There’s a superfine line between showing off and showing out.
That’s where the dandies dance.
They’re fierce, fearless fashion plates — clotheshorses who dare to wear flashy ’fits as a form of self-expression, radiance and rebellion.
The dapper aesthetic will take center stage at the Met Gala on the first Monday in May, where fashion-forward celebrities will showcase their style in line with this year’s theme, “Tailored for You.”
This personalized theme is inspired by the forthcoming exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, titled “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” which will be open for viewing from May 10 to October 26.
This fashion event serves as a cultural and historical exploration of suits and menswear, drawing inspiration from Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book, “Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity.”
Dandy modus operandi
“So, what is a black dandy?” Miller, a guest curator of the exhibition, asked. “Historically, the term ‘dandy’ was used to describe someone, often a man, who is extremely devoted to aesthetics and approaches it as a lifestyle.”
Over time — from slavery and servitude to the great migration, the Harlem Renaissance, the black liberation movement and into modern day — the look-at-me attire (and attitude) has created political panache, born from the marrying of African and European style traditions.
“Black dandyism has become a form of visual resistance,” Shelby Ivey Christie, a fashion and costume historian, told The Post. “The refined, sophisticated styling makes powerful statements about identity, politics, queerness, gender norms and sexuality.”
Beyond the glitz of the glam gala — helmed by Anna Wintour, Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky and Pharrell Williams, with LeBron James as honorary chair — the exhibit explores the evolution of black style across 300 years.
The exhibit is organized into 12 sections, each representing a characteristic that defines the style: Ownership, Presence, Distinction, Disguise, Freedom, Champion, Respectability, Jook, Heritage, Beauty, Cool and Cosmopolitanism.
The first six sections highlight historical pieces, while the final six feature objects from the 20th century and beyond.
Dapper dandies
The dandy figure first swaggered onto the scene in Enlightenment-era Europe during the 18th century, when the Atlantic slave trade created a trend in fashionably dressed, or dandified, servants.
Having a staff of male domestics in haute livery — tailored overcoats, double-breasted jackets, waist coats, cravats, custom trousers, knee breeches and top hats — was a sign of prestige for the nobility, both overseas and in America, in the 1700s.
It made the owners look good in high society. And sporting lavish looks made the workers feel good too.
“The exhibition explores how the history of black dandyism illustrates the transformation from being enslaved and stylized as luxury items, acquired like any other signifier of wealth and status, to autonomous, self-fashioning individuals who are global trendsetters,” Miller said.
Miller, a professor and chair of Africana Studies at Barnard College, collaborated with Andrew Bolton, the Costume Institute’s curator, to present a selection of vintage and contemporary garments, accessories, drawings, paintings, prints and photographs for “Superfine.”
It’s a title that not only speaks to the swank quality of fabrics but also the sense of self-confidence one exudes in dandy wear.
“[This is] our department’s first exhibition devoted to menswear in more than 20 years,” Bolton raved, praising the institute’s collection of “high-style menswear, which serves as a foundation for imagining and realizing this important sartorial history.”
Dames can be dandy too
The emphasis on men’s fashion notwithstanding, dandyism is, surprisingly, not exclusive to the fellas.
The spectacle pays homage to Ralph Kerwineo and Stormé DeLarverie, prominent entertainers of the early 20th century — when guys (and some gals) donned high-waisted, wide-legged and stylishly baggy zoot suits.
Kerwineo and DeLarverie were both born women, but they each donned typical male attire as an expression of their nonconforming gender identities.
Suiting up in dandified suits is now, too, en vogue among A-list ladies, including Rihanna, Melania Trump, Nicole Kidman, Ayo Edebiri, Teyana Taylor, Janelle Monáe, Demi Moore, Jennifer Lopez and rapper Doechii.
One of the dozen exhibit sections, Disguise, highlights “how race, class and gender cross-dressing enabled black people to convey the ways in which identity is dependent on, and can be manipulated by, conventions of dress,” per the Met.
‘Respect’
For another exhibit section, Respectability, curators centered grooming and dress as tools of power and distinction.
Black political and cultural leaders, such as abolitionist Frederick Douglass and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois, set the tone in that collection, which considers the politics of assimilation, activism and propriety.
The space features items owned and worn by Douglass, photographs of Du Bois, a bespoke Morty Sills suit owned by the late Vogue editor-at-large André Leon Talley, and an ensemble from the 2022 Polo Ralph Lauren collections for Morehouse and Spelman colleges.
‘Beauty’
“Beauty,” a gallery inspired by a 1969 poem from Nikki Giovanni, honors the loud and proud wow-wear of the 1970s and ’80s dandy — a swing away from menswear norms.
“Following the seismic social justice movements of the 1960s, black men converted their previous social invisibility into a form of radiance that relied on their hypervisibility, pride and panache,” according to the Met. “[It] allowed for an experimentation with norms of masculinity, gender identity and sexuality.”
Rather than rocking garb that promoted false stereotypes of “strong” and “hard” black masculinity, guys — from Hollywood to Harlem — donned wardrobes that featured leather and drapery, lace, ruffles and sequins.
Contemporary ensembles include an ornate white number punctuated with a behemoth bow by rising designer Marvin Desroc; green sequin-embellished trousers and an oversize newsboy hat via fashion house Theophilio; and a chartreuse piece from luxe designer LaQuan Smith.
‘Cool’
The Cool section of showpieces salutes stylized casual dress, the loose-fitting, funky fashions championed by black designers, tastemakers and everyday cool kids of the current times.
“Cardigans, tracksuits and denim, born out of a resistance to constraining formality, demonstrate the art of being unbothered and nimble — even in politics,“ the Met notes.
The exhibition hails “cool” as an undefinable concept that “relies on the creation of a mood or an atmosphere in which fashion, accessories, pose and gait come together to attract notice and desire.”
Contemporary highlights include a sculptured, striped polo from Botter, as well as a tailored suit by English designer Grace Wales Bonner and blue denim regalia from UK designer Bianca Saunders.
“The look reflects both Savile Row-inspired craftsmanship,” Saunders said of her chichi togs online, “and the flamboyant, avant-garde spirit of black dandyism.”
