The Dandy

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>The Dandy: A People’s History of Sartorial Splendour challenges the traditional notion of dandyism as an upper-class phenomenon, expanding it to include working-class figures like clerks, shop assistants, and labourers. The text reveals how dandyism becomes a widespread cultural movement, one that Beau Brummell sparks in the early nineteenth century and that continues through the 1960s mod culture. He uncovers lesser-known subcultures such as the mashers, knuts, Paris gandins, and Berlin transgender dandies, alongside more familiar figures like zoot suiters, teddy boys, and New Romantics. These groups show how men from the lower social strata increasingly shape fashion, style, and identity, democratizing cultural tastes. Ultimately, it highlights the enduring struggle of young men to forge identities, a journey often marked by tragic consequences.</jats:p>