DAY EIGHT: MON ONCLE

The "awful contortion of the face produced by the constant use of an eye-glass." or monocle. Usually worn by slightly older gentlemen around the age that uncles ought to be. My uncle (Mon Oncle) wearing a monocle.


From: Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. IV (Dec, 1851 - May, 1852) New York: Harper and Brothers Publishers. Pg 860.

DAY SEVEN: WHEN THE POLICE OUGHT TO INTERFERE

Engravings 1, 2 and 3 of The Round Hat read as follows:
1. When it is all very well.
2. When it is objectional.
3. When the police ought to interfere.

Cartoon from Punch, 22 September 1855.

Note:
From the mid-1850s the hat reappeared to challenge the supremacy of the bonnet. Punch cartoons poked fun at these wide-brimmed hats which proliferated like mushrooms in the English countryside and on beaches. By 1857 the style became modified into a smaller version with the dipped front brim and leather plume, worn for riding and walking. The streamers which floated behind these hats were called 'follow-me-lads'.


SOURCE: CUMMING, V. (2006). THE VISUAL HISTORY OF COSTUME ACCESSORIES. FROM HATS TO SHOES: 400 YEARS OF COSTUME ACCESSORIES. NEW YORK: QUITE SPECIFIC MEDIA GROUP. P. 101.

DAY SIX: THE EXTREMES OF FASHION

Such Things Are, engraving 1787.

Note:
Throughout the eighteenth century and beyond, the absurdities of fashion provided ample subject matter for caricatures. Young men were a favourite target and this example dissects the details of the extreme fashion.


SOURCE: CUMMING, V. (2006). THE VISUAL HISTORY OF COSTUME ACCESSORIES. FROM HATS TO SHOES: 400 YEARS OF COSTUME ACCESSORIES. NEW YORK: QUITE SPECIFIC MEDIA GROUP. P. 70.

DAY FIVE: ALPHABET SOUP

This is certainly the most morbid alphabet I have come across. Although not typically related to fashion, it is related to literature. For words are made from letters of the alphabet, are they not? Key letters re-arranged, repeated and contorted. You can see the metamorphosis.

G is for... GASHLYCRUMB TINIES

DAY FOUR: THE DANDY

Its witty.
Its Funny.
Its coy.
A play on words: true to the essence of the dandy.
Would Oscar Wilde approve? most probably.
Good enough for me.

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