Opinion

The Dandy: What Your Closet Says About You

By: Jennifer Miller

What do the short-lived New York Yankees mascot, Japan’s Lolita girls and a British children’s comic have in common? They all have roots in the dandy, the physically astute gentleman and class connoisseur Baudelaire believed to be mankind’s supreme being. Dandyism’s reincarnations have found inspiration in major league baseball, bizarre Goth trends (a la Nabakov’s nymph) and the kitsch cartoon world. The dandy’s third coming, however, seems to be in the modern hip du jour.

Although the word “hipster” was coined in the forties to describe so-called “cool cats” devoted to jazz music (and later the artists of the Beat Generation of the late fifties), the word has become synonymous with the indie circle’s “outside the mainstream” sensibilities. Hipster tastes generally range from a preference for independent record labels to vintage clothing. Debate runs deep, however, as to whether certain identities and ideas are included within the hipster sphere. But one of the easiest ways to identify a hipster is his or her heightened devotion to a throwback aesthetic and style.

The old guard of hipster idealism had little to do with clothing and other such paraphernalia, which is why modern day hipsters are tied much more directly to the reinvention of the dandy culture – whereby presenting one’s exterior talents bears more prevalence. Indeed, the modern reincarnation of the hipster is just a larger and more prominent extension of the dandy. Anyone can really be a hipster if they dress appropriately, becoming a member of a culture devoted to a specific sense of style. Despite the obligatory interests, ‘the look’ is where it begins.

Case in point, my neighbor in the apartment floor above me, who has a fantastic closet full of clothes. His wardrobe consists of striped, pastel button downs with perfectly ironed slacks. To accompany this formal code is a pristine set of ties and scarves, which are all nicely folded in his desk drawer. His paper and supplies are placed somewhere else. Of the clothes in his closet, everything is color-coded, kind of like a rainbow, kind of like Cher’s closet in Clueless.

Perhaps the point is that he is part of a greater, more accepting ring of attitudes, that of hipster notions of style. But this individual, who will remain anonymous, perfectly demonstrates the role of the dandy. His appearance stands before everything else, allowing viewers to immediately identify who he is: that guy on campus with the wide-brimmed hat, striped shirt and slick leather boots. He has become style, something that can breath and live in an air of upper-class bourgeois tastes.

It should come as no surprise then, that hipsters are ones to easily imitate. While they do pay tireless attention to their clothes, their efforts to try and stand out turn them into mere doppelgangers of former hipster movements, since our generation of hip-ness has contributed nothing but an lust for red meat and hulking cars. The modern hipsters’ consciousness is one of forced care. This is not unlike the original dandies of the nineteenth century who often times came out of middle-class milieus and who strived to follow an aristocratic lifestyle. After all, no one comes out of the womb wanting to be the Cobra Snake -- at least I hope not.

If you’re unfamiliar, the Cobra Snake is the moniker of a man who is famous for being famous and who goes to parties and after-parties and takes and receives pictures from the beautiful people. They’re not exactly celebrities, but supposed cool people in their own right, dressed to the nines and ready to have their fifteen minutes of internet fame. It is hard to understand why these folks have to take themselves so seriously. Some naturally crave the limelight, I suppose. But what I really wonder is how or why these photos are in any way substantiating. The appeal to look hip as a way to prove one’s worth or superiority. But to me, one’s superiority only proves that today’s hipsters truly are reincarnations of the dandy’s sartorial past.

And following this trend, or perhaps initiating it, are the bands hipsters follow. Live shows, as a means of entertainment and performance art, require aesthetic heed. By extension, music and music makers seem incapable of pleasing a wide audience solely for their skill or efficacy. Even if it means to add a velvet vest or ascot to one’s attire, band members are always sporting a style. Style does go hand in hand with rock n’ roll, but style also seems to outweigh substance in many instances. These kids like to think they have good taste, but I’ve been to my fair share of shows, and they usually don’t show up to see Gang of Four or Kraftwerk.

Such fascination with material goods is supposed to represent the respective superiority of the intellect, of the mind and soul. That’s what Baudelaire hoped for, anyway. I am not sure the same can be said of today’s hipster crowd. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but the only thing hipsters are out to flatter is themselves.