English aristocrat, socialite and fashionista George Bryan “Beau” Brummell was BOTD in 1778. Born in London to a prosperous middle-class family, he was educated at Eton College and Oxford Unversity, where he became known for his wit and impeccable dress sense. Returning to London, he befriended Prince George of Hanover, the then-Prince of Wales, who offered him a commission in the Hussars. He reached the ranks of captain until 1799, when he came into his inheritance. Establishing himself in London’s fashionable Mayfair district, he became a star of smart London society. A respected arbiter of men’s fashion, he advised Prince George and the aristocracy on their dress and personal cleaning habits. He is credited with introducing pantaloons (full-length trousers) instead of military-style knee breeches, and a tailored, fitted silhouette with a dark cutaway coat, white linen shirt and carefully knotted cravat. He also favoured the top hat, which he nicknamed the “beaver”, and reputedly took five hours to dress, insisting that his boots were polished with champagne. Brummell’s “feminine” obsession with dress and clothing earned him the mockery of Lord Byron, who called him a “dandy”, a term that happily stuck. His fortunes changed when Prince George, by then ruling Britain as the Prince Regent, ignored him at a masquerade ball, leading Brummell to ask a bystander “Who’s your fat friend?” After years of living beyond his means, Brummell amassed huge debts. Faced with debtor’s prison, he fled to France, relying on friends for financial support. He never returned to England and continued to run up debts, and was eventually imprisoned in 1835. He died in an insane asylum in 1840, after complications from tertiary syphilis, aged 61. A popular subject for writers, his life was dramatised in an 1890 stage play by Clyde Fitch starring Richard Mansfield, short stories by Booth Tarkington and an operetta by Reynaldo Hahn, and was played onscreen by John Barrymore and Stewart Granger. His name became shorthand for good taste and elegance, and was used extensively in fashion advertising throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. In 2002, a statue of Brummell was erected in Jermyn Street in London, the traditional home of gentlemen’s tailoring. A lifelong bachelor, historians and biographers have speculated extensively about his sexuality, including a possible sexual relationship with Prince George.