The Dandy, Decoded

He was born dandy, proclaimed the New York Times. Hes lectured on the subject at the Victoria and Albert Museum and is also the worlds largest private vintage collector. US Vogues HAMISH BOWLES tells us about the art of dandyism.

- Parizaad Khan Sethi

The word dandy, to me, suggests an unnatural engagement with the niceties of one’s appearance and clothing. It also implies an attention to detail in terms of behaviour. I think that would extend into the way you create environments and arrange your home, making textures and patterns and colours work together and collecting objects that have some kind of harmonious dialogue—one with the other.

The real hallmark of a dandy is their style doesn’t look too studied— it looks as if they’ve just put it together, although it could be the result of some considerable planning and thought. There’s something almost carelessly elegant, with maybe one element that is a little off—in an exaggerated or surprising way.

In a way, I suppose my personal style might be considered dandified. Sometimes, I consciously reference people I consider to be dandies. I was always very inspired by the way Manolo Blahnik dresses. There was a wonderful English designer, the Honourable Neil ‘Bunny’ Roger, who dressed in this exaggerated neo-Edwardian way, with high collars and bowler hats even in the 1980s. And then there was the more insouciant way, like the antiques collector and taste maker Christopher Gibbs, who had been a real dandy in his youth and then was elegantly negligent in his later life. Photographer and designer Cecil Beaton, as a character and in the way he dressed, has always been an overt reference of mine.