The elegant, the dandy, the flaneur
Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:05 pm
It is time to try some definitions 
I have my own distinction, which may not be the common one, but its the one I use:
The elegant is that who possesses elegance, that is, one who has the QUALITY of looking well (Being visually appealing) with clothes. This is restricted to clothing elegance, but general elegance is harder to define.
The dandy is him who has the ABILITY to dress well by his knowledge of dressing and clothing, through his interest and not through a given attribute as the elegant.
The Flaneur... Perhaps the best I can think of is that it is him who looks well dressed, not by his given elegance or dandy knowledge through interest, but by the given knowledge of dressing, that is, the flaneur has an ability for visual appreciation and dressing that he has not developed but has as a given attribute, he has the INTUITION/INSTINCT for dressing.
Perhaps this is all too technical but if I were to use a sentence, it would be: The elegant looks well with the clothes; the dandy looks well dressed (well clothed); the flaneur makes the clothes look well. Elegance, a Quality; Dandyism, an Ability; Flaneur, Intuition/Instinct.
It is not that any is better or worse, but that you have to think about which you are, and improve it. Also, there may very well be a mixture of two or even the three of these in a person.