Black Girl Dandyism + Femme Dandies
Black girls and femmes have long redefined what it means to show up sharp, stylish, and sovereign. Whether it's a tailored suit, a crisp collar, or a popped color story, our dandyism isn’t just aesthetic, it's archival. From Sunday best to ballroom couture, we remix structure with softness, gender with joy, and history with heat. This section honors the girls, the theys, the ones in-between and beyond, who dress like they have something to say, and do. Here, dandyism is not a performance of masculinity. It’s a refusal to shrink, a celebration of detail, and a love letter to those who slay systems in pinstripes, pearls, and protest.
Title: Janelle Monáe in CoverGirl Campaign
Photographer: Nino Muñoz
Date: 2012
Publication/Campaign: CoverGirl Advertisement
Description: In this campaign image, Janelle Monáe defies mainstream beauty norms by embracing a tuxedo-inspired look—an homage to Black dandyism and gender non-conformity. Her signature pompadour and monochrome suit speak directly to her cultivated uniform of style, queerness, and futurism. This campaign marked a historic moment, as Monáe became one of the few openly queer Black women to be named a CoverGirl.
Source: CoverGirl/Nino Muñoz (2012), widely circulated in press kits, online, and print ads.
Title: Zaya Wade for Seventeen Magazine
Model: Zaya Wade
Photographer: Alex G. Harper
Stylist: Lauren Alexis Fisher
Publication: Seventeen Magazine
Issue: February 2025
Description: Zaya Wade steps into the legacy of Black dandyism with a look that is as intentional as it is transformative. Dressed in an oversized pinstripe suit, sky-blue shirt, and coral tie, she queers tradition while paying homage to it. Her presence in this sartorial lineage as a Black trans girl radically expands the possibilities of who gets to wear a suit, and why. This image is not just about fashion; it's about freedom. Zaya reclaims the tailored silhouette, a garment historically associated with masculine power, and turns it into a statement of self-determination, girlhood, and grace. She reminds us that Black dandyism has always been about bending expectations, performing sovereignty, and dressing to declare: I am here. I am worthy. I am the future.
Source: Seventeen Magazine, February 2025 Issue
Title: Final Four Lookbook – A’ja Wilson
Subject: A’ja Wilson
Date: April 7, 2025
Photographer: @shotbyretro6
Styling: @picacasso
Beauty: @madamemuse_beauty
Outfit Concept & Coordination: @icontips
Location: Undisclosed
Medium: Digital photograph (Instagram post)
Source: @aja22wilson on Instagram
Public Platform: Instagram
Visual Description: In this poised image, WNBA superstar A’ja Wilson stands confidently between two minimalist tables adorned with vibrant floral arrangements. She’s captured mid-motion, adjusting the collar of her structured crimson suit, which features dramatic tailoring with an asymmetrical hemline. Her black stilettos, sleek ponytail, and commanding pose exude elegance and strength, offering a fresh take on femme dandyism.
Contextual Significance: Posted during NCAA Final Four weekend, this look extends Wilson’s long-standing fashion narrative as a modern-day femme dandy. The image breaks traditional boundaries of sportswear and femininity, showcasing Wilson’s ability to dominate both the court and the cultural conversation. Her look recalls a lineage of Black women and femmes who have used suiting to command space and style.
Cultural Impact: This post sparked widespread acclaim, with users praising Wilson’s “never missed” fashion track record. It blends athletic prestige with sartorial excellence, reinforcing how Black women in sports are also setting the bar in fashion, narrative power, and visibility. A’ja’s look here isn’t just about clothes, it’s a declaration of control, curation, and cool.
Title: Founder & Executive Director Morgan at LISA Academy High School Graduation
Date: May 2015
Photographer: Unknown
Designer: Timothy Campbell (T. Camp Collection)
Location: Little Rock, Arkansas
Medium: Digital photograph
Dimensions: Varies based on display
Rights: Courtesy of Morgan Holloman-McDonald
Visual Description: In this dual-frame image, Morgan stands confidently in a bold, custom-tailored fuchsia suit with black satin lapels and trim, paired with a crisp white shirt and a skinny black tie. Holding a phone in one hand and raising the other to block the camera playfully, Morgan exudes both defiance and delight. The outfit is clean, sharp, and intentionally disruptive of gendered fashion expectations at a Southern high school graduation.
Contextual Significance: The suit was designed by Timothy Campbell of the T. Camp Collection and inspired by a look worn by Zendaya, signaling a powerful visual alignment with contemporary Black celebrity style. Worn to a high school graduation in 2015, this moment marks a rite of passage not only academically but sartorially, expressing autonomy, style fluency, and queer-coded defiance within a space often steeped in tradition and conformity.
Cultural Impact: This image captures Black Southern dandyism in real time- feminine masculinity, custom design, and the electric pride of graduation day all wrapped into one. Morgan’s suit disrupts the dress code of respectability with a wink and a strut, standing as a declaration of becoming, self-definition, and Black girlhood on her own terms. It was her earliest display of her queer identity as she shuffled through the end of her senior year.