The modern hat may be spread out
at the top, or narrowed, whilst the brim may be turned up or turned
down, made a little wider or a little more narrow, still it is inconceivably
hideous. Pantaloons and Hessian boots were the least objectionable
features of the costume which the imagination of a Brummell and the
genius of a Royal Prince were called upon to modify or change. The hours
of meditative agony which each dedicated to the odious fashions of the
day have left no monument save the coloured caricatures in which these
illustrious persons have appeared.
Brummell, at this time, besides being the companion and friend of the
Prince, was very intimate with the Dukes of Rutland, Dorset, and Argyll,
Lords Sefton, Alvanley, and Plymouth. In the zenith of his popularity
he might be seen at the bay window of White's Club, surrounded by the
lions of the day, laying down the law, and occasionally indulging in
those witty remarks for which he was famous. His house in Chapel Street
corresponded with his personal "get up"; the furniture was in excellent
taste, and the library contained the best works of the best authors
of every period and of every country. His canes, his snuff-boxes, his
Sevres china, were exquisite; his horses and carriage were conspicuous
for their excellence; and, in fact, the superior taste of a Brummell
was discoverable in everything that belonged to him.
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