Beau Brummell: This Charming Man

Monday 08:35PM
BEAU BRUMMELL: THIS CHARMING MAN
Monday, 17 December 2007

Beau Brummell: This Charming Man follows the rise and fall of the man who has been declared the first celebrity.

But Brummell wasn't just famous for being famous. He created a style, a fashion for wearing suits and for fast living; he even introduced the waltz to England. He is said to have liberated England's middle classes from their foppish past.

Wigs, breeches and ashen faces dusted with white powder were dispatched to history. He even managed to transform the outrageously overdressed Prince Regent into one of the world's most stylish men.

At the height of his fame he owned London's smartest club, his coterie of dandies dominated society and his luck on the gambling tables was astonishing - he won a fortune.