The Cut of His Coat by Brent Shannon - A Review

[Sator]

I have just finished reading this book which I received in the mail through Amazon this morning.

If there were a simple summary of the book I would dare to say it was a superbly written history of dandyism from the nineteenth century down to the present. The author modestly claims to cover only the periods of 1860 to 1914 but he is forced to discuss the Beau Brummel period of the early 19th century Regency Period right through to the present. Far from being the frivolously written facile populist writing one usually encounters when discussing the topic of dandyism this book is a seriously researched piece of sociology which deals with the dandy in every manifestation throughout this time period. At times the dandy was the hero while at others villainised for his effeminacy - such as following the scandal surrounding Oscar Wilde. With the rise of the middle class came the masher, the gent, the knut, the swell, the cad - and finally in the epilog the metrosexual and the retrosexual are all seen as variations on the same theme through history amid a changing social background.

The book is immediately captivating from its opening passage:

In May, 1904, the London Men’s Monthly Fashion reprinted in full a letter to the Irish Independent by a frustrated tailor and closet reader of popular fiction. “I wonder what it is that the writers of fiction pay so little attention to costuming of their male characters,” the letter began; “Of course nobody expects a man’s clothes to be as interesting as a woman’s but they certainly deserve more than they get in novels, particularly the novels of women. The tailor cautiously admitted that he had lately begun to read a great deal of fiction, “not because I like it, but because I was anxious to find out how real heroes dressed. I didn’t learn much. Judging by the scant courtesy accorded the apparel of mankind in literature, they didn’t do much dressing”...”It isn’t fair to us tailors,” he concluded; “Dressmakers get a good write-up on almost every page of the popular novels but the tailor is cut down to about six lines in the whole book”.

The whole culture of menswear as being something that must be presented as though completely uncalculated yet presented with sprezzatura (the author never uses that word but it came to mind numerous times as I was reading the book) is traced. Part and parcel with this was the Victorian eshewal of anything other than solid black for serious business attired with all other colours being regarded as being ostentatious to the point of being almost morally suspect. The author does an extraordinary job of unearthing the extremes gentlemen went to to produce an air of such sprezzatura - of an extreme calculated uncalculatedness that demanded of itself that it be forgotten while all the while presenting itself as the perfect manifestation of gentlemanly ways. In the course of this history too had hitherto forgotten this hidden world of masculine elegance of a dandyism which daren't even admit its dandyism in case it was seen as something excessively affected and effeminate.

Later the whole history of the dominance of the black frock coat is followed until its demise with rise of the lounge suit in the latter 19th to early 20th century. It becomes clear that the lounge suit arose in the age of increasing mass production and the rise of ready-to-wear clothing causing a demise in bespoke tailoring. After all the lounge suit was loose fitting and the precisely tailored forms of the frock coat was alien to mass production. In the course of this the question of dandyism and ready-to-wear vs bespoke is inevitably raised.

Right throughout the book there are numerous carefully chosen illustrations which enrich the reading experience enormously. The writing style is inviting and fluent throughout in the way the narrative of the history of dandyism is presented to us. I must confess to have been unable to put it down and read it from cover to cover in the course of a single evening.

In conclusion I would say this is the best book on the history of menswear I have yet to read which covers issues that remain true to our hearts and regularly discussed on the forum. Essential reading and heartily recommended to all. Indeed you might even see it as a perfect accompaniment to Manton’s book The Suit, whose original intended title was of course - The Dandy.

The Cut of His Coat by Brent Shannon
ISBN 0821417037
Ohio University Press (October 2, 2006)
http://www.amazon.com/Cut-His-Coat-Cons ... F8&s=books

http://www.cutterandtailor.com/forum

[Costi]

Thank you for such an interesting review, that unveils just enough to stir the curiosity. Incidentally I am currently reading a similar book called "Dandysm. A HIstory" by Adriana Babeti, a compared literature professor. I was intrigued by such a topic being approached by a lady and I must say I have not been disappointed yet. It is a pitty it is not translated in a language that more people can understand (I avoid naming that necessarily "English", even though English is the "official" language of the LL). At any rate, I notice an increasing interest for the subject among writers (and editors, implicitly). Is it a good sign? Or is it that, being considered defunct, elegant dress (and dandysm) are already being studied as "history"?