Dandy Style: 250 Years of British Men's Fashion

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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. The dandy is alive and well, and on city streets around the world. But what does it mean to be a dandy these days? Some dandy gentlemen will wear cosmetics to enhance their features. A department store makeup counter can help you color-match lightweight foundations and concealers for redness or dark undereye circles. For further reading

Early manifestations of dandyism were Le petit-maître (the Little Master) and the musky Muscadin ruffians of the middle-class Thermidorean reaction (1794–1795), but modern dandyism appeared in the stratified societies of Europe during the revolutionary period of the 1790s, especially in cultural centres such as London and in Paris. [4] Socially, the dandy cultivated a persona of extreme cynical reserve to the degree that the Victorian novelist George Meredith defined such posed cynicism as "intellectual dandyism"; whereas the kinder Thomas Carlyle, in the novel Sartor Resartus (1831), dismissed the dandy as just "a clothes-wearing man"; and Honoré de Balzac in La fille aux yeux d'or (1835) chronicled the idle life of Henri de Marsay, a model French dandy done in by his obsessive Romanticism in pursuit of love, which included yielding to sexual passion and murderous jealousy. 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. 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.Barbey d'Aurevilly, Jules. Of Dandyism and of George Brummell. Translated by Douglas Ainslie. New York: PAJ Publications, 1988. Strictly fine, top-quality fabrics for the dandy. Inferior, tasteless fabrics are a big no-no. Instead, keep your eyes on cashmere, tweed, linen, corduroy, silk or satin, for example. Danielle Sprecher, Menswear Archive Curator said: “We are delighted to be able to be a part of this exhibition and to feature garments from the University of Westminster’s important and unique collection of menswear alongside pieces from Manchester Art Gallery’s nationally significant collections, some of which have never been displayed before.” 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.” Beyond that, a Dandy invests in top quality grooming products. A signature cologne, hand cream and various serums to keep his scent fresh and his hands well looked-after. For him, personal hygiene is of utmost importance.

According to Manchester Art Gallery, red has always been associated with power, as its intensity and richness in colour were difficult to source and thus were very expensive. A common thread throughout all of these items of clothing in the exhibition displays the wealth or domination of the individual. Italian street photographer Daniele Tamagni’s Gentlemen of Bacongo series (main image) reveals the dandies in the Republic of Congo’s Brazzaville. They are known as ‘Sapeurs’, which Tamagni considers “a revolutionary movement, because dressing up is a way to escape and forget poverty”. Regarding the existence and the political and cultural functions of the dandy in a society, in the essay L'Homme révolté (1951) Albert Camus said that: 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. But in the 18th century, if you were a wealthy aristocrat, bright colours and intricate patterns allowed you to display your wealth. As a result, wealth equates to power, and power equates to respect. The Manchester Art Gallery has a wide variety of banyans in different colours, styles, and patterns, depicted much better than this photo. Photo: Amelia Cole @ The Mancunion Vivienne Westwood striped suit (1991-2)

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Rosie Gnatiuk, costume curator at Manchester Art Gallery, said: “The fashion gallery supports our ambitions to bring the costume and dress collection into the heart of the city.” Dandy Style focuses on men’s fashion and image over the last 250 years. Drawing contrasts and comparisons between fashion, art and photography, and melding the historic with the contemporary, the provocative with the respectable, Dandy Style will consider key themes in the development of male style, image and identity. 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) Dandyism was then rooted in Great Britain by George Bryan “Beau” Brummell, a men’s fashion arbiter. 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.

The exhibition is split into two sections: the Decorated Dandy, and the Tailored Dandy. The galleries premiere with portraits ‘The Dandy’ and ‘The Tailor’ by Turner Prize winner Lubaina Himid, which introduce the theme of the exhibition. Both galleries present differing interpretations of Dandy Style, and explore how other designers and artists have incorporated it into their work. It’s possible to see each room as representing separate volumes of a novel, both of them book-ended by six-foot tall plates, imaginary portraits by the Turner Prize-winning Lubaina Himid, upcycled from their original commission for what was then the Platt Hall Gallery of Costume and is now another work-in-progress. The ambitious scope of the story they aim to tell between them is that of a particular strand of men’s fashion over the past two-and-a-half centuries. For many, it’s attitude and not dress code that marks out the modern dandy. Creative Director of British fashion label Beau Homme, George Bunker, pinpoints him as “a man who rejects the accepted conventional male archetypes and instead ventures out to create a more nuanced persona. He is a fearless individual.” 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. . . .

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The exhibition presents historical fashion alongside contemporary work. These displays aim to draw similarities between styles across history and highlight how often fashion trends repeat. Nicolay, Claire. Origins and Reception of Regency Dandyism: Brummell to Baudelaire. PhD diss., Loyola U of Chicago, 1998.

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. 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] 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.However, while some pieces were accompanied by quotes from designers and models, at times the display felt impersonal. The development of art and fashion in this context would have benefitted from the inclusion of more emotive, personal testimony.