Trends are often creatures of cycle. . .
With an occasional twist of irony along the way.
In the 1800s, the Regency Dandy was in the ascendant. Led by Beau Brummell - a relentless snob whose capricious eyebrow could banish the best dressed from Haut Ton events.
Simply for lacking 'the look'.
When his regiment was relocated to Manchester, Brummell resigned:
"Now you must be aware how disagreeable this would be to me. I could really not go: think, Your Royal Highness, Manchester!"
(or so the story goes: Brummell's anyway. His military career was shabby and his motives a matter of speculation)*
In recent decades, the revitalised city has hosted the Commonwealth Games and a thriving international arts festival.
Now Manchester captures Dandy Style.
Where "concepts such as elegance, uniformity and spectacle will be explored from the 18th Century to the present day."
The exhibition draws upon Manchester Art Gallery's own collection of men's clothing for the most part. **
Enticing stuff ✨
Yet dandyism can never be exuded by clothes: however striking, stylish or exquisite the ensemble.
So how does the exhibition transcend an experience of simply wandering into a huge walk-in wardrobe?
Fashion and Fine Art
75 outfits and a similar number of portraits and photographs are integrated: to infuse attire with personality 💫
Or at least confer a sense of character on curated costumes.
There are two major aspects of dandy expression which define the exhibition:
The Tailored Dandy
Tracing the neat lines of Neoclassical Regency style via Victorian 'men in black' - to their legacy in Mod fashion and contemporary designer collections.
The suit remains a source of structure for many a Dandy Style.
The Decorated Dandy
Explores the seductive element of military jackets and their subversive legacy among top performance artists.
An ideal destiny for Dandy Style. . .
Dandy Style: into the realm of Scholars
A collection of academic essays provides further impetus for the exhibition.
And here's where costume threads start to snag and unravel: as experts conflate their subject with Celebrity Culture, Fashion, Ethnic Identity, Sexual Politics and so on...
Such spheres certainly overlap with Dandyism.
But with nothing new to add to principles distilled by Baudelaire and d'Aurevilly , the story takes spectacular detours.
Towards a tribe of 80s Skinheads.
And even a heap of 'Madchester' lads making as little sartorial effort as possible in the early 90s.
"Having style is like issuing a manifesto. Being fashionable is like signing a petition."
So declared Quentin Crisp. Absent from the Index along with Peter Wyngarde whose cult character 'Jason King' served as an avatar for the actor's own acute dandyism in the late 60s/early 70s.
"A man's clothes reflect his mind and they look so drab". (11:28)
A sentiment echoed by Soho dandy Sebastian Horsley.
Who observed "an aristocracy of mind" beyond the brush strokes of tailoring and flamboyance that merely prime the dandy's art.
Showaddywaddy brought colourful content to the music scene of the mid-1970s.
Yet their rainbow ranks simply served their style of showmanship. And as with subsequent style icon Steve Strange , the music media struggled to extract an epigram from such stars.
Whether tailored, decorated or avante garde.
Still, so much for Dandyology. . . for beyond vain conjecture, the Dandy Style project channels dandy spirit with palpable élan 😎
So saunter away from today's high street trends before the end of April. . . towards a dressing-up box of ever-evolving aplomb!
** Female dandyism is consciously kept out of focus but for Victorian entertainer Vesta Tilley.
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