"Il dandismo non è neppure, come sembrano credere molti sconsiderati, un gusto sfrenato del vestire e dell'eleganza materiale.
Lord Brummell ritratto ad un ricevimento da un artista sconosciuto
Per il dandy perfetto tali cose sono unicamente un simbolo della superiorità aristocratica del suo spirito."
(Charles Baudelaire, Il pittore della vita moderna, 1863)
Interpretato innanzitutto come un fenomeno legato alla moda, fiorito in Inghilterra durante il periodo Regency, quello del dandismo andava ben oltre la mera apparenza dell'abbigliarsi e dell'atteggiarsi con estrema eleganza, intendendo esso manifestare apertamente il proprio diniego nei confronti della borghesia che stava nascendo e dei suoi valori, primo fra tutti quello dell'egualitarismo, il rifiuto della massificazione cui opponeva l'elitarismo e facendo proprio un nostalgico rimpianto per l'aristocrazia che andava scomparendo, il tutto coniugato con una spiccata attitudine verso l'arte e la cultura in generale.
Si trasferì a Londra, al numero 4 di Chesterfield Street ( chissà se la nostra Jane Austen, durante le sue numerose visite e soggiorni a Londra, lo avrà mai incontrato ? ) dove teneva pranzi esclusivi e cominciò a mutare stile di vita.
La porta d'ingresso dell'abitazione di Lord Brummell al n°4 di Chesterfield Street
Il suo modo di abbigliarsi, talmente raffinato ed elegante, era senza alcun dubbio considerato estremamente eccentrico, anche se era ben più rispettoso della pulizia personale e dell'igiene di quanto fosse usuale a quel tempo: in un'epoca in cui ancora l'uomo si vestiva con colori sgargianti e poco curava l'igiene intima perché considerato non virile ed era perciò costretto a profumarsi abbondantemente per coprire gli afrori emanati dal corpo, Lord Brummel si abbigliava di bianco, beige, nero e soprattutto blu ed introdusse l'uso generoso di acqua e sapone per detergersi evitando d'incipriarsi i capelli evitando così di doversi 'sovraccaricare' di pesanti profumi... pensate che giunse persino a cambiare una camicia la giorno poiché, bianca, presto perdeva in nettezza !
George Brummell in un'illustrazione del 1886 che lo ritrae giovane
Un bow window al White's Club fondato nel 1811 cui spesso si sedeva il 'Beau' ad osservare la gente di Londra mentre percorreva le strade della città
In qualità di 'aspirante' dandy il principe reggente pendeva letteralmente dalle labbra di Brummell, cosa di cui egli spesso approfittava, forse anche con un briciolo d'impertinenza dettata dalla troppa sicurezza di sé, trattando l'amico non con il rispetto dovuto ad una persona del suo rango e ponendolo talvolta in ridicolo in pubblico.
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Il Principe Reggente ritratto nel 1816 da Thomas Lawrence
Ma furono i debiti a rovinarlo definitivamente, contratti di conseguenza al tenore di vita che si era imposto e soprattutto alla sfrenata passione per il gioco, i quali lo costrinsero ad un esilio volontario in Francia.
Il 18 maggio 1816 lasciò definitivamente l'Inghilterra per trasferirsi a Calais, dopo aver fatto mettere i propri beni, lasciati a Londra, all'incanto, e quanto da ciò fu in grado di ricavare gli consentì di vivere nell'agio ancora per qualche tempo, ma quando ormai si stava approssimando lo spettro della povertà e della prigionia per debiti, egli venne provvidenzialmente salvato da Guglielmo IV, fratello di Giorgio IV, che lo nominò console a Caen.
Qui trascorse il resto della sua vita, anche se lontano dal lusso cui ormai era abituato. Malato di sifilide, nel 1837 venne internato nell'ospedale delle Figlie del Buon Salvatore di Caen, dove morì nel 1840.
Qui trascorse il resto della sua vita, anche se lontano dal lusso cui ormai era abituato. Malato di sifilide, nel 1837 venne internato nell'ospedale delle Figlie del Buon Salvatore di Caen, dove morì nel 1840.
Lasciava così questa nostra terra il primo dandy della storia, ma non morivano con lui i suoi ideali, il nuovo modo di concepire l'eleganza maschile e soprattutto la filosofia di vita che dietro vi soggiaceva.
Fonti bibliografiche:
Barbey d'Aurevilly, Del dandysmo e di George Brummel (a cura di Mario Ubaldini), Firenze, Passigli, 1993;
Louise Allen, Walking Jane Austen's London, Shire Books U.K., 2013
- picture 1 - Lord Brummell portrayed at a party by an unknown artist
Known primarily as a phenomenon linked to fashion - it flourished in England during the Regency period - that of dandyism went far beyond the mere appearance of dressing up and pose very elegantly, meaning it openly express its refusal of the bourgeoisie, which was just going to born, and its values, first of all the egalitarianism, the rejection of standardization which it opposed the elitism with a nostalgic regret for the aristocracy that was disappearing, all combined with a strong attitude towards art and culture in general.
- picture 2 on the left - It is true that the dandy wasn't unnoticed, fully dressed, 'Made from the same cloth of his scarf and his words' as it was said at the time, with light trousers that reached the knee, high boots called 'hessians', spenser by the wrists of which often protruding the laces of the shirt, with a silk veil in the neck and a tie, often proud to have the eyes of the passengers all focused on himselves ... The first in history to do his this kind of life so markedly refined was the Londoner George Bryan Brummell, said 'Beau', the beautiful, whose company was sought after not only because he particularly elegant and good-looking, but also because he was able to quips, he had a furbish speech, was erudite, intelligent, with spirit, always present at parties and dances in the London of the time, like a true member of the aristocracy even though his roots were rather humble.
After attending Eton and Oxford he joined the army of the Hussars in an effort to get acquainted with the Prince of Wales, the future George IV, of which he immediately became close-knit friend and even counselor.
He moved to London, at the number 4 of Chesterfield Street (I wonder if our Jane Austen, during her several visits and stays in London, will have ever met him !) where he held exclusive lunches and began to change lifestyle.
- picture 3 - Beau Brummell's front door in Chesterfield Street
His way of dressing, so refined and elegant, was undoubtedly considered extremely eccentric, even though it was far more respectful of personal cleanliness and hygiene than it was usual at that time: in an age when even men wore bright colors and little cared of the hygiene because was considered unmanly and were therefore forced to perfume plenty to cover the stench emanating from the body, Beau Brummel dressed in white, beige, black and blue, above all, and introduced a generous use of soap and water to clean him up avoiding of powder his hair thus avoiding having to 'overloading' himself of heavy perfumes ... you think he even changed a shirt a day, because white, it soon lost in cleaning !
- picture 4 - George Brummell in an image dated 1886 depicting him as a young boy
- picture 5 - A bow window at the White's Club; it was founded in 1811 and probably just here often sat the 'Beau' to watch people in London walking in the streets of the city
As a 'hood' dandy the Prince Regent literally hung from the lips of Brummell, who sometimes, taking advantage of it, perhaps even with a bit of impertinence dictated by overconfident, treated his friend without the respect which is due to a person of his rank and putting him sometimes publicly in ridicule.
- picture 6 - The Prince Regent portrayed in 1816 by Thomas Lawrence
But they were the many debts which will have definitely ruin him, the debts he contracted accordingly to the style of living that he imposed himself and especially the unbridled passion for the game, which forced him to a self-imposed exile in France.
On May 18th, 1816 he left England to move permanently to Calais, after putting all belongings of his, left in London, to enchantment, and what he was able to obtain allowed him to live in comfort for some time but when it was approaching the specter of the poverty and of the imprisonment for debts, he was providentially saved by William IV, George IV's brother, who appointed him consul in Caen.
There he spent the rest of his life, though far from the wealth which he had become accustomed. Sick of syphilis, in 1837 he was interned in the hospital of the Daughters of the Good Savior of Caen, where he died in 1840.
So the first dandy of history let our Land, but with him didn't die his ideals, the new concept of male elegance and especially the philosophy of life that was 'hided' behind it.
wrote Charles Baudelaire who in Paris made his this 'noble' style that immediately married the one of the Bohèmiens and that even in England had luck and success until the Victorian era (let's think of Oscar Wilde who embodied the perfect ideal of the Victorian dandy).
Well, also today our time together is going to run out after, as usual, having flown so much fast ... I take leave of you, my dear friends and readers, with a warm hug and wishing you all much love.
See you soon ♥
Bibliographic sources:
Barbey d'Aurevilly, Del dandysmo e di George Brummel (a cura di Mario Ubaldini), Firenze, Passigli, 1993;
Louise Allen, Walking Jane Austen's London, Shire Books U.K., 2013
"Il modo di vestirsi è la rappresentazione esteriore della nostra filosofia della vita."
scriveva Charles Baudelaire che fece proprio a Parigi questo 'nobile' stile che immediatamente sposò quello dei Bohèmien e che anche in Inghilterra ebbe fortuna e successo fino all'epoca vittoriana ( pensiamo ad Oscar Wilde che ne incarnò il perfetto ideale).
Ebbene, anche oggi il nostro tempo insieme sta per concludersi dopo essere, come sempre, scorso così tanto velocemente ... prendo congedo da voi, miei cari amici e lettori, con un caloroso abbraccio ed augurandovi tanto bene.
A presto ♥
Barbey d'Aurevilly, Del dandysmo e di George Brummel (a cura di Mario Ubaldini), Firenze, Passigli, 1993;
Louise Allen, Walking Jane Austen's London, Shire Books U.K., 2013
Note dell'autrice:
le fotografie autografate sono state tratte dal libro Louise Allen, Walking Jane Austen's London, Shire Books U.K., 2013
"The dandyism is not even, as lots of reckless people seem to believe, unbridled taste of dressing and material elegance.
- picture 1 - Lord Brummell portrayed at a party by an unknown artist
For the perfect dandy, these things are only a symbol of the aristocratic superiority of his mind. "
(Charles Baudelaire, The Painter of Modern Life, 1863)
Known primarily as a phenomenon linked to fashion - it flourished in England during the Regency period - that of dandyism went far beyond the mere appearance of dressing up and pose very elegantly, meaning it openly express its refusal of the bourgeoisie, which was just going to born, and its values, first of all the egalitarianism, the rejection of standardization which it opposed the elitism with a nostalgic regret for the aristocracy that was disappearing, all combined with a strong attitude towards art and culture in general.
- picture 2 on the left - It is true that the dandy wasn't unnoticed, fully dressed, 'Made from the same cloth of his scarf and his words' as it was said at the time, with light trousers that reached the knee, high boots called 'hessians', spenser by the wrists of which often protruding the laces of the shirt, with a silk veil in the neck and a tie, often proud to have the eyes of the passengers all focused on himselves ... The first in history to do his this kind of life so markedly refined was the Londoner George Bryan Brummell, said 'Beau', the beautiful, whose company was sought after not only because he particularly elegant and good-looking, but also because he was able to quips, he had a furbish speech, was erudite, intelligent, with spirit, always present at parties and dances in the London of the time, like a true member of the aristocracy even though his roots were rather humble.
After attending Eton and Oxford he joined the army of the Hussars in an effort to get acquainted with the Prince of Wales, the future George IV, of which he immediately became close-knit friend and even counselor.
He moved to London, at the number 4 of Chesterfield Street (I wonder if our Jane Austen, during her several visits and stays in London, will have ever met him !) where he held exclusive lunches and began to change lifestyle.
- picture 3 - Beau Brummell's front door in Chesterfield Street
His way of dressing, so refined and elegant, was undoubtedly considered extremely eccentric, even though it was far more respectful of personal cleanliness and hygiene than it was usual at that time: in an age when even men wore bright colors and little cared of the hygiene because was considered unmanly and were therefore forced to perfume plenty to cover the stench emanating from the body, Beau Brummel dressed in white, beige, black and blue, above all, and introduced a generous use of soap and water to clean him up avoiding of powder his hair thus avoiding having to 'overloading' himself of heavy perfumes ... you think he even changed a shirt a day, because white, it soon lost in cleaning !
- picture 4 - George Brummell in an image dated 1886 depicting him as a young boy
- picture 5 - A bow window at the White's Club; it was founded in 1811 and probably just here often sat the 'Beau' to watch people in London walking in the streets of the city
As a 'hood' dandy the Prince Regent literally hung from the lips of Brummell, who sometimes, taking advantage of it, perhaps even with a bit of impertinence dictated by overconfident, treated his friend without the respect which is due to a person of his rank and putting him sometimes publicly in ridicule.
- picture 6 - The Prince Regent portrayed in 1816 by Thomas Lawrence
But they were the many debts which will have definitely ruin him, the debts he contracted accordingly to the style of living that he imposed himself and especially the unbridled passion for the game, which forced him to a self-imposed exile in France.
On May 18th, 1816 he left England to move permanently to Calais, after putting all belongings of his, left in London, to enchantment, and what he was able to obtain allowed him to live in comfort for some time but when it was approaching the specter of the poverty and of the imprisonment for debts, he was providentially saved by William IV, George IV's brother, who appointed him consul in Caen.
There he spent the rest of his life, though far from the wealth which he had become accustomed. Sick of syphilis, in 1837 he was interned in the hospital of the Daughters of the Good Savior of Caen, where he died in 1840.
So the first dandy of history let our Land, but with him didn't die his ideals, the new concept of male elegance and especially the philosophy of life that was 'hided' behind it.
"The way we dress is the external representation of our philosophy of life."
wrote Charles Baudelaire who in Paris made his this 'noble' style that immediately married the one of the Bohèmiens and that even in England had luck and success until the Victorian era (let's think of Oscar Wilde who embodied the perfect ideal of the Victorian dandy).
Well, also today our time together is going to run out after, as usual, having flown so much fast ... I take leave of you, my dear friends and readers, with a warm hug and wishing you all much love.
See you soon ♥
Barbey d'Aurevilly, Del dandysmo e di George Brummel (a cura di Mario Ubaldini), Firenze, Passigli, 1993;
Louise Allen, Walking Jane Austen's London, Shire Books U.K., 2013
Notes by the author:
the autographed photographs are drawn from Louise Allen, Walking Jane Austen's London, Shire Books U.K., 2013
