BRITISH DANDIES LEAD AMERICAN SHOW

“A celebration of sharp dressers…from the elegance of Beau Brummell to today’s revolutionaries,” says the New York Times; “Emphasises the wit and whimsy of peacocks past and present,” says W; and “Elegant new exhibition…irresistible,” quotes the Wall Street Journal.

These are just some of the press comments praising a new exhibition across the pond, devoted to Dandies. Staged at the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, it is a celebration of the style, wit and originality of dandies over the years, and coincides with some renewed interest in proper men’s clothes over there.

America lead the world into jeans, T-shirts, biker jackets, shorts, and associates, all not only casual but juvenile. Now, with economic worries there as here, the need to look grown-up and responsible rather than young and casual is driving renewed attention to appearance, with suits and tailored lines benefiting, but with a rather more original take on things.

Tailors returning from their regular visits to the US report that despite the financial situation, orders are holding up well, and point to an acceptance of slightly more colour, more originality in cloths and styling that chimes in nicely with the Dandy event.

“There is definitely more acceptance of colour in cloths,” Kathryn Sargent reports, “and they are becoming more adventurous in styling, prepared to be more original.”

She visits the US three times a year and sees a groundswell of new interest in menswear emerging. Three outfits tailored by her are included in the Dandy exhibition and thinks media coverage of the London menswear collections is helping to boost renewed interest in proper menswear. “There is definitely more focus on menswear and in the US they are becoming more experimental.”

Ken Austin of Benson & Clegg, who also visits the US regularly, has recently added Washington to his schedule and found more acceptance of colour there. “We found they wanted quite a lot of tweedy stuff,” he said. “This was for both suits and jackets and provided a more colourful mix.”

And Brian Lishak of Richard Anderson, who has probably been going on trunk shows to the US longer than anyone else, has also noticed a significant increase in more colourful cloths being ordered. This is particularly noticeable this season, more so in jacketings, but also to some extent in suits. “It has been developing, but there is  definitely more colour this time.”

On the home front, “the English remain fairly staid” is how Graham Lawless at Davies & Son put it. But their overseas orders, notably in the US and Europe, show increasing colour, in worsted suitings as well as the more tweedy cloths.

The greatest Dandy of them all, Beau Brummell, of course eschewed colour in favour of black and white. It was his original styling and meticulous attention to detail that elevated him to the first among Dandies, and his preference for a mono approach has dominated tailored menswear pretty well since his time, from the around the middle of the 19th century.

There is little chance that the classic business suit, in sombre blue, grey or black, is going to be replaced by anything startlingly bright any time soon. But a steady injection of more colour will also encourage more originality in styling. This in turn would rob casualwear of one of its singular attractions over formal menswear, its brightness, especially for the younger sector.

Its other supposed attraction, comfort, is largely a confection. Baggy shorts, sloppy T-shirts, hole-y jeans and hoody tops are simply easier to put on, don’t need to be cleaned and pressed, and are often hotter, more constricting and certainly far less flattering to average figures.

A bit more colour, more originality in tailored styling, and many of those now addicted to the cult of casual may discover the joy and practicality of grown up clothes, and bring a new age of Dandies. The Slobs of course will not be part of it.

From the top, Britain's own Guy Hills in an outfit by Davies & Son; Ignacio Quiles in boater; Sebastian Horsley, Soho celebrity till his death in 2010, in red; Massimiliano Moccia in white suit and two tones; and Michael Costiff in native style.