The Art of Tying the Cravat

Beau Brummel perfected The Art of Tying the Cravat in the regency era.

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Beau Brummell: This Charming Man

Beau Brummell: This Charming Man is a 1996 BBC film of the regency dandy starring James Purefoy

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John Weston, the Prince Regent’s Very Expensive Tailor

“That fellow Weston,” said Brummell, “is an inimitable fellow — a little defective perhaps in his ‘linings,’ but irreproachable for principle and button-holes. He came to London, Sir, without a shilling; and he counts more realized thousands than our fat friend does ‘frogs’ on his Brandenburg. He is not only rich, but brave; not only [...]

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The Regency Gentleman: Neckwear

The cravat rose in popularity during an an age when cleaning dirty linen and ironing clothes presented an enormous challenge. Influenced by Beau Brummell’s penchant for wearing simple clothes and snowy- white cravats, these intricately-tied neckcloths became all the rage among the gentleman of the upper crust. The lower classes, for lack of servants and [...]

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A Walk Through Regency London

Now industry awakes her busy sons,
Shops open, coaches roll, carts shake the ground,
And all the streets with passing cries resound.
– John Gay, Walking the Streets of London

Oh, how should I describe my three short days in London when I went on a deliberate search for the sites, establishments and objects that existed in the [...]

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Seen on Jane Austen Today

Beau Brummell’s Dandyism and His Far Reaching Influence. Click here. Read archived posts about him here.

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Every Day Chores of Laundry and Scullery Maids, and Washer Women

In reading Undressing Mr. Darcy, this phrase leaped off my computer screen:
Another of Beau Brummel’s innovations was the semi-starched cravat: a neck cloth folded and arranged exquisitely carefully beneath chin and shirt front. It is reported washerwoman fainted when he introduced this. And no wonder, on top of everything they had to wash, iron, and [...]

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Another Version of Beau Brummell’s Demise

In this YouTube clip about George Brummell, find a discussion about this fascinating man and the Prince Regent and how their relationship ended in an entertaining monologue by George Stuart, artist and raconteur.
Mr. Stuart sculpts historical figures using art historical sources to guide him. Then he speaks about the personages in different venues around California, [...]

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Beau Brummell’s Gambling

Beau Brummel’s gambling addiction spelled his eventual downfall in Society. His passion for betting on everything under the sun was shared by his set, who in some instances gambled and lost fortunes overnight. One can still trace these bets, many of them personal, in the betting book at White’s, a gentleman’s club in [...]

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The Falling Out Between The Prince Regent and Beau Brummell

It is an historical fact that the Prince Regent and Beau Brummel had a falling out. The actual events are not known for sure, but here are two knowledgeable sources that speculate as to the nature of the rift.In The Most Polished Gentleman, Cynthia Campbell writes, “There had been frequent minor quarrels in the past; [...]

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The Regency Dandy

One of my favorite descriptions of the Regency dandy, and one that I contributed to Wikipedia, is the following in which author Venetia Murray quotes an excerpt from An Exquisite’s Dairy, from The Hermit in London, 1819:
Took four hours to dress; and then it rained; ordered the tilbury and my umbrella, and drove to the [...]

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Male Bastions: The Clubs of St. James’s

Found on the Internet, an abstract of the following article:
The Clubs of St. James’s: places of public patriarchy – exclusivity, domesticity and secrecy, Jane Rendell
“The male clubs of St. James’s, specifically the four at the top of St. James’s Street; Boodle’s, Brooks’s, Crockford’s and White’s, were frequented by men of the same class who used [...]

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