Captain Fawcett’s League of Exceptional Gentlemen
Captain Fawcett’s award-winning ‘Hair Couture’collection provides a full range of men’s hair care and hair styling products. And there are more to come later in 2023! Hairzzah!
To celebrate the long awaited completion of the Captain’s extraordinarily handsome quartet of Patent Pomades, every order from the ‘Hair Couture’ collection will include a highly collectible ‘Hair Couture’ card, featuring one of ten Exceptional Gentlemen. Showcasing ten distinctive hair trends, each card includes suggestions for styling the iconic looks at home. Simply Splendid! Collect the whole set!
Add a dash of history...
Inspired by a boyhood love of trading cards, Captain Fawcett’s ‘Hair Couture’ League of Exceptional Gentlemen series is an homage to the fashion for Victorian Cabinet Cards.
It is believed the fashion for calling cards began in 15th century China, gaining popularity in 17th century England during Regency times. In Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, the Dashwood sisters know Edward Ferrars is in town when he leaves his card: “Edward assured them himself of his being in town, within a very short time, by twice calling in Berkeley Street. Twice was his card found on the table, when they returned from their morning’s engagements. Elinor was pleased that he had called; and still more pleased that she had missed him.” The equivalent of two WhatsApp ticks remaining disappointingly grey.
By the reign of cheery old Queen Victoria, long before smartphones and selfie sticks, one had to visit professional photographer to sit for a portrait. These little images were incorporated into small rectangular calling cards, also called visiting tickets, compliments cards or cartes des visites by our esteemed European chums. The Victorians were a somewhat flamboyant bunch, favouring cards with extravagant embellishments and gold accents. The usage of these involved mind-bending convolutions of complex etiquette designed to catch out social climbers in a web of eternal shame. I say!
In 1863, a London studio - Windsor & Bridge - innovated a process creating photographic prints large enough to mount on stiff card with the photographer’s details embossed below the image. Too big - and expensive - for merely leaving as calling cards, people proudly displayed them in their parlour cabinets.
They were hugely popular, until Kodak introduced the Box Brownie camera in 1900 and amateur snapshots became part of everyday life.
One might say Cabinet Cards were the precursor of today’s selfie. Contrary to the reputation of Victorians being rather stuffy, Cabinet Cards often showed people fooling around with silly props and outrageous outfits, full of visual jokes. Hence the mugshot of Ricki Hall, notorious ringleader of Captain Fawcett’s League of Exceptional Gentleman - caught red handed using the Captain’s range of hair products!
Captain Fawcett’s ‘Hair Couture’ collection. Proudly made in the UK.
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