These behaviors were not initially associated with femininity, but rather vanity. The dandy lifestyle required hours devoted to shopping, styling, and pampering of the self. Some famous historical figures considered to be dandies include Lord Byron, Charles Baudelaire, Salvador Dali, and Oscar Wilde.

As Thomas Carlyle so famously wrote, “A Dandy is a clothes-wearing Man, a Man whose trade, office and existence consists in the wearing of clothes.” These men were known for their material indulgence and extensive primping, as well as their theatrical nature. He was elegant, sophisticated, and snobbish, taking on amplified staples of the bourgeoisie. Across all of these mediums, he was characterized first and foremost as a purveyor of high fashion. The dandy was both a figure in literature, a style of dress, as well as a sort of lifestyle. We’ll also take a closer look at the similarities between the dandy lifestyle, nonbinary gender expression, and asexuality.

Here we’re exploring the dandy lifestyle as queer––not solely homosexual––with a particular focus on the dandy as asexual, an often ignored historical possibility. Although these men were slaves to fashion, they pioneered a new mode of queer expression still emulated today, both in gender expression and in lifestyle. “The dandy serves to illuminate the oft-overlooked possibility of asexuality and celibacy as queer modes of living.” - Karli June Cerankowskiĭandies appeared on the page, stage, and European streets beginning in the nineteenth century, reaching into the twentieth century.

Asexualities by Karli June Cerankowski