Legendary dandy Oscar Wilde once declared "One should either be a work of art or wear a work of art," a sentiment endorsed by designer Christian Dior, who acknowledged dandyism as a significant influence on his fashion.

   The Dior family home, now a museum, on the Normandy coast at Granville,
this week opened an exhibition celebrating dandyism in all its manifestations
that will last through the summer.

   One of the star exhibits is a white shirt belonging to Wilde, dating from
when he was living in penniless exile in a seedy Paris hotel after his
disgrace, under an assumed name which was a cryptic allusion to his
homosexuality.

Lent by his only grandson, biographer Christopher Holland, it was one of the items of clothing he wore up  to his death, when he  famously remarked that he was also "dying beyond my means".

   The exhibition spans two centuries of dandies, marking the bicentenary of the birth of Jules Barbey D'Aurevilley, also a native of Normandy, who wrote a definitive treatise on dandyism.

   Dior was a great admirer of D'Aurevilley, crediting him with inspiring him
to incorporate elements of masculine elegance in his designs for women, the
beginnings of androgyny. There is a photo of Dior dressed as D'Aurevilley for
the famous masked "Bal des Artistes" in 1956, which current Dior chief
designer John Galliano chose as his theme for his haute couture show marking
the house's 60th anniversary last year.

   Dior's costume was based on the most authoritative portrait of D'Aurevilley
by Emile Levy (1881), which shows him as an imposing moustachioed figure with
a lace-trimmed cravat. In a display case by the painting is an almost
identical cravat and a pair of natty red-embroidered white gloves from his
wardrobe and a pair of his boots, the veritable badge of a dandy.

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