I think they were called ~Dandies~ in the last centuries.
They were also great fodder for satire and comedy. Didn't Thackery write some stories about the Dandified culture?
Love it when the new generations happen upon something so old, it is new again.
It's all rather boringly familiar....!
You're so right, the word is indeed "dandy". What is the big deal? I thought we never went away, so what is the hoopla now. I've liked clothes, shopping, accessories, expensive haircuts, pocket watches, leather pants, blah blah blah my entire adolescence and adulthood.
Far from this being any indicator of effeminacy, I think history's manliest lovers have been like this: think Casanova's luxurious colognes and chocolates. And besides, women love guys who are well-turned out and well-dressed. And my girlfriends seem to love doing my eyebrows and putting makeup on me, so I tolerate the brows and wash off the makeup.
They were called dandies right up til the 60's and there were plain dandies and dandies that were light in the loafers.