The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-08-14
SOME DANDIES OF THE PAST
THE SPORIING EARL OF MARCH, --.c: -.: THE MARQUIS WELLESLEY

-Man's Gorgeous Rniment in George
 HIS Day.
 In the glorious days of King George
 H. men wore silk or velvet coats of all
 colors of the rainbow. They ripped
 mincingly along upon their toes, sup
 porting upon their heads wheel
 barrow full of perukes covered with a
 bushel of powder, their "Steinkerke"
 was sprinkled with snuff, their sword knots trailed almost on the ground and their swords dangled from the fifth
 button, pearl-colored silk stockings
 and red-heeled shoes completing their
 costume. It seems almost as though
 one of "those goddesses the Cummings"
 had penned the following lines to
 George Selwin at Paris in 1766 instead
 of the sporting Earl of March (sub-
 sequently "Old Q"). "rhe huff you
 sent me by the Duke of Richmond I
 like prodigiously. vastly better than if
 1t had been tigre' or of any Glaring
 color; several are TOW making after
 it." And again in 1T76 he writes;
 Pray bring me two or three bottles of
 perfumes and some patterns of velvets
 that are new and pretty.
 Almost to the last moment of his life a piece Of rich waistcoating was as much an object of attraction to the great Marquis Wellesley as it would have been to any of the most frivolous minded young dandies about the town. Indeed this nobleman would frequently sit alone in solitary state, len grande toilette, with his blue ribbon and garter, as if about to appear st royal leVee'
 In the year 179S there arose on the horizon of fashion. or rather there blazed in it's full meridian, that wonderful phenomenon of elegance, George Bryan Brummell Born In 1777, the son of an under secretary of Lord North's, and Educated at Eton, he en- joyed the credit of being the best schol- ar, the best oarsman, and the best cricketer of the day. Though not a gentleman by descent, he yet made plenty of aristocratic friends, and being regarded as a sort of Admirable Crichton," experienced little diffi- culty in obtaining the "entree" to Devonshire house, where he was in- troduced to the Prince Regent who gave him a commission in the Tenth Hussahs
 Until Brummell came upon the scene | the Prince, though not remarkable for ! his taste, had, thanks to his rank, been i the master of the ele- | gancies," or leader of the dandies, but | he was at once dethroned by the i superior genius of Brummell, who re- tained the sovereignty till the year 1877. | this period, he became the mod | e of all men who wished to dress well, and when he had struck out new | idea he would smile at it's gradual | progress downward from the higher to the lower classes. To the last of his stay in England he continued to wear powder, rather priding himself upon this remnant of the "vielle 1our" His clothes were a perfect study. The coat was generally of blue ,loth and it's collar raised against the pack of the head like the hood of a Slylt ldliIlllcil to uo III piNeuiNS md miniatures of the period-the ,uckskin or nankeen brooches were so incredibly tight that they could only ,e taken off in the same manner as an II Is divested of its skin. Then came waistcoat about four inches long, ,pen on the chest, displaying stiff white muslin cravat Hessian boots the costume, and to these he Beau paid particular attention. They were commonly reported as being ,lackened "au win de champagne; at my rate, two shoemakers were suppos d to insure the perfectness of their 1t; one made the right and the other he left foot He had three gloyers for lis gloves, one of whom was exclusive y charged with the cutting out of his humbs. Three hairdressers were like vise engaged to dress his hair AS for he personal appearance of this sub- me dandy, This face," we read was long, his features neither plain or ugly his forehead unusually high, air light brown whiskers inclined to e sandy, eyes gray, and full of ddity." His converse tion, without aving the wit and humor of Lord .lvanley another of the dandies, was ighly agreeable and amusing: indeed. 'rummell has never been surpassed or oualled since-The Argosy.