Chic clothing, shock detail Dandy accessories in Barbey d’Aurevilly

This article explores the paradoxical uses of accessories, as Barbey observes them in dandyism and as he wears them in practice. While the writer praises the way in which dandyism demonstrates the vanity of accessories through its choices of them, he gives accessories a unique importance by conferring on them hyperbolic and oxymoronic values. We consider these values by studying how he dresses, as well as some of his characters’ modes of representation.