contempt, to be elegant, has to be marked with a totality - that is to say, artificial. the gesture inscribes a circle that encloses itself. That which is mixed with, say, compassion or indulgence belongs too much to the heterogenous world. contemp has to be raised above its everyday self to become its own sign, stark against the shifting background.

Dandyism is a form of address, a subtle inclination forwards, merely enough to display a hint of shirtfront and the cut of the sleeve. The immaculate contains itself, gives little more to the world than its scent. The surface, the gesture that closes in upon itself, gives a brief farewell - perpetually departing.  It barely acknowledges what it departs from,  marks  its own difference/indifference to it with the briefest nod - not even something that could be called a glance.

Contempt is sterile. Closed within itself, it expresses only itself - ultimately its own difference from itself. In this world, there are only two qualities, the gesture and its background. To this gesture, all is background, and it indicates this with subtle and weary brevity. It will not admit that it is for this that it exists.