Chapter 237: Failed Congressman, Successful Fashionista (

Chapter 236 – Failed MP, Successful Fashionista (4K)

Although stories like “The Million Pound” are just fiction, if something like that poor boy turning into a millionaire really occurs, then if he asks an authentic old London for help: how to dress up like a gentleman who is really in and out of high society.

An authentic old Londoner would most likely suggest Regent Street or Jermyn Street, which is not far from Regent Street.

Regent Street, built in 1811, was ordered by the late King George IV during his regency, who, for all his faults, was admittedly credited with developing the shopping streets of London’s West End during his time as regent and king.

Regent Street was designed to sweep away the chaos and narrowness that had characterized London for centuries due to fires, floods, and massive sprawl, and since its completion in 1821, this bright and spacious street has become the most glittering shopping district in the commercial city of London.

Here, you can see the rich and famous traveling with their servants, as well as countless middle-class ladies and gentlemen who want to emulate the lifestyle of the upper class and buy themselves a respectable outfit in a bustling crowd.

Of course, there are some of the more old-fashioned old Londoners who still don’t want to recognize Regent Street as the new center of fashion, and they still stubbornly insist that Regent Street is just a place for women to pick out new dresses and small jewelry, while the real London gentlemen should go to Jermyn Street, which is just one intersection away from Regent Street, to order clothes and buy pipes and tobacco.

Founded in 1664, Jermyn Street is unique in the eyes of the old London gentleman, and as London’s reputed men’s street, you can find everything a 19th-century man would need in a street that’s only 300 or 400 meters long, except for the women, of course.

Of course, in recent years, admittedly Jermyn Street’s status as a men’s mecca is being strongly challenged by Savile Row, but the two have gradually developed their own character over the last decade of their encounter.

Savile Row is known for its morning coats, dinner suits, short jackets, and smoking jackets, while Jermyn Street has stoutly defended its position as the place where men’s shirts, bowler hats, and shoes are held to the highest standards.

Arthur stood at the intersection of Jermyn and Regent Streets with his pipe in his mouth, listening to Mr. Disraeli, the defeated playwright councillor and editor-in-chief of The Cockney beside him, who was as knowledgeable as he was about the historical origins of the two men’s streets, and simply snapped his pipe downward and flicked the ashes inside with his fingertips.

Disraeli saw this, just slightly frowned: “Arthur, you have to pay attention to the posture of cleaning ash, and, look at you this outfit, in the end, which genius told you, you should wear a uniform to run to this place? I’m not asking you to dress as stylishly as Beau Brummel, the Royal Clothing Advisor, but you need to get a well-fitting outfit at the very least. You can’t bank all that manuscript money, can you?”

Arthur glanced down at his tuxedo jacket and white gloves, and raised his arms, before nodding his head with certainty, “I think this one is still a good fit, and it won’t constrict movement or interfere with my ability to dispose of special situations. On the contrary, my costume that is specially used to attend banquets is really too uncomfortable to wear, a jab goes down, the enemy hasn’t fallen yet, but my shoulder has to be cracked first.”

Hearing this, Disraeli just shook his head in disgust and said, “That’s because you didn’t pick a suitable one, that’s just it, there’s nothing to do today anyway, I’ll first take you to pick a suitable casual jacket. Otherwise, if you wear this, I won’t have the guts to take you for a dip in the neighborhood streets.”

“But I don’t have much money on me today.”

“If you don’t have any money with you, I’ll advance it for you first, and the next time I settle the manuscript fee and profit sharing, I’ll deduct it directly from your share.”

After saying that, Disraeli didn’t care if Arthur was happy or not, pushed his back and toppled him all the way into the street side clothing store.

Without much time, the door of the clothing store was once again pushed open, and the officer Arthur just now seemed to have disappeared into thin air, and reappeared in front of the crowd as a London banker wearing a high bowler hat, a half-tuxedo black jacket on top, a simple black waistcoat with a buttonless white shirt inside, beige tight breeches underneath, and a small walking stick.

Disraeli followed Arthur, satisfied with the masterpiece in front of him, carefully chosen by himself, and he tapped on the store window glass at Arthur, speaking, “Look, Arthur, you’ll have a much easier time walking down Regent Street in this.”

Arthur looked at his reflection in the window glass, bent down and smoothed his hair, then looked around twice.

Disraeli, seeing him like this, could not help but follow suit and look around, and as he searched he also asked, “What are you looking at? Is there a beauty anywhere?”

Arthur simply returned, “Where’s the streetlight? I still need a rope.”

Disraeli just laughed out loud when he heard this and he slapped Arthur’s chest with the back of his hand, “What? You also think you’re handsome enough to hang yourself now? But don’t worry Arthur, the ladies will have taken up all the streetlights before you hang yourself, so you might as well go jump in the Thames.”

Hearing this, Arthur just shrugged his shoulders and said, “The Thames? It’s full there, too, and there’s no telling if Alexander is in there at this time.”

“Alexander drowned?” Disraeli was startled, “He hasn’t even turned in his manuscript for next month!”

Arthur said calmly, “No, don’t be nervous, Benjamin. It would be a tragedy indeed if Alexander drowned. But if he hadn’t drowned, it would have been a disaster. And I’m sure that with Alexander’s size, even if he fell into the Thames, he would more than likely float. So instead of caring about him, why don’t you tell me more about the perfume stores on Regent Street.”

Hearing this, Disraeli finally reacted to the fact that Arthur was joking, and he joyfully said, “You mustn’t let Alexander hear this, I heard that he recently bought a good gun, and he even came to me two days ago to show it off. If you undermine him like that, and piss him off, he might come running to you for a duel.”

“Isn’t that good?” Arthur felt out the empty cigarette case in his pocket and swept it, “If he comes to me for a duel, that good gun is mine.”

Disraeli also saw Arthur’s empty cigarette case, “Out of cigarettes? Why don’t we go find a store that sells tobacco first? I know a good one on Jermyn Street, you can’t even get the authentic smuggled stuff inside the Royal Navy after Elder left, can you?”

Arthur nodded slightly, “I can still get a little from the West India Docks occasionally, but the flavor really isn’t as strong as Elder’s stuff. Since you recommend it so much, let’s go to Jermyn Street first. I remember that there should be perfume for sale on Jermyn Street as well, right?”

“No no no.” Disraeli corrected while leading the way, “Jermyn Street only sells colognes for men, as for perfumes for women, such as the old London Florex and Creed, or the French Boulle, Guerlain, or whatever, you’ll have to go to Regent Street to find them.”

Walking through the streets of traffic, Arthur asked as he pushed the monocle in his eye socket where he couldn’t see any remaining value. “Why are you so familiar with this stuff? I knew you were a writer and a lawyer along with it, I didn’t realize you were so knowledgeable about the fashion world as well.”

When Disraeli heard this, he just twisted his collar proudly, “Arthur, that’s something you don’t know. Whether you’re a writer or a lawyer, in the end, you still have to deal with people. I’m a fashion novelist, and in order to write good fashion novels, I certainly have to know what the latest fashion is.

As for lawyers, although I quit a long time ago, the value of a truly competent lawyer lies not only in being able to win cases, but also in your ability to get a steady stream of cases. There’s no way to make it long in the lawyer business without expanding your social circle and making yourself the glittering center of attention at parties.”

Arthur nodded slightly, “That seems to make some sense, so how are your plans to expand your social circle going these days?”

As if he had been waiting for this, Disraeli proudly fished a crumpled newspaper out of his pocket and unfolded it in front of Arthur, “Look at that, come on Arthur, look at that, tell me what it says.”

Arthur leaned down to look at it and read it word for word, “Today’s outfit recommendation comes from Mr. Benjamin Disraeli, the rising star of fashion, who will share for the first time in this newspaper his tips on how to wear a Flack dress: a bright orange vest, a pair of red pants, and a short Flack dress are the most fashionable casual gentleman’s outfits of the year. As we all know, the Flack dress is becoming the new favorite of London’s gentlemen, and the key to making my Flack dress look even more special is that I used a new pleating method at the waist to create a perfectly smooth curve around the slim waist. Here are my pleating tips ……”

The corners of Disraeli’s mouth rose more and more as he heard this, his pride and triumph almost visible even to a horse tethered to a lamppost by the side of the road, munching on oats.

“Well, Arthur? I’m about to become as important a leading figure in London fashion as Mr. Brummel.”

Arthur heard this and just glanced at Disraeli, then slowly shook his head, “I don’t think it matters that much whether you become a leader or not, but I do think that perhaps you should be a little more honest with your readers.”

“Honest?” Disraeli said with a displeased face, “Where am I being dishonest, but I have unreservedly given the readers all the methods on how to pleat.”

“Of course, but that’s not what I’m talking about.” Arthur pointed to Disraeli’s thin waist, “I’m talking about this, your thin waist has nothing to do with how to pleat. The only reason a man’s waist is as thin as it is, I seriously doubt you’re wearing one of the ladies’ corsets.”

When Disraeli heard this, he instantly looked like a rat whose tail had been stepped on, and he turned red and cursed in a low voice, “Damn! Arthur, how did you see that?”

Arthur, of course, would not say that he found his inspiration from Mr. Vidocq in France, he just returned, “Benjamin, don’t forget that I am a policeman, and a detective at that. I can see at a glance exactly what you have done. But ……”

Arthur reached down and snapped Disraeli’s collar, only to hear a snap as the elastic band popped onto Disraeli’s shoulder blade, causing him to nearly yelp in pain.

Arthur was surprised, “You’re still wearing it?”

“Or what?” Disraeli gasped, “Well, this is something you know and I know, and no one can know anymore beyond that.”

“Not even God?”

“Of course not, he’ll send down divine punishment if he finds out!”

“You shouldn’t have done such a thing if you really honor God that much.”

“Shut up! Arthur!”

Arthur and Disraeli bickered all the way, causing the gentlemen and ladies passing by to resist sweeping them off their feet.

However, this kind of attention didn’t last too long, because everyone thought that it was probably a banker and his partner quarreling over a financial dispute, and this kind of thing wasn’t too rare in London, and wasn’t worth making a fuss about.

The two men went noisily into a little store in Jermyn Street which bore the sign ‘Men’s Only, Ladies Stop’, and had just pushed open the door when they heard a pleasant ringing of bells.

The fellow who stood in front of the store and was responsible for guarding against thieves first surveyed the two of them, and then noticed Disraeli’s familiar face, so he politely smiled and said: ”Mr. Disraeli, you are a familiar customer, I won’t introduce you to any extra things, you and your friend can pick them out by yourselves. If there are any requests, you can just mention them directly to me or the other fellows.”

Disraeli just entered the store, then converge the face when the noise, a serious cold expression looks like an authentic London gentleman.

“Thanks, I brought my friend here today to pick up some smokes and cologne or something. My friend’s mouth is a bit tricky, he’s used to smoking authentic West Indian stuff, do you have any authentic St. Domingo’s here? Don’t think of fooling us, whether it’s the real thing or not, we’ll know if we taste it.”

When the fellow heard this, he just smiled and spoke, “Mr. Disraeli, look at what you’re saying. The things in our store are a bit more expensive than outside, but the quality is all first class. It seems that the regular goods on the first floor are not to your liking today, so you can take your friend directly to the second floor. You can take your friend to the second floor directly. You can choose whatever you want there, and if you can taste a little bit of fake, you can return it to us at any time.”

Disraeli asked again, “Is it the same with cologne?”

Buddy smiled and opened his mouth: “Today your luck is good, our store has a new perfume mixer, you and your friends later after picking out the tobacco, you can go directly to the back of the perfume room to ask for configuration of specially tuned perfume. All the raw materials, what kind of flavor, whatever you say, on-the-spot completion on the spot delivery. You say this kind of production method, we can’t fake under your eyes, right?”

(End of chapter)