DANDYISM. The Rise and Fall of a Concept

Dandyism is a less used term as it relates to a particularniche culture. Yet, the multitude of studies, books, articles, webpages, websites, magazines dedicated to dandyism indicate a real interest for this mysterious phenomenon. Its mysteriousness alone could be partly responsible for such constant interest, yet, it cannot explain the arduous preoccupations of those responsible for the subject being kept alive and well. Even if most of the articles are only slightly relating to the actual phenomenon, using the term generally in an altered meaning, in order to promote present-day items of clothing or to sell various more or less luxury articles, dandyism has today, in the age of information and leisure its own websites, blogs, and forums, its own magazines and publications. The literary market is constantly presented each year with new attempts at dandy exegesis and dandy characterisation, dandy biographies, and dandy fictionalisation. In today’s world of entertainment, the dandy is reinvented: statues are erected; movies are being made and remade, and dandyism goes virtual. (From the „Introduction”)