Macaroni Ensemble, Suit, Italy, probably Venice, c. 1770 [4319 x 3453]

“The term ‘macaroni’ was used to classify hyper-fashionable British youths during the 1760s and ’70s who not only had a taste for Italian pasta (for which they are named) but also for wearing ostentatious, exaggerated Italian and French fashions outside the court and onto the streets of London.  

One extraordinary example that illustrates this peculiar cut is a green three-piece suit from Venice, Italy, circa 1770, tailored with extremely truncated tails and a high falling collar. Although the provenance of the ensemble is not English, its Italian history is compelling, as young men on Grand Tour (essentially an early practice of “study abroad” throughout Europe) were known to have suits made for them in continental cities to bring back home to England.

The slender, shortened style of the macaroni suit has led us to muse that perhaps it was the macaroni that conceived of the recent trend for the skinny suit. The green color is another fashionable element for the period, specifically for macaronis, as it was a laborious hue to create and required a double-dyeing of the fabric in blue and yellow.

The wig that was worn was an exaggerated form and silhouette of the toupee and club style popular with macaronis, where the length of hair at the back was folded several times and then wrapped in the middle with a black ribbon. On top of the head is a tall toupee and side curls. Balancing the vastness of the wig is the nosegay, or corsage, a favorite accessory of flowers tucked into the buttonholes of the coat.  

Also balancing the wig is the large linen bow and lace ruffles adorning the neck and chest of the mannequin, a hanger sword at the hip (thought to be an ironic fixture for these young men, who were considered too wimpy to actually use the hip-wear as a weapon), prop equipage watch fobs that gratuitously hang from both sides of the waist, and a pair of oversized shoe buckles at the feet.” From [The LACMA](https://unframed.lacma.org/2016/06/08/styling-macaroni-male)

THE Yankee Doodle

That sword would get so fucking annoying within the first half an hour.