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. . . .

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. Kelly, Ian (2006). Beau Brummell: The Ultimate Man of Style. New York: Free Press. ISBN 9780743270892. The dandies professed to be unequivocally masculine, although many people found this difficult to believe, not least Jane Austen in Emma: ‘Emma’s very good opinion of Frank Churchill was a little shaken the following day, by hearing that he was gone off to London, merely to have his hair cut.’ This was a round trip of 32 miles, which took all day by horse and carriage. Dandy Style, an important new exhibition at the Manchester Art Gallery that explores 250 years of menswear from the eighteenth century to the present day, includes several significant loans from the Westminster Menswear Archive (WMA). The Fashion Gallery’s inaugural show is Dandy Style: 250 years of British Men’s Fashion. Highlighting a wide range of examples from the collection, augmented with loans and fine art as equal participants, the show ranges over two major galleries, entitled the Tailored Dandy and the Decorated Dandy. It explores elegance, uniformity and spectacle from the 18 th century to the present day.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.

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 The exhibition opened on 7 October and showcases a selection of costumes, fine art, and unseen pieces from the gallery’s own collection. There are also various loans from other museums and individuals on display. Details, details, details. That’s what Dandy style is all about. Your accessories will not only vamp up your foundation (the suit), but will make a statement about you and your personality. Again, less is more here. A Dandy never over-accessorizes – he always has it just right. Miles Lambert, co-editor of Dandy Style and costume curator at Manchester Art Gallery, explained: “It’s about looking at what people have worn and why they’ve worn it. 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 GalleryCamus, Albert (2012). "II Metaphysical Rebellion". The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p.51. ISBN 9780307827838 . Retrieved 11 October 2014. This dynamic exhibition and flexible engagement space supports our ambition to reimagine the costume and dress collection. Bringing this important resource into the heart of the city means that we can show it in the context of the wider collection and as an integral part of the story of art and culture. George was never unpowdered or unperfumed, immaculately bathed and shaved, and dressed in a plain dark blue coat, he was always perfectly brushed, perfectly fitted, showing much perfectly starched linen, all freshly washed, and composed with an elaborately knotted cravat. From the mid-1790s, Beau Brummell was the early embodiment of “the celebrity”, a man chiefly famous for being famous. Bear in mind that the dandy man does not overdress. His flair for the fashionable doesn’t lead him to over-accessorize, nor does he feel the need to pursue fashion trends simply to stay “in style”. Some dandy gentlemen opt for a style that may appear flamboyant to the untrained eye, but it is really the careful cultivation of textures, colors and other details. Don’t be afraid of the careful mixing of textures, colors and patterns; the overall effect can be quite artful when done carefully.

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. 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] 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 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. 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 dandy creates his own unity by aesthetic means. But it is an aesthetic of negation. To live and die before a mirror: that, according to Baudelaire, was the dandy's slogan. It is indeed a coherent slogan. The dandy is, by occupation, always in opposition [to society]. He can only exist by defiance . . . The dandy, therefore, is always compelled to astonish. Singularity is his vocation, excess his way to perfection. Perpetually incomplete, always on the fringe of things, he compels others to create him, while denying their values. He plays at life because he is unable to live [life]. [23] 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.