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"Old coat, for some three or four seasons We've been jolly comrades, but now We part, old companion, forever; To fate and to fashion I bow. You'd look well enough at a dinner, I'd wear you with pride at a ball, But I'm dressing to-night for a wedding My own, and you'd not do at all. "There's a reprobate looseness about you Should I wear you to-night I believe As I came with my bride from the altar You'd laugh in your wicked old sleeve. 'Tis time to put on your successor, It's made in a fashion that's new; Old coat, I'm afraid it will never Sit as easily on me as you." "Oh! the vests of young England are perfectly white, And they're cut very neatly and sit very tight, And they serve to distinguish our young Englishmen From the juvenile Manners and Coningsby Ben; Sing Oh! the white vests of young England And Oh! the young English white vests. "Now the old English vest was some two yards about, For old England was rather inclined to be stout; But the young English waist is extremely compress'd, By the very close fit of the young English vest. Sing Oh! etc. "The young English white vest upon one little score, May perhaps be considered a bit of a bore, For it makes the resemblance exceedingly near Twixt the young English waiter and young English Peer. Sing Oh! etc. "But what are the odds as concerning the vest, So long as felicity reigns in the breast, And young England to wear what it pleases may claim Let us hope all the tailors are paid for the same. Sing Oh! etc." "Patting the crest of his well-managed steed, Proud of his action, D'Orsay vaunts the breed; A coat of chocolate, a vest of snow, Well brushed his whiskers, as his boots below, A short-napped beaver, prodigal in brim, With trousers tighten'd to a well-turned limb." Men's Apparel - 1850 to 1870 "The coat is the expression of the man." "While the manners, while the arts, That mould a nation's soul, Still cling around our hearts, Between let ocean roll, Our joint communion breaking with the sun, Yet still from either breach, The voice of blood shall reach, More audible than speech : 'We are one.'" "Brief as 'tis brilliant, the Actor's fame With the spectator's memory lives and dies; Out of the witness of men's ears and eyes, The Actor is a name. "Yet some so much have stirred the common heart That, when they long have past from sight, we find Memories, which seem undying, left behind Of their so potent art." SPORTING DRESS "Fox Hunting in England "Pastime for princes !-prime sport of our nation! Strength in their sinew and bloom on their cheek; All for enjoyment the hunting field seek. "Eager and emulous only, not spiteful : Grudging no friend, though ourselves he may beat; Just enough danger to make sport delightful! Toil just suffiecient to make slumber sweet." "We are off once more!-for the summer's o'er, And gaily we take our stand By the convert-side, in our might and pride, A gallant and fearless band! Again we hear our Huntsman's cheer, The thrilling Tally-ho! And the blast of the horn, through the woodlands borne, As merrily onward we go! Tally-ho! As merrily onward we go!" |
"May he who writes a skillful tailor seem,
And like a well made coat his present theme;
Tho' close, yet easy, decent but not dull,
Short but not scanty, without buckram full."
Men's Apparel - 1800-1810
"Be not the first by whom the new is tried
Nor yet the last to lay the old aside."
-POPE.
"The French we conquered once
Now give us laws for pantaloone." "SHORT CANES
"Two bucks, having lost their bamboos in a fray,
Side by side swagger'd into a toy-shop one day,
Each, by a new purchase his loss to repair-
But, lo! when for payment our heroes prepare,
All the cash in their pockets, together combin'd,
For the purchase of one scarce sufficient they find.
In common they buy it; and, nice to a hair,
In two they divide it, and each takes his share.
Our beaux economic, improving the hint,
The length of their canes have determined to stint :
And when they would buy, a whole company splice
Their pence and their farthings, to make up the price,
Hence, view the smart beau, and you soon ascertain
The depth of his purse, by the length of his cane."
"In Brummell's day of buckle shoes,
Starch cravats and roll collars,
They'd fight and war and bet and lose,
Like gentlemen and scholars."
"But my beautiful taste (as indeed you will guess)
Is manifest most in my toilet and dress.
My neck-cloth, of course, forms my principal care,
For by that we criterions of elegance swear,
And costs me each morning some hours of flurry,
To make it appear to be tied in a hurry;
My top-boots - those unerring marks of a blade -
With champagne are polished, and peach marmalade.
And a violet coat, closely copied from Byng;
And a cluster of seals and a large diamond ring;
And trosiemes of buckskin, bewitchingly large,
Give the finishing stokes to the parfait ouvrage."
* Pursuit of Fashion.
"All is unprofitable, flat,
And stale, without a smart Cravat
Muslined enough to hold its starch -
That last keystone of Fashion's arch!"
"SHIRTS AND SHIFTS
"Old Musty had married a modish young flirt,
Who, calling one holiday morn for her shirt,
'Why, how now,' quoth Musty, 'what say you,' quoth he,
'What, do you wear a shirt, Moll' - 'Be sure, Sir,' quoth she,
'All women wear shirts' - 'Nay,' quoth he, 'then I trow
What has long been a riddle is plain enough now;
For when women wear shirts, it can lack no great gifts
To discern why their husbands are put to their shifts.'"
"Oh, men with sisters dear!
Oh, men with mothers and wives,
It is not linen you're wearing out
But human creatures' lives!"
Men's Apparel - 1810 to 1830
"And he the hero of the night was there,
In breeches of light drab, and coat of blue."
"With whiskers thick upon my face,
I went my fair to see;
She told me she could never love
A bear-faced chap like me.
"I shaved them clean and called again,
And thought my troubles o'er;
She laughed outright and said I was
More bare-faced than before."
"MODERN MALE FASHIONS
"Crops, like hedge-hogs, small white hands,
Whiskers, like Jew Moses;
Collars padded, stiff cravats,
And cheeks as red as roses.
"Faces painted deepest brown,
Waistcoats striped and gaudy;
Sleeves, thrice doubled, thick with down,
And stays to brace the body.
"Short great coats that reach the knees,
Boots like French postillion;
Meant the lifty race to please,
But laughed at by the million.
"High-heeled shoes, with silken strings,
Pantaloons loose fitting;
Fingers deck'd with golden rings,
And small-clothes made of knitting.
"Bludgeons, like a pilgrim's staff,
Or canes, as slight as osiers;
Doubled hose, to shew the calf,
And swell the bill of hosiers.
"Such is giddy Fashion's son,
Such a modern lover;
Oh! would their reign had ne'er begun,
And may it soon be over!"
Men's Apparel - 1830 to 1850
"According to the fashion and the time."
"My love is all that is polite,
He looks so pale and thin;
He wears his boots so very tight,
And pulls so closely in.
"Oh! what a deal in hats and gloves,
In vests and coats he spends;
I call the heart that truly loves,
The tailor's best of friends."
"They 've made him a dandy;
A thing, you know, whisker'd, great-coated, and lac'd;
Like an hour-glass, exceedingly small in the waist :
Quite a new sort of creature unknown yet to scholars,
With heads so immovably stuck in shirt collars,
That seats like our music-stools soon must be found them,
To swirl when the creatures wish to look round them."
from : History of American Costume
by : Elizabeth McClellan