A macaroni (formerly spelled maccaroni[1]) was a pejorative term used to describe a fashionable fellow of 18th-century Britain. Stereotypically, men in the macaroni subculture dressed, spoke, and behaved in an unusually epicene and androgynous manner.

Jul 31, 2019 · The Italians are extremely fond of a dish they call Macaroni, composed of a kind of paste; and, as they consider this as the summum bonum of all good eating, so they figuratively call everything they think elegant and uncommon Macaroni.

May 25, 2017 · As soon as the fashion spread beyond its aristocratic roots in the 1770s, the macaroni style, although perceived as a bit feminine, was amplified many times over and very quickly lost its distinction and just as quickly fell out of favor.

Feb 16, 2023 · Aristocratic young men returning from their ‘Grand Tour’ to Italy and France began to appear in London dressed in a distinctive, extravagant style that derived from French court dress. Their predilection for foreign food as well as fashion earned them the …

Oct 15, 2019 · Macaroni culture was not just a fashion style but a way of life. Because they had money and enjoyed showing it off, Macaronis spent most of their time making appearances in fashionable places and partaking in fashionable activities.

Jul 21, 2023 · These fashions identify Cosway as a “macaroni,” a member of a subculture of young men whose boldly colored fashions and towering hairstyles represented a striking transgression against gender and social norms.

To wear macaroni dress was to wear the contemporary continental court fashion of the male suit, or habit à la française, which consisted of a tight-sleeved coat with short skirts, waistcoat, and knee breeches.

Jun 8, 2016 · One of the first major ensembles prepared for Reigning Men: Fashion in Menswear, 1715-2015 was the “macaroni male,” an archetype that we envisioned opening the exhibition from the very inception of the show.

Studying the macaroni over the past twenty years, including on two visits to the Lewis Walpole Library, I have woven together dress, biography, historical events and art spanning genres from the scurrilous caricature to respectful portrait.

A macaroni (or formerly maccaroni (OED), in mid-18th-century England, was a fashionable fellow who dressed and even spoke in an outlandishly affected and epicene manner.