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Do you consider yourself to be a dandy?

musicguy

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MyOtherLife

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At heart perhaps, but being a small-timer it wouldn't be feasable for me to practice Dandyism.
If I were to enter into that level of clothing on a regular basis, I would have nowhere to go in them, thusly reducing myself to the status of office joke or street clown.
The clothes have purpose and are appropriated to specific occasions and events.
A practicing Dandy, true to the faith, would have access to those magnificent backdrops that
country clubs, gentlemans clubs, yacht clubs, etc. provide.
Places and people I will not likely visit or meet, though I would very much like to.
This is a game primarily for the high-ballers. For me it is a spectator sport.
Once in awhile it is fun to doll up and provide interest and entertainment to an onlookers' day.
That is as far as I go with it.
 

derekzee

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most people can probably do the immaculate dandy!
laugh.gif


http://www.mensflair.com/style-advic...dy-is-back.php
 

Blackhood

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Alas, at 21 years all my dandyish affections such as pocket squares and cravats are written off as the folly of a camp youth.

I suppose once I make my way in the world and gain some notoriety, I'm sure my wit and affection will become the stuff of emulation and discourse.
 

Horatio

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Basically not. But where I work I might considered to be one. Wearing a sports coat, a tie and a pocket square is quite dandyistic in-between jeans and ill fitting t-shirts. I don't care, this is Europe
cool.gif


Cheers
 

Reggs

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I plan to be one when I retire.
 

epa

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Yes. Kind of. In my context.
 

Frodo

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Originally Posted by musicguy
Here are some slightly conflicting articles from Dandyism.net:
http://www.dandyism.net/?page_id=26
http://www.dandyism.net/?page_id=428

I think the modern dandy is a different thing altogether than from this: http://www.dandyism.net/?p=1101 One might as well be a historical reenactor if you wear clothing like that, imo.

I have a hard time seeing dandyism as an uncontrived personal style, especially if you follow dandyism.net's definition. Or is dandyism supposed to be contrived?


I don't think it's supposed to be "contrived" (as in inauthentic) but it's definitely supposed to be both your vocation and your avocation, and something you work at with dilligence.

The art/music/film world is full of dandies, and I would also offer that someone who spends $400 for a pair of jeans and doesn't wash them for 6 months to get the fade "just right" is every bit as much a dandy as someone who fusses over bespoke shirts.

Dandyism is all around us, it's just not wearing velvet and growing orchids like it used to. I think the term "aesthete" is more descriptive.
 

epa

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Originally Posted by Frodo
I don't think it's supposed to be "contrived" (as in inauthentic) but it's definitely supposed to be both your vocation and your avocation, and something you work at with dilligence.

The art/music/film world is full of dandies, and I would also offer that someone who spends $400 for a pair of jeans and doesn't wash them for 6 months to get the fade "just right" is every bit as much a dandy as someone who fusses over bespoke shirts.

Dandyism is all around us, it's just not wearing velvet and growing orchids like it used to. I think the term "aesthete" is more descriptive.


I agree with most of it. But I think that "aesthete" and "dandy" are two very different things, and that whereas a "dandy" is likely to be an "aesthete", you can well be an "aesthete" without being a "dandy". It is basically a question of "attitude", IMO.
 

Frodo

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Originally Posted by epa
I agree with most of it. But I think that "aesthete" and "dandy" are two very different things, and that whereas a "dandy" is likely to be an "aesthete", you can well be an "aesthete" without being a "dandy". It is basically a question of "attitude", IMO.

Perhaps. Chasing a definition is going to be difficult. Is the dandy then by definition outgoing and flamboyant? Seems like lots of archetypal dandies were pretty withdrawn...I'm thinking Proust, Baudelaire, etc.
 

Threadbearer

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Originally Posted by derekzee
most people can probably do the immaculate dandy!
laugh.gif

I think The Immaculate Dandy could just be the next big dance craze.

Originally Posted by Horatio
...where I work I might considered to be one. Wearing a sports coat, a tie and a pocket square is quite dandyistic in-between jeans and ill fitting t-shirts.
+1
I voted "Other" because I think dandyism is mostly a function of context. Compared to many SF members, for instance, I'm not even stylish, much less a dandy. In real life, however, I put on a sport coat nearly every time I leave the house, even to go grocery shopping. (And I never wear a sport coat without a pocket square, by the way.) As a result, I stand out most conspicuously among the Great Unwashed -- and unkempt and unshaven. I also wear suits to work whereas most of my male colleagues wear sneakers, ill-fitting Dockers, and polo shirts (polo with a small p). So in daily life I'm pretty much a dandy, no? But that seems too low a standard.
 

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