George Bryan Brummell, known to all of London simply as Beau, was the son of a valet’s grandson who had climbed high enough to buy an estate in Berkshire. Born in 1778 in Downing Street itself, his family’s rise was itself a story of social mobility, but Brummell’s own ascent would make that climb look modest. In 1786, his father sent him to Eton, where he moved among the sons of the aristocracy as a natural equal. He was witty, confident, and already obsessed with dress.
At fifteen he was described as intellectually advanced and worldly beyond his years. He modernized the white cravat worn by the boys, altering its style and adding a gold buckle. It was at Eton that he earned the nickname Buck. His mother died in 1793 and his father a year later, leaving an estate valued at over sixty thousand pounds to be shared among Brummell and his two siblings.
In 1794, at sixteen, Brummell entered Oriel College, Oxford. He stayed barely a month before leaving, and in June of that year he enlisted as a cornet in the Tenth Hussars, the Prince of Wales’s own regiment. The regiment was notoriously dissolute — heavy drinking, expensive banquets, and grand uniforms were the norm. Most officers were heirs to great fortunes; Brummell’s inheritance looked small beside theirs.
Yet within a year he was promoted to lieutenant, and he soon gained the favor of the Prince of Wales himself. It was rare for a man of Brummell’s background to be accepted into the Prince’s own regiment, and almost unheard of for him to become one of the Prince’s closest friends. No one knows exactly when or how the Prince first noticed him, though it may have been while Brummell was still at Eton. In 1795, the Prince married Princess Caroline, an arranged match agreed to only so Parliament would pay off his debts.
Brummell supported him through it. Supposedly, he got very drunk at the wedding and was blamed for ruining the Princess’s honeymoon. By 1796 he was a captain. His friendship with the Prince allowed him to skip most of his duties, and the older officers grew openly jealous of the young man who had effectively become the general’s equal simply by being his friend.
When the regiment was moved to Manchester around two years later, Brummell resigned and sold his position. He called the city boring and uncultured, but he likely left because he feared losing his influence over the Prince. In 1799, at last in possession of his inheritance, he moved to Chesterfield Street in Mayfair and set out to become the best-dressed gentleman in London. He succeeded quickly.
Brummell’s style was built on perfectly tailored garments in a limited range of colors. His signature was the intricate folds of his cravat and his dark jackets. He hosted formal events in his Mayfair home that drew the most important men in the city, including the Prince of Wales. Around 1800, he was nicknamed Beau.
Tailors tried to claim credit for his look, so he deliberately worked with several at once, keeping his methods private. Within London’s fashion world, his opinion carried tremendous weight. He could make a man fashionable with a word or cut him out entirely, and wealthy aristocrats sought his approval before appearing in public. This attitude toward dress and wit became known as dandyism, and it characterized Regency England largely because of Brummell.
His peers gambled and spent freely at night, but Brummell saved his money for clothing. He supposedly spent around eight hundred pounds a year on his appearance, at a time when a craftsman’s annual wage was about fifty pounds. Dressing took him five hours a day. He allegedly polished his boots with champagne and recommended the practice to others.
He also washed daily, brushed his teeth, and changed his linen often — habits far from common in early nineteenth-century England. The upper classes followed his example. The Prince of Wales himself would sit with Brummell for hours during his lengthy grooming sessions, amazed by the variety of his outfits. But the friendship was fading.
Brummell remained part of London’s highest circles, yet his rudeness made him increasingly disliked. When the Duke of Bedford touched his coat, Brummell stared at him coldly, touched the fabric himself, and said with pity, “Bedford, do you call this thing a coat? ”
His downfall began in earnest in July 1813. At a ball he hosted with three friends at a club known for the dandies who attended it, the Prince Regent — crowned regent in 1811 — greeted two of Brummell’s friends, looked Brummell in the eye, and then ignored him.
Hurt, Brummell turned to a companion and asked, loudly enough to be heard, “Who’s your fat friend? ”
That remark marked the end of the friendship. For most men, losing royal favor would have meant social ruin, but Brummell’s influence on fashion and his connections among the aristocracy allowed him to keep his place in Regency society. His finances were another matter.
He had accumulated enormous gambling debts trying to keep pace with far wealthier friends. He borrowed money, relying on his status to obtain credit, but had no way to repay it. A creditor named Richard Mellish eventually discovered that Brummell had no intention of paying. He went to the dandy club and told everyone who entered about Brummell’s debts.
He became known as Dick the Dandy Killer. On the night of May 16, 1816, owing thousands of pounds, Brummell fled London in the early hours to avoid debtors’ prison. He traveled to Dover, then to Calais. There he learned French, wrote his memoirs, and entertained guests in his apartment.
He had escaped his debts, but he could never return to England. Years passed. In 1830, his old friend, now King George IV, appointed him British consul in Caen. The salary was good, and Brummell began at last to repay what he owed.
But in 1832, the Foreign Office abolished the post, and he lost his income once more. He went into hiding to avoid prison. Around this time, his health began to fail. As a young soldier he had likely visited prostitutes, and he had contracted syphilis.
The infection was now progressing. Brummell was poor, sick, and unable to pay his debts. On May 4, 1835, he was imprisoned for debt. He looked nothing like the man who had once ruled London fashion.
Local grocer George Armstrong took pity on him and traveled to London to seek help. Thanks to charitable intervention from Brummell’s old friends, he received compensation for the loss of the consulship and was released from prison that July. The syphilis continued its course. Brummell experienced pain and seizures, and eventually his mind failed.
In January 1839, he was moved to an asylum on the outskirts of Caen. On March 30, 1840, at the age of sixty-one, Beau Brummell died penniless and insane. In England, hardly anyone noticed.
He was buried in the Protestant cemetery in Caen.