For #WellingtonWednesday, here’s a great illustration from Cassell’s illustarated history of England showing Wellington being denied entry at Almack’s because he was wearing trousers. 1/

The dress code at Almack’s required knee breeches, white cravatte, and chapeau-bras. Wellington hit 2/3 of these requirements, even though the illustration shows him with a top hat. 2/

As Cassell’s history states, after a very gentlemanly discussion, “the great captain quietly retreated without daring to storm the citadel of fashion.”

Ironically, Wellington’s trousers were arguably more stylish at the time. 3/3

Forgot to mention originally, if any #twitterstorians happen to know the illustrator, let me know. I havn’t been able to match the initials to a known illustrator.

Adding this useful clarification to the original thread. https://twitter.com/numberonelondon/status/1303737590999384069