BEAU BRUMMELL
Clean-shaven with short, brushed hair, a fitted suit and shiny leather shoes; a classic look for British men today, yet one also sported by our nation’s best-known dandy, George “Beau” Brummell, more than two centuries ago.
Brummell is often described as the most famous and influential figure in early 19th-century London. A statue on Jermyn Street, in the capital’s fashionable St James’s district, commemorates his glamorous gift. It is sponsored by neighbouring shops, including esteemed tailors Favourbrook and New & Lingwood among others, and has Brummell’s mantra engraved upon it: “To be truly elegant one should not be noticed.” It’s a distillation of the Regency icon’s oxymoronic life, in which he advocated that less is more, yet lived far beyond his means.
Self-made style icon Beau Brummell singlehandedly led a revolution in men’s fashion
Dandyism, a style
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