are you a dandy? : P

2008/8/26, O.C. wrote:

Para mim, Oscar Wilde definiu o que é dandy perfeitamente nesta passagem de "O retrato de Dorian Gray":

"Uma fatalidade pesa sobre toda superioridade física e intelectual, essa espécie de fatalidade que parece seguir, através da história, os passos vacilantes dos reis. O melhor é não sermos diferentes dos nossos companheiros. Os feios e os néscios são os mais bem aquinhoados, sob este ponto de vista, neste mundo. Podem sentar-se à vontade e bocejar na representação. Se nada sabem do triunfo, está-lhes, pelo menos, amenizando o conhecimento da derrota. Vivem como quereríamos viver todos, imperturbáveis, indiferentes e sem inquietações. Nem arruínam os outros, nem são arruinados por mãos alheias".

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É uma tragédia mesmo.
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Como o tédio é insuportável numa quarta-feira!

2008/8/26, S.L.

wrote:
Acho que o que define melhor um dandy é o verso de Baudelaire: "Là tout est ordre et beauté/ Luxe, clame et volupté" ( "Lá tudo é ordem e beleza/ Luxo, calma e volúpia")

8/26/08, S.L.

wrote:
O dandismo é um movimento de classe-média:
Historically, especially in late 18th- and early 19th-century Britain, a dandy, who was self-made, often strove to imitate an aristocratic style of life despite coming from a middle-class background.

Outra coisa interessante: dandys lutam boxe (que é o esporte tenho tido em mente já há algum tempo):
It is important to distinguish what is upper class from what is dandy. When it comes to sport, polo may be upper class, but boxing and fencing were practiced by many dandies in fact and fiction.

As qualidades que um dandy deve ter:

1. Physical distinction
Dandyism can only be painted on a suitable canvas. It is impossible to cut a dandy figure without being tall, slender and handsome, or having at least one of those characteristics to a high degree while remaining at least average in the other two. Fred Astaire was neither tall nor handsome, but he was "so thin you could spit through him."

Count D'Orsay, of course, had all three qualities to the highest degree.

"To appear well dressed, be skinny and tall." — Mason Cooley

2. Elegance
Elegance, of course, as defined by the standards of a dandy's particular era.

"[The dandy's] independence, assurance, originality, self-control and refinement should all be visible in the cut of his clothes." — Ellen Moers

Dandies must love contemporary costume, says Beerbohm, and their dress should be "free from folly or affectation."

3. Self-mastery

Barbey speaks of the dandy's staunch determination to remain unmoved, while Baudelaire says that should a dandy suffer pain, he will "keep smiling."

"Manage yourself well and you may manage all the world." — Bulwer-Lytton

"Immense calm with your heart pounding." — Noel Coward

4. Aplomb
While self-mastery is the internal practice of keeping emotions in check, aplomb is how it is expressed to the dandy's audience.

"Dandyism introduces antique calm among our modern agitations." — Barbey d'Aurevilly

5. Independence
Ideally financial independence, but if the dandy is forced to work, a spirit of independence will be expressed through his work, as with Tom Wolfe. Independence — often to the point of aloofness — will also characterize the dandy's dealings with the world.

"The epitome of selfish irresponsibility, he was ideally free of all human commitments that conflict with taste: passions, moralities, ambitions, politics or occupations." — Moers

"Independence makes the dandy." — Barbey d'Aurevilly

6. Wit
Especially a paradoxical way of talking lightly of the serious and seriously of the light that carries philosophical implications.

(See Oscar Wilde, his characters such as Lord Henry and Lord Goring, and to a lesser degree every other notable dandy.)

7. A skeptical, world-weary, sophisticated, bored or blasé demeanor

"The dandy is blasé, or feigns to be." — Baudelaire

"A spirit of gay misanthropy, a cynical, depreciating view of society." — Lister

8. A self-mocking and ultimately endearing egotism

"Other people are quite dreadful. The only possible society is oneself." — Wilde, "The Ideal Husband"

9. Dignity/Reserve
Pelham keeps "the darker and stormier emotions" to himself — Bulwer-Lytton
"A flawless dandy, he would be annoyed if he were considered romantic." — Oscar Wilde, "An Ideal Husband"

10. Discriminating taste
"To resist whatever may be suitable for the vulgar but is improper for the dandy." — Moers

11. A renaissance man
"A complete gentleman, who, according to Sir Fopling, ought to dress well, dance well, fence well, have a genius for love letters, and an agreeable voice for a chamber." — Etherege, quoted by Bulwer-Lytton in "Pelham"

12. Caprice
Because dandies are an enigma wrapped in a labyrinth, and because dandyism makes its own rules, the final quality is the ability to negate all the others.

For in the end there is not a code of dandyism, as Barbey writes. "If there were, anybody could be a dandy."

Deste site, interessante pelas fotos e pelos anúncios publicitários, mas cujos modelos de dandismo apresentados estão longe do ideal:

http://www.dandyism.net/index.php

Este blog é de um ex dandy atual recluso/esteta:

Trecho:

"Was this the way to live? To live clean is to live a lie. I wanted to be dirty forever."

http://nigeltewksbury.blogspot.com/

Finalmente, um teste:

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How Dandy You Are?

1) You live within 10 miles of:

a) London (+10)

b) Paris (+8)

c) New York (+5)

d) Major metropolitan city (+1)

e) Anywhere else (0)

2) Your age is:
a) 18-25 (0)

b) 25-30 (+1)

c) 30-45 (+5)

d) 45-70 (+1)

e) 70-up (0)

3) Your relationship status is:
a) Single (+10)

b) Married (0)

4) When it comes to physical appearance, you are:
a) Tall, dark and handsome (+5)

b) Tall, dark or handsome (+2)

c) Rather average (0)

d) Rather unappealing (-3)

5) In regards to your physique:
a) Your waist is smaller than your inseam (+5)

b) Your waist is the same as your inseam (0)

c) Your waist is larger than your inseam (-2)

6) Your facial hair preference is:
a) Clean shaven (+3)

b) Mustache or goatee, over 40 (+1)

c) Mustache or goatee, under 40 (-3)

d) Clean shaven with sideburns (-5)

7) Your source of income:
a) Independently wealthy (+10)

b) Credit (+7)*

c) Self-employed (+5)

d) Work in office (-5)
* Must flee to France when credit is exhausted

8) For college, you attended:
a) Oxford (+10)

b) Princeton (+5)

c) Anywhere else (0)

9) When it comes to your name and ancestry:
a) You're a commoner, and like Noel Coward, "related to no one but myself." (+3)

b) You have a title, such as lord or duke (+2)

c) You have an assumed title, such as lord or duke (-5)

10) Your home is:
a) A cloistral male sanctuary for you alone (+8)

b) Cohabited by a fellow dandy (+2)

c) Cohabited by a female spouse/lover (0)

d) Cohabited by a wife and kids (-5)

e) Cohabited by roommates (-6)

f) Cohabited by parents* (-7)
* At ancestral family estate (+5)

11) Your mode of travel around town is primarily:
a) Driver/taxi (+8)

b) Well aged luxury sedan/sports car (+3)

c) Public transportation (train, subway) (0)

d) Econobox (-3)

e) Highwheel bicycle (-5)

12) Your preferred form of tobacco is:
a) Cigarette in holder* (+5)

b) Cigarette (+4)

c) Cigar (+3)

d) Pipe (+1)

e) Quit smoking (0)

f) Never smoked (-2)
* Must be 40 or older

13) Your preferred drink is:
a) Claret (+3)

b) Champagne (+2)

c) Scotch/cognac (+1)

c) Martini (0)

d) Homemade absinthe (-3)

14) Your command of the French language is:
a) Fluent (+5)

b) Reading knowledge (+2)

c) You know "cravatte" means "cravat" (-2)

15) Your musical tastes are primarily:
a) Classical (+5)

b) Jazz and vocalists (+3)

c) Anything else (-3)

16) Your walls are decorated primarily with:
a) Images of masculine panache, such as hunting, equestrian or sartorial prints (+5)

b) Classic art (+2)

c) Modern art (0)

d) Moreau, Redon, Bresdin and Jan Luyken (-3)

17) You have cultivated a collection of useless objects of beauty*, such as antique snuffboxes or Sevres porcelain:
a) Yes (+5)

b) No (0)
* Excluding books, pipes, etc., which serve a utilitarian purpose.

18) For a pet, you'd prefer:
a) Cat (+3)

b) Dog (+1)

c) Jewel-encrusted tortoise (-2)

19) When it comes to sport, you prefer:
a) Fencing, boxing (+5)

b) Golf (+3)

c) Tennis, etc. (+1)

d) You're like Cecil in "A Room with a View" (0)

20) You possess the following skills (+2 for each):
a) Horsemanship

b) Piano

c) Dancing

d) Flying

e) Painting/sculpture

21) Your suits, jackets and trousers are primarily:
a) Bespoke (+10)

b) Off the rack but tailored (+ 2)

c) Off the rack, not tailored (0)

d) Vintage (-5)

22) You own a set of white tie and tails:
a) Yes (+5) *

b) No (0)
* Not to be used for the purpose of professional ballroom dancing or orchestra conducting.

23) When it comes to velvet, you have:
a) A smoking jacket (+3)

b) One jacket or waistcoat (+1)

c) Nothing velvet (0)

d) A velvet suit in emerald (-2)

e) Multiple items in velvet (-3)

24) When it comes to hats, you wear a:
a) Homburg/fedora, etc., when it's under 40 degrees (+3)

b) Homburg/fedora, etc. when above 40 (-2)

c) Top hat during daylight hours, outside of Ascot (-5)

d) An object not intended to be a hat (-10)

25) A stranger has mocked you because of your dress:
a) At least once in your life (+3)

b) On a daily basis (-5)

26) You would most like others to consider your appearance:
a) Rakishly elegant (+5)

b) Well dressed (+3)

c) Fashionable (0)

d) Unique (-1)

e) Anachronistic (-2)

27) You prefer to dress in:
a) Blue, like Brummell (+4)

b) Gray, like Grant and Astaire (+3)

c) Checks and plaids, like the Duke of Windsor (+2)

d) Bright colors, like Disraeli and Gatsby (+1)

e) Black, like Baudelaire (-3)

28) When discussing clothes with non-dandies, they look you over and:
a) Ask for advice (+5)

b) Give you advice (-5)

29) You would most like to have the wardrobe of:

a) The Duke of Windsor (+5)

b) Tom Wolfe (+1)

c) Fonzworth Bentley (0)

d) Oscar Wilde (-2)

e) Doran Wittelsbach (-5)

30) When it comes to conversation in society, your preferred form of persiflage is:
a) To speak light of the serious and serious of the light (+5)

b) To talk to every woman as if you loved her and every man as if he bored you (+3)

c) To discuss art and literature (+2)

d) To rail against consumerism, materialism and the vulgarity of the masses (-3)

31) On online forums, you're considered:
a) A caustic wit (+8)

b) A gentleman and scholar (+1)

c) Hardly noticeable (0)

d) An odd bird (-10)

32) You have published on the subject of dandyism:
a) Yes, in book form (+9)

b) Yes, in a magazine/newspaper (+6)

c) Yes, on the Web (+3)

d) Yes, at Dandyism.net (+10)

e) No (0)

33) You have been the subject of a piece of writing on dandyism:
a) Yes (+10)

b) No (0)

34) Somewhere, in print or on the Web, is a clever quote attributed to you:
a) Yes (+5)

b) No (0)

35) The fictional character you most admire is:
a) Lord Goring (+5)

b) Pelham (+3)

c) Charles Swann (+1)

d) Des Esseintes (-5)

36) The real-life man you most admire is:
a) George Brummell (+5)

b) Max Beerbohm (+3)

c) Andre 3000 (0)

d) Robert de Montesquiou (-3)

37) Not that you care what others think, but still you would least like to be thought of as:
a) Common (+3)

b) A closet sentimentalist (+1)

c) Cold and aloof (0)

d) Vain (-2)

38) Not that you care what others think, but you would most like to be thought of as:
a) A well dressed philosopher of life (+5)

b) A dapper man about town (+2)

c) An artist (+1)

d) A reclusive aesthete (0)

e) A rebel against conformity (-5)

39) Of the statements below, choose the one you most agree with:
a) "Dandyism is the result of an artistic temperament working upon a fine body within the wide limits of fashion." (+5)

b) "Every dandy dares, but he stops at the intersection between originality and eccentricity." (+3)

c) "Beaux, lions or dandies… all share the same characteristic of opposition and revolt." (-1)

d) "Dandies, being perfumed shamans, reside within the twilight realm that exists betwixt the worlds of the Animate and the Inanimate. Because of this, Dandies identify strongly with plants." (-5)

40) The Dandyism.net writer whose work you enjoy most is:
a) Nick Willard (+3)

b) Christian M. Chensvold (0)

c) Michael Mattis (0)

d) Robert Sacheli (0)

Your score:
240 (perfect score): You are the ideal of modern dandyism

168-239: Faithful myrmidon

167-under: Affected

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COLABORAÇÃO: Olavo de Carvalho