Dandy

Dandy

A dandy (also known as a beau or gallant) is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance in a cult of Self. Historically, especially in late 18th- and early 19th-century Britain, a dandy, who was self-made, often strove to imitate an aristocratic lifestyle despite coming from a middle-class background.

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Famous quotes containing the word dandy:

    But a dandy can never be a vulgar man.
    Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)

    Dandyism does not even consist, as many thoughtless persons appear to believe, in an immoderate taste for the toilet and material elegance. These things are for the perfect dandy only symbols of the aristocratic superiority of his mind.
    Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)

    Detachment is the prerogative of an elite; and as the dandy is the nineteenth century’s surrogate for the aristocrat in matters of culture, so Camp is the modern dandyism. Camp is the answer to the problem: how to be a dandy in the age of mass culture.
    Susan Sontag (b. 1933)