Having finished
Fitzgerald’s novel and Luhrman’s film adaptation, I’ll be writing about the
eponymous hero of the “The Great Gatsby” and then the foray of dandyism in
today’s age. To clarify to the uninitiated, dandyism refers to a character who
dresses in a style that stands out from the norm quite extravagantly,
originating from Beau Brummell of the 18th century.
Jay Gatsby’s style is one of rakish dandyism,
looking at either the Robert Redford or Leonardo Di Caprio film we can physically
see how dandified his suits are. The (in)famous pink suit from the novel
transpires in Di Caprio’s version as a 3 piece chalk stripe suit (left). The jacket
has peak lapels, turn back cuffs (an Edwardian feature), 3 buttons with a low
placement and he wears it with a collar pin shirt, a tie with pink and burgundy
stripes that follow the British direction and a burgundy pocket square. While
the mentioned elements are examples of dandyism, the most striking feature is
obviously the colour of the cloth. Pink is a versatile colour for shirts in any
man’s wardrobe but for suits, it only serves as a dandified summer outfit. Robert
Redford’s version is still dandified but has notch lapels, and a double
breasted waistcoat with shawl lapels. It looks good on Gatsby because he is a man known, or at least gives the impression for it in his ambiguous character, for being extravagant. His shirts, he notes in the novel, are finest quality from English,probably Jermyn Street in London. 
The dinner suit he
wears in the film is equally interesting, but perhaps is forgivable because of
the era. Black Tie was still a relatively new dress code in the 1920s and this
meant that many dinner suits at the time had certain artistic flairs as people
began experimenting and merging elements of Formal and Semi Formal evening
wear. Gatsby seems to be wearing a high buttoning (3 or 4) single breasted peak
lapelled jacket in midnight blue with black silk facings. The waistcoat
underneath is also rather highly cut and seems to be midnight blue with a fine
pinstripe. A later dinner suit seems to show a matching plain midnight
waistcoat with lapels.
It was also interesting to note, although probably just an example of Luhrman splendor, the first Gatsby party that Nick Carraway, played rather well by Toby Maguire(above), attends having been
invited by Mr Gatsby seems an eclectic mix of Black Tie, White Tie, Stroller
and Sports formal wear.
While many of the
male characters in the 2013 film dress in a style that might seem dandyish to a
modern audience (Carraway wears a shirt with a club collar, Tom Buchannan wears
a double breasted waistcoat that covers almost all of his torso and three piece
suits are commonplace in it) it should be noted that the 1920s were a decade
when not only were suits worn in abundance, more stylish cuts were emerging as
part of a post -war rejection of past stuffiness.
By contrast in
this current decade, wearing suits has become a boring chore for many, only
wearing one when they absolutely have to. Many workplaces offer a dress code
that only stipulates a shirt and tie and some, particularly over the summer
where people find wearing a shirt and tie too much, even suggest a cessation of
dress codes all together. I appreciate that the warm weather makes wearing
shirts and ties uncomfortable, but this problem is encouraged by ill fitting
shirts that are made of less breathable materials. A suit jacket on top of this
adds to the problem, but a lighter colour and material jacket still retains
smartness without becoming as uncomfortable as dark colours.
Wearing a three
piece suit, even if it is in conservative in cut, colour and pattern and mixed
with a plain white shirt and muted tie, would look dandified to many today because
it contrasts with a smart casual look adopted by the majority of others. Dandy
styles, by old standards, still exist today however; fashion designers and high
street suit retailers offer tailoring in brighter, bolder colours and patterns
and cuts. Brooks Brothers have even gone to the extent that they are offering Gatsby-esque products as part of the S/S 2013 range. This peacock style of bright and bold tailoring is arguably to suggest that wearing a suit need not be boring. The idea
of suit wearing being boring must come from the false interpretation that formality
is dull. I’d hazard that it’s because looking clean cut and traditional is not
as cool as the androgynous look of today’s fashion conscious who, like generations
of youth before them, go to great lengths to style their hair thoroughly yet think dressing formally is an arduous
task.
Formality has
always had a relationship with dandification, as Nicholas Antongiovanni
describes the difference as the former being “solemnity combined with obeisance
to established modes of propriety” while the latter is “panache or strikingness
combined with rarity”. Colour plays an important role in each; dark colours are
more formal and bright colours on suits are more dandified. There is nothing
boring in my eyes about formality even if it has connotations of fustiness,
it’s still equally easy to look good in a conservative style just adding a
pocket square in a flat fold to match the shirt or subtle cufflinks which
contrasts to the elaborate puffs of silk handkerchiefs that a dandy might wear.
I suppose my overall
point is that: While I lament that suit
wearing is not a common practice these days and therefore makes those who wear
them look, at worst, square or, at best, dandified compared to their casual counterparts,
I value the suit’s uniqueness in these circumstances and advise others to bring
it back into the foray as something to wear in many circumstances, not just
weddings and funerals.
(Image Credits:
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