OUR FASHION: DANDYISM

OUR FASHION– Dandyism

WELCOME!!! This is the first ever REAL piece I’m doing on this blog! I’m suuuuuper excited! I felt it would be so wrong of me to not start this blog off with THE event of the year. The Met Gala (duuuhhhh). For the first time, the Met Gala co-chairs were all Black men. It took the Met Gala 77 years to do that! Yikes… ANYWAY let's focus on the good and the history of Dandyism and its impact on Black culture from the Harlem renaissance to 2025. Yay!

Dandyism is more than just suits, pants, and skirts. This style started to gain traction during the Harlem Renaissance and according to the Met the style “sprung from the intersection of African and European style traditions”. Dandyism’s origins being tied to the Harlem Renaissance isn't surprising. The Harlem Renaissance was a time for Black excellence. Some of the greatest minds such as W.E.B Du Bois, Billie Holiday, Langston Hughes, Louis Armstrong, and many more lived during the Harlem Renaissance. For us, Dandyism was about presenting ourselves in a new and reimagined way (with some flare of course). To the white man, suits were seen as respectable, but the second a Black man presented himself in a nice, tailored suit, they were left confused. After the Harlem Renaissance, there was a pause in the bright and lively culture that Harlem had hosted due to the Great Depression, but that didn’t fully stop us. We continued to wear our suits, tuxedos, and hats with pride. Following the Great Depression, the Zoot suit became an American staple, gaining most of its traction in the late 30’s- early 40’s. The unique Zoot Suit was instantly recognizable to America. The flashy blazer and a clean cut fedora that usually came with it. However, White men started to become angry and found it wasteful to use that much fabric during WWII (just say you're jealous… I would be too). Thus, starting the Zoot Suit Riots in 1943. Wearing a Zoot Suit out in public incited so much anger in white men, so they abused and beat African Americans and Mexican Americans for wearing a Zoot suit… yikes. Anyway… Throughout the 50s, 60s, and 70s, Dandyism stayed alive and definitely reinvented itself over these decades. Black stars like Little Richard were at the forefront of Dandyism during the 50s and 60s. Blurring the gender norms, Little Richard performed in makeup, sequins, all while performing in a tailored suit. At the time, it was suuuper controversial to express yourself in such a way. Little Richard was a Black, gay rockstar that changed the way we look at fashion and has a clear impact on what we consider feminine and masculine to this day. He was like Prince before Prince. Later on, we continued to put our own touches on it and even women started to wear tailored suits, blurring the lines of masculinity and femininity for both sides. From the 80s to now, Dandyism is presented in a multitude of ways. Some of my personal favorite modern day dandies are Dapper Dan, Tyler, the Creator, or Pharrell (or just watch the Met Gala again, no judgment here). 

Thanks so much for reading! I really enjoyed writing this! See you soon

–xoxo, C