] - Not to rain on you,
Never fear, I have an umbrella.The quote from above was not actually hers, but that of James Laver the author of The Concise History of Costume and Fashion (1969)....and which I believe has a reputation of being a fashion historian. As, you say,Murray is not the clearest in times lines or abiding by them in the pure sense. However, for someone who has not read extensively upon the subject, it is an entertaining glimpse at the Society.

] Robespierre was quite a dandy. The way he dressed was not exactly the way that other revolutionaries dressed. [All right, he got his head lopped off, so his influence on French fashion was limited]. Heheheh!;)

] .. Brummell is interesting, because he is not an aristocrat. He is a member of the middle classes (by birth), who succeeds in imposing his tastes on the upper class males. I will not say that his class/social origins alone determined his style of dressing, but I always wonder why it is that a man from the middle classes ended up persuading upper-class males to dress, well, more like the wealthier members of the middle class.

"It is my folly that is the making of me" Gerge Byron "Beau" Brummell

] (stepping off her soap box)
Applause to be heard all around. :)!!