Thanks to an excellent Christmas gift by a dear friend, I have discovered the world of the Dandy. I am Dandy by Rose Callahan and Nathaniel Adams.
By definition, a dandy is a man who dresses above his class. This can be both a personal or political statement. Some say Dandyism is the ultimate expression of socialism as it is about people refusing to be defined by class. Others suggest is is far more subversive than that and that by dressing as if one is of the class above that which one is actually in this undermines the entire class system. Some men report that they are dressing in a far more expressive manner than other men chose, some are simply dressing for the life they want rather than the life they have, still others suggest they are using the traditions and tools of a previous era.
What must be pointed out is that a dandy is not defined by his sexuality, if fact, in no definition is any link made between dandy's and homosexuality (although this is a common misconception).
There are many distinguished gentleman in this collection, some have adopted very traditional paths while other seek out new paths as trail blazers of the form. Some work in fashion, others in the arts and some in conservative domains but, all have a unique sense of style. I wonder what a female dandy would look like? Perhaps most women are already dandy's at heart, we can't always afford those Jimmy Choo's but we can always justify the use of a credit card...
Domenico Spano
No comments:
Post a Comment