Beau Brummell is one of 15 of history’s most famous dandies given essay space in the lush coffee-table book Artist/Rebel/Dandy: Men of Fashion, just published by the art museum of the Rhode Island School of Design.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content. Open this photo in gallery: Beau Brummell, equated now with frippery, actually heralded a move to simplicity.
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Open this photo in gallery: Are today’s hip-hop ‘gentlemen’ are cleaning up or selling out? André Benjamin epitomizes the buttoned-up aesthetic of big-name rappers.
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Open this photo in gallery: Stephen Tennant, a ninteenth century British aristocrat, was famous for his lavish lifestyle and love of fine clothes.
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Open this photo in gallery: The sapeurs of the Congo juxtaposed brightly coloured, dapper suits against a backdrop of endemic poverty.
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Open this photo in gallery: Reactionaries such as Don Cherry have often been as flamboyant in their dress as gender-transgressors have, busting the notion that dandyism is the sole domain of urban liberals.
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