A loose-skirted coat worn by men as a dressing gown. They were typically worn over a shirt, waistcoat, and breeches or pantaloons, ie the gentleman would be dressed in all but his coat. The banyan would be worn while having breakfast alone, and when receiving morning visits from male friends. Though there was a brief period in the mid-18th century when it was fashionable to wear an elegant banyan in public, for the most part, a banyan was only worn in the privacy of one’s home.

The banyans shown here are from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, British c1780, when banyans of very costly materials were de rigeur.

A short chain or ribbon with an attached medallion or ornament that connected to a man’s pocket watch and hung from a small pocket in his waistcoat. Men often wore several fobs, along with seals and other ornaments, clustered together on a single chain or ribbon.

The print shows a detail of “Concert Dresses” from Le Beau Monde, September 1807, where the gentleman is wearing two fobs on a gold chain.