Here's an excellent little
blog posting from Dandyism.net. The photos give you an excellent idea of what the Gatsby set looked like -- the way they dressed, the way the men wore their facial hair -- for example, with the pencil-thin military mustache or the handlebar mustache -- and the way they sat around looking cool even while wearing striped socks. Check out the yellow car in one of the photos, a replica of Gatsby's wheels.
In case you're wondering what a "dandy" is, take a look at "
Anatomy of a Dandy." Here's an excerpt:
The magic of dandyism resides in the interplay between the dandy’s temperament and his appearance. Yet it is not a question of simple harmony, for one dandy may combine severe dress with a jocular demeanor, while another meshes cold aloofness with colorful and audacious dress. Nevertheless, what follows is an attempt to describe the indescribable, to unravel the formula of dandyism’s certain something. A dandy exhibits the following characteristics:
1. Physical distinction: Dandyism can only be painted on a suitable canvas. It is impossible to cut a dandy figure without being tall, slender and handsome, or having at least one of those characteristics to a high degree while remaining at least average in the other two. Fred Astaire was neither tall nor handsome, but he was “so thin you could spit through him.”
2. Elegance: Elegance, of course, as defined by the standards of a dandy’s particular era.Dandies must love contemporary costume, says Beerbohm, and their dress should be “free from folly or affectation.”
3. Self-mastery: Barbey speaks of the dandy’s staunch determination to remain unmoved, while Baudelaire says that should a dandy suffer pain, he will “keep smiling.”
4. Aplomb: While self-mastery is the internal practice of keeping emotions in check, aplomb is how it is expressed to the dandy’s audience.
5. Independence: Ideally financial independence, but if the dandy is forced to work, a spirit of independence will be expressed through his work, as with Tom Wolfe. Independence — often to the point of aloofness — will also characterize the dandy’s dealings with the world.
6. Wit: Especially a paradoxical way of talking lightly of the serious and seriously of the light that carries philosophical implications.
7. Blasé: A skeptical, world-weary, sophisticated, bored or blasé demeanor8. Egotism: A self-mocking and ultimately endearing egotism
9. Dignity/Reserve
10. Discriminating taste
11. A renaissance man: A complete gentleman, who, according to Sir Fopling, ought to dress well, dance well, fence well, have a genius for love letters, and an agreeable voice for a chamber.
12. Caprice: Because dandies are an enigma wrapped in a labyrinth, and because dandyism makes its own rules, the final quality is the ability to negate all the others.
Gents, if you think you might be a dandy, take the "
How dandy are you?" quiz.
I've been told that, due to the CAT testing, we will likely have a shortened period on Monday (May 3) and no class on Tuesday (May 4). Assuming that's accurate, I have drawn up the assignment schedule for our unit on The Great Gatsby. I will hand out a hardcopy of the assignment sheet on Monday, along with blank data sheets. I've also posted the assignment sheet online so you can take a look at what's ahead. The introductory material is also now available online.
