I do find amusing the way Bob freeely admits his style is somewhat lacking; and that now he is out of teh cluthes of his mother- "now ancient madam has no voice in it"- he willbe free to purchase new clothes.

I also love his reverential swearing here.

Frogs and tambours

Let's explain the terms.

Frogging was a type of fastening,used mainly on military uniforms. A frog was a wooden spindle, attatched to a piece of clothing like a botton. A loop of cord/silk would then fasten the piece of clothing after having been passsed over the loop.

Here is a picture by Stubbs of some fine military gentlemn complete with" frogs".

Tambours were frames used to hold fabric while a special kind of chain stich emboirdery was worked upon the fabric by a lady. They were called "Tambours" because once the fabric to be worked had been stretched over them, they resembled the smalll portable drum of the same name.

Here is an early 19th century example of some decorative tambour work, from a dress in teh Victoria and Albert Museum's costume collection:

And here is Sir Joshua Reynold's portrait of the Walegrave sisters: the lady on the right is using a tambour.