A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and the cultivation of leisurely hobbies. Some dandies, especially in Britain in the late 18th and 19th century, strove to affect aristocratic values even though many came from common backgrounds. Thus, a dandy could be considered a kind of snob.
The Dandical Body from Sartor Resartus by Thomas Carlyle:
"A Dandy is a clothes-wearing Man, a Man whose trade, office and existence consists in the wearing of Clothes. Every faculty of his soul, spirit, purse, and person is heroically consecrated to this one object, the wearing of Clothes wisely and well: so that the others dress to live, he lives to dress...And now, for all this perennial Martyrdom, and Poesy, and even Prophecy, what is it that the Dandy asks in return? Solely, we may say, that you would recognise his existence; would admit him to be a living object; or even failing this, a visual object, or thing that will reflect rays of light..."
First Fixie Hipster Dandys (Note the skinny jeans, hat, and unshaven face/tousled hair)
New Romantic
Decadence and narcissism were recurring themes in the New Romantic movement that began in London nightclubs in the 1980s. The movement was all about style, as former punks clothed themselves in surreal, anarchic glamour and romance, and postured.
It was all about making "an effort to look flamboyant in an attractive, luxuriant, beautiful, narcissistic way"with icons such as David Bowie, Boy George, Adam & the Ants, Bryan Ferry, Gary Numan, Soft Cell and Duran Duran.
Metrosexuality
In 1994, in the British Newspaper The Independent journalist Mark Simpson first coined the term "Metrosexual".
In 2002 he went on to further define the term on Salon.com.
"Well, perhaps it takes one to know one, but to determine a metrosexual, all you have to do is look at them. In fact, if you're looking at them, they're almost certainly metrosexual. The typical metrosexual is a young man with money to spend, living in or within easy reach of a metropolis -- because that's where all the best shops, clubs, gyms and hairdressers are. He might be officially gay, straight or bisexual, but this is utterly immaterial because he has clearly taken himself as his own love object and pleasure as his sexual preference. Particular professions, such as modeling, waiting tables, media, pop music and, nowadays, sport, seem to attract them but, truth be told, like male vanity products and herpes, they're pretty much everywhere."[11]
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