The Dandy

They don't get much dandier than Master Big Star. Yes, that's his real name.

A Dandy is a clothes-wearing Man, a Man whose trade, office and existence consists in the wearing of Clothes. Every faculty of his soul, spirit, purse, and person is heroically consecrated to this one object, the wearing of Clothes wisely and well: so that the others dress to live, he lives to dress ... And now, for all this perennial Martyrdom, and Poesy, and even Prophecy, what is it that the Dandy asks in return? Solely, we may say, that you would recognise his existence; would admit him to be a living object; or even failing this, a visual object, or thing that will reflect rays of light.

—Thomas Carlyle

The dandy is intensely concerned with his clothing and appearance; he's always well-groomed and generally avoids physical exertion, lest he become mussed. His main pursuit is his comfort and lots of pretty things. He will be obsessed with maintaining the condition of his body and his clothing but will not necessarily be particularly interested in the attentions of the opposite sex. Dandy-ism can be found in characters of any degree of good or evil, as it is a personality trait rather than an alignment trait.

In comedic works, writers will saddle him with kid co-stars who don't buy his act at all or a gorgeous woman who happens to be incredibly cynical about men.

The modern use of the word "Dandy" is somewhat ironic, since the original dandies were rebelling against the fashion excesses of the macaronis, by choosing simpler, "more masculine" clothes, that emphasized high-quality fabrics and immaculate tailoring rather than excessive decoration.

Being male is not a requirement, especially for Bifauxnen. Very likely to overlap with Upper Class Wit or Upper Class Twit. Compare and contrast Sharp-Dressed Man. Many of these males may fall under In Touch with His Feminine Side. A common synonym is "Metrosexual".

A rough Distaff Counterpart would be The Fashionista. For the version of this that jumps at combat rather than running from it, see Agent Peacock.

Not to be confused with the long running British comic of the same name.

Examples of The Dandy include:

Anime and Manga

  • Griffith from Berserk is an excellent example throughout the early volumes.
  • Sanji from One Piece. He is even called a pretty-boy at one point.
  • The second set of Sakura Taisen OVAs feature "Dan Dandy", a would-be "stylish criminal" whose path as a secondary character keeps intersecting with that of the Hanagumi. Dan is foppish, a slave to what he considers the height of fashion for American gangsters, and only marginally competent; the Hanagumi don't even really notice him when they cross paths. (Oddly, he originated in one of the live Sakura Taisen stage shows, and became popular enough among fans that he was included in the OVA series.)
  • Among the more infamous examples of the 'annoying-but-not-evil' dandy character is Mitsurugi Hanagata from Saber Marionette J and its various sequels.
  • Lelouch in Code Geass.
    • Clovis even moreso. Actually, let's just put down the entire male royal family members. Makes sense, since their fashion is based on that particular period.
  • Leonardo from Full Metal Panic!.
  • Ukyo in Samurai 7 is definitely an evil variant, and the Big Bad to boot.
  • Creed from Black Cat is always seen with roses and massive amounts of mancleavage. It crosses over to the plane of Fan Service in that naked rose petal bathscene. It never returns.
  • Sanson in Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water.
  • Kojiro/James of Team Rocket in the Pokémon anime.
    • Unbelievable as it is, the Pokémon Special manga contains an even more obvious example...Ruby.
  • George in Paradise Kiss.
  • Tubalcain Alahambra from Hellsing is an example of this trope. He is often referred to as "The Dandy" and has all of the typical traits. Somewhat subverted though in the fact that he isn't opposed to combat in the least (being a Nazi vampire and all).
  • Bleach has a surprising number of these, many of which subvert the part of the trope about a dandy being afraid to fight in case it messes up their appearance. They're all willing to fight, but if they do get messed up in their fights their opponents - and sometimes their allies - won't be allowed to forget it.
    • Yumichika Ayasegawa is obsessed with beauty. When the Gotei 13 is on a war-time alert, he still detours to change his torn clothing after a fight rather than immediately returning to his captain's side.
    • Although it might seem as though Yumichika is the biggest dandy in Soul Society, he's not. Eighth Squad captain Shunsui Kyouraku dislikes fighting to the extent that he'll even try and disobey a direct order from the captain-commander himself to escape it if he can. He far prefers making friends, napping and drinking. If he does go into fights, he likes his vice-captain to shower him with flower petals as he makes his entrance onto the battlefield and he wears a pink, flowery woman's kimono everywhere. In fact, taking the kimono off means he's finally getting serious. The Bleach Character Book of Souls confirms that he is indeed considered the biggest Dandy in Soul Society.
    • Szayel Apollo Granz has a similar outlook to Yumichika, going one step further than Yumichika by interrupting his own fight to change his torn clothes instead of waiting for the fight to finish first.
    • Charlotte Cuulhorne is also this to such a degree that he fights Yumichika to see who is the World's Most Beautiful Person. When he focuses on trying to wound Yumichika's body, Yumichika simply gets to the heart of the matter by slashing Cuulhorne's hair. For a battle about beauty, things turn incredibly ugly after that.
    • A milder example than the above is Uryuu Ishida, who has insanely good tailoring skills, with a penchant for making alterations to everyone's clothing in an attempt to improve them (they always end up cute - impressing female characters but not male characters). He's so concerned about his own Quincy outfit that he'll carry spare capes in case the one he's wearing gets damaged in battle. He's trying for Sharp-Dressed Man according to his own weird tastes, but the fact that he does the sewing himself lends it an extra something.
  • Ayame Sohma from Fruits Basket.
    • Runs a boutique.
  • Leonardo Medici Bundle from GoShogun. He appears to be a dandy prince, usually holding a rose or a glass of red wine in his hands.
  • Tamaki Suoh from Ouran High School Host Club. 'Nuff said.
    • All the boys in the club are good-looking and generally sharply turned-out, and the twins are actually the clothing experts by way of their mother, but Tamaki's the only one who seems to really care. The ladykiller variety, except his idea of how to be a ladykiller involves no actual relationships or close contact. Instead, he started a club where he charms women for money that he doesn't care about. One wonders whether it was his father who told him of the existence of Host Clubs, and if Tamaki even knows about regular prostitutes, let alone the classy male kind he's pretending to be.
  • Ciel Phantomhive from Black Butler.
    • Also Viscount Druitt.
    • And Harold West in all his brand name obsessed glory.
  • Dandy from Moetan.
  • Andrea of Gankutsuou.
  • Pegasus from Yu-Gi-Oh!. Or at least in Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series.
  • Sandman from Gravion.
  • Mr. Dandy the vampire from Shanghai Youma Kikai.
  • France admitted to be "The dandiest among the dandies"
  • Fay D. Flourite from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle
  • Both Hotohori and Nuriko from Fushigi Yuugi.

Comic Books

  • The title character of Grant Morrison's miniseries Sebastian O, as well as much of the supporting cast.

"The Dandy has one unique advantage over the common herd. No matter what the situation, whe will always be more exquisitely dressed than his enemies. Therefore, he has already triumphed."

  • In the Shazam comics, Mr. Tawky Tawny is a humanoid tiger who looks very nice with his human clothes, typically a tweed business suit and bow tie.

Film

  • In All About Eve: Addison DeWitt. He's got the posh British accent, the haughty disdain, and the pristine tux.
  • In In search of the Titanic, there's Pingo, a fish toy with a spring. He tries to look as "fabulous" as possible.
  • In Gangs of New York one of the gangs of the five points is described as "A right lot of dandies".
  • Rick Moranis in Streets of Fire, though his suits are actually quite ridiculous.
  • Ken in Toy Story 3.
  • The silent movie classic The Golem has Knight Florian, an effeminate fop that wears a ridiculous hat and is constantly twirling a rose.

Literature

  • From Harry Potter, Gilderoy Lockhart. Oh my word, Gilderoy Lockhart. He makes Liberace look positively conservative by comparison.
  • Percy Blakeney's Rich Idiot With No Day Job Obfuscating Stupidity personality in The Scarlet Pimpernel. The real Percy is nothing like that.
    • The same with Don Diego Vega aka Zorro.
    • These men being the model for Batman's lifestyle.
  • In Wild Cards, Dr. Tachyon comes from a planet of Dandies.
  • Montparnasse. Part of Thenardier's gang, he kills for nice clothing and sounds practically Bishonen-level pretty.
  • Mr. Turveydrop in Bleak House - he has no job skills to speak of, but dresses very stylishly and is well-known in the neighborhood for his Deportment. Unfortunately, he's not independently wealthy, and his family members have to support him in his elegant idleness.
  • Loras Tyrell, anyone? He subverts the "avoids physical confrontations" bit, but otherwise...Good lord, he's slight and beautiful, lovelier even than his sister, cocky, very chivalrous, and is usually impeccably, rather gaudily dressed. A breastplate encrusted with gemstones forming floral patterns? A cloak with actual roses sewn in? Knight of Flowers indeed. And let's not even get started on the rainbow cloak...
    • Lord Renly arguably also fits this trope.
      • Also, Littlefinger in the Live Action TV version.
  • Howl Jenkins is practically the king of this trope. This is the man who gets up in the morning and takes at least three hours to get ready, then goes off and falls in love at the drop of a hat. Who probably owns more cosmetics than Maybelline. Who threw a temper tantrum with green slime when Sophie accidentally tinted his hair strawberry blond.
    • Calcifer predicted that the day Howl forgot to do his hair and face, he might believe he was really in love.
  • Dorian Gray and Lord Henry Wotton are classic examples. Unsurprisingly, they were created by Master Dandy, Oscar Wilde.
  • William Marsh in the Victorian-set fantasy Darkness Visible is a very snappy dresser. He doesn't really fit the "avoids physical confrontation" part (luckily for Lewis, who is only five feet tall, and never learned not to pick fights with people twice his weight). Marsh is an ardent admirer of Oscar Wilde, and his mode of dress reflects his philosophical beliefs.
  • To the general public, Danilo Thann from Elain Cunningham's Forgotten Realms novels fits this trope to a T, though it's really just a part of his Obfuscating Stupidity act.
  • The title character of the Julian Kestrel series is a dandy who solves murder mysteries.
  • Dragonlance: Dalamar. Described as well clad and very good looking and certainly has the behaviour down to a t. He is supposedly hardworking and obsessed with his magical studies as any ambitious mage, but we hear more about his womanizing, his fine china collection (!), his fondness of quality wine and how he fills the formerly proper and self-respecting dark tower with floral displays.
  • In Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian story "Rogues in the House", Murilo. Though we are immediately alerted:

But Murilo, for all his scented black curls and foppish apparel was no weakling to bend his neck to the knife without a struggle.

  • In L. Jagi Lamplighter's Prospero Lost, Miranda, describing her brother Ulysses, mentions his obsession with his clothing.
  • In Poul Anderson's A Midsummer Tempest, Rupert angrily rejects apologies for giving him commoner's clothing while he's prisoner; he's not a popinjay.
  • Anne Elliot's father, Sir Walter Elliot, in Persuasion, is obsessed with his clothes and appearance. When he lets his house to another, more down-to-earth gentleman, the new tenant complains about the great lot of mirrors there are hanging about the place.
  • The Three Musketeers: Aramis is another who subverts "avoids physical confrontations".
  • In Cerberon, George and Aladavan both observe this trope. George plays the part of a dandy when he can idly mooch off a wealthy widow, but when he has to travel, he's practical enough to wear his older, worn dragoon uniform, to prevent his better clothes from becoming dirty or damaged. Aladavan is considerably more vain, wearing top style at all times and cleaning/mending his clothes as soon as possible when they become dirty/damaged. Neither of them are averse to physical confrontation, but Aladavan is more likely to get someone else to do real work for him.
  • Leonard Stecyk in The Pale King wears a stylish carpenter's apron for his high school wood shop class. It keeps his clothes from getting covered in his teacher's blood during an accident with a machine. It also carries his metric-conversion ruler, which he uses to create a perfectly-tied tourniquet.
  • Fashion is one of Bertie Wooster's loves. If he and Jeeves ever have a falling-out, it's usually because he's insisting on wearing some utterly ridiculous article of clothing that Jeeves doesn't approve of. In one episode, he goes through a period of depression because he can't think his way out of Aunt Agatha's latest plan for his future; he cheers himself up by wearing a cummerbund.
  • The Jonathan Green-written branch of Abaddon Books' Pax Britannia series features the character of Ulysses Quicksilver, an agent of Magna Britannia working for the 160-year-old Queen Victoria, who is regularly described as a "dandy adventurer".
  • Lord Peter Wimsey, as part of his Rich Idiot With No Day Job persona.

Live Action TV

  • Firefly: Simon Tam. Rather odd considering some aspects of his profession. In his case he is more serious minded and much of it is a deliberate maintenance of standards in defiance of reality.
    • Actually not so odd. A doctor has good practical reasons to be a fanatic about cleanliness in any case. And a rich doctor would have means to express said tendency even in normal life - and silk is very hygienic, after all...
      • Also, being respectable is useful in the circles he's now traveling in. Even if he could stand to part with another part of his identity, this time for no real reason, it's not sensible to neglect an asset.
    • A more villainous example of this trope is Atherton Wing, with whom Mal comes to blows in one episode. And by blows we mean they stab each other.
  • Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother is a womanizing, lecherous sex fiend who obsesses over his personal appearance (especially his suits). In other words, a modern day foppish dandy.
  • The Third Doctor in Doctor Who, with his velvet smoking jackets, ruffled shirts, capes, and gloves.
    • The First Doctor actually makes reference to this in "The Three Doctors":

So you're my replacements! A dandy and a clown!

  • The third Blackadder series has a few since it's set in the late 1700s/early 1800s. Prince George might be a particularly dim dandy.
  • Jason King from Department S and Jason King was a major sex symbol of the Seventies. He was foppish and camp and spent most of his time drinking, smoking, lounging and shagging. Ultimately, he became the inspiration for Austin Powers.
  • Neal Caffrey from White Collar is always impeccably dressed in 1950's era suits, and his hair is perfectly coiffed at all times. It's too early in the series to tell if this is to cover up something from his past, but the look does finish off his "charming rogue" persona nicely.
  • Richard Castle is something like one of these, having been called a 'metrosexual' by numerous people in the past. He once spent the entire time during a crime scene investigation gushing over the decorative tastes of the owners. Another time, the investigation was briefly sidelined while he introduced Those Two Guys Ryan and Esposito to the victim's range of heated male body products, particularly the shaving cream.
  • Vince Noir of The Mighty Boosh, especially in the third season. His hair is always dyed, teased and styled, he wears capes, gloves, low-cut jumpsuits, stack-heeled platform boots, feather boas, and most of his wardrobe is shiny and/or skin-tight. On the one occasion he shows up dressed in a normal, conservative outfit with plain hair, Howard faints.
  • Monty Pippin from Keen Eddie.
  • Frasier and Niles Crane from Frasier, particularly the latter, who is rarely seen not dressed to the nines in Armani suits.
  • Bewitched had an episode where Endora cast a 'vanity spell' on Darrin, having him dress in a series of increasingly baroque outfits, looking like a 'mod' Louis XIV.

Music

  • The "Carnabetian Army"[1] is mocked in The Kinks' 'Dedicated Follower of Fashion'.

This pleasure-seeking individual always looks his best
 'Cause he's a dedicated follower of fashion

    • The Kinks also did a song called "Dandy". However, its womanizing title character doesn't really appear to be one of these.
  • Adam Ant, as lampshaded in 'Stand and Deliver':

I'm the dandy highwayman so sick of easy fashion
 The clumsy boots, peek-a-boo roots that people think so dashing
 So what's the point of robbery when nothing is worth taking?
 It's kind of tough to tell a scruff the big mistake he's making

  • In the Bette Midler song "Big Socks", from her album Bathhouse Betty. It's a Break Up Song about dumping a Narcissistic Metrosexual man. Like much of Bathhouse Betty, the lyrics apply as well to a gay man as they do to a straight woman.

Don't brag about the diamond rings or the expensive clothes you wear
 'Cause I could care less for what you possess, and your attitude needs repair
 Don't brag about your body baby, and say that you're packing a lot
 ‍'‍Cause all that I see, besides your big feet, is that you've got big socks

Theatre

Video Games

Web Comics

  • Conrad from Hanna Is Not a Boy's Name dresses better than the rest of the cast and is easily the most useless when it comes to actual fights. The author herself even described him as 'metrosexual.'

Western Animation

Real Life

  • Oscar Wilde was one of these par excellence. The fact he was a dandy is the main reason that we have the Camp Gay stereotype in the West.
  • J-rock musician Gackt.
  • Interior designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen is this.
  • Michael Jackson was arguably an a real-life example of this with his interest in his personal appearance and fixation with beauty in music, dance and lyrics.
  • Poet Charles Baudelaire was a self-proclaimed dandy, spending tons of money on clothes despite being in debt most of his life.
  • British comedian Russell Brand.
  • Huge numbers of men in the 17th to 19th centuries would have fit this trope, since it was the style of the time. Notable dandies include Beau Brummell (the common name for this trope in the 19th century), King George IV, and Samuel Pepys, who once fretted for days about whether his lace cuffs should be trimmed with silver or gold. Note that there was little Ho Yay to this, since The Dandy was seen as almost hyper-heterosexual. (After all, every girl's crazy for a Sharp-Dressed Man.)
    • You can add Giamondo Casanova to the list; he made a point of out-fopping every other male in the general region where he was staying at any given time.
  • Louis XIV of France was a dandy who subverted the trope in order to better control the French nobility. He made his most senior noblemen attend him at all times, and instead of giving them money or titles allowed them privileges such as being allowed to help him dress, undress, or eat dinner. (It took about 200 men and an hour and a half to help Louis get dressed most mornings.) The point was to keep them at Versailles doing pointless and stupid things, which he hoped would prevent them from raising peasant armies against him. To paraphrase Will Cuppy: if you think society's bad now, be glad you don't have to get up at seven in the morning to watch Louis XIV put on his pants.
  • Maxmilien Robespierre, being a French lawyer living in the 18th century. Due to the whole "French Revolution" thing going on, the excesses of the French nobility were obviously falling out of fashion for his social circle, but he never stopped caring about dressing fastidiously neatly.
  • The late Don Meredith, something of The Pete Best to Roger Staubach's Ringo as quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, was nicknamed "Dandy Don."
  • Fashion writer Patrick McDonald; full stop. Seriously, Google search this guy. Full. Stop.
  1. ↑ That is, from Carnaby Street
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