A handcoloured drypoint etching depicting the hustings outside St Paul's Church, Covent Garden for the Westminster election of 1796. One of the candidates stood on the platform can be identified as Charles James Fox. He is depicted in the centre, wearing a blue coat and buff waistcoat, inspired by the uniform of the Continental Army who had fought against Britain in the Revolutionary War in America. As the leader of the Whig party, he and other Whig supporters were showing their opposition to the policies of George III and the Tories by wearing the buff and blue of the American soldiers. To Fox's left is Admiral Alan Gardner wearing naval uniform, and the independent radical John Horne Took in a plain brown coat. The lively crowd includes people from all walks of life: a sailor clambering up the side of the platform, a woman in a green quilted petticoat distributing printed copies of Fox's speeches and numerous Foxite supporters in blue and buff.

Text adapted from Style and Society: Dressing the Georgians, 2023.