Fashioning the Dandy - (Anthem Studies in Fashion, Dress and Visual Cultures) by Olga Vainshtein (Paperback)

About the Book

The book offers a unique view on dandyism as a cultural tradition, based not merely on fashionable attire, but also as a particular lifestyle with specific standards of behaviour, bodily practices and conceptual approaches to dress.

Book Synopsis

Today as in times past, the figure of the dandy evokes the image of a fashionable male who achieves social influence by distinctive elegance in dress and sophisticated self-presentation. The book explores the history of Dandy as a cultural type across Europe and Russia from the eighteenth century through the present day, analysing different manifestations of dandyism from sparse minimalism to opulent richness. Olga Vainshtein offers a unique view on dandyism as a cultural tradition, based not merely on fashionable attire, but also as a particular lifestyle with specific standards of behaviour, bodily practices and conceptual approaches to dress. The dandy is described as the prototypical hero of the modern cult of celebrities. From clubbing manners, the techniques of virtual aristocratism, urban flâneurs and the correct way to examine people, Vainshtein walks us through the optical duels and the techniques of visual assessment at social gatherings. Readers will learn about strategies of subversive behaviour found in practical jokes, the fine art of noble scandal, dry wit, bare-faced impudence and mocking politeness. Vainshtein outlines the principles of dandyism through an examination of strategies of self-fashioning among famous dandies such as George Brummell, Count D'Orsay, Oscar Wilde and Robert de Montesquiou. Looking at dandyism as a nineteenth-century literary movement, Vainshtein examines representation of dandies in fiction. Along the way, the author offers the English-language reader something entirely new: a history of Russian and Soviet dandyism. Finally, a large section is devoted to the dandies of today, including the discussion of African sapeurs.

Review Quotes

"Fashioning the Dandy: Style and Manners is a brilliant and fascinating book by one of the world's foremost authorities on dandyism."--Valerie Steele, Director and Chief Curator, The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, USA.

"Vainshtein's brilliant and insightful book reveals the essentially performative nature of dandyism. It's all in the subtitle: style and manners. The dandy's gestures, stance and movement, his fashionable inscrutability, his disdain, laconic wit and social provocation come vividly to life in this wide-ranging, erudite and compelling study." --Caroline Evans, Professor emerita, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, UK.

"Starch your tie, don a dinner jacket and settle into this wonderfully erudite tour through dandyism past and present. Vainshtein marshals exceptional insight from across nineteenth-century European thought, from London to Petersburg and all points in between, as well as a modern global sensibility to this superbly written study." --Bruce Grant, Professor and Chair of Anthropology, New York University, USA.

"Acknowledging and analysing the existing canon of works on dandyism, Vainshtein deftly and intriguingly builds a new discussion and approach that provides a comprehensive interpretation of historic and contemporary Dandies, exploring the dandy's body, dress, toilet, manners and attitudes, critically presenting material previously not available in English." --Shaun Cole, Associate Professor in Fashion, Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton, UK.

About the Author

Olga Vainshtein is a fashion historian. She works at the Russian State University for the Humanities in Moscow.