Townsend, Ben Fashioning Regulation, Regulating Fashion. Uniforms and Dress of the British Army 1800-1818. Volume 1

This book is the first part of a two-volume investigation into the clothing orders of the British late Georgian army, combined and contrasted with an analysis of fashion in the same army- comparing the regulated dress with the 'modes of the army' as revealed by contemporary writing and illustrations.The first quarter of the nineteenth century witnessed a refinement of fashionable masculine dress that has not since been surpassed. Military tailoring inspired a parallel flowering of uniform splendor that continued into the 1830s and sparked an enduring fascination with military costume that still rages today.The army that operated in these cumbersome uniforms managed to achieve fame as one of the most effective British fighting forces ever recognized, and is still remembered and honored for its achievements.These three strands: the flowering of late Georgian civilian tailoring; of its martial equivalent; and of military excellence on campaign, have gripped the interest and the imagination of the public, and are endlessly revived and recycled through popular culture, on television, film, through books and all of the other new media.The reader then might properly ask why another book on uniforms of this period is necessary. Quite simply, it is because the amount of material available to the researcher has increased exponentially since the advent of the internet, especially in regard to the now widely available digital archive files of institutional collections. The huge amount of accessible material makes the task of assembling accurate information much longer and much harder, but the results are consequentially more satisfying and accurate than hitherto.

The first quarter of the nineteenth century witnessed a refinement of fashionable menswear that has not been equalled since. The rise of military tailoring led to ever more splendid uniforms and a fascination with military dress that lasted until the 1830s. The army that had to serve in these cumbersome uniforms became known as one of the most effective British fighting forces, and is still honoured for its successes on the battlefield.