#dandy history

[dandelions-fly-in-summer-skies]

SHE STAYS UP (hes sleeping like a lamb)

SHE BEGS HIM (he says he doesnt understand)

SHE LOVES HIM (more than anyone ever has. in the history the history of man)

HESTOLEOURYOUTHANDPROMISEDHEAVENTHEMENSTARTWARSYETTROYHATESHELENWOMENSHEARTSARELETHALWEAPONSDIDYOUHOLDMINEANDFELLTHREATENEDHEARMYLYICSTASTEMYVENOMYOUARESTILLMYGREATOBSESSION????????

[rosepompadour]

How wonderful they were, those evenings when she would enter the dreamlike glow of her private apartments, divinely intoxicated on hot chocolate and champagne. She had always preferred warm, cosy spaces, far from the cold air of Versailles that froze her to the bone. In the Hall of Mirrors, the candles of the grand chandeliers had all been extinguished and the moon enveloped the palace in its soft milky light. It was then she would jump into her alcove bed to either fall straight to sleep or lay awake in a dream. Time flies so quickly when life is joyous and carefree. - Serge Gleizes on Madame de Pompadour, Laduree: Decoration and Inspiration

[clove-pinks]

Gavarni men from Journal des Gens du Monde, c. 1830s.

[little-desi-historian]

Re: Dandyism

The inherent problem with the “foncy poncy oppressive English narrative” that is definitely historical revisionism.

1) anyone who was anyone in the 18th century (Hamilton, Tallmadge, Major André, Washington’s other aides to camp and the British generals) would’ve both presented as a “dandy” it was a symbol of status and being cultured and/or well read.

2) imperialism cuts both ways and both sides brutalized and lied to black and indigenous folks. Don’t get me, a brown person, started on the British Raj. (Reading 1) (reading 2)

Prompted by this post also I highly recommend The Vampire Lestat, Tallmadge’s memoir, the scarlet pimpernel, and dangerous liaisons.

[gwynndomhnall]

Hello people, I have no idea how this app works so please bear with me… as a quick introduction I draw, mostly historical figures but fictional characters as well, here is a drawing of Arthur Wellesley

[daguerreotyping]

Daguerreotype of a beautifully dressed gentleman, c. 1855

[empirearchives]

A French Blue Silk Habit de Ville Complete Frock Coat - Napoleonic Period, 1805

Provenance from the Mallet-Oberkampf family, Protestant ruling elites and close to Emperor Napoleon I, who awarded the Legion of Honour to Oberkampf in 1806. This ensemble by its quality materializes the technological advances of the industry at the service of the Fashion of the Empire, advocated by the famous fashion merchant of the empress, Louis Hippolyte Leroy.

(Source)

[wallacepolsom]

Wallace Polsom, Sovereign of Transitory Things (2023), paper collage 22.3 x 32.6 cm.

[cthulhusstepmom]

There’s something about being elbow deep in a car. About being immersed in the guts of a mechanical beast and finding those things that make it purr; conducting a symphony of metal and burnt rubber, composing hymns in the wiring to be played by the eager hands of a worthy driver. Adding notes and subtracting rests, running it back and doing it all again. Over and over, chasing perfection like a sinner chases redemption. And in this chapel of concrete and oil stains, redemption comes in the form of a hefty cash prize.

Or:

The Street Racing Stardust AU absolutely no one asked for

[dandelions-fly-in-summer-skies]

I

save

you

a

seat

and

then

you

say

you

wanna

STAND

[magnetothemagnificent]

After my parents lost my first delivery of hooks-and-eyes (because I accidentally clicked on my parents' address and not mine when I ordered it), I ordered them again, and they arrived yesterday. I was able to sew them into where I need them, and now my Magneto-inspired Regency Dandy outfit is complete as far as I can get it to be. I still need a hat, but I haven't been able to find the right kind second-hand, and I don't have the money to buy a brand new one. I'd also like a fancy cane sometime in the future ideally, although technically I could probably decorate my actual ambulatory cane to look more "historical" if I really wanted to. I sewed the cape I'm wearing last year for my Purim costume. The shoes I'm wearing are shoes I found at a second-hand shop last week. They were a little pricey, but they're really nice, and I've been needing a pair of dress shoes for interviews and shit anyway. The breeches, waistcoat, and coat were all sewed by me by (sometimes drastically) re-tailoring clothes I thrifted. The cravat is a nice cravat I also found last week while thrifting, and the two brooches too.

Anyway, enough rambling, here's what it looks like altogether. I know my hair looks scruffy, I need a haircut desperately, I just haven't had the time yet.

So here I am without the coat or cape:

And here I am with the coat:

Aand here I am with the cape:

(the little white strings you see hanging out aren't loose threads, their my tzizit, btw)

This will probably be an ongoing project as I hunt for the accessories I want to complete it, but until then, I'm really happy with how it's all come together :)

[id in alt text]

[clove-pinks]

Once again I am asking you to read fashion historian Cassidy Percoco's Twitter thread about changes in men's fashion in the 18th and 19th centuries.

It's a quick read and informative! In brief:

Men's fashion became more subdued over the course of the 18th century

Beau Brummell had nothing to do with the move away from earlier styles

I quote: "Brummell made his name by wearing the hell out of what already was considered fashionable - working within the parameters of normal dress"

Colourful men's fashion was a thing for most of the 19th century!!!! It didn't go away in the Regency period!!!!

Stop with the long-debunked "Beau Brummell ruined men's fashion" canard, I'm begging you.

I looked up this "Great Male Renunciation" concept, since I have never heard of such a thing even in books dedicated to the history of men's fashion, and surprise! It was coined by a psychologist in 1930!

One of the sources cited by Wikipedia is Nicholas Storey's book History of Men's Fashion: What the Well-dressed Man is Wearing, which I own, and it's so dull and lazy and awful that I still haven't moved it to my new apartment. The author is literally a British barrister with no academic background in dress history, who openly admits to not owning more than two fashion history books in a 2013 interview, and that checks out with what I remember about his book: his opinionated blather on what he thinks is a good man's suit, as a rich lawyer guy.

I'm not saying that you couldn't find more respectable sources to support the "Great Male Renunciation" idea, but I don't think it's very supported by the historical record. You can say a lot about changing fashions and ideas about masculinity without setting up an over-hyped and dramatic break from past styles.

[dandifiedstupefied]

all dandy aesthetes are immediately sortable into either 'messy bitch who lives for drama' or 'messy bitch responsible for the drama'

[daguerreotyping]

Daguerreotype of a strikingly handsome older gentleman, possibly photographed by Matthew Brady, c. 1840s

[meerawrites]

This week on Meera’s Quaintrelle adventures: the memoir of the Comte (Count) de Gramont and aesthetically pleasing glassware from an antiques store.

Castle antiques.

Dandyism and Quaintrelleism.

The Comte de Gramont.

Memoirs of the Comte de Gramont.

[ginkovskij]

i just had to learn how to navigate a national library catalogue online to find a very specific manuscript of the roman de la rose because i needed an even more specific illustration of it