Plush of a yellow color, as worn by footmen; hence transf. as a humorous appellation for a footman.
[1837. Thackeray (title), The Yellowplush Correspondence.] Ibid. (1841), Gt. Hoggarty Diam., ii. A great powdered fellow in yellowplush breeches. Ibid. (1842), in Punch, III. 133/1. He fetched the dishes, drew the corks and performed all the duties of His Majesty’s yellowplush.
