“Images featuring an idealised sense of beauty pervaded every aspect of Georgian society”
Historian HANNAH WALLACE tells us about one of the women featured in a new BBC Two series on the social history of beauty, glamour and make-up – and what her story reveals about the appearance-obsessed Georgian era
Your contributionto the series focuses largely on Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire [1757–1806]. Who wasshe?
Georgiana Cavendish was one of the leaders of 18th-century society, and she really was put on this pedestal of beauty and grace. She played a huge part in influencing fashion but was also involved in politics and science. She was used, as celebrities are often used, to promote newspapers, clothing, even Wedgwood plant pots for people’s gardens. She had the status of someone like Kim Kardashian.
How much money did she spend on her appearance?
Georgiana’s hairdresser, Baptiste Gilbert, was one of the highest-paid servants in her London home. He was paid £52 10s, which is roughly the equivalent of £10,000 today. The fact that he was French brought an awful lot of kudos because he was trained in the ways of the French court and fashion, which were huge influences on British fashion at the time. It would have taken him, and perhaps another hairdresser or Georgiana’s lady’s maid, hours to produce these elaborate hair towers, and to decorate them with ostrich feathers, birds, fruits and even ships in sail. It must have been a huge job.
Gilbert had the income to be able to set up his own hairdressing salons. He had a hairdressing school and later went into business with another man to sell powder, and wigs and ribbons. He set up shops close to Devonshire House [in Piccadilly]. He was serving elite customers and trying to give a little sense of Georgiana’s magic to a wider population. The rising middle classes were very interested in this.
How did she use her status?
She was a campaigner in the 1784 election for the Whig party. She was front of stage and wore foxtails in her hat as a show of support for [Britain’s first foreign secretary] Charles James Fox. The depictions of her hairstyles and her fashion were all part of trying to draw a crowd to big political events. But this was also attacked by the media – her beauty and fashion became a double-edged sword.
How important was appearance in Georgian society more generally?
There was definitely an obsession with how people looked. Images of women such as Georgiana and an idealised sense of beauty pervaded every aspect of society. There was even a fear that, if the lower classes started to do these beauty regimes, then society wouldn’t be able to tell who was an aristocratic woman and who was a servant.