Item 5: Replica of suit worn by Max Beerbohm (1993)

Julie Carlsen: Dandyism is a little bit hard to define and quantify. Max Beerbohm defined dandyism as “the perfect flower of outward elegance” with an influence that, “like the scent of a flower, is diffused unconsciously.”

Beerbohm’s outward elegance is evidenced here in the replica of his suit created by the London tailors Anderson & Sheppard. Max Beerbohm had a specific style of suit, a specific hat. His notebook was monogrammed with his initials. He smoked cigarettes that bore his name. Everything about the way he dressed was part of this careful image that he presented, and smoking was part of that.

He wanted to have this certain, like, carefree, leisurely image—“I’m wealthy and I just hang out and smoke”—and that’s not entirely inaccurate because a lot of what he did in Italy was get up and dress nice and just kind of live that life.

But it was also just—I think especially when you think about the early years—it’s, I guess in some ways a “fake it till you make it.” Not that Max was faking his dandyism, but it’s a little bit of, like, dressing for who he wanted to be, who he wanted to project to the world. And in doing so, he created a sort of brand for himself. You know Max because he’s wearing a suit, because he always has a flower, because he’s always smoking. It also created a reproducible image that could be easily and probably unconsciously recognized by the public.