Male beauty is in the details. An exhibition of men's fashion has opened at the historical museum

12.06.2019

Sometimes it seems that Russian men and fashion are something like crossing lines that run in different universes and never intersect. The falsity of this stereotype is confirmed by the wonderful “Handsome Man. Russian fashionista mid-18th century- the beginning of the 20th century", which takes place at the Historical Museum in Moscow from March 15 to July 28, 2017.

The exhibition presents more than 600 items from the collections of the State Historical Museum, the State Museum of A.S. Pushkin, State historical library, Russian state library, as well as the Alexander Vasiliev Foundation (Vilnius). Among the exhibits are examples of men's dresses and underwear, jewelry and fashion accessories, hats, shoes, buttons, wallets, snuff boxes and pipes, personal care products; paintings, engravings, photographs, caricatures, magazines and books. Many of the items were shown to the public for the first time.

The exhibition consists of three sections, each dedicated to a specific “peak” men's fashion:
“Courtiness”, middle - second half of the 18th century,
“Dandyism: Russian images”, the first three decades of the 19th century,
"Decadence", early 20th century.

A separate part of the exhibition is dedicated to the works of young designers from the British high school design (courses “Jewelry Design” and “Fashion Design”).

Courtliness, mid-second half of the 18th century, the main fashionistas were “petiteurs”, aristocrats, fans of French fashion.

Kaftan, Europe, 1770, and court sword, Russia, first half of the 18th century.

Wig, Europe, XVIII century.

Caftan and sword

Camisole, France, last quarter of the 18th century, Culottes, Europe, end of the 18th century.

Vest, France, around 1780, silk, linen, embroidery

Rings, tie pins

Pocket watch, England, circa 1830, "Haley & Son"

Pocket watch, England, 1740, watchmaker W. Grant

Double-lens glasses, France, mid-18th century

Chatelaines: with miniatures, Europe, 1740s; France, 1760s.

Chatelaine

Unknown artist. Portrait of Baron I.A. Cherkasova, mid-18th century

Toiletries

“The petimeter goes to bed in the morning, and wakes up in the evening, sits in front of the mirror for several hours, and bleaches himself, blushes and sticks on his spots, does not leave the house until he is so sprayed with perfume that the fragrance that comes from it can be felt in those streets , through which he will ride.” "Satirical Messenger", 1790.

Bottle in the shape of a pistol. Western Europe, end of the 18th century

Snuff boxes, France, England XVIII V

“Volokit, having acquired the favor of the adored object, agrees on a way to communicate their mutual feelings to each other. From now on, when red tape and his beloved come together, they treat each other with tobacco and sniff it from each other. During this sniffing, the red tape, having skillfully hidden a pre-prepared note between his fingers, quickly puts it in his beauty’s tobacco, otherwise, if he finds any inconvenience in this, then he brings his snuffbox to the beauty and treats her with tobacco, putting a rolled up note in the middle, which she, feeling with her fingers, takes out and carefully hides in a scarf or pocket.” " Funny correspondence fashion with impermanence and current outfits with ancient ones"

Snuff boxes, mid-18th century

“Dandyism”, the first three decades of the 19th century, Russian dandies are nobles, restrained by fairly strict regulations of costume.

Tailcoat, Europe, ca. 1815, wool, silk. Round hat, USA, first half of the 19th century. "Peek & Co", felt

Cane with a knob in the shape of a dog's head, Western Europe, first half of the 19th century, zebrawood, amber.

Vests: France, 1820s, silk, glass buttons, USA, 1810s, printed cotton fabric. Handkerchief, Russia, gray. XIX century, cambric, embroidery

Vest France, 1820s, silk, glass buttons

Tailcoat, Europe, circa 1830, wool, silk, Round hat, 1820 Henry Heath Ltd, velor, leather, moire, cloth

Folding razors, horn handles, France, England

Bottles

Care products

“Without any doubt, the hour devoted to the dressing table is the most peaceful and flows faster. Time is full of small pleasures of which one is not aware. Who doesn’t feel sincere pleasure while doing something about themselves? Having a valet is a big mistake: he deprives you of thousands of pleasures.” “Rules of social behavior on politeness”, 1829

A set of stamps for the days of the week. Russia, Tula, first half of the 19th century, steel

Caricature of early 19th century fashion. Germany, 1803

Yarmulka, Russia, 1920-1830s, beads, silk, knitting

Smoking pipe, left: France, gems, right, first half of the 19th century: Russia or Germany, beads, 1830-1840s

Tailcoat, Europe, around 1850, wool, silk

Vest, France, 1830s, silk

Decadence, early 20th century, sophisticated “coquettes”, ardent athletes

Decorative chatelaine, Russia, 1893

Set of cufflinks, Europe, 1900-1910.

Cufflinks, late 19th - early 20th centuries.

Tailcoat and top hat

"There are three cases when a cylinder is required for socialite, namely: 1) visits made in cut-away (in a jacket), 2) horseback riding in a black jacket, 3) funerals, garden parties, walks and official meetings. Wearing a top hat with a suit jacket is the same incongruity as riding a horse with a lady in a soft cap, or a bowler hat with a dress suit.” Gentleman. Handbook of the Graceful Man, 1913

Fashion exhibition

In the State historical museum(State Historical Museum) the exhibition “Handsome Man. Russian fashionista of the mid-18th - early 20th centuries” opened, which, according to the organizers, “is dedicated to the three most striking periods in the history of men’s fashion in Imperial Russia” and which, according to ELENA STAFYEVA, does not really tell about one of them.

The title "Handsome Man" sounds a little like a daytime TV show for housewives. This, let’s say, is not a big problem, but in reality it turns out that this exhibition does not tell anything meaningful either to the public interested in modern fashion, or to those who are at least somehow familiar with the history of culture, and especially to professionals. And this collection of everyday objects and works of art can be called an exhibition only in the most archaic sense of the word.

The exhibition consists of three halls - one for each of the stated periods in the history of fashion: petitmeters of the mid-18th century, dandies of the early 19th century and dandies of the early 20th century. Well, in the middle, right at the entrance, the viewer is for some reason greeted by a collection of graduates of the British Higher School of Design, apparently designed to demonstrate modern dandyism - in this case, a strange mixture of frock coats, vests, Bermuda shorts, top hats, cufflinks and tie pins.

Portraits are hung on the walls, sometimes excellent, for example, the portrait of Pyotr Yakovlevich Chaadaev, not only the author of Philosophical Letters, but also a famous dandy. Tropinin's portrait of the Slavophile Yuri Samarin, where his long polished nails are visible, evokes the famous: “You can be a practical person and think about the beauty of your nails.” As, in fact, is the portrait of Kiprensky, where Pushkin shines with this very beauty. But even this obvious reference to the lines of “Eugene Onegin” is not updated in any way.

In the center of the halls there are mannequins covered with glass, dressed first in caftans and culottes, then in frock coats, and then in business cards and tuxedos. There are display cases along the walls. They contain a scattering of snuff boxes, bottles, lorgnettes, pins, travel bags, purses, combs (for hair and mustache), and hats. Between the items are quotes from the most different texts- from Krylov’s “Spirit Mail” and Bely’s “Beginning of the Century” to “Capital and Estate” and Gazette du bon ton under simple headings - “About golf”, “About boaters” (above the display case with boaters), “About the top hat”, “ About the bowler hat" (underneath them, of course, lie a top hat and a bowler hat, one each), "About shaving", "About visitors to literary and artistic circles" (here is a caustic quote from Andrei Bely). The space of the halls itself has not been modified at all; the hand of an architect or decorator in the design of the exhibition is inconspicuous. But if you can imagine modern exhibition without artistic concept, then it is certainly impossible without an intellectual concept. She's not here, alas. Still, declaring that the items on display will “recreate the enchanting image of fashionistas of the past” is not a curatorial concept. The “charming image” has nothing to do with fashion.

Meanwhile in modern world fashion exhibitions become blockbusters no less than exhibitions of old masters. Telling the story of ideas through objects is one of the most popular curatorial trends today. And it so happened that right now in Paris, for example, there are two exhibitions taking place at once that can be compared with “Handsome Man” - “Appropriate Dress. When Clothes Caused a Scandal” at the Museum of Decorative and Applied Arts and “Fashion and Women: XIV- XVIII century" in the Fornet Library.

The first is deliberately conceptual; there are things from the same eras as in the Historical Museum, but everything is arranged not according to chronological, but rather according to an ideological principle, when with the help of clothing, accessories and art objects it is shown how the norm was formed and how it was violated, how prohibitions became source of fashion ideas. And all this with the excellent work of the architect and set designer, with many visual effects and various attractions that educate and entertain. The quality and condition of the same vests, caftans and culottes are amazing; they in no way look like they were just taken out of a chest.

Of course, the capabilities of the Parisian museum and the Alexander Vasiliev Foundation (almost all the clothes on display in the Historical Museum are from there, and decorative and applied objects and paintings are mostly their own) are somewhat different, but that’s not the point. Rather, it is that, unlike the work of the State Historical Museum, everything that you see in the window—clothes, accessories, paintings, engravings, magazines—tells you one clearly and clearly structured story from the history of not only fashion, but also culture at all. And it immediately becomes clear that sometimes the landscape of an English park can tell more about the romantic era, British dandies and the fashion for carefully recreated naturalness than three portraits of the same type.

Yes, "Appropriate Dress" is an exhibition of the presenter European Museum, which is five times larger in volume than “Handsome Man,” and, let’s be honest, few of us can do this. But, for example, the exhibition at the Forne Library is also quite intimate and also literally has three rooms. But how it is conceived (and without any conceptual statements in the title), how elegantly and effectively it shows that from military uniforms, work clothes or an entire industry of outfits for widows, a new female identity and a large-scale national movement for women's rights are growing. And if the organizers of “Handsome Men” had not aimed at something global, but had focused on one thing, then perhaps it would not have turned out so blurry and faceless. Walking through three halls, where no one bothered to tell an entertaining story or engage the viewer in an educational dialogue with the things on display, is boring and ultimately pointless. And fashion is fun, it’s exciting, and in the end it’s about that real feeling of life, without which there is no historical knowledge.

Large exhibition project St. Petersburg Museum of Theater and musical art“Handsome man. Russian fashionista at the theater" is dedicated to the phenomenon of male dandy in Russia, famous fashionistas of Russian literature and theater, images of dandies and dandies on theater stage late XVIII- beginning of the 20th century. This project inherited the theme, name and part of the exhibits from the exhibition of the State Historical Museum, which was brilliantly held in Moscow in 2017. However, the new curatorial concept dictates significant differences in the subject range of the exhibition: the Museum of Theater and Musical Art explores not so much men's everyday fashion, but its reflection on the stage, its influence on theatrical language different eras from caricatures of fashionable ladies' men to the emergence and development of the role of the hero-lover.
The trends of any time are especially clearly and clearly manifested on the theater stage: literary tastes and manner of expression, topical events and fashion trends take on a striking form in the theater, shown enlarged, as if under a magnifying glass. Theatrical "harassments" of men's fashion different styles and eras make it possible to clearly discover how public ideas about the ideal man- a handsome man, a war hero or a hero-lover. The exhibition of the Museum of Theater and Musical Art “Handsome Man. Russian fashionista at the theater." The St. Petersburg project, without repeating the exhibition of the State Historical Museum, writes a new chapter of a fascinating history, and is a kind of sequel to the Moscow blockbuster exhibition.
In the St. Petersburg series of the “Handsome Man” project, three storylines. One of them is connected with the history of things, everyday little things in the era of Fonvizin, Pushkin, Ostrovsky or Chekhov. Along with kaftans, camisoles, dress tailcoats and other elements of a men's wardrobe, special attention will be given to canes and powder flasks, signets and buckles, headpieces and men's corsets, nail and ear cleaning devices, powder compacts, muslin boxes and ballroom notebooks- things that are so necessary for every fashionista, which now look outlandishly exotic. Separate cameo episodes are devoted to a variety of smoking accessories, glasses and lorgnettes, and pocket watches of the 18th-20th centuries.
The memorial plot of the exhibition is a natural continuation of the “history of men’s little things.” Portrait of P. Ya. Chaadaev, vest of A. S. Pushkin, fez of M. I. Glinka, cane of A. N. Ostrovsky, pince-nez of A. K. Glazunov, ring of V. V. Samoilov or snuff box of F. I. Chaliapin are played by the presenters roles in the exhibition-performance become narrators of entire stories about their famous owners and their attitude to fashion.
Things famous actors- a subject of special curatorial interest. Up to late XIX centuries, artists often went on stage in their own clothes, their fashion accessories became elements of a theatrical image - whether sublime, tragic or comedic caricature. Personal belongings of V.V. Samoilov, K.A. Varlamov, N.N. Figner, F.I. Stravinsky, F.I. Chaliapin are adjacent to their stage costumes, portraits and photographs, creating standard images of “handsome men”. Theatrical plot the exhibition would be incomplete without literary heroes: from Onegin and Chatsky to Antropka from “Fashion Shop” by I. A. Krylov. Their incarnations on the stages of St. Petersburg theaters over the course of an entire century have been carefully studied and reflected in the exhibition.
The prologue to the historical part of the exhibition will be a theatrical “black cabinet” with a gallery of portraits of modern “handsome men”. Photos of famous actors and directors XX - beginning of the XXI centuries, tastemakers and idols of the general public - from G. A. Tovstonogov, V. I. Strzhelchik, I. O. Gorbachev to F. S. Ruzimatov and D. V. Kozlovsky - will be placed in a row, as in the foyer of a real theater . Photographs taken by brilliant masters Valery Plotnikov, Valentin Baranovsky, Yuri Belinsky and other photographers will provide a point of reference for the viewer as he journeys through the styles and eras of men’s fashion, as if hinting: “Everything flows, but nothing changes.”
In the project “Handsome Man. Russian fashionista at the theater" is attended by the Peterhof State Museum of Art, the State Museum of A. S. Pushkin (Moscow), the All-Russian Museum of A. S. Pushkin (St. Petersburg), the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg, the St. Petersburg Theater Library, the Russian National Library Alexandrinsky Theater, Bolshoi Museum drama theater, Theater Museum named after. Lensoveta, theater-festival museum " Baltic House", magazines "Sobaka.ru" and "Caravan of Stories". St. Petersburg state museum theatrical and musical art will present at the exhibition rare costumes stored in the collections from the wardrobe of the imperial theaters, sketches of scenery and costumes, posters, theater programs and photographs from different times, objects jewelry art. Many of the exhibits will be shown to the public for the first time.

Galina Tsvetaeva reviews: 251 ratings: 253 rating: 322

On Mondays, almost all museums are closed. And I have two hours of free time. I was in the center, I remembered the exhibition hall of the Historical Museum, it turned out to be closed without any announcements. Turning around, I saw a poster at the War of 1812 Museum for the exhibition “Handsome Man” and decided to visit this exhibition. It's a pity there was no excursion. But it was interesting enough anyway. The exhibition is divided into three parts: petimeter, dandy, decadence. Lots of explanatory information. All exhibits are well lit, you can approach them all and look closely at them. First section: petimeters. Not only are items of clothing from the Alexander Vasiliev Foundation (Vilnius) presented, but the portraits clearly show what men of the petimeter period looked like. Surprisingly, the men were not very large, judging by their costumes. And they had a ton of different decorations. One can only be surprised at the quantity. The next section is dandy. I immediately remembered Pushkin: “Like a dandy Londoner dressed - and finally saw the light.” You can immediately imagine social life, balls, clubs, receptions - the idle life of a young rake. How many different bottles, devices, cane knobs with secrets in which knives, nail files, and so on were stored. Then decadence with its sophistication and sophistication. How beautifully preserved are the top hats, hats, and underwear. It's hard to imagine how it survived. Great things for golf, playing sports was fashionable.
I really liked the things from the British School of Design. What talented designers we have. The things they created are incomparable, combining shockingness and practicality. They can and should be worn and introduced into mass production. Bright colors decorate life and improve your mood. It's great that at least a few people wear this.
The exhibition is of interest to everyone who cares about fashion and its development, who wants to take a fresh look at old things and find something for themselves in new things.
Two hours flew by unnoticed because it was interesting. Thanks to the organizers for the fascinating presentation of the material and my admiration for the designers of the British School of Design.

Nadezhda Nikolaeva reviews: 21 ratings: 21 ratings: 4

We visited the exhibition at the State Historical Museum - “Handsome man. Russian fashionista of the middle XVIII-beginning XX century". This is the first major project in Russia, entirely dedicated to the history of men's fashion. The exhibition presents more than 600 items. Among the exhibits are examples of men's dresses and underwear, there are modern suits, jewelry and fashion accessories, grooming products, paintings, engravings, photographs, cartoons, magazines and books. All men's dresses are made from natural fabrics: cloth, wool, brocade, silk, satin. And the buckles for the shoes are a masterpiece! And the snuff boxes, and the embroidered vests, caftans, and wallets! and wallets - all this is a real work of art. What craftswomen and craftsmen were! This is how our Russian fashionistas dressed! In the novel “Eugene Onegin” Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin writes about the newest Russians: “... Dashing fashion, our tyrant, the disease of the newest Russians! "Just think two hundred years ago - there were newest Russians, with an invincible passion for fashion. Fashion extends not only to clothes and shoes. Everything external is fashion, these are fashionable writers, artists, poets, etc. To lag behind fashion, for many people means to lag behind life. This is how it was in Pushkin’s time, and this is how it is in our times.
There are a lot of interesting things to consider, I recommend it and it’s better with a guide, a different perception, the exhibits come to life.

Maya Sugakova reviews: 27 ratings: 27 rating: 15

Analysis of passions.
“Fandorin dressed as an inconspicuous Englishman: a black bowler hat, a black jacket, black trousers, a black tie. In Moscow, perhaps, he would have been mistaken for an undertaker, but in London, presumably, he would pass for an invisible man.” Boris Akunin "Azazel"
On Red Square in the Historical Museum there is an exhibition “Handsome for a man Russian fashionista of the mid-18th and early 20th centuries.” The exhibition is NOT stuffed with antique objects and weapons, it is laconic and slightly cold, in three huge rooms exhibition hall quick illumination, it’s said famous writer, that “a noble husband remembers: dignity is not in what happens to you, but in how you behave!” . There are three rooms at the exhibition where insignia of clothing and accessories are collected, when something French was fashionable, and then something English, and then fashion united with all foreign habits and became different. It’s great that at the exhibition I didn’t find any inscriptions of “hackneyed” phrases about how everything in a person should be beautiful, about how beauty will save the world, and other standard well-known phrases. In the inscriptions above ancient objects you can read other interesting passages and quotes from primary sources of that time. I learned a new, but already outdated for us, word “five meters”, which means young secular dandies, dandies, imitating everything French. "It was here favorite place Moscow dandies - five meters, as the then called them satirical literature" E. Radzinsky, “Princess Tarakanova”. An officer’s uniform, jewelry, the ability to tie a tie in several ways, look through a lorgnette in a timely manner, properly powder a wig, put on a hat, including a straw hat, which must be EXCLUSIVELY with a black ribbon, mannered sniffing tobacco, taking out an elegant snuffbox, sneezing at the caricatures of those times in which fashion and fashionistas were ridiculed, being able to dance tango and be an athlete - all these are signs of a time of decadence, dandyism and courtliness. Several objects seemed extremely bulky to me, and some behind the glass seemed slightly fragile and puny, such were the dimensions of the handsome men of that time. The connection between five meters and modernity - several exhibits of the British school, and they are so good in everything that you are amazed at the talents of the Russian land in a foreign land. After the exhibition, near the exit, there is a book of reviews in which guests write down their impressions, I ask you to leave time to look through it, believe me, it is no less interesting in its details than the exhibition, which will last until the end of July.

8 April 2017, 21:01

Not long ago, an exhibition opened at the Historical Museum, which is dedicated exclusively to men's fashion.

“Handsome man. Russian fashionista of the mid-18th - early 20th centuries” - this is the full title of the exhibition. The museum department in charge of clothing is again (following last year’s “Russian folk costume") reached the exhibition space and presented embroidered camisoles to the people XVIII century, tailcoats and top hats of Pushkin’s era and formal frock coats “ silver age" As well as all sorts of - and in fact extremely varied - accompanying accessories.

Actually, the curators identified three types of fashionistas during this time. Well, we’ll start from the beginning - from the 18th century.

The portraits shown - there are many of them - are very different: both famous and unknown persons, both famous and unknown authors. We will not dwell on this - we will only be interested in the costume in the heroes of this painting.

“Petimeter” (French petit maître) - this was the ironic designation at that time for a social dandy who was excessively following fashion. However, this is also the shade of the French original. Indeed, the fashion of the time for men - not just for ladies - was also focused on external effects. Embroidery, lace, bright colors, decorations - it was all present.

The satirical magazine “And this and that” (published in 1769) wrote about such fashionistas as follows: “ Petimeter means in Russian a helipad, or a person who thinks about nothing else but dressing according to the rules of fashion... In comedies, at balls, on Kamenny Island, in Kateringof, in Summer Garden and by Palace Embankment you will see petimeter everywhere.»

« No matter what anyone does and no matter what fashion he throws out, nothing will hide from the eyes of the Petimeter, he will take over everything and in a minute will have it for himself, for he imitates everything indiscriminately.»

But let's consider full set clothes of that time (habit complet). It included a caftan (outerwear), a camisole (worn under a caftan; a shortened sleeveless camisole later became known as a vest) and culottes. That is, short pants.

“Culottes” should remind us of the consonance of “sans-culottes” - that is, revolutionary-minded representatives of the “third estate” in Paris during French Revolution. Indeed, the common people, unlike secular fashionistas, did not wear culottes at that time, but wore long pants. But the nobles wore culottes, the length of what we now call breeches. And of course, stockings were required here.
The legs were thus exposed. And they demanded special attention. To give slimness and volume to their calves, some characters - again referring to the Russian satirical press of that time - put “cotton paper” under their stockings.

And of course, the shoe buckles were shining with all their might.
However, I was able to notice such comfortable heels for shoes - a very suitable thing for icy conditions.

But let's return from the feet to the head. What she wore also mattered. And here I’m not talking about hats at all.

Yes, exactly - we are talking about wigs. There were many varieties of them, and this was also prescribed by fashion. The 1767 book L'art du perruquier (The Art of Hairdressing) shows eight main types of wigs.

To prevent wigs from becoming wrinkled, there were special cases for them.

It’s hard to even say what kind of material this is, what fibers the wig is made of.

Wigs were supposed to be powdered. Which also had its own rules and techniques: the best powder, as professionals noted, is made from wheat flour, and lipstick for a wig (so that the powder sticks to it) is made from rendered lard. To protect the face and clothes of the person being dressed, hairdressers put a “cornet” on him - a sheet of cardboard folded in a special way.

And here are other toiletries - they also thought about the “beauty of nails”.

Perfume bottles were also not just a ladies' accessory at that time.

In general, getting ready before going out obviously had to take a lot of time.

Let's get back to clothes. Embroidery was a very common method of decorating it - which especially concerned camisoles and vests (one of the fashionable young men of that time - namely the son of the famous hetman, Andrei Razumovsky - managed to spend about 20 thousand rubles on vests - which surprised his father a lot when he received bill from the tailor).

Embroidery is also on silk wallets.

Moreover, the buttons could be decorated, for example, with landscapes or illustrations of literary works.

Watches (at that time still only pocket watches), snuff boxes, lorgnettes, and telescopes were no less decorated.

Let us also note the fashion for miniatures - inside the same snuff box there could well have been a portrait of a lady of the heart.

Well, and finally: manners also had to comply with the rules of good manners:

« Bowing is a sign of politeness and courtesy. (…) To bow when entering the chambers, one must bow from the fourth position, bring the right leg from behind to the fourth position in front; then bringing left leg in the first position, tilt your body and stretch out your knees and look at the people you are bowing to with a pleasant look before bending…»

Are you confused yet? But all these movements must be performed in a “pleasant and free manner.” It is no coincidence that the quote given is from the work “The Dance Teacher”. And the positions here are also dance positions - here is the diagram.

Well, gentlemen, do you want to go back to the 18th century? But how impressive you would look. :)

However, fashion will change after a while - “like a London dandy”

By Pushkin's time, men's fashion had undergone radical changes - it was as if the old fashion had been cut off with Louis XVI. No more bright caftans, especially with embroidery and lace. No short culottes with stockings. Yes, and other accessories change.

The French Revolution and the era that followed it Napoleonic wars pushed Paris away from its leadership position. Now fashion for men was dictated by London - much less prone to external effects, but respecting solidity and respectability. This is one side of the matter. And the other is the eternal sportiness of the British (in the understanding of that time we're talking about about active leisure), which required clothing, first of all, to be comfortable. The combination of these factors, coupled with the increasing advancement of the “third estate” to the social top, gives us an image that at first glance is simple and strict.

Yes, and portraits of that time indicate the disappearance of another important accessory half a century ago - namely, a wig (even if not much of your own hair remains). At the same time, the fashion for men's hairstyles changes periodically - which portraits of that time also allow us to trace.

Above is the hairstyle “à la Titus”: this was worn, in particular, by Vasily Lvovich Pushkin (and it required, by the way, special styling). But at times the hair, on the contrary, lengthened slightly.

Advice on accessories also doesn’t seem to allow you to go wild. And the main adviser in the second half of the 1820s became a French book - “Code de la toilette” (the author of which bears the spectacular name Honore-Napoleon Rasson).

“A well-shaven man has higher thoughts than an unshaven one” - the author of a work on “elegance and hygiene” puts this phrase, with reference to Stern, on the cover of his work (noting in the text itself: “ most men take care of their chin every morning; some dandies shave twice a day"). Well, the curators of the exhibition do not forget to place razors in the exhibition - these are the ones they used in early XIX century.

Well, it’s not in vain that I’ve already mentioned it many times - where can you go? - Alexander Pushkin: “You can be a smart person and think about the beauty of your nails.” All kinds of accessories, bottles, manicure sets - all this is present on the men's dressing table.

Let me note a funny thing in passing: this bottle is connected to a telescope. I wonder where they took it with them and what they poured?

Here’s some more advice from Monsieur Rasson: “ Watches should not be equated with jewelry. An abundance of chains and signets indicates poor taste. The watch is worn in the left vest pocket. Their thickness should not exceed the thickness of two five-franc coins. Only women can use watches with enamel coated cases…»

Indeed, compared to the clocks of the 18th century, chronometers XIX century outwardly much more simple.

Which doesn't mean they're cheap. According to one of the memoirists of that time, “ It was fitting to have a watch by the famous Parisian master Breguet, and these watches were not cheap: the simplest kind cost at least 300 francs, and the price of a rich watch reached 3000 rubles of that time.»

Let's return to the Code de la toilette. The author reports about jewelry: “ Young people are allowed to wear only one wide ring of English gold(this, by the way, is not gold, but an alloy of copper and zinc, now more often called “tompak”), and for men of advanced age only one ring with a solitaire».

Visual devices are also changing: “ The theatrical lorgnette does not allow any other decoration than its quality, (...) and it is precisely the fineness of the glass that constitutes their dignity».

True, spotting scopes, although without jewelry, are still elegant (and sometimes they are also combined with watches).

The snuff box also becomes stricter (here is the then fashionable technique of eglomise, painting under glass).

The shoe buckles (remember the image from the first part of the post for comparison) are also less fussy.

But the wallet can be bright (most often it is now embroidered with beads). But here it seems to be assumed that this is most likely a gift personally embroidered by the lady.

Embroidery, however, can show up where it is not actually visible - for example, on suspenders.

What can still liven up the costume at least a little? It's easy to guess - this is a vest. Although it doesn’t look much like the previous “camisoles”, but still.

But this is all while we are talking about the “particular” dress. WITH military uniform everything is different - they didn’t know “camouflage” then, soldiers dressed brightly to distinguish between friends and foes on the battlefield. Plus insignia - here, according to Griboyedov’s Skalozub: “the uniforms have piping, shoulder straps, and buttonholes.”