"Dandyism blends literary and artistic creation with the art of personality, the careful cultivation of image and behavior.... Many tend to associate dandyism with white, European aesthetes of earlier centuries — men like Beau Brummell, Lord Byron, Aubrey Beardsley and Oscar Wilde — who often produced art or literature, but also produced themselves: making social waves not by dint of noble birth, but through their carefully constructed personas, ironic wit and impeccable dress. Although less recognized, Black dandyism also dates to the 18th century.... At his Chelsea apartment and studio, Mr. Udé greeted me in one of his signature looks: pale khaki Bermuda shorts; vintage white oxfords; a fitted beige cotton blazer, discreetly striped in black and red; a crisp white shirt; and a silk neckerchief in chartreuse, black and red. As ever, Mr. Udé’s hair rose in two hemispheres of springy curls, parted in the middle, giving the effect of a bifurcated crown...."
The Kinks tag acknowledges the authorship of the song, and I would have chosen a Kinks video if I'd found one with a filmed performance. I love Herman's Hermits too, and they've got the filmed performance, and I believe their version was the hit in the United States. So that's that.
NBA and NFL players amaze me with their sartorial choices. Even the guy who paid his own way to Green Bay and then surprise got drafted was wearing quite the dandy summer outfit.
One of the best faux insults and enduring rhyming pairs in American history. We were still singing this in elementary school almost 200 years later. With tasty etymological chops as well:
What on earth does it mean today to "reject a label" when their labels are stuffed down our throats like a grim Montrealer stuffing feed down a goose's throat? More Project Runway than fin de siecle.
Once upon a time, I went to Maine. Got a ticket on a DC plane. Mr. Dandy didn't need no chute! I was high and ready to boot! Jim Dandy to the rescue! Go, Jim Dandy! Go, Jim Dandy!
I mean, what isn't an area of serious historical study?
I thought the thing about Beau Brummel was that his sartorial philosophy was impeccable simplicity, in a time of baroque* excess. But I personally am not making him a subject of serious historical study.
Don’t forget the elegant Sir Percy Blakeney. He made social waves through the subversive act of rescuing victims of everybody’s favorite revolution, the French one.
Who ranks America's dandies and how? Are there pageants or something? Did this guy beat out some other dandies to take the crown? Is there a variation on the Rocky Balboa story?
This is just another of the endless attacks on men in shorts, and I for one will not abide its rough and heartless intentions. I. Am. Not. A. Dandy. I am man. Hear me roar!
In my new Bob Dylan movie "Bootleg" there is detail paid to the man's iconic polka-dot shirt. However, I do not find that wearing a polka-dot shirt made the man a dandy.
Even Cate Blanchett wearing a polka dot shirt as Bob Dylan doesn't make him a dandy.
But that dude she played in "Elizabeth": he was definitely a dandy.
"Handy dandy, if every bone in his body was broken he would never admit it..."
You’ll never witness me criticizing a man in true Bermuda shorts. I vacationed in Bermuda many, many years ago and couldn’t believe how attractive they could be. Men there were wearing them with shirts, ties and sports jackets when they went out to dinner. Or nice shirts during the day…maybe polo shirts, button downs, never a t-shirt or anything untucked. I’m sure it’s changed. The world is just sloppier now. But Bermuda shorts have a wonderful tradition behind them.
I have been kind of thinking about this. I drive an EV sometimes and took it on a road trip, where you sit at public chargers for 40 minutes or so and see other people also hanging around for extended periods, and the next charger over an electric BMW 740, which is a nice ride, backed in and the driver got out and he was a young black man, very skinny guy, very handsome, dressed in a cool, must have been custom, suit, nothing you would see on a rack anywhere, fit him perfectly, great glasses, and long hair that looked wild, maybe, but more like he put every strand in place to get that look. Anyway, no, I am not gay, well, not that gay, just a hobbyist writer. The music coming out of that car sounded like a party in itself. Anyway, you realize that there are all kinds of people in the world at an EV charging station.
People might say I'm revolting, but my intention is just gentle pushback on the outrageously long shorts that came into fashion. They have a place. If I'm surfing, yes, a great big pair of Hawaiian print shorts is perfect. But off the water IRL I have now reverted to shorter shorts made by Vans, reminiscent of something from the Bruce Jenner as Decathlete era. Solves the problem of the hem bothering me below the knees. It's way up on my thigh now!
I didn’t realize that the song ‘Dandy’ was originally a Kinks song. When I now think of the song with the understanding of the Kinks background, the musical phrases seem to be a mix of typical Kinks and non-typical Kinks mixed together. On the other hand, I now realize why I’ve always thought of the lyrics of the song being a bit ‘different’ for Herman’s Hermits.
I think of dandy more as an adjective. George Carlin had some thoughts on the word, more specifically the phrase "fine and dandy". H commented that he was never fine AND dandy. Sometimes he would be fine, but not dandy. Other times, dandy, but not fine.
https://youtu.be/bvQnSin1rcM?feature=shared
So these fellows that present themselves as dandies, are they also "fine people"?
There was a vaudeville performer who went by the name of Jack Dandy. He was partners with Larry Fine - together, they were "Fine and Dandy". Larry Fine, of course, went on to much greater success as a member of the Three Stooges.
Much time spent in seminars relating the dandy and the flâneur, so I guess that's today's theme. Dandies and flâneurs and froggie voyeurs, oh my!
I'm reminded of the Harvard fop rock band, the Upper Crust. One of the early lead singers, Ted Widmer, went on to write for Bill Clinton and become a historian of sorts. One might wonder if the band was an intended allegory for just how foppish our Deep State ruling class has become.
I am also reminded of Eugene Daniels, head of the White House Correspondents' Association, though, like suitcase grabber Sam Brinton, Daniels pushes the lines between dandy and crossdresser and transexual a little too far.
"Many tend to associate dandyism with white, European aesthetes of earlier centuries"
White people, am I right? Maybe they really are the problem. As if one can't both know about Beau Brummell and Oscar Wilde and notice just how many extremely well dressed some Blacks and Asians can be.
There are always a few, no matter the race age ethnicity and religion, who like to be well dressed, who in fact take great pleasure just in the pursuit of being well dressed. Did I mention they are few?
I checked with ChatGpt. Beau Brummel, although he didn't initiate the wearing of underwear, he was the first to stress the need for daily bathing and the daily changing of underwear. Not all dandies were decadent......But some dandies are. This man's cheapest outfit could keep a family of four in Nigeria alive for a year. But it's not what you wear, but who's wearing it. I guess his elaborate outfits are not a celebration of capitalist decadence but rather serve to subvert it. The Met Gala is not a function of Veblen, but rather of Marx. All that finery and opulence serve to break down the conventions of oppression. Most poor people look upon the Met Gala as their way of getting back at the rich. It's similar to the principle where established journalists get to celebrate their truth telling abilities at the White Correspondents Dinner.
Please use the comments forum to respond to the post. Don't fight with each other. Be substantive... or interesting... or funny. Comments should go up immediately... unless you're commenting on a post older than 2 days. Then you have to wait for us to moderate you through. It's also possible to get shunted into spam by the machine. We try to keep an eye on that and release the miscaught good stuff. We do delete some comments, but not for viewpoint... for bad faith.
I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Encourage Althouse by making a donation:
Make a 1-time donation or set up a monthly donation of any amount you choose:
Posts
48 comments:
The Kinks tag acknowledges the authorship of the song, and I would have chosen a Kinks video if I'd found one with a filmed performance. I love Herman's Hermits too, and they've got the filmed performance, and I believe their version was the hit in the United States. So that's that.
You could really be a Beau Brummell baby if you’d just give it half a chance…
Call it macaroni.
While dandy and dapper have overlap, they are not synonymous.
NBA and NFL players amaze me with their sartorial choices. Even the guy who paid his own way to Green Bay and then surprise got drafted was wearing quite the dandy summer outfit.
Call it macaroni.
One of the best faux insults and enduring rhyming pairs in American history. We were still singing this in elementary school almost 200 years later. With tasty etymological chops as well:
Macron
Macaroon
Macaroni
Does the OED distinguish between a dandy, a fop, and a popinjay?
What on earth does it mean today to "reject a label" when their labels are stuffed down our throats like a grim Montrealer stuffing feed down a goose's throat? More Project Runway than fin de siecle.
Ooh I forgot the Brummels had that second hit. Mid 60s was such a creative time. It doesn't become self conscious for another couple years.
Once upon a time, I went to Maine.
Got a ticket on a DC plane.
Mr. Dandy didn't need no chute!
I was high and ready to boot!
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Go, Jim Dandy! Go, Jim Dandy!
Fop till you drop.
"Iké Udé will tell you that he is not a dandy, and that he wonders why Americans are so keen to categorize people."
I'm with Udé on this one. If we are going to categorize people, dandyism seems ideally suited to social media.
Rocco said... 4/29/25, 6:03 AM
"While dandy and dapper have overlap, they are not synonymous."
I haven't put much thought into this, but a dandy seems like someone who is flamboyantly dapper.
Those diacritics are dandy as well.
Was Tom Wolfe a dandy? or just dapper?
He would never be caught dead in Bermuda shorts.
I mean, what isn't an area of serious historical study?
I thought the thing about Beau Brummel was that his sartorial philosophy was impeccable simplicity, in a time of baroque* excess. But I personally am not making him a subject of serious historical study.
*Not literally the Baroque period.
Garelick is echoing a truism of Diana Vreeland’s — longtime editor at Vogue— that “elegance is refusal”. As ever.
Laugh laugh, I thought I'd die
It seemed so funny to me
Don’t forget the elegant Sir Percy Blakeney. He made social waves through the subversive act of rescuing victims of everybody’s favorite revolution, the French one.
Who ranks America's dandies and how? Are there pageants or something? Did this guy beat out some other dandies to take the crown? Is there a variation on the Rocky Balboa story?
Perhaps we should arrange an introduction with Mr. Hasan Piker, so they can share masculinity tips on nail color.
I prefer "fop."
This is just another of the endless attacks on men in shorts, and I for one will not abide its rough and heartless intentions.
I. Am. Not. A. Dandy. I am man. Hear me roar!
"Did you know dandyism was a current issue (and a matter of serious historical study)?"
To quote the great Governor Lepetomane:
"We have to keep our phoney baloney jobs."
In my new Bob Dylan movie "Bootleg" there is detail paid to the man's iconic polka-dot shirt. However, I do not find that wearing a polka-dot shirt made the man a dandy.
Even Cate Blanchett wearing a polka dot shirt as Bob Dylan doesn't make him a dandy.
But that dude she played in "Elizabeth": he was definitely a dandy.
"Handy dandy, if every bone in his body was broken he would never admit it..."
I am Laslo.
You’ll never witness me criticizing a man in true Bermuda shorts. I vacationed in Bermuda many, many years ago and couldn’t believe how attractive they could be. Men there were wearing them with shirts, ties and sports jackets when they went out to dinner. Or nice shirts during the day…maybe polo shirts, button downs, never a t-shirt or anything untucked. I’m sure it’s changed. The world is just sloppier now. But Bermuda shorts have a wonderful tradition behind them.
T Rex - Dandy in the Underworld:
https://youtu.be/dx25bxer5lQ?si=pKePJkgrFGjsf99I
Also, check out The Chap magazine, organ of the Anarcho-Dandyist movement. Next month they are going to have their Grand Flaneur Walk in London:
https://thechap.co.uk/
JSM
I have been kind of thinking about this. I drive an EV sometimes and took it on a road trip, where you sit at public chargers for 40 minutes or so and see other people also hanging around for extended periods, and the next charger over an electric BMW 740, which is a nice ride, backed in and the driver got out and he was a young black man, very skinny guy, very handsome, dressed in a cool, must have been custom, suit, nothing you would see on a rack anywhere, fit him perfectly, great glasses, and long hair that looked wild, maybe, but more like he put every strand in place to get that look. Anyway, no, I am not gay, well, not that gay, just a hobbyist writer. The music coming out of that car sounded like a party in itself. Anyway, you realize that there are all kinds of people in the world at an EV charging station.
People might say I'm revolting, but my intention is just gentle pushback on the outrageously long shorts that came into fashion. They have a place. If I'm surfing, yes, a great big pair of Hawaiian print shorts is perfect. But off the water IRL I have now reverted to shorter shorts made by Vans, reminiscent of something from the Bruce Jenner as Decathlete era. Solves the problem of the hem bothering me below the knees. It's way up on my thigh now!
I didn’t realize that the song ‘Dandy’ was originally a Kinks song. When I now think of the song with the understanding of the Kinks background, the musical phrases seem to be a mix of typical Kinks and non-typical Kinks mixed together. On the other hand, I now realize why I’ve always thought of the lyrics of the song being a bit ‘different’ for Herman’s Hermits.
Dig the dancing in the background of the video.
The Dandy tune sounds stolen from The Kinks' A Well Respected Man song.
Jaq having a Ronny Jordan moment there…
And between AIDs and Herpes and Syphilis and Gonorrhea and God knows what else... Dandy is a diseased man.. And so are his women..
I think of dandy more as an adjective. George Carlin had some thoughts on the word, more specifically the phrase "fine and dandy". H commented that he was never fine AND dandy. Sometimes he would be fine, but not dandy. Other times, dandy, but not fine.
https://youtu.be/bvQnSin1rcM?feature=shared
So these fellows that present themselves as dandies, are they also "fine people"?
John Henry
An Apropos Kinks song.
Content and comments one never finds at Volokh's place.
Fran Lebowitz, the American dandy, repulsed by men dressed in shorts.
There was a vaudeville performer who went by the name of Jack Dandy. He was partners with Larry Fine - together, they were "Fine and Dandy". Larry Fine, of course, went on to much greater success as a member of the Three Stooges.
Much time spent in seminars relating the dandy and the flâneur, so I guess that's today's theme. Dandies and flâneurs and froggie voyeurs, oh my!
I'm reminded of the Harvard fop rock band, the Upper Crust. One of the early lead singers, Ted Widmer, went on to write for Bill Clinton and become a historian of sorts. One might wonder if the band was an intended allegory for just how foppish our Deep State ruling class has become.
I am also reminded of Eugene Daniels, head of the White House Correspondents' Association, though, like suitcase grabber Sam Brinton, Daniels pushes the lines between dandy and crossdresser and transexual a little too far.
"Many tend to associate dandyism with white, European aesthetes of earlier centuries"
White people, am I right? Maybe they really are the problem. As if one can't both know about Beau Brummell and Oscar Wilde and notice just how many extremely well dressed some Blacks and Asians can be.
There are always a few, no matter the race age ethnicity and religion, who like to be well dressed, who in fact take great pleasure just in the pursuit of being well dressed. Did I mention they are few?
I checked with ChatGpt. Beau Brummel, although he didn't initiate the wearing of underwear, he was the first to stress the need for daily bathing and the daily changing of underwear. Not all dandies were decadent......But some dandies are. This man's cheapest outfit could keep a family of four in Nigeria alive for a year. But it's not what you wear, but who's wearing it. I guess his elaborate outfits are not a celebration of capitalist decadence but rather serve to subvert it. The Met Gala is not a function of Veblen, but rather of Marx. All that finery and opulence serve to break down the conventions of oppression. Most poor people look upon the Met Gala as their way of getting back at the rich. It's similar to the principle where established journalists get to celebrate their truth telling abilities at the White Correspondents Dinner.
I like flaneur better. I just wish I could figure out how to use those circumflexes.
A long time ago
The Dandy Warhols and I used to be friends,
But I haven't thought of them lately.
I’d like to see a Luigi Mangione cover of the Beau Brummell song, all the girls would cry.
The Kinks "A Dedicated Follower of Fashion" is funnier and better musically.
Post a Comment
Please use the comments forum to respond to the post. Don't fight with each other. Be substantive... or interesting... or funny. Comments should go up immediately... unless you're commenting on a post older than 2 days. Then you have to wait for us to moderate you through. It's also possible to get shunted into spam by the machine. We try to keep an eye on that and release the miscaught good stuff. We do delete some comments, but not for viewpoint... for bad faith.