracy and the army in the early 19th C as a part of elite society ...

In the army, Brummell not only met the heir to the throne, Prince George, who was in his early thirties, but, as a member of the military, began to circulate within the same aristocratic social circle. The English aristocracy was a tight elite, and their numbers were small, consisting of no more than 1,200 ultrafashionable people, who closely controlled their image and access to their social circle.

Brummell was required to purchase the alarmingly expensive uniform of the 10th Light Dragoons uniform ... This was Brummell's passport to the elite class. (Craik, 2009, p.93).

Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Bentinck with Officers of the 7th Dragoon Guards (the Princess Royal’s Dragoon Guards) in a Drawing-room interior. 1815-1862. John Ferneley (1815-1862)

http://www.onlinegalleries.com/art-and-antiques/detail/lieutenant-colonel-arthur-bentinck-with-officers-of-the-7th-dragoon-guards-the-princess-royalâ%C2%80%C2%99s-dragoon-guards-in-a-drawing-room-interior--by-john-ferneley-jnr/146613

The Duchess of Cambridge with Prince William in uniform

http://www.vogue.co.uk/spy/celebrity-photos/2011/06/07/style-file---catherine-duchess-of-cambridge

Prince William and Prince Harry. 2010. Nicky Philips

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1241013/Historic-dual-portrait-Prince-William-Prince-Harry-unveiled-National-Portrait-Gallery.html

See video of Nicky Philips

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jan/06/prince-william-harry-double-portrait

2. The development of men's trousers from the French Revolution ...

Full-length trousers, or pantaloons, as they were called, had been adopted by the highly fashionable Dragoons. Long pants were a new concept to both the middle and upper classes ... European gentlemen had, prior to the French Revolution, indicated their class by wearing knee-length breeches. The revolution had seen the adoption of the pants of workers, the sans culottes. The full-length trouser was exported back to Britain and absorbed into the military uniform as pantaloons ... (Craik, 2009, p.93).

Sans-Culotte. Louis-Leopold. (1761-1845)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sans-culottes

Louis 1V in culottes (drinking a toast to the sans-culottes)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culottes

3-piece suit at Lagos fashion week autumn 2012

http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/gallery/2012/mar/13/africa-arise-fashion-week-pictures?intcmp=239

GB equestrian kit 2012

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/9658888/Zara-Phillips-to-dance-Gangnam-Style.html

3. Neoclassicism's display of the body and how this was adopted by Beau Brummell ...

These close-fit pants also reflected the neoclassical fashions of the day. The white or cream pants showed every fold and bump of the genitals, like the classical white marble statues that were being brought to England from Greece and Italy. The fashion for women at the time was sheer white muslin tunics that revealed the anatomy beneath.

Brummell continued to wear this style of trousers after leaving the 10th Dragoons in 1799. (Craik, 2009, p.94).

Portait of Madame Rayone de Verninac, 1799, David

http://www.wikiart.org/en/jacques-louis-david/portrait-of-madame-raymond-de-verninac-1799

The Bennet daughters in Regency dress, Pride and Prejudice, BBC

http://www.janeausten.co.uk/undress-half-dress-full-dress-making-sense-of-it-all/

See video of BBC's Pride and Prejudice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hasKmDr1yrA

Rhianna

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/oct/13/mel-c-rihanna-daughter

4. Beau Brummell's sense of 'performance' for his audience ...

He used his inheritance to establish a modest London address, from which he sortied out every day into society. He had no occupation. He relied on situations, scenes, and encounters. His daily routine consisted of his famous entrances and exits at exclusive clubs, private balls and entertainments, soirees, fashionable promenades, racetracks, private gambling clubs, and elegant salons ... (Craik, 2009, p.94).