Bishounen, the beta days
Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 at 10:35 amDetail of a fashion plate from the Musee de la Tailleurs Illustree:
Note the fetching ribbons on the shoulder and the decals on the tights. I swoon. And the other chap has something very interesting going on with that little parasol and the Japanese jacket with shorts (I guess a fundoshi was a little too much fun for even these sporting Europeans), not to mention the combination of topknot and waxed moustache.
October 14th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
The ballerina shoes the chap on the right is wearing is all the rage down here right now. I’ve never quite been game for them.
October 14th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
I wonder if Topknot really wore that on the street and if he got beat up for it?
A curse on Beau Brummel!
October 15th, 2008 at 5:38 am
Tessa - I have a pair with a tiny heel and pointy toes, maybe more Aladdin than ballerina. They look good with loose-ish trousers, especially ones that gather into a band at the ankle. Not the thing for making one look taller, though. It’s hard to imagine the modern Western male getting away with such footwear at all — I think people were smaller back then.
Kirby - little do his would-be assailants know that he has a deadly poignard hidden inside that dainty parasol, besides which he has studied Aikido to a level where he can drop a man with a negligent flick of his pinky.
I have conflicted feelings about BB. Annoyance about the whole suit thing, of course, but he did take exquisite care of his person, and encouraged men to do likewise. I’m more inclined to blame the trial of Oscar Wilde for the loss of the pavonine male. I read an article which raised the point that the trial made men afraid of being identified, rightly or wrongly, as gay, and conflated male flamboyance and sensitivity with homosexuality in people’s minds. I don’t know if that’s true, but it sounds reasonable.
October 15th, 2008 at 9:15 am
Well… that’s… interesting.