Old times : $b A picture of social life at the end of the eighteenth centuryAshton, John
History
Old times : $b A picture of social life at the end of the eighteenth century
Ashton, John
Great Britain -- Social life and customs
"Margate is already beginning to be crowded, as usual, with all
sorts, and for all purposes, some to undo, and some to be undone;
wives to leave their husbands, and misses to procure theirs. Some
tradesmen gone down to get, and others to get rid of their money:
old maids to display tresses not their own, and the young men to
show off Brutus heads, when the grand point is, whether their's
or their type's in Ross's shop window have the most brains:
perhaps there cannot be situations more calculated to display
what Shenstone terms 'The various ways of dressing a calf's
head.'"--(_Times, August 5, 1799._)
* * * * *
"Milan, _July 15th_.--In order to a due execration of the
licentious dresses which our Government has forbidden, the
executioner of this place, with his wife, appeared in the public
walk. He was _elegantly_ dressed, with his head _à la Brutus_, a
large cravat which, concealing the chin, reached to the mouth:
long pantaloons, hanging loose: and shoes, the points of which
were a finger's length. His wife was quite _à la
guillotine_--naked shoulders, neck and arms."--(_Times, August 5,
1799._)
* * * * *
"Our emaciated beaux in their quilted lappelles and stuffed
sleeves are like a dry walnut in a great shell."--(_Times, August
20, 1799._)
This paragraph is easily explained by a reference to the two
accompanying engravings.
These peculiar garments were called "Jean Debry," after the French
statesman of that name, who was born in 1760, died 1834. He was a
somewhat prominent figure in the French Revolution, and, as his name
was at this time much in men's mouths, he was made the peg on which to
hang a coat.--"A French Taylor fitting John Bull with a Jean de Bry,"
is by Gillray, 18th November 1799, and, although a gross Caricature,
fairly represents the garment. The tailor is in ecstasy with the fit.
"Aha! dere my friend, I fit you to de life! dere is Liberté! no tight
Aristocrat Sleeves, to keep from you vat you like! a ha! begar, dere,
he only want von leetle National Cockade to make look quite a la mode
de Paris!"
John Bull surveys himself in the looking-glass, grumbling at his
change of costume. "Liberty! quotha! why, zounds, I can't move my arms
at all! for all it looks woundy big! Oh! damn your French Alamodes,
they give a man the same Liberty as if he was in the Stocks! give me
my old Coat again, say I, if it is a little out of Elbows!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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