The Gentleman’s Toilet
From "Room at the Top," circa 1885
The first requisite of a gentleman’s
toilet is undoubtedly the bath, which should be as bracing as
the constitution will allow, and used morning and evening in
summer, and every day in winter. Only physiques of finest
quality can endure, much more benefit by, a cold-water shock all
the year round; and though physique is always improvable, great
reformation must not be attempted rashly. Let the bath of from
sixty to seventy degrees be freely indulged in by the strong,
and even by the less robust, in summer time; but in winter a
temperature varying from eighty-five to ninety-five degrees is
the safest. The flesh-brush should be vigorously applied to all
parts of the body, after which the skin must be carefully dried
with Turkish or huck-a-back towels.
The next thing to be done is to clean the teeth. This should be
done with a good hard tooth-brush at least twice a day. Smokers
should rinse the mouth immediately after smoking, and should be
careful to keep the teeth scrupulously clean. The nails should
also be kept exquisitely clean and short. Long nails are an
abomination.
Our advice to those who shave is, like Punch’s advice to those
about to marry—"Don’t." But it must by no means be understood
that suffering the beard to grow is a process that obviates all
trouble. The bears should be carefully and frequently washed,
well trimmed, and well combed, and the hair and whiskers kept
scrupulously clean by the help of clean, stiff hair-brushes, and
soap and warm water. The style of the beard should be adapted to
the form of the face; but any affectation in the cut of the
beard and whiskers is very objectionable, and augurs unmitigated
vanity in the wearer. Long hair is never indulged in except by
painters and fiddlers.
Beau Brumell spent two hours in dressing; but a gentleman can
perform all the duties of his toilet to perfection in less than
half that time.
A gentleman should always be so well dressed that his dress
shall never be remarked at all. Does this sound like an enigma?
It is not meant for one. It only implies that perfect simplicity
is perfect elegance, and that the true test of dress in the
toilet of a gentleman is its entire harmony, unobtrusiveness,
and becomingness.
A man whose dress is appropriate, neat and clean, will always
look like a gentleman; but to dress appropriately, one must have
a varied wardrobe. This should not, on the average, cost more
than a tenth part of his income. No man can afford more than a
tenth of his income for dress.
The author of "Pelham" has aptly said that "a gentleman’s coat
should not fit too well." To be fitted too well is to look like
a tailor’s dummy.
For evening parties, dinner parties and balls, wear a black
dress coat, black trousers, black silk or cloth vest, thin
patent-leather boots, a white cravat, and white kid gloves.
Abjure all fopperies, such as white silk linings, silk collars,
etc; above all, the shirt-front should be plain. At small,
unceremonious parties, gloves are not necessary; but, when worn,
they should be new and fit well. A man’s jewelry should be of
the best and simplest description. False jewelry, like every
other form of falsehood and pretense, is unmitigated vulgarity.
Elaborate studs and sleeve-links are all foppish and vulgar. A
set of good studs, a gold watch and guard, and one handsome
ring, are as many ornaments as a gentleman can wear with
propriety.
Lastly, a man’s jewelry should always have some use, and not
like a lady’s, be worn for ornament only.
Colored shirts may be worn in the morning; but they should be
small in pattern and quiet in color. Fancy cloths of conspicuous
patterns are exceedingly objectionable. The hat should always be
black; and caps and straw hats are only admissible in summer.
A man’s clothes should always be well-brushed, and never
threadbare or shabby. No gentleman can afford to wear shabby
clothes.
For the country, or the foreign tour, a gentleman will select a
costume of some light woolen material, flannel shirts, thick
boots, and everything to correspond.
There are three things one should consult in the manner of dress
if one would always appear like a gentleman—vis., expense,
comfort, and society. If there is one thing in this world about
which we can entertain any degree of moral certainty, it is that
we must pay our tailor’s bills. If, therefore, our means are
disproportionate to our wants, we must remember the old proverb
"Cut your coat according to your cloth," and dress as well as
you possibly can upon little money.
