Dandy Style: 250 Years of British Men's Fashion

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From Oscar Wilde’s penchant for extravagance, to the musicians of today seen through the lens of the best photographers, this show has something for everyone, whatever your style. Dandyism is about more than your clothing; the dandy gentleman also pays careful attention to his grooming and is immaculate in appearance. A dandy gentleman would never be caught with unkempt hair or an untrimmed beard; he will maintain his hair cut, color and style as well as any facial hair. Meinhold, Roman. "The Ideal-Typical Incarnation of Fashion: The Dandy as. . . .", essay in Fashion Myths: A Cultural Critique. Bielefeld, Germany: transcript, 2014. pp. 111–125. books.google.com/books?id=1XWiBQAAQBAJ ISBN 9783839424377 When it comes to fit, a true Dandy’s clothes fit perfectly. Sleeves are never too long or too short, and clothes are never baggy or loose-fitting. Our slim-fit, 100% cotton Extreme Cutaway White Premium Weave Shirt works perfectly for the Dandy in quality and fit. Paying attention to fabric and tailoring is a must for dandy style, otherwise you’re doing it wrong. Skimping on quality is something a gentleman never does. The exhibition is split into two sections: Tailored Dandy and Decorated Dandy, and each one opens with artist Lubaina Himid’s creative portraits of stylish-looking male figures. Manchester Art Gallery. Courtesy Lubaina Himid. Photographer Michael Pollard. Manchester Art Gallery 2016.

It may no longer be the preserve of eccentrics, but dandyism will never follow a well-trodden path either. Former member of Andy Warhol’s Factory, Glenn O’Brien, argues in I Am Dandy: “A man who steps out of uniform is a hero, in his own way. You can only be a hero in your own way.” 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: Barbey d'Aurevilly, Jules. Of Dandyism and of George Brummell. Translated by Douglas Ainslie. New York: PAJ Publications, 1988.Lytton, Edward Bulwer, Lord Lytton. Pelham or the Adventures of a Gentleman. Edited by Jerome McGann. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1972. Brummel was the one who was imitated mostly in France hence resulting in adapting the Dandy Style. The birth of many dandies influenced the Symbolist Movement in French Literature.

This piece shown in Manchester Art Gallery was not formally worn or played a particular role in men’s fashion, but it’s really cool. Made by artist Sebastian Horsley, this painted suit – like many other suits painted by Horsley – was once undecorated. That was until Horsley got bored, and wore them as ‘painting overalls’, hence the paint stains here and there. The decision was taken not to exhibit this item within the timeframe of the exhibition because of its physically vulnerable condition. There was neither time nor capacity to carry out the necessary conservation work to display it safely, and we did not want to risk causing further irreparable damage to it. Kani’s resulting artwork A Whisper Behind the Grand Tour 2022, powerfully expresses the wider impact of such decisions, and highlights the complex questions we need to consider in deciding how to prioritise limited resources. Dandyism was then rooted in Great Britain by George Bryan “Beau” Brummell, a men’s fashion arbiter. This autumn, Manchester Art Gallery is all about cloth, cut and pattern with the new exhibition Dandy Style, focusing on men’s style through the ages, from the 18th century to the present day. Set in the brand new dedicated Fashion Gallery, expect fine fabrics, paintings and photographs all celebrating menswear.

In monarchic France, dandyism was ideologically bound to the egalitarian politics of the French Revolution (1789–1799); thus the dandyism of the jeunesse dorée (the Gilded Youth) was their political statement of aristocratic style in effort to differentiate and distinguish themselves from the working-class sans-culottes, from the poor men who owned no stylish knee-breeches made of silk. There’s relevance, and there’s chasing after every single trend you can get your hands on. The former, realised through a knowledge of the present and utilisation of classic elements, positions you as someone of note. The latter symbolises more desperation – of seeking relevance and having it regularly leap from your grasp every few months. Considering these factors, modern dandy style sits on classic garments, be it Oxford dress shoes with brogue details, a three-piece suit, or silhouettes from no specific point in time. Yet, their combination feels both current and without a direct timestamp, as if you’ve entered from another era but are knowingly aware of all present customs.

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.Beau Brummell ( George Bryan Brummell, 1778–1840) was the model British dandy since his days as an undergraduate at Oriel College, Oxford, and later as an associate of the Prince Regent (George IV) — all despite not being an aristocrat. Always bathed and shaved, always powdered and perfumed, always groomed and immaculately dressed in a dark-blue coat of plain style. [13] Sartorially, the look of Brummel's tailoring was perfectly fitted, clean, and displayed much linen; an elaborately knotted cravat completed the aesthetics of Brummell's suite of clothes. In the mid–1790s, handsome Beau Brummell was a personable man-about-town who was famous for being famous; a man celebrated "based on nothing at all" but personal charm and social connections. [14] [15] As London Collections: Men, the three-day menswear fashion week in the UK capital, draws to a close, one sartorial trend shows no sign of going away. It’s a style endorsed by online retailers like ASOS, who show how to ‘ shop the look’, and was the inspiration for Savile Row tailor Richard James’s latest collection. Cult de soi-même, Charles Baudelaire, "Le Dandy", noted in Susann Schmid, "Byron and Wilde: The Dandy in the Public Sphere" in Julie Hibbard et al. , eds. The Importance of Reinventing Oscar: Versions of Wilde During the Last 100 Years 2002

The display highlights Styles’ position as an essential personality in contemporary men’s fashion, with many of his outfits pushing against the gendered boundaries between ‘menswear’ and ‘womenswear’. The majority of the exhibits are from the gallery’s collection, with the addition of some loans from private lenders and art institutions. Showcasing around 75 outfits, there will be no shortage of dramatic looks but there are also some very special highlights. 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 late 18th century, British and French men abided Beau Brummell's dictates about fashion and etiquette, especially the French bohemians who closely imitated Brummell's habits of dress, manner, and style. In that time of political progress, French dandies were celebrated as social revolutionaries who were self-created men possessed of a consciously-designed personality, men whose way of being broke with inflexible tradition that limited the social progress of greater French society; thus, with their elaborate dress and decadent styles of life, the French dandies conveyed their moral superiority to and political contempt for the conformist bourgeoisie. [20] In the late 19th century, dandified bohemianism was characteristic of the artists who were the Symbolist movement in French poetry and literature, wherein the "Truth of Art" included the artist to the work of art. [22] Dandy sociology [ edit ] The Dandy King: Joachim Murat, the French King of Naples.France is the fashion capital of the world and has a whole history when it comes to style and fashion. Dandyism entered the European state after the French Revolution. The style was initiated as a political statement of dressing in an aristocratic style to distinguish its members from the sans-culottes. 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. Himid’s portraits were certainly highlights of the exhibition. The ‘Dandy’ and the ‘Tailor’ were selected from a collection of five life-sized portraits originally commissioned by the Gallery of Costume at Platt Hall. Photo: Michael Pollard @ Manchester Art Gallery Photo: Michael Pollard @ Manchester Art Gallery Charles Pierre Baudelaire – A French Poet was deeply interested in Dandyism and various times he wrote about it. According to him, “no profession other than elegance… no other status, but that of cultivating the idea of beauty in their own persons… The dandy must aspire to be sublime without interruption; he must live and sleep before a mirror.”