George Bryan "Beau" Brummell (7 June 1778 – 30 March 1840) was an English socialite who influenced British men's fashion during the Regency era. He was a close friend of the Prince Regent, the future King George IV, but after the two quarrelled and Brummell got into debt, he had to take refuge in France. Eventually, he died from complications of neurosyphilis in Caen.
Brummell was remembered afterwards as the preeminent example of the dandy, and a whole literature was founded upon his manner and witty sayings, which have persisted until today. His name is still associated with style and good looks and has been given to a variety of modern products to suggest their high quality.
Brummell was born in Downing Street, London, the younger son of William Brummell (d. 1795), Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, Lord North, and Mary (née Richardson, daughter of the Keeper of the Lottery Office). North rated William Brummell highly, procuring for him appointments including those he held at the time of his death, namely Receiver of the Duties on Uninhabited Houses in London and Middlesex, Comptroller of the Hawkers' and Pedlars' Office, and Agent and Paymaster to the out-pensioners of Chelsea Hospital; these gave William about £2,500 per annum. On his retirement from politics, William had bought Donnington Grove in Berkshire and served as High Sheriff of Berkshire in 1788. William was the son of another William Brummell (d. 1770), who had been valet to a Lincolnshire politician, Charles Monson. The elder William Brummell was reckoned "an excellent servant" and met with some success despite his modest origins through patronage and good fortune. He went into business as a confectioner in Bury Street, "in an area notorious for [...] high-class brothels", letting some rooms in the family's house for boarding. The statesman Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool, stayed there for a time and got the younger William a clerical position at the Treasury, which led to his successful career.
The family had achieved middle class status, but William Brummell was ambitious for his son George to become a gentleman, and he was raised with that understanding. It was suggested (possibly by the Brummells) that William Brummell was an illegitimate descendant of Frederick, Prince of Wales.
Brummell was educated at Eton College and made his precocious mark on fashion when he not only modernised the white stock, or cravat, that was the mark of the "Eton boy", but added a gold buckle to it.
He progressed to Oxford University, where, by his own example, he made cotton stockings and dingy cravats fall out of favour. While an undergraduate at Oriel College in 1793, he competed for the Chancellor's Prize for Latin Verse, coming second to Edward Copleston, who later became provost of his college. He left the university after only a year at age 16.
In June 1794, Brummell purchased a cornet's commission in the British Army's 10th Light Dragoons, and soon after had his nose broken by a kick from a horse. His father died in 1795, by which time Brummell had been promoted to lieutenant. His father had left him an inheritance of some £30,000. Ordinarily a considerable sum, it was inadequate for the expenses of an aspiring officer in the personal regiment of the Prince of Wales. The regiment's officers, many of whom were heirs to noble titles and lands, "wore their estates upon their backs – some of them before they had inherited the paternal acres." British cavalry officers were all required to pay for their own mounts and uniforms along with mess bills, but the 10th Light Dragoons in particular had elaborate and nearly endless variations of uniform. Their mess expenses were unusually high because the regiment frequently enjoyed banquets and entertainment.
For such a junior officer, Brummell took the regiment by storm, fascinating the Prince of Wales:
"[T]he first gentleman of England", by the force of his personality. He was allowed to miss parade, shirk his duties and, in essence, do just as he pleased. Within three years, by 1796, he was made a captain, to the envy and disgust of older officers who felt that "our general's friend was now the general."
In 1797, when his regiment was sent from London to Manchester, Brummell immediately resigned his commission, citing the city's poor reputation, undistinguished ambience and want of culture and civility.
Although he was now a civilian, Brummell's friendship with (and influence over) the Prince continued. He became a noted figure in fashion and adopted a habit of dress that rejected overly ornate clothes in favour of understated but perfectly fitted and tailored bespoke garments; this was the moment of the so-called Great Male Renunciation seen across Europe. His daily dress was similar to that of other gentlemen in his time, based upon dark coats and full-length trousers (rather than knee breeches and stockings). It is believed that around this time Brummell and his tailor (whom he shared with the Prince Regent) Jonathan Meyer (later Meyer & Mortimer) of Conduit Street, collaborated to produce what was to become the contemporary trouser – a garment, it is alleged, that Brummell subsequently introduced to London society and that has remained standard gentleman’s attire ever since. Above all, Brummell favoured immaculate shirt linen and an elaborately knotted cravat. This mode of cravat-wearing has been described as Brummell's chief innovation.
Brummell took a house on Chesterfield Street in Mayfair and, for a time, managed to avoid the nightly gaming and other extravagances frequent in such elevated circles. Where he refused to economise was on his dress: when asked how much it would cost to keep a single man in clothes, he was said to have replied: "Why, with tolerable economy, I think it might be done with £800", at a time when the average annual wage for a craftsman was £52. Additionally, he claimed that he took five hours a day to dress and recommended that boots be polished with champagne. This preoccupation with dress, coupled with a nonchalant display of wit, was referred to as dandyism.
Brummell put into practice the principles of harmony of shape and contrast of colours with such a pleasing result that men of superior rank sought his opinion on their own dress:
The Duke of Bedford once did this touching a coat. Brummell examined his Grace with the cool impertinence which was his Grace's due. He turned him about, scanned him with scrutinizing, contemptuous eye, and then taking the lapel between his dainty finger and thumb, he exclaimed in a tone of pitying wonder, "Bedford, do you call this thing a coat?"
His personal habits, such as devoting fastidious attention to cleaning his teeth, shaving, and daily bathing exerted an influence on the ton—the upper echelons of polite society—who began to emulate him. Enthralled, the Prince would spend hours observing Brummell's routine in the latter's dressing room.
In June 1811 he was one of the guests at the Carlton House Fête held to celebrate the beginning of the Regency era.
While studying at Eton, Brummell played for the school's first eleven, although he is said to have once terrified a master there by asserting that he thought cricket was "foolish". He did, however, play a single match for Hampshire at Lord's Old Ground in 1807 against an England XI. Brummell made scores of 23 and 3 on that occasion, leaving him with a career batting average of 13.00.
Brummell's wealthier friends influenced him; he began spending and gambling as though his fortune was as ample as theirs. He found it increasingly difficult to maintain his lifestyle as his spending continued over time, but his prominent position in society allowed him to float a line of credit. This situation changed in July 1813 at a masquerade ball jointly hosted at Watier's private club by Brummell, Lord Alvanley, Henry Mildmay and Henry Pierrepont. The four may have been the prime movers of Watier's, dubbed "the Dandy Club" by Lord Byron. The Prince Regent greeted Alvanley and Pierrepont at the event, and then "cut" Brummell and Mildmay by staring at their faces without speaking. This provoked Brummell's remark, "Alvanley, who's your fat friend?".