The Strange Reason Men Used To Dress Like This
For centuries, men’s fashion was anything but boring. The wealthiest and most powerful men in history were often the biggest fashion trendsetters and they wore elaborate clothing, extravagant accessories, wigs, makeup, heels, and enough decoration to make modern red carpets look tame. So why did men’s fashion go from flamboyant and extravagant to the relatively restrained suits and casualwear we associate with men today? And why did fashion eventually become so strongly associated with women?
On this episode of Weird History, we look back at a time when high society demanded that men look fashionable, wealthy, and impossibly extravagant to explain how much of the blame can be traced back to one extraordinarily influential man whose choices helped permanently reshape the way an entire gender thought about clothing.
Do you wish more men still dressed with flair? Let us know in the comments.
(Much like real history, this video was produced entirely by human beings.)
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#mensfashion #men #weirdhistory

@triadmad
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
During the late '70s disco era, I bucked the fashion trend by dressing in jeans, t-shirt, and unbuttoned flannel shirt. I was grunge before grunge became cool 10 years later. That's pretty much still my fashion choice, except for around early May through September, when I set the flannel shirts aside.
@alisonbrowning9620
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
becuase of comfort, same for women, people still dress up for parties or parades though
@robbuxton8438
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
Being born in Downing Street, and going to school at Eaton is NOT middle class.
@garysarratt1
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
Men’s instincts are more tactical, to blend in to the environment. It’s dangerous to stand out.
@ulrichh5241
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
Before the triumph of capitalism in the 19th century, only a very small, privileged class – mostly the aristocracy and a small section of the middle classes – could afford to concern themselves with clothes and extravagance. I think the French Revolution, shortly before the capitalist shift, also moved the image of masculinity towards that of the rough-and-ready lad. We continue to emulate this – by and large – to this day. Of course, there have always been, and still are, counter-movements to this masculine archetype. The latest experiment is the ‘woke’ movement, which we are currently enduring. May God bring it to a swift end🙏
@celestemichon1038
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
It looks absolutely ridiculous. Worn to make people laugh.😂😂😂
@Marcilhac-MCM
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
Answer begins 11:58
@EndtheWokeMadness
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
Starting as a commissioned officer is not a rank at all. He started as a Cornet and retired as a Captain. Even senior non-commissioned ranks like the Regimental Sergeant Major would have to salute him and call him sir. The lowest rank is private or the equivalent in the terminology of his regiment. The life of an officer was a privileged life of a gentleman, unlike the rough life of an ordinary soldier. The slightest bit of research would have uncovered this information.
@chozenwon1234567
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
1:23 Corbin, my man!
@hoodooguri
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
I think it was the rise of Puritanism in the Anglo world
@tompommerel2136
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
There's something incongruous about the notion of dandyism as a reaction to earlier 18th century men's elaborately fashionable attire. It seems more likely that the increasingly neo-classical aesthetic of the last decade of the century & the following Napoleonic decade was about trimmed-down 'flamboyance', yet the term dandy ironically suggests an increase in affected men's mannerism. So, I think there is a case for not conflating the 'economy' of Brummel's influence with dandyism, as this is an entirely different phenomenon.
@maryloumawson6006
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
What you meant was "cannot be OVERSTATED" which of course means it is impossible to OVER state his influence What you said "cannot be UNDERSTATED means just the opposite but actually makes no sense When something is UNDERSTATED it means that it barely registers Such as 'his style of fashion is understated but elegant' It means not overt – not notable!
@richardsalas6808
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
Did u have to ask?.
@bevinboulder5039
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
Who wrote the title of this video?
@joywebster2678
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
Yankee doodle dandy
@arnoldzyphill3167
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
i would not allow mt wife to wear that shit.
@oo7tease
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
This should have been preceded by the historical 17/18th century Fops
@jimmyjohnson7174
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
Mens clothing and hair style is plain and boring ! Needs to change!
@ddc2343d
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
Costco must be the new Brummel, thats where i buy 80% of my clothes now.
@arrow1414
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
Also the Protestant revolution which had a philosophy against self adornment, especially the Calvinist and the Puritans.
@vernicethompson4825
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
In the 1960s and 70s, men rebelled for a while by wearing colorful clothes, often tight-fitting, and paying a great deal of attention to their appearance, including wearing cologne in excess. The disco era was when this style reached its height. In part, it was a reaction against the Vietnam War. I don't think Beau Brummel was the only influence on men's fashion; it seems that military service itself is a major contributor, as Brummel himself may have discovered. Soldiers and sailors must dress in practical yet attractive uniforms for unity. Yet after they retire, or the war ends, they continue to dress this way out of habit. My father, a WWII vet followed this trend. So what exactly ended the disco trend of elaborate dress for men? It was the election of Ronald Reagan and his conservative style of dress and his support for military service, as he started a couple of wars. And forty years of mostly conservative government in the US, and UK with Thatcher's election, contributed the most, in my view, to the boring and drab looks men are encouraged to still wear today, except in special circumstances. Men in nations not affected as much by WWII still dress in traditional attire (such as Middle Eastern Arabs and Indians).
@241sail6
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
I just figured that cross dressing was a thing back then.
@celticlass8573
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
All men need to do to stop the blandness, is to stop wearing the blandness. It only seems weird to no do it, because men have been doing it for the past few generations.
@yahairareyesjimenez
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
How was this written without showing the Dandy men of Congo???? What a shame!
@elettner
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
Because it was not practical, not comfortable, it was expensive, and ridiculous. Pay attention that they were all Royal people. Normal people never dress like peacocks.
@Useless-girl_gaming2
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
Oh my, what I'd give if women's clothes were as simple to pick from as today's men's basic clothes are in the store! You guys have no idea how much time it takes to swift through all the "fashionable" and 90% unflattering crap that's in women's sections in shops, and more often than not you come out of 3 or 4 stores with little or no clothes bought after HOURS of searching…. Not to mention that it was already a chore to persuade yourself to go "clothes hunting" for days if not weeks beforehand, because you just know how much success depends on luck nowadays. While in contrast I look at men's sections and right away know what I'd choose (and sometimes I do find stuff there that I buy for myself cuz they fit better and are more comfortable!).
While I'm glad neither men and women have to wear clothes like centuries ago, fashion still sucks, in my opinion! (And yeah, if I could, I'd wear metal band shirts to work every effing day…)
@thelittlehooer
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
"It costs a lot to look this cheap" -Dolly Parton
@ReallifeBambiDeerattheFarm
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
I tend to dress conservatively except for the sandals and usually red toenail polish.
@rjm44nyy
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
I’m an LLBean man m
@MuireallJosie
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
Peasant men NEVER dressed this way. This is just about ELITES.
@VeBombs
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
Hi 👋 from NY
@simont.b.2660
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
Hats to you for this interesting video!
@jeff4470-n8p
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
Any male over age 14 who wears a t shirt with something written on it is a child. Men's fashion in america is a disaster.
@jeff4470-n8p
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
I wear only black, blue and grey. The best men's fashion is not being visible at all.
@tremorsfan
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
A video on the gradual acceptance of women wearing traditionally men's clothing. Did you know it was technically still illegal for women to wear pants in Paris until 2013?
@lindacoolbaugh962
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
Of course, It's still Rock and Roll to me is in my head now…."You could be a Beau Brummell baby……"
@kirbymarchbarcena
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
I'm glad such fashion never trends today because of impracticality and climate
@pattyl3090
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
I just can't with this narrator🙁… I was spoiled with OG
@pfkmsandiego
September 8, 2026 at 5:57 pm
thank you. ✌️&❤️