George Bryan "Beau" Brummell (7 July 1778 – 30 March 1840) was an iconic figure in Regency England and for many years the arbiter of men's fashion. He was a English dandy, famous for his friendship with the Prince of Wales. Dandies were men who were known for their material indulgence and extensive primping, as well as their theatrical nature. The dandy lifestyle required hours devoted to shopping, styling, and pampering of the self. These behaviors were not initially associated with femininity, but rather vanity.

From his early years Brummell paid great attention to his dress. He had a reputation for fashion at Oxford and added to it that of a wit.

Setting up a bachelor establishment in Mayfair, he became, as a result of the Prince of Wales’s friendship and his own good taste in dress, the recognized arbiter of fashion and a frequenter of society’s gatherings. For a time his influence was unchallenged, but eventually, gambling and extravagance exhausted his fortune, while his tongue proved too sharp for his royal patron. They quarrelled in 1812, and, although Brummell did not immediately lose his place in society, his debts increased so much that he fled to Calais to avoid his creditors. In 1835 he was jailed for debt, but his friends once more came to the rescue and provided him with a small income. In 1837, after two attacks of paralysis, the shelter was found for him in an asylum where he spent his final years.

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