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The Dandy: A People's History of Sartorial Splendour
A history of the dandy from below, from Beau Brummell and Baudelaire to Bowie and Bolan... and beyond.
The historical figure of the dandy has commonly been described as an upper-class gentleman, often exemplified by well-known men such as Beau Brummell, Charles Baudelaire, Oscar Wilde, and Max Beerbohm. But there is a broader history to be told about the dandy - one that incorporates unknown men from the lower strata of society.
The A People's History constitutes the first ever history of those dandies who emanated from the less privileged layers of the populace - the lowly clerks, shop assistants, domestic servants, and labourers who increasingly during the modern age have emerged as style-conscious men about town. Peter Andersson shows that dandyism is far from just an elite phenomenon represented by famous poets and artists. He shows how dandyism as a popular youth subculture grew into an influential cultural movement, from the days of Beau Brummell in the early 19th century to the age of mods in the 1960s.
A series of fascinating in-depth studies of the wide variety of dandy subcultures that have surfaced around the world in the last two centuries tell the story of how the shaping of fashions and the image of men became increasingly democratized, with the arbiters of taste increasingly coming from the other end of the social spectrum. Along the way, we encounter such long-forgotten groups as the mashers, the knuts, the Paris gandins and the Berlin transgender dandies, alongside more well-known but unexplored figures like the zoot suiter, the teddy boy, and the New Romantic.
Above all, this is a story of how fundamental aspects of modern culture such as fashion, style, and conduct have been shaped from below just as much as from above. It is a story that shows how the problematic business of young men trying to find an identity is an enduring phenomenon - and one sadly often accompanied by innocent victims along the way.
The historical figure of the dandy has commonly been described as an upper-class gentleman, often exemplified by well-known men such as Beau Brummell, Charles Baudelaire, Oscar Wilde, and Max Beerbohm. But there is a broader history to be told about the dandy - one that incorporates unknown men from the lower strata of society.
The A People's History constitutes the first ever history of those dandies who emanated from the less privileged layers of the populace - the lowly clerks, shop assistants, domestic servants, and labourers who increasingly during the modern age have emerged as style-conscious men about town. Peter Andersson shows that dandyism is far from just an elite phenomenon represented by famous poets and artists. He shows how dandyism as a popular youth subculture grew into an influential cultural movement, from the days of Beau Brummell in the early 19th century to the age of mods in the 1960s.
A series of fascinating in-depth studies of the wide variety of dandy subcultures that have surfaced around the world in the last two centuries tell the story of how the shaping of fashions and the image of men became increasingly democratized, with the arbiters of taste increasingly coming from the other end of the social spectrum. Along the way, we encounter such long-forgotten groups as the mashers, the knuts, the Paris gandins and the Berlin transgender dandies, alongside more well-known but unexplored figures like the zoot suiter, the teddy boy, and the New Romantic.
Above all, this is a story of how fundamental aspects of modern culture such as fashion, style, and conduct have been shaped from below just as much as from above. It is a story that shows how the problematic business of young men trying to find an identity is an enduring phenomenon - and one sadly often accompanied by innocent victims along the way.
352 pages, Hardcover
Published September 15, 2025
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About the author
Peter K. Andersson
30 books7 followersA specialist inpopular culture, everyday life and streetlife, mainly during the late 19th century, Peter K. Andersson is Senior Lecturer in History at Sweden's Lund University.
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January 14, 2026A fine history that treats a big subject of derision very seriously. Really taking the time to divide the line between what's a fashion trend and what's a genuine subculture and how people used fashion to promote and attack ideas and ideals over masculinity, social hierarchy, and more. The author also tries to handle the challenge of writing about a group of people from whom we have very little direct testimony or documentation, it means the picture we do have over what Dandyism meant is shown through the use of negative space and seeing the whole from very disparate parts.
And just the tidbits of social history we get from sources back then is appreciated instead of just always measuring the movements of powerful political figures or actions of nation-states and their armies.
And just the tidbits of social history we get from sources back then is appreciated instead of just always measuring the movements of powerful political figures or actions of nation-states and their armies.
Displaying 1 of 1 review