Fashion and taste was nowhere more visible in Georgian society than in the clothes, hairstyles and hats of elite men and women. Hairdressing and styling developed in the second half of the 18th century, with many shops catering to new crazes for wigs and extensions, as shown in this advertisement for a ladies' hairdresser in the City of London. By the 1770s women’s hairstyles could be raised into substantial headdresses, supplemented by feathers, artificial hair, even fruit and flowers. The fashion for powdered wigs among men remained popular throughout the 18th century, evolving from long full-bottomed varieties to short ‘periwigs’ later in the century. These were easier to maintain and less susceptible to vermin infestation. A tax on hair powder levied in 1795 brought to an end the preference for wig-wearing, retained thereafter by the legal profession and at formal occasions in the royal court.
Andrew Macdonald-Brown shows how Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock progresses from satirising the foolishness of wealthy young women to exposing the violence that results from unequal power relations, whether between men and women, rich and poor or imperial powers and colonised nations.
With increasing variety in clothes, food and household items, shopping became an important cultural activity in the 18th century. Dr Matthew White describes buying and selling during the period, and explains the connection between many luxury goods and slave plantations in South America and the Caribbean.
With increasing variety in clothes, food and household items, shopping became an important cultural activity in the 18th century. Dr Matthew White describes buying and selling during the period, and explains the connection between many luxury goods and slave plantations in South America and the Caribbean.
The Rape of the Lock overview Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock is a poem of five cantos, written in ...
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