So “The Sophistocrat” columnist Michael Mattis’ offhand remark to LA Weekly style editor Linda Immediato about coastal rivalries has set off a tempest of geographic tempers in the Forum. Webmaster Chensvold, however, must assume partial responsibility, though like virtually everything else he said, his remarks were not transcribed with the greatest assiduity.

Chensvold said that he found it quite amusing that California figures so small in dandy tradition (it has served as the home of Valentino, Astaire and Grant, but they were all born and raised elsewhere), and yet have produced two swells with a fresh and modern approach to the study and practice of dandyism (from their POV, granted), and the vision to create a website about the topic. Like many great inventions, Dandyism.net was born in the most unlikely of places.

What has London produced? The retro-eccentrics behind The Chap, who actually take to the streets to protest “vulgarity” (dandies are the ones quietly smoking on the balcony above). Paris? The arch-reactionary Francois-Xavier d’Arbonneau de la Bachellerie.

As for New York, Chensvold’s reproach was directed specifically at the media establishment, and what suckers they are for camp and charade. Though New York is America’s media capital, and one of the most salient qualities of journalists is healthy skepticism, during the two years that Dandyism.net has been in operation we have linked to countless articles about Fonzworth Bentley, Patrick McDonald, “The New English Dandy,” “The Bohemian Manifesto,” Ian Kelly’s Brummell bio, European fashion collections, Lord Whimsy and a host of other related topics, all painted with the broadest, thinnest brush strokes possible.

In other words, we were never asked for comment.

And although Ms. Immediato is originally from New York, she, like Dandyism.net, has dared to question whether spats-and-hats dandy costumery is all there is to the story. Though originally inspired by Lord Whimsy’s Swindle article, Immediato was the only reporter to actually take a moment to Google “dandyism” and see what comes up.