Book excerpt: It's not just about dressing up. From Beau Brummell to Andy Warhol, the dandy is someone who has made his own life, and how he lives it, a work of art. Rebellious in style, cutting wit and decadent antics have always been the dandy's colourful calling cards. Practised by everyone from eccentric lords to street swells, the great dandies rank as some of the most enigmatic, entertaining and quotable personalities in history. This little encyclopedia of quotes and commentaries takes a humorous glance at the whole history of the dandy from ancient Rome and feudal Japan to the Elizabethans with their ruffs, Regency bucks, fin-de-siecle bohemians and the Bright Young Things of the 1920s and 30s. It includes meditations on all the related arts of dandyism and its unique outlook on life including: smoking, drinking, dress and deportment, aspirations, idleness, extravagance, display, decadence, wit, hedonism, narcissism and oh so much more.