Forbidden feathers

On June 1, 1785 Eliza Sheridan wrote of a visit to the theatre where, as usual, eyes were mostly on those off the stage:

'The King, Queen, and the Three Princesses with two of the younger childred occupied two Boxes fronting the Orchestra. The Duchess of Devonshire and all the women of Fashion in a gallery near them...With regard to the company the Women appeared to disadvantage as being forbid Hats and Feathers they had almost uniformly put on the most disfiguring head-dress I ever saw — A Mob of a most immense size, simply illustrated with blue or yellow ribbons — this over friz'd Heads and sallow complexions had a very bad effect — a few with fair skins and clear brown hair bore the disguise tollerably.'

News From Paris

Lady Clermont writes to Georgiana on the fashions in France,

"The heads are not so high nor as many feathers, that is to say many people are dress'd so, but the people the best dress'd are more modest than they were."

November 1775

Mary Lady Kent by Reynolds, 1777

Feather Fanatics

If you recall the post on feathers a few months ago detailing Georgiana's notorious love of feathers you might like what Lauren posted today. I am forever amused in the many ways Louis XVI passively attempted to curb Marie Antoinette's fashion appetites.

Lessons in Physiognomy, How to Indentify a Georgiana in the Wild

A key aspect of 18th c gossip is total anonymity. When the great portraits were hung in the Royal Academy the titles would only be listed as "a man" or "a woman," etc. Crowds would gather and test each others' pop culture based on whether they could identify the sitter or not. The tabloids of the times, satirical prints, kept their subject anonymous many times too, despite the newly freed press. Sometimes, for gossip's sake, instead of listing the subjects name the satirical artist would just drop a subtle hint, "A certain dutchess..."

Because Georgiana was a leader of the ton and a leading female celebrity most everyone knew who she was and what she did. Therefore, artists developed a means of identifying Georgiana in their work so viewers would know who the anonymous scandalous lady was.

The most popular identifier was Harriet. If a work contained two tall, poufy-haired, fashionable ladies next to each other it was Georgiana and her sister. Despite Bess being Georgiana's best friend, society found the two sisters to be inseparable (they were) and they would constantly be seen in public together. Just like in this print by Rowlandson:


The second article of identity was a dog. Yes, dogs were popular in the 18th century, but their biggest fan was Georgiana's husband, whom was called Canis by his friends. There is a family tradition of the Dukes and Duchesses of Devonshire being obsessed with their dogs and still remains true today -their furry family is usually part of their portraits. The association of Cavendish/Dog made for another identifier for Georgiana as can be seen in this print Robert Dighton did of the 1784 Westminster Election:


Feathers, feathers, feathers! Can you imagine if you popularized shoulderpads in the 1980's and you were still being depicted wearing those awful 80s blazers today? What a nightmare. Well, if you recall, Georgiana popularized the fad of huge ostrich feathers in the late 1770's. For ever afterwards she was depicted as wearing them in her hair.

Size Matters

What better to make an entrance into society than with a 3 foot hairdo. Georgiana blasted into the London scene in full couture splendor upon her marriage at the age of 17. She immediately got to work on establishing herself as a fashion icon. Whether this was her intention or not, one can only guess, but her celebrity began with her fashion trends.

The first notable trend she began was the three-foot hair tower. Hair was already large at the time, especially due to French influences, Georgiana simply took it one step further. The hair towers required scented pomade, pads of horse hair, and at least two hairdressers in order to be constructed. To this, Georgiana would add scenes such as the classic ship in sail or stuffed birds. As with every trend in London, woman immediately took to the look and tried to make it more outrageous by making their hair even taller or more ornate.

Georgiana never seemed to acknowledge when people took to her fashions; while London society attempted to imitate her by making her vogues more outlandish, she would simplify and create an even bigger buzz. Her next hair fad was the infamous ostrich feather which she would drape in a large arch across the front of her hair. When Lord Stormont presented her with one over four feet long every lady of refinement went on a wild goose chase to find the rare length of feather. Of course scandal developed. Only the very wealthy could afford the feathers, which they snobbily flaunted to the point where Queen Charlotte banned them from court. This couldn't have come at a worse time for the fashion elite. The Duchess of Kingston's trial for bigamy was approaching and everyone who was anyone would be showing up in their best in order to outdo each other at the embarrassment of their fellow Peeress. Feathers were forbidden from the trial. This was a devastating blow; like banning Gucci from fashion week. The only lady who seemed unaffected by the ban was the one who started the fashion trend; Georgiana brought snacks to munch on with Lady Derby at the trial instead of her signature feathers.

Although (probably due to the ban) large ostrich feathers was only a short-lived fad it lived on through the decades. In satirical prints, Georgiana would forever be identified as herself by being portrayed with ostrich feathers in her hair.

Check out this collage I made of the hair tower. I only used Reynold portraits because I'm lazy, but it serves a purpose; if you were being painted by one of the most fashionable artists in society you would be portrayed in only the hottest trends. The portraits were painting from 1775-1779.Satirical Prints related to the D of D and her hair:

Lady All-Top May 1776

The Preposterous Head Dress, or Feathered Lady March 1776

Matthew Darly, Vis a Vis May 1776