SPLENDID MENAGERIE

"You are the only English woman I know who manages to be really chic in really hideous clothes".
cecil beaton told lou lou de la falaise

a splendid menagerie[1] (also known as fancy-full gallants[2]) place particular importance upon appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance in a cult of Self.[3] Historically, especially in late 18th- and early 19th-century Britain, similar to a dandy, who was self-made, often strove to imitate an aristocratic style of life despite coming from a middle-class background.