Things That Please Me: Dandies

Okay, I'll admit it. There's something about a man in a top hat and silk ascot. Something about a man who is a fabulous dancer and a master of witty repartee. Something about that appreciation for all things refined and elegant in life. And especially something about meticulously sculpted moustaches. There's definitely something about a dandy that really makes my heart race.

Which is rather good because my husband, my brother, and most of my dearest male friends are all dandies. I'm the luckiest girl in the world.


I'm fascinated by the resurgence of the dandy as a cultural icon. I suppose this love of dapper men was inevitable given my penchant for neo-victorian and steampunk culture, but I can be entertained for hours watching them debating the relative merits of kid leather vs. cotton gloves on the Dandyism! Tribe, or reading the florid prose of Lord Whimsy, whose website includes downloadable pdfs for tie knots, pocket square folds and moustache care.

Precisely what defines the modern dandy is hard to pin down: a website called Dandyism.net lists qualities of a dandy as, among other things, "a skeptical, world-weary, sophisticated, bored or blasé demeanor," "discriminating taste," and "a self-mocking and ultimately endearing egotism."

According to the ineffable Lord Whimsy, "Dandyism is an elegance of mind that finds its expression in one’s physical presence: clothing, manners, speech, attitude, etc... The dandy of today is as much about his lifestyle as his wardrobe; the dandy is now an artist-philosopher who uses himself as a canvas and stage."


Or, as archetypal dandy Oscar Wilde said, "One should either be a work of Art, or wear a work of Art."

However you care to define it, my heart belongs dandies.