Monday, November 23, 2009

REBIRTH. RESURRECTION. REAWAKENING.- The Female Dandy

You wouldn’t normally see Lord Byron and Tom Ford ranked in the same category. One being a great poet in the 1800’s and the other a major fashion designer in the noughties. Nevertheless both are Dandies - men who have placed particular interest in the way they look, and “who elevate aesthetics to a living religion.”

The term Dandy has been mostly used for the male gender but was first linked to female devotees in 1869 by Charles Dickens, who referred to us as ‘Dandizettes.’ Classically, the male term overpowered us, and the reference soon faded...

It is now the Autumn/Winter 2010 ready-to-wear, and it’s clear to see that the historical inspiration has dates before the 1900’s and back to the old Dandy days. Catwalks swarmed with the androgynous look of sharp tailoring, waist coats and high collars - but all with a touch of femininity. Stereotypically masculine clothes are spiced up by designers such as Ralph Lauren, Rag & Bone and Karl Lagerfeld by cinching waists in all the right places to accentuate the female body.

Equality between genders has been seen in many forms, but from the moment Coco Chanel first introduced trousers to our sex, things started to change for the good. So whip on a shirt with a Prince of Wales collar, and you will feel like royalty.

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