NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 Fashion icons like Dapper Dan, Janelle Mon谩e and the late Andr茅 Leon Talley are known for their distinctive approaches to sartorial style 鈥 bold splashes of color, luxurious fabrics, playful construction, capes 鈥 but fashion savants and historians agree that a common thread weaves their tailored looks together: dandyism.
The history-laden style movement will be front and center as part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art鈥檚 Costume Institute spring exhibit, 鈥淪uperfine: Tailoring Black Style,鈥 kicking off with the biggest night in fashion,
Inspired by Monica Miller鈥檚 book 鈥淪laves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity,鈥 on Black style and specifically menswear from the 18th century to present day, with dandyism as a unifying theme.
What is dandyism?
Once used to describe the aristocratic style and leisurely pursuits of figures like Regency England’s Beau Brummell, to embody liberation and resistance through exuberant self-expression.
This evolution of the term began with the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Miller, guest curator of the Met exhibit, writes how, in the 18th century, young, dandified Black servants in England were forced to wear gold, brass or silver collars with padlocks and fine livery 鈥 uniforms for slaves and servants 鈥 that signaled their owners’ wealth.
鈥淭hey wanted the enslaved person to stand out almost as if they were a luxury item,鈥 said Jonathan Square, Parsons School of Design assistant professor and one of the advisers on the Met exhibit.
Slaves arrived in America with few or no belongings. What they had left, they treasured, be it beads or small precious objects, Miller writes.
鈥淭his is as true for those who were deliberately dressed in silks and turbans, whose challenge was to inhabit the clothing in their own way, as for those who were more humbly attired, who used clothing as a process of remembrance and mode of distinction (and symbolic and sometimes actual escape from bondage) in their new environment,鈥 Miller explains in her book.
Stripped of their identities, enslaved people often added their own flair to their tailored Sunday best looks for church or on holidays.
Post-Emancipation, Black Americans had the chance to reclaim their autonomy and carve out new lives for themselves, paving the way
Dandyism enters a new era with the Harlem Renaissance
Black Americans fled the South for cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and New York in a period dubbed From the 1920s to the 1930s, New York’s Harlem neighborhood became an influential and fertile landscape for Black cultural expression. From Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston to Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong, its prominent minds and challenged prejudiced beliefs.
The Harlem Renaissance gave fashion a soul, said Brandice Daniel, founder of Harlem’s Fashion Row, an agency that connects designers of color with retailers and brand opportunities.
鈥淚t was this birthplace of this visual identity that spoke to what we now call Black excellence,鈥 she said.
The renaissance meant living and dressing boldly for Black Americans, pushing past societal confines and making themselves visible. Adding their own twist on mainstream looks, women donned furs and beaded dresses while men experimented with tailored fabrics, pristine fedora hats, two-toned oxfords and billowing silhouettes.
鈥淢any of us have a photo of our grandfather decked out with the suiting, but it鈥檚 also the stance and the kind of posture and the assertion of presence,鈥 said Tara Donaldson, co-author of 鈥淏lack In Fashion: 100 Years Of Style, Influence, and Culture.鈥
who often appeared in a three-piece suit, a frock coat and top hat, understood the power of self-fashioning, said Valerie Steele, director of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. At the 1900 Paris Exposition, Du Bois mounted a photographic exhibit centered on showcasing Black Americans鈥 economic, social and cultural contributions to combat stereotypes.
鈥淭hat kind of self-fashioning is very much a way of reclaiming a sense of self-respect that had been denied by a society that aggressively was saying, 鈥楴o, no you can鈥檛 have that,鈥欌 Steele said.
A key, enduring look: the zoot suit
One style that arose out of the Harlem Renaissance, directly linked to dandyism, was the zoot suit. The suit, defined by high-waisted draped pants and oversized jackets with exaggerated shoulders and large lapels, was subversive simply by taking up space. Because of fabric rations during World War II, owning a zoot suit, with its excessive use of fabric, was an act of protest, Square said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 meant to be a provocation,鈥 Square said. 鈥淏ut also, it鈥檚 a form of protection, covering a part of your body, sort of saying, 鈥榊ou don鈥檛 have access to this.鈥欌
The style was quickly adopted by Mexican American and Filipino American men in Los Angeles. In 1943, servicemen and police officers attacked Black, Mexican and Filipino men in what was labeled the Zoot Suit Riots. The zoot suit lives on today in the gender-fluid designs of
Dandyism
transcends gender
Dandyism was not limited to men. Following World War I, women began breaking down With her tuxedo and top hat, blues singer and entertainer Gladys Bentley epitomized how women in the Harlem Renaissance blurred gender lines and adopted more masculine styles of dress.
who sits on this year鈥檚 Met Gala鈥檚 host committee, is not shy about in her tailored, playful looks. Mon谩e’s distinct style and flourishes with oversized hats, whimsically tailored suits and ornate bow ties personify the dandy style.
As Mon谩e and the rest of the starry guest list arrive in their glamorous Monday will be a night to remember all the dandies who styled out before.
鈥淏lack people, Black men are finally getting their flowers for being true style icons,鈥 said designer Ev Bravado, co-founder of Who Decides War. 鈥淚t is amazing to see the ancestral work being put on display.鈥
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