Dandyism vs Fashion Plate
ダンディズム / ファッションプレート
Both sit in Fashion History, so the question is not what they belong to but how they behave. One is style and the other technique. They are reached for with some of the same intent, which is where they get confused.
Dandyism
A menswear aesthetic that makes a work of the self through tailoring, cleanliness and restraint rather than ornament. From it come the plain suit and a long line of self-assertion through dress.
Fashion Plate
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The illustrated medium that delivered the latest fashion in hand-colored prints, the ancestor of the magazine, the illustration and the style drawing.
| Dandyism | Fashion Plate | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | 1790s– | 1770s–1930s |
| Family | Fashion History | Fashion History |
| Kind | Style | Technique |
| Cues | Perfect tailoring / Restrained color / The cleanliness of white linen / Obsession with detail | Hand-colored linework / Idealized poses / Descriptive costume drawing / Periodical format |
| Best used for | Reaching status through cut and cleanliness instead of color or pattern · Fitting one garment to a body that will wear it for years | Conveying cut and detail more precisely than a photograph can · Following the season as a running series in one fixed format |
| Type | Keep any mark inside the lining and let nothing show outside | One quiet line of description in a light face under the figure |
| Composition | Follow shoulder and waist to the body, set length and lapel from build | Show front and back side by side over a single faint shadow |
| Material | Fine worsted, white linen, polished leather, all kept by hand | Fine engraved outline with hand color, ground left as paper |
| Caution | Assuming that costlier cloth is always better leaves the fit unresolved and the look showy, and restraint, the whole point, disappears. | Leaning on a beautiful pose hides how the sleeve is set and the hem finished, and the plate stops working as a record. |