Debrett’s Etiquette and Modern Manners

1981

Central BJ1873 D889 1981

London: Debrett’s Peerage

George IV said of Sir Robert Peel: ‘He is no gentleman! He divides his tails when he sits down.’ Perhaps Peel should have consulted Debrett’s. For centuries those anxious to avoid social blunders have consulted books on etiquette and manners. In such books dress is usually treated as a form of good manners as much as an expression of taste. The general rule is that acceptable dress never attracts attention. Books such as this provide a guide on what that might be in a given era. Debrett’s considers men’s fashion perilous, unlike women whose ‘errors in judgement’ can instead be taken as novel variants of current fashion.