Dandy Style: 250 Years of British Men's Fashion

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A Dandy is a Clothes-wearing Man, a Man whose trade, office, and existence consists in the wearing of Clothes. Every faculty of his soul, spirit, purse, and person is heroically consecrated to this one object, the wearing of Clothes wisely and well: so that as others dress to live, he lives to dress. . . .

In "The Dandiacal Body", a chapter of the novel Sartor Resartus (1831), Thomas Carlyle described the dandy's symbolic social function as a man and as a persona of refined masculinity:The counterpart to the dandy is the quaintrelle, a woman whose life is dedicated to the passionate expression of personal charm and style, to enjoying leisurely pastimes, and the dedicated cultivation of the pleasures of life.

Some dandy gentlemen are heavily influences by historical dandy fashion, as seen in novels like The Picture of Dorian Grey or The Great Gatsby. However, some dapper gentlemen embrace a modern spin on the style, and you may spy a dandy dresser sporting an impressive (but well-groomed) beard, gauged earrings, or a tasteful and meaningful tattoo. This fusion of rebellion into classic style is yet another way the modern man may choose to stand out from the crowd, style-wise.

Dandy fashion on a budget

However, as seen in the picture above, it became more fashionable for these gowns to fit the body more tightly. What is most striking is the bright and fair colour of the gown. It is arguably rather feminine in comparison to today’s standards – we see muted colours taking trend, especially in men’s fashion. The dandy is alive and well, and on city streets around the world. But what does it mean to be a dandy these days? This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sourcesin this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( May 2008) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Like the Parisians who, when they adopted dandyism and Anglomania in 1800, were confused about precisely what they were copying, the fashion designers’ interpretation of the English dandy look is subject to a conveniently loose brief. ‘Was the dandy an understated gentleman who sprang from nowhere and established himself as the social equal of princes – like Beau Brummel? Or was he the aristocratic, horsey sportsman, as Balzac indicated in his Treatise on the Elegant Life. Was he the ‘fatal man’ of English Romanticism?’ asked Valerie Steele in her book, Paris Fashion. Nicolay, Claire. Origins and Reception of Regency Dandyism: Brummell to Baudelaire. PhD diss., Loyola U of Chicago, 1998.Although the space is apparently no larger than that of the fashion gallery, the chamber in which the displays making up The Tailored Dandy act as companion piece to the gallery below seems somehow that much roomier. If the opening chapters have been devoted to clothes which demand attention, those which complete the tale tell of those which require it. Returning to the beginning of the story, it marks out Beau Brummell, the proselytiser of the first days of Dandy, as the progenitor of the style press. This is clothing as a private language, in which to be attentive to nuance is to set oneself apart.