Pretty Gentlemen: Macaroni Men and the Eighteenth-Century Fashion World (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780300217469)

An exploration of British male fashion of the late eighteenth century

"A brilliant account of a controversial moment in men's self-fashioning."--Valerie Steele, director and chief curator, Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology

The term "macaroni" was once as familiar a label as "punk" or "hipster" is today. In this handsomely illustrated book devoted to notable eighteenth-century British male fashion, award-winning author and fashion historian Peter McNeil brings together dress, biography, and historical events with the broader visual and material culture of the late eighteenth century.

For thirty years, "macaroni" was a highly topical word, yielding a complex set of social, sexual, and cultural associations. Pretty Gentlemen is grounded in surviving dress, archival documents, and art spanning hierarchies and genres, from scurrilous caricature to respectful portrait painting. Celebrities hailed and mocked as macaroni include politician Charles James Fox, painter Richard Cosway, freed slave Julius "Soubise," and criminal parson Reverend Dodd. The style also rapidly spread to neighboring countries in cross-cultural exchange, while Horace Walpole, George III, and Queen Charlotte were active critics and observers of these foppish men.

Author: Peter McNeil
ISBN-10: 0300217463
ISBN-13: 9780300217469
Publisher: Yale University Press
Language: English
Published: 04/10/2018
Pages: 256
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 2.40lbs
Size: 10.30h x 7.80w x 1.10d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 10/01/2018