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“Typefaces are clothes for words and like a finely tailored suit, it’s the detail in their composition that adds interest.”

—Jim Williams, Type Matters!

Introduction Welcome to the Type Museum and the exhibit Dandy Styles: Typography and Men’s Fashion. We invite you to explore the dual paths of typefaces and menswear—fashionable dress for men and for letterforms—from the High Renaissance to today. Dandy Styles makes illuminating connections between menswear and typography, drawing from artwork of each period and typefaces of the day. The exhibition traces cultural influences over the centuries, examines how the times have profoundly shaped fashionable dress and type, and reveals how innovations in both have taken shape over time. Dandy Styles features seven time periods, from the sixteenth century to the twenty-first century, and celebrates a rich history of restraint and resplendence in menswear and typefaces. As you weave your way through each time period, you will learn about the common attitudes of the time. You will discover the style of men’s clothing by viewing artwork that represents this style. You will learn about a class of typefaces and an iconic typeface that represents the period, shown through the text set in that particular typeface. We encourage you to consider how both the menswear and the typefaces represent their era and to think about what may develop in the future.

High Renaissance 1495â&#x20AC;&#x201C;1550

Refinements in Form The High Renaissance stressed the goodness of human beings. With the invention of the printing press in 1440, there was a greater spread of ideas, and artists could sell prints of their work. Travel increased and art became more international.

square profile Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clothing was long and narrow in the early sixteenth century but gradually grew wider. By 1550 the silhouette was almost square, with shoulder emphasis achieved through wide collars and large sleeves. Fashionable clothes consisted of a linen shirt, a short jacket with matching sleeves, and a vest cut low to the waist in front to reveal the jacket beneath. There were full skirts to the knee, knee-length hose with a prominent codpiece, separate stockings held up with garters, and an overgown, or robe, lined with fur, slashed, and with sleeves. The overgown was to the ankle early on but knee length by 1530.

old style serifs The Garamond typeface of 1528 is classified as an old style serif, and it marked the transition from Gothic letters to the Roman alphabet we recognize today, refining the work of others from a century before. Claude Garamond was the most distinguished type designer of his time. This was not type masquerading as manuscript but type on its own terms. The conscious Renaissance fashion was to die for. mastery of technique by German mercenary soldiers wore whatever they wanted because Garamond ensures his typetheir life expectancy was brief. face remains the most popuDoublets were slashed at the front lar early font still in use today. and back. Sleeves and shirts were pulled through to form puffs of different-colored fabric. This made these men easily recognizable.

Age of Reason 1685–1815

Becoming Modern The Age of Reason, or the Enlightenment, embraced the idea that humanity could be improved through rational change. It produced numerous books, laws, inventions, scientific discoveries, and wars.

streamlined profile Men’s fashion changed rapidly in the eighteenth century. Early suits emphasized the waist. Coats and waistcoats were long and lightly flared. They had a more closely fitted waist and three vents, one at the back and each side, and the skirts were stiffened to flare out. Sleeves had very wide cuffs early on, getting narrower after 1740. Waistcoats became shorter and suits less enveloping. A suit now required less fabric. Preferences in textiles moved away from very large patterns and heavy brocades to smaller designs in lighter silks.

transitional serifs The Baskerville typeface, created in 1754, was unusually slender, delicate, well balanced, and tasteful for its time. It seemed modern, though type historians now classify it as a transitional serif, a step beyond old style serifs. Like the makers of men’s clothing of the era, John Baskerville was an innovator: His wooden presses made a shallower impression, his inks were darker and dried more Clothes make the man? Some disquickly, and he invented a agree on the subject of this portrait. There are those who argue it is new method to create Joseph Wilton, a popular sculptor, smooth paper. chiefly because the clothes suggest 1760 and because Wilton was known to be fashion conscious and spend a good amount on clothing.

Neoclassical Era 1770–1830

Elegance: In or Out? Neoclassicism reﬂected a desire to rekindle the spirit and forms of classical art from ancient Greece and Rome. As in the Enlightenment, its principles were order and reason. It was also a reaction against the ostentation of the French court.

cotton trousers In Paris during the French Revolution (1789–1799), wearing the clothing of the former regime became dangerous. The markers of aristocracy and privilege such as silk and satin fell out of favor and even invited physical assault. Before the revolution, men of social standing never wore trousers. They were worn only by the lower classes, whose dress was typically a plain linen shirt, short wool jacket, and striped cotton trousers. Little of men’s clothing from this period survived, so those examples that do bear witness to a tumultuous period that altered the course of modern history.

modern serifs Giambattista Bodoni, one of the designers credited with inventing the modern serif class of typefaces, created Bodoni in 1796, by building on the transitional Baskerville. He created even greater contrast between thin and thick lines and made long, fine serifs. Improved printing and paper allowed for far thinner strokes without the worry of them cracking or disappearing on the page. Bodoni’s work is still considered among the most refined and elegant ever produced, but The dandy was a stock male character found in many fashion he worked for the Duke of Parma and had unlimited illustrations and caricatures between 1780 and 1830. Coined in time and money. about 1780, the term referred to smartly dressed young men who liked to put themselves and their fashionable clothes on display.

Industrial Revolution 1760–1840

For the Masses Industrialization marked a shift to powered, specialpurpose machinery, factories, and mass production. Predominantly agrarian, rural societies in Europe and America became industrial and urban. inventions and patents

A military tailor used vertical and horizontal lines to create a graduated tailoring system, based on the chest measurement, for which a patent was granted in 1816. By the 1830s mass-produced suit fabric was widely available. The invention of the lock-stitch sewing machine in 1846 led to the development of systematized pattern making. A graded cutting system to more easily customize suits was developed in 1850. These systems were long lived, with many variations. slab serifs

The invention of steam-powered presses in the 1820s led to the growth of poster advertisements. These required typefaces that shouted at the public, and the new slab serifs—typefaces with squared off serifs— did just that. In 1844, R. Besley & Co. Type Founders released Clarendon as a heavy face to accompany standard text composition in directories and dictionaries. Although Clarendon was the ﬁrst typeface to be copyrighted, it was The term “fashion plate” ﬁrst

so popular that it was

appeared in the mid-nineteenth

copied and pirated.

century. It is an illustration (printing plate) of fashionable styles of clothing. It was used to show the style of clothes that a tailor, dressmaker, or store could provide, and came to mean a fashionable person.

Modernist Era 1890 –1940

Being Practical The Modernist Era includes the devastating First World War and the time of peace up until the Second World War, characterized by economic boom and bust, and the growth of polarizing ideologies, Fascism and Communism in particular. sack suits

Sack suits were less formal ensembles that ﬁrst emerged in the 1840s for sport. Intended for informal occasions, by the 1890s they had become common business wear in cities. Front trouser creases also appeared in the 1890s and cuffs became more common, although they remained informal. World War I (1914–1918) and its devastation upset many of these dress codes forever, and in the process remade men’s fashion. Though dark suits persisted after the war, men’s dress became more casual. humanist sans serif

In contrast to the geometric sans serifs also popular at the time, the humanist sans serif Gill Sans has a friendly warmth. It first appeared in 1928, created by Eric Gill. It was very British—spare, proper, proud, and adopted by the Church of England, the BBC, Penguin Books, and British Railways. Its popularity and wide use showed Gill Sans to be very workable and carefully structured for They are not known as “sack coats” because they fit like a sack. mass reproduction. It was This refers to how the back is cut, not the most charming meaning made of two pieces, cut typeface but was inherently straight down, instead of consisting trustworthy and practical. of four curved pieces including tails as on more formal and traditional coats such as tail coats.

Information Age 1945 –1979

Global Growth The Information Age, or Post-War Era, was a period of economic prosperity after World War II and was characterized by a shift from traditional industry to an economy based on information computerization. mod fashion

Everything started moving much faster after World War II. Popular culture was now mod and hip. The youthquake— the 1960s fashion, music, and culture movement—defined men’s fashion in terms of opposites: functional or flamboyant, discrete or displaying, and selfless or self-interested. The militant masculinity of the Vietnam War was rejected, and androgyny was embraced, in the form of long hair, flowers, and colorful clothing. neo - grotesque sans serif

Helvetica was released in 1957 as a modernization of Akzidenz Grotesk from 1898. It is a neo-grotesque sans serif since it was based on the earlier grotesque sans serif. Grotesque was the term for sans serifs; serifs kept letters from looking awkward. Max Meidinger created Helvetica for the Haas foundry in Switzerland. It became one of the most famous and recognizable typefaces when Swiss modernism transformed the post-war indusBy the early 1950s, Emilio trial world. To some it Pucci’s boutique on Capri was catering to movie stars. At the represents the industrialheight of its popularity, in the military complex, and to 1960s, Pucci was everywhere, others it is simply clean helping define “mod" style. and modern.

Pucci was a pioneer of diversification into accessories, such as men’s neckties.

Postmodern Era 1980–2000

Repertoire of Possibility Postmodernism is a departure from modernism. At its heart it represents distrust of grand theories and ideologies as well as a problematic relationship with any notion of “art.”

quantity of choices At the height of New Romanticism in 1981, a British fashion and music trend drew inspiration from the seventeenth through twentieth centuries, including pirates, dandies, and the androgyny of 1970s glam rock. The youth culture of the previous age inspired new designers, as others had been inspired earlier. The suit is security, but we live in an era of many choices, which allows us to play “dress up.” For men, fashion needs to offer fantasy and reassurance.

extended typeface families Mrs Eaves was created by Zuzana Licko in 1996. It is based on Baskerville and named for John Baskerville’s wife, who had been married to Richard Eaves previously. Mrs Eaves has less variety in its strokes than Baskerville but maintains its openness and legibility, like its 2009 sans serif companion, Mr Eaves. These represent extended typeface famiShowy fashions are not expected in lies, so called because they areas of widespread poverty. But are a mixture of typefaces in the Congo, fashion-conscious that work well together for members of the local Society of complex documents and Ambianceurs and Elegant People, for text and display needs. or La Sape, defy expectations. “Congo Dandies” wear expensive, über-stylish, and colorful suits.

image credits Cover: Smets, Ilja. Le Sapeur Congolais, 2015. Photograph (detail). Creative Commons Attributionâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;No Derivatives License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nd/4.0/. High Renaissance: Binck, Jakob. The Standard Bearer, Piper and Drummer, ca. 1526-1550. Engraving (detail). London: Victoria and Albert Museum. Age of Reason: Hayman, Frances RA. The Sculptor Joseph Wilton with His Wife and Daughter, ca. 1760. Oil painting (detail). London: Victoria and Albert Museum. Neoclassical Era: Unknown artist. Fashion Plate, ca. 1780s. Hand-colored engraving on paper (detail). London: Victoria and Albert Museum. Industrial Revolution: Unknown artist. Fashion Plate, ca. 1845. Lithograph, colored by hand (detail). London: Victoria and Albert Museum. Modernist Era: Unknown artist. Three Men in Sporty Jacket Suits, ca. 1916. Watercolor on paper. Kunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Information Age: Pucci, Emilio. Ties, ca. 1960s. Printed silk satin. London: Victoria and Albert Museum. Postmodern Era: See Cover.

bibliography Bringhurst, Robert. The Elements of Typographic Style (4th ed.). Seattle, WA: Hartley & Marks Publishers, 2015. Dodd, Robin. From Gutenberg to OpenType: An Illustrated History of Type From the Earliest Letterforms to the Latest Digital Fonts. Seattle, WA: Hartley & Mark Publishers, 2006. Garfield, Simon. Just My Type. New York: Gotham Books, 2011. Haley, Alan, Poulin, Richard, Tselentis, Jason, Leonidas, Gerry, Saltz, Ina, Henderson, Kathryn, with Alterman, Tyler. Typography Referenced: A Comprehensive Visual Guide to the Language, History, and Practice of Typography. Beverly, MA: Rockport Publishers, 2012. Takeda, Sharon Sadako, Durland Spilker, Kaye, & Esguerra, Clarissa M. Reigning Men: Fashion in Menswear 17152015. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Delmonico Books, 2016. Walters, John L. Fifty Typefaces That Changed the World. London: Conran Octopus Ltd, 2013. Williams, Jim. Type Matters! London: Merrell Publishers Limited, 2012.

Dandy Styles: Typography and Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fashion was researched, written, and designed by Keith Cooke for Typography II, a course in the Publications Design master of arts program at the University of Baltimore during fall 2016. This book was digitally printed by Minuteman Press, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington, DC.