The Grand Experiment

RP Black circa 2013

Background

The 19^th-Century Gentleman is a social experiment; can a man raised in the 20^th century with modern social and political persuasions transform himself into a 19^th century gentleman?

This experiment was unintentional and unplanned. In 2012 I began getting involved with American Civil War reenactment. It was an area of reenactment I was not involved with in my twenty plus years of reenactment. My wife was interested in the time period and got me started and I have not stopped. What started as Civil War reenactment became this experiment. I decided I was going to start dressing as if it was the mid-19^th century all the time.

At first this was just me dressing up every day like it was the 19^th century. There was no intent to do anything more than that. However I soon realized that it could be more. 

The Grand Experiment

The idea behind this grand experiment is to transform myself to look and act like a Victorian gentleman. However it is not as simple as this. I still need to be able to live and work in modern society, thus things like cellphones, and automobiles are still necessary. The question is how to combine the 21^st century with the 19^th century.

The experiment will consist of appearance, mannerisms, and lifestyle changes.  This includes 90% period correct clothing and accessories, 19^th century vocabulary, mannerisms and etiquette as they were used in the Victorian age.

Clothing and Accessories; My clothing and accessories stander I have set is a 90% ratio. For the most part all of my clothing and accessories will be period correct. The exceptions I have made are footwear and materials. My footwear will appear authentic but have modern soles and heals and some materials will be blends of natural and synthetic provided they look natural.

Vocabulary; 19^th century vocabulary differs in some ways from the 21^st century. Most of us know words like gay and queer have changed their means over the decades. While today they might be used to disparage someone or describe their sexuality they were once used to describe happiness and strangeness. Learning the 19^th century meanings of common words used today is a daunting and difficult task.

Mannerisms; A bow, a nod, a tip of the hat are all things the Victorians did and they did them at the appropriate time. This can prove to be quite difficult. There are many things written in the manners manuals of the day that were not upheld by your average person. The most common rule was politeness. However the rules of a proper society varied from business to social. In every social spear the rules could be slightly different. Changing the way one has acted his whole life to a totally foreign concept will be the most difficult part of my experiment.  

Problems and Difficulties

The problems of recreating a Victorian lifestyle within the 21^st century are astronomical. I have and do expect to encounter more problems and difficulties with this experiment. First of all the Victorian lifestyle was much different than ours is today. Difference in the general way of life, family relationships, social attitudes, work, and not to mention technology have all changed the way we as 21^st century Americans perceive the world around us. In the Victorian era the spears of men and women were greatly divided, as were that of social and business, and the social classes. 

Expected Outcome

The overall goal of this experiment is transform myself into a 21^st century Victorian. I hope to not only change my outward appearance, but also change my mindset thus altering they manner in which I act and behave permanently. This change in manner and attitude will prove to be the most difficult.