Black Dandyism: The Met and Identity Politics

2009’s Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity by professor Monica L. Miller discusses the act and art of the Dandy as a means to delineate from limiting identities imposed upon African Americans in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Met Gala’s Theme, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style was inspired by Monica L. Miller’s work on political styling and social status.

The inception of Black Dandyism was by virtue of enslavement, slavers fashioned their Black male servants as luxury items in elevated uniforms and were known for their “sartorial novelty and sometimes flamboyant personalities.” The life of a Dandy was not rooted in style alone; clothing, gesture, wit, and class are also tenets of the Dandy.

Contemporary Black Dandyism has not strayed far from its original function. Today, fashion is still used as means to take ownership over one’s identity, to explore new ways of curating political and social possibilities. Tailoring a contemporary Black Dandy is rooted in the style of the diaspora, Europe and cosmopolitan cities, New York and London. To some, political leaders like W.E.B Dubois would be considered a Dandy. W.E.B Dubois and other Black leaders of the Reconstruction and Jim Crow era rejected that notion due to the effeminate and homosexual implications of who and what a Dandy was.

Beau Brummell, a socialite of the eighteenth century, is considered the father of dandyism because of his rejection of loud prints, wigs his peers wore and, standard Victorian style in favor of fine linen shirts and bespoke suits. He was well known for his mannerisms, witty sayings and attention to high quality. His concept of the dandy represented the ideals of the perfect gentleman and the autonomous aristocrat – the self-made man.

Fashion journalist and icon, Andre Leon Talley is the perfect example of what it means to explore possibility outside of societal and political restraints. Having being raised during Jim Crow south, by a maternal grandmother – a custodian and having a grandfather who worked as a sharecropper, Talley was no stranger to adversity and exercising necessary rebellion. Despite disenfranchisement and economic racism, Talley graduated from Brown University and started his career at Vogue magazine. More often than not, in many rooms, he was one of one. But his intellect, charisma and taste made him one of the most important.

Dapper Dan grew up in Harlem to a civil servant father and homemaker mother. Along with his parents, his three brothers and three sisters lived in a three-bedroom apartment and, recalls horses and buggies still being on the streets in his early childhood. His success as a 13 year old gambler helped him finance his first store. It opened in 1982 after selling shoplifted items out of his car. He began selling furs when wholesalers and textile companies refused to do business with him because of his race and location. Forcing him to learn how to create fabrics after teaching himself textile printing and invented a new process for screen printing on leather; which was able to make the infamous 1989 Louis Vuitton “Knock Up” jacket for Diane Dixon, that later influenced Gucci’s 2018 cruise collection.

Contemporaries, Andre and “Dap”, hail from opposing ends of the mason dixon yet both embody what it means to be a Black Dandy. The art and act of Black Dandyism created a new world for them and for us. Their contributions in fashion for Black men and women are portrayed in all mainstream media, art, sports, politics and business and influenced non black fashion houses, purveyors, enthusiasts and leaders globally.

Have you been checking out the looks at the Met yet? What are your favorite looks? Who would you consider a contemporary Black Dandy?