Macaronis and Dandies

Not to be mixed up, Macaronis and Dandies are two very different breeds of flamboyant males.

Macaronis came about toward the late 18th century and were dubbed as such due to their taste in anything "exotic" including rare Italian cuisine. They remind me of the Emo boy of today in that they traveled in groups; wear extremely tight, feminine clothing; are extremely egocentric, and basically annoyed everyone else with their flamboyant presence. They rivaled the ladies with their tall wigs and were even known to powder it different colors like blue, pink, purple, etc. The hung out in gentlemen's clubs such as The Macaroni club and gambled, womanized, sodomized, gossiped, and wasted countless pounds of frivolous things. Charles Fox was once known as a macaroni, despite him being a tad too overweight to look decent in his tight clothing. Fun Fact: Oh course we all know Yankee Doodle's sad attempts at becoming a macaroni but more interesting is that Macaroni Penguins received their name from these fops.


The Dandy was a much rarer breed that appeared at the very end of the 18th century and into the regency period. Dandies were much more mysterious and good-looking. They were the dark, handsome, unobtainable male. Not just anyone can be a dandy it takes a certain "cool" dexterity to pull off. He's always wearing something unique but very fashionable, never says anything to make himself seem weak, is always calm and collected, and never appears to falter. The Dandy makes you fall in love with him although he is untouchable and impenetrable to love, which of course in the literary sense always happens. Two great examples of Dandies are Mr. Darcy and Johnny Depp (as well as his role of the Earl Rochester in The Libertine). Fun Fact: Lauren and I spotted a Dandy in Barcelona and just about melted. Fun Link: www.dandyism.net

Quotables

"[She is welcome to do as she likes as long as she doesn't think it] necessary that I should wear any ornaments on my head in compliment to her notions of taste and dress."

-William, 5th Duke of Devonshire as quoted by the Morning Post

Size Matters

What better to make an entrance into society than with a 3 foot hairdo. Georgiana blasted into the London scene in full couture splendor upon her marriage at the age of 17. She immediately got to work on establishing herself as a fashion icon. Whether this was her intention or not, one can only guess, but her celebrity began with her fashion trends.

The first notable trend she began was the three-foot hair tower. Hair was already large at the time, especially due to French influences, Georgiana simply took it one step further. The hair towers required scented pomade, pads of horse hair, and at least two hairdressers in order to be constructed. To this, Georgiana would add scenes such as the classic ship in sail or stuffed birds. As with every trend in London, woman immediately took to the look and tried to make it more outrageous by making their hair even taller or more ornate.

Georgiana never seemed to acknowledge when people took to her fashions; while London society attempted to imitate her by making her vogues more outlandish, she would simplify and create an even bigger buzz. Her next hair fad was the infamous ostrich feather which she would drape in a large arch across the front of her hair. When Lord Stormont presented her with one over four feet long every lady of refinement went on a wild goose chase to find the rare length of feather. Of course scandal developed. Only the very wealthy could afford the feathers, which they snobbily flaunted to the point where Queen Charlotte banned them from court. This couldn't have come at a worse time for the fashion elite. The Duchess of Kingston's trial for bigamy was approaching and everyone who was anyone would be showing up in their best in order to outdo each other at the embarrassment of their fellow Peeress. Feathers were forbidden from the trial. This was a devastating blow; like banning Gucci from fashion week. The only lady who seemed unaffected by the ban was the one who started the fashion trend; Georgiana brought snacks to munch on with Lady Derby at the trial instead of her signature feathers.

Although (probably due to the ban) large ostrich feathers was only a short-lived fad it lived on through the decades. In satirical prints, Georgiana would forever be identified as herself by being portrayed with ostrich feathers in her hair.

Check out this collage I made of the hair tower. I only used Reynold portraits because I'm lazy, but it serves a purpose; if you were being painted by one of the most fashionable artists in society you would be portrayed in only the hottest trends. The portraits were painting from 1775-1779.Satirical Prints related to the D of D and her hair:

Lady All-Top May 1776

The Preposterous Head Dress, or Feathered Lady March 1776

Matthew Darly, Vis a Vis May 1776

A writer of letters

I'd like to thank Steve for his shameless promotion of me (sorry, that's my robot soul mate, had to share) yesterday on his non-18th century related blog. Although I know my promotion of his blog doesn't cover the wide-range of his, I still thought I'd throw out my thanks for making me sound much funnier with his own comments. Oh and yeah, I know I still owe you a beer.