Kate Irvin & Laurie Anne Brewer-Fabricating a Dream: The Dandy's Silhouette

Drawing from their publication Artist/Rebel/Dandy: Men of Fashion (Yale University Press, 2013), Kate Irvin and Laurie Brewer will discuss the sometimes extreme physical transformations evident in the dandy's silhouette. The fashion practices of this iconic character will be analyzed through caricatures dating to the age of Beau Brummel, the quintessential dandy, and an examination of the artful modification of the male body at the hand of the tailor. In laying bare the secrets of the dandy aesthetic, the authors will present a figure who employed profound imagination in his appearance as he forged a unique path to self-discovery and self-expression.