2d • General discussion
And Called It Macaroni…
There are few spectacles more delightfully absurd than the Macaroni.
In the bustling streets of Georgian London, where powdered wigs already strained the limits of good judgement, these fashionable gentlemen somehow contrived to go further. Their hair rose skyward in elaborate constructions, their coats shimmered with embroidery, and their tiny hats appeared to have landed by accident upon mountains of carefully arranged curls.
And the duelling swords that they routinely wore were delicate to point of uselessness—and used only for removing their hats. Evidently, these were ponces, not fighters.
The name itself hinted at foreign adventures. Having returned from the Grand Tour, these young men embraced continental tastes with evangelical enthusiasm, adopting Italian refinements that struck many of their countrymen as hopelessly extravagant. To admirers, they represented sophistication; to satirists, they were irresistible prey.
Their reputation travelled far beyond Britain. During the American Revolutionary War, British officers are thought to have mocked colonial militiamen by singing Yankee Doodle. One verse jeers that a man ‘stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni’—the implication being that simply adding a feather was a laughably poor attempt at achieving the dazzling, over-the-top elegance of a true Macaroni. In one of history’s neat reversals, the American troops embraced the song instead, turning the joke into a badge of pride.
Back in piss-taking London, caricaturists sharpened their pens, playwrights rolled their eyes, and pamphleteers wondered aloud whether Britain had exchanged sturdy common sense for silk stockings and scented powder. Yet beneath the towering wigs and embroidered coats lurked deeper questions about masculinity, wealth, patriotism and the unsettling influence of foreign ideas.
Every age invents its own peacocks. The Georgians simply did it with more lace, more powder and considerably greater theatrical flair.
Mind you, the little hats were clearly excellent. (Pretty much how all hats look on me!)
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And Called It Macaroni…
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