#also this isnt to say that fashion history can't be a fun hobby either!

[renaissancefailmarriage]

this post is driving me fucking NUTS because people in the reblogs+replies are posting the dumbest historical misinformation that i thought waa debunked years ago but apparently not on this hellsite

OP this isnt @ you at all i know you probably just meant this to be a funny meme post but everyone is being loud and wrong in the comments SO

the only reason people are blaming beau brummell for this is because of that stupid alexandra rowland twitter thread from 2019 where every single failing of modern masculinity, from catcalling to male celebrities wearing boring suits to the met gala, is laid at the feet of This One Guy from the 19th century. the thread itself is colossally stupid and irritating and was debunked by multiple fashion historians, but it still hasn't been taken down. great.

the "Great Male Renunciation" is not really a thing, imo. Or at least its way more complicated than this wikipedia article is making it sound. (Which makes sense because it was coined by some guy who wasn't even a historian) just because something has a wikipedia article doesn't mean it's beyond question. yes, there are rapid and significant changes in european men's (and women's!) fashions in the 1790s-1810s. no, it's not because beau brummell was running around snatching powdered wigs off people's heads. like most examples of broad social change, it's much more complicated than that.

people in the reblogs+replies seem to be split between blaming the french and the british, and they're kinda both right, because there were two major things that lead to this change: english country styles and the french revolution.

from about the mid-18th century and on, fashion started to trend away from the super frilly, pastel rococo styles and towards a more subtle, earth-toned one. this was a very slow process, and plenty of these later "simpler" styles still look plenty ostentatious from a modern perspective.

for example, compare this portrait of françois boucher in 1741 to a portrait of an englishman by thomas gainsborough in 1765. the earlier portrait is in pale blue with large cuffs, lots of lace, and a long, relatively unstructured flowy wig. the later portrait shows practical earth tones, probably in a good english wool since it doesn't have the sheen of silk or velvet, and a much smaller and neater wig style. you can't really see it here, but the earlier coat would also have a much larger "skirt."

we can clearly see this shift happening well before the end of the 18th century, and indeed before beau brummell was even born! the idea that men should dress in a restrained but stylish way to communicate respectability is not new at all, and nor is it something that happened overnight. it was a gradual shift influenced by many factors. the idea was to look like an english gentleman at his country home, in well-made and tailored but practical garments. (the use of wool instead of silk might have also been patriotic since wool was a big industry in england at the time, as opposed to the french center of silk production in lyon, but that's a guess that i'm making, not necessarily a solid historical fact. important to distinguish between the two!) so beau brummell was certainly a style icon, but he was in favor for a relatively short time, and was also stylish within the confines of trends that had been developing for decades at that point.

the other big factor in this shift was the french revolution in 1789. clothing was actually explicitly defined in political terms around this time, with sans culottes referring to the fact of common men being less likely to wear the stockings and breeches (culottes) of the bourgeoisie and nobility, opting for practical trousers instead. this (along with other factors!) did lead to a GRADUAL change from breeches to trousers over the next few decades. this era is what the idea of the "great male renunciation" refers to, and there's definitely a strong aesthetic shift, but honestly i still don't think it's a very useful concept. male fashion continued to be brightly colored and more "fancy" well into the 19th century! just look at the snatched waists, fluffy hair, and patterned cloths in men's fashions of the 1820s-1840s. Or just look at this drawing of a sans-culotte from the 1790s--certainly not a boring navy men's suit of today.

side note lol but i really don't love how a bunch of these replies are framing this style change as some kind of toxic masculinity moment, as opposed to a very justified reaction to the aristocracy's excess when people were starving. i find it just a BIT dishonest. and its not even true that everyone suddenly became boring, see above.

anyway in conclusion, fashion history is an actual discipline and making definitive statements about it requires knowledge of political and economic contexts, critical thinking and lots of research into the period. not just shoving two images from over 100 years apart together and making a broad statement that "feels right", or pinning all the sins of modern men's fashion on one guy who said mean things at a party once. thank you and goodnight.

was a mistake

[specter-writes]

Hi, could i get a matchup for toh?

Pronouns: she/her

Sexuality: heterosexual

Zodiac/MBTI: intj, sagittarius

Appearance: long black hair, black eyes, 187 cm, very pale skin and i'm builded like models on 60s fashion illustrations, for some reason i always look like i'm sad

Personality: mix of a kuudere and hinedere personality: introverted, calm, quiet, reserved, sophisticated, polite, snarky, witty, sarcastic, blunt, honest, apathetic, intimidating, morbid, unfazed

Likes: art, plants, animals, philosophy, thanatology, literature, serial killers, insects and bugs, witchcraft, classical music, goth music, classical gothic literature, history, forensics, criminology, anthropology, psychology, mythology, books, animals (especially cats), nature, tea

Dislikes: can't think of any. i care only about things i like

Hobbies: science, learning new things, knitting, sewing, gardening, cooking, baking, playing chess, taking long solitary walks to secluded places, reading, writing, drawing, general handicrafts, dollmaking, cryptid hunting

Thanks

Hi hello good to have you here!

I would match you with:

Darius (platonic)!

Enjoy your brand new father figure! Also, you have a sibling in hunter if you want one. I was trying to think of a romantic option but the only dude in the hexside crew is Hunter, and I don't really see that. As much as I love that TOH is femme led, it does make matchups for my hetero girls a little harder. That's okay though, because who doesn't love the slightly posh purple guy?

You know that thing that divorced dads do where they get their kids gifts to try win their love? He does that, except minus the guilt. I just think his love language is gifts. I also feel as though he'd be a progressive religious person, you feel? So whatever religion you think suits him best, he'd love if you participated, but you absolutely do not have to. I also feel like he plays piano, and you DO have to do that. No matter how trash your recitals are, he's always embarrassingly doting and close to tears, then he just sort of snaps back into it, clears his throat, and straightens up, back to serious. That happens a LOT, especially in public. He wants to keep up his uncaring veneer of professionalism and fails over and over again

Daralador??????? Yes????????????? Absolutely, daralador. All of it, all the fluff. You may get relentlessly teased and drained of info on your crushes, but boy oh boy does darius get it back tenfold. at this point you know more about their relationship than either of them. what can I say, you both like to be involved

I also headcanon that darius is really good at sculpture (abomination magic and so on and so forth) so he sometimes either conjures up a model out of abomination goo or just brings your sketches to life. You do it every Friday over tea, it's a fun experience for both sides. You occasionally draw his sculptures as well

You have all sorts of little trinkets he's made of clay, abomnation, hell even paperclips. He tried to teach you and Hunter to sculpt once and it went... Poorly to say the least, especially on Hunter's end. He tried to make a little wolf but it looked like a depressed beagle. You faired slightly better but that isnt saying much. Darius still loves your messy, sorta bad sculptures even if they are trash

hes essentially the opposite of those weird southern parents who threaten their daughters boyfriends or even just male/masc presenting friends.

you couldn't ask for a more supportive parental figure in your life