The Life of Beau Nash (1762) [ People ]
… this inclination for gallantry; he therefore purchased a pair of colours, commenced a professed admirer of the sex, and dressed to the very edge of his finances. But the life of a soldier is more pleasing to the spectator at a distance than … as I describe, one, who, though he may have dined in private upon a banquet served cold from a cook's shop, shall dress at six for the side box, one of those, whose wants are only known to their laundress and tradesmen, and their fine clothes to half the nobility, who spend more in chair hire, than housekeeping; and …
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Anthology