Leather Lust Object No.6

Crocodile leather cigar case with piercer and 9 carat gold mounts circa 1955 by Asprey, via Antiques.co.uk

Springspiration

    Consider one or two traditional accoutrements like neckscarves, a matching yet complementary shirt and tie combination and lighter coloured suiting for the incoming season. It will be good for you. It's to our cost that illustrators are no longer charged with the content of lookbooks

Scans by Sator from Grafton Fashions For Men 1971

Linkerati

   Here is where I've been spending some of my online time of late:

• The Cutting Class. Having come across this via Twitter this week, I've had an edifying time reading its breakdowns of garment patterns and fabric usages in runway collections; a stimulating form of dissection, to be certain. Intelligently and confidently written, it may become a reference when I begin moonlighting as a dressmaker under a particularly flamboyant sobriquet one day (my heart is currently set on "Lazlo T. Funkenschmeiter," by the way)
• In light of the imminent Royal Wedding, I have been perusing the details of its predecessors at Vintage Connection, purely out of interest in the passing of fashions and aureate displays of affection and happiness like the real gold charms that filled the cake at the Queen Mother's nuptials
• Daniel Copley, writer and cynic, is one of the few I follow on Twitter. Recently, he has decided to consider online dating. Since I feel he is sure to follow through on it, it may be worth keeping an eye on his blog over the ensuing months. It could possibly turn out to be Humiliation Theatre
• The Big Bark Blog. Because my friend Sasha's burgeoning film reviews column saves me quite the chunks of change that would otherwise be spent sitting in a darkened theatre myself. I'm duty-bound to divulge, however, that I often skip her writing to stare longingly at her Sophia Loren wallpaper instead
• Slashdot. Sample headline: "Meth Dealer Faces Loss of His Comic Book Collection"; how much more entertaining can "news for nerds" get?
• Gregory Parkinson. Because he creates vivaciously refreshing womenswear, all filled with psychedelia, drape and a certain sense of hippyish abandon. And because his nephew suggested it

Boutonnièred

   It felt like time for an actual tiny slice of nature in my jacket buttonhole. And for good measure, a map of Delaware (of all places) in my breast pocket

Dance For Imaginative Miss Potter

   I have had Tales of Beatrix Potter on my mind of late. Perhaps it's the delightful music that accompanies the fleet of feet in its performance. Perhaps it's the surreality of ballet, the kinetic interpretive expression of passion, composure and the vagaries of life, executed by professionals garbed in outsize 'human animal' costumes. Perhaps it's Oscars Night and I am musing over whether Black Swan's chances would increase had Natalie Portman danced in an outfit representing an anthropomorphic cygnus in a bonnet

   If the talking animal genre has elements of parody in its whimsical little heart, then this might be its apogee: humans dressed as animals that behave as humans, yet lacking any discernibly natural behaviours beyond the motions of the dancers, wearing eyes that remain utterly unmoving and mouths that never part, making no sounds to complement their hybrid disposition. Like The Nutcracker, such a fever dream of the stage requires a child or a childlike mind to see such things as they should be; playthings brought to life and their absurdities then rendered through a slightly off-kilter (in its own right) yet resolutely elegant medium. It is also a testament to the varied methods for telling a well loved story

   Besides, this sort of fun is the perfect gateway drug for ballet if one wishes to start them young. For this arrested developer, it's very much perfect

Metal Lust Object No.4

Antique emerald, rose cut diamond and rose gold tie pin, via Andrew Hartley Fine Arts

Worn Out

   The recent loss of my various autumn/winter dress trousers and jackets from Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, Gucci (vintage) and Loewe (vintage) has impelled something of a re-evaluation. No, I have not become that fellow who burnt all of his worldly goods to rid the taste of liberal guilt he felt over living in a branded world from his mouth; neither am I about to lose my Barimanastic (copyright: Maxminimus) sense of presentation and start purchasing my looks wholesale from whatever is dictated by Topman, The Guardians's Petridis column or The Daily Mail's style section this week

   But I did dump around three recycling bags' worth of clothes at an undisclosed charity shop in an undisclosed borough of South London at an undisclosed point in time, rather recently

   Wardrobe purges require a ruthless, confident style of self-editing to make a dent in the overabundance of styles and clothes that comprise one's clothing collection. I, by contrast, threw a great many things in a plastic bag and swore off the chemical cocktails I'd been consuming at the time of purchase. It's a rehabilitative experience all round

   One of the dominant aspects of my wardrobe was a fondness for a particular vintage brand: Father's Hand-Me Downs. Certainly, the sentimental sway of his 1980s and 1990s suiting and accessories was assiduous, but there was a key to the pleasure they gave me: I was matching them with my own finds and when the pieces that form the real cornerstone of my ensembles are lost, much of the cohesion goes with it

   So, out have gone formerly loved garments crafted by the likes of Turnbull & Asser, Hawes & Curtis, Hermes, Jaeger, Haines & Bonner, Savoy Tailors Guild and myriad others, even including a very well made but very well dated suit by the venerable Italian tailoring house, Angelo Roma. So, who are my replacement names? I am pleased to say that a mental list was drawn up in mental crayon over the past year; this was subtly threaded through various Mode Parade entries as I wrote about those whose wares I desired to wear. So, in step the likes of Mr. Fish, Holliday & Brown, Tom Ford-era Gucci/Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, Hedi Slimane-era YSL RG, Prada and Etro to mingle with my remaining perennials from Junya Watanabe, Miu Miu, Hilditch & Key, Maison Martin Margiela, Aquascutum, H&M, Turnbull, Dries Van Noten, Paul Smith and Liberty. If my intended return to full-time London life succeeds, there may even be tailoring - perhaps Pokit, possibly Cad and the Dandy; maybe the budget might even stretch to Edward Sexton, Chittleborough & Morgan or one of the Lamb's Conduit Street houses

   Oh, and the fondness for 1950s - 1970s vintage is not going away. There's nothing like seeing a pair of lapels stretched right across my chest like a hang-glider; the pleasure increases when it's double breasted

  

   To reward all of you that have willingly read (or hastily scrolled down) this far, here is a photograph of me playing with some lizards:

   More as it develops

Mile High Confidential

Maestro? Some travelling music, please:

When they banned smoking and stopped opening the bar seconds after lift off it changed it for me. Drinks were free and it was expected that you needed a buzz ASAP if you were flying. A shorter flight, like SF-Seattle, they would come by 2-3 three times with drinks

There was glamour in taking people to the airport and seeing them off. Or waiting at their gate for them to arrive

The better airlines had a full roast beef on board that they carved for you to order. They used to pass out free playing cards and mini packs of smokes

TWA used to have an open bar and buffet on the SFO to St Louis route. You didn't really mind if the flight was delayed. They would just open the bar and let you eat and drink yourself silly

I recall sitting on the runway at JFK in route to St Louis in the late '70's. A electrical storm hit, so we just stayed on the runway for an hour and a half and had a frigging party in the back of the plane before taking off

-- PSG, 27/05/2010, The Forvm

Award Tour

   I recently checked and yes, it appears that this column is actually vaguely over 2 years old. It's still of jailbait age, so I'd like to remind the predators out there - and I have your e-mails - to please stop touching my column. And yes, that phrasing is intentional

   And so to today's mandate: a celebration of some of my peers, rather than myself. Not that I don't celebrate myself often - today, for example, I took a shower and cut my nails. No, today involves the other denizens, swells and ne'er do wells of the blogosphere, for a month ago, I was tagged with the Stylish Blogger Award by one of my very favourites, P. Gaye Tapp of the sublime and delightful Little Augury

   This is how it works:
   

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you

2. Share 7 things about yourself

3. Award 10 other bloggers

4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about the award

1.    I can't stop at those felicitous adjectives about Gaye and her column, really. This Southern Belle produces Little A with a distinct and intrinsic dreamlike quality - more Little Nemo than Inception, thankfully - and displays an enviably wide knowledge of interior design (her chosen profession), couture, high culture, and arts and crafts. She is also disgustingly prolific, particularly compared to your slothful author, and if she didn't like my work, I would probably hate her. Like An Aesthete's Lament and some of her other contemporaries, she is the genuine article

2.   I have a tendency to obfuscate personal details - which is why some people honestly think "Vox" is my last name - but I'll endeavour to reveal as much as I feel like. If you re-read the previous sentence, you may realise that, however obliquely, I've already shared two things. Here are a few more:

•    I'd like a job where I can utilise my writing, my marketing communications/PR experience and perhaps my burgeoning knowledge of social media, too. Failing that, I would like to live as a full-time journalist and writer. I also think sometimes of relocating to the United States. We all need ideals

•    There's been a recent dearth of ensemble photographs because I've not been near a camera lately and some of my best pieces mysteriously went missing during a recent move. If anyone comes across wide legged or bootcut trousers from the likes of Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche and Prada or knows of a talented tailor in London, do let me know

•    My third favourite Prince album is Batman. It may well be the Purple sound of a Purple man summing up his work at the end of the 1980s, but much of it is so engagingly cracked due to his adoption of dance music's cut and paste ethic and several sampled slices of Jack Nicholson ham. Also, 'Vicki Waiting' is one of his most winning pop numbers

•    The rumours you've heard are true: I do sound just like renowned British television news anchor, Sir Trevor McDonald. Pay me enough and I'll even dress like him. Then you'll have less trouble deciding which side of the sexuality divide I fall on for dinner party seating purposes

•    I sang a few bars of 'Chain Reaction' to Diana Ross in a lift. I was seven

Now, this is Barimavox

3 & 4.   Now, the blogs. I considered this list very carefully by selecting the five or so others that leave comments on my posts and then searching Google at random. It took three minutes

   I thought of nominating my comrade in carousing and close friend Winston Chesterfield, but I thought it might skew the use of his Le Vrai Winston as an outfit showcase and occasional column. So this is an unofficial nomination unless W feels like producing one of these posts himself:

• Maxminimus. For ADG's steadfast support and encouragement, not to mention his repository of Richard Merkin memorabilia and exemplary displays of fatherhood to the adorable LFG

• Made To Measure NY. Ditto Dennis for his kindness and affability. He is also a fellow fan of David Bowie

• Elizabeth Avedon. A curator enchanted with prodigious photography, a topic for which she has an eminently suitable (and not coincidental) surname and an insightfully incisive eye. Her website also displays her flair for design

• Diary at the Centre of the Earth by Dickon Edwards. I don't know if, nor do I believe that Dickon should respond to this award, being an erudite diarist rather than an audience-focused blogger, but he is recommended for being London's most interesting flâneur. Like Winston and I, he was photographed for Stephanie Rushton's English Eccentrics project. Some of his personal aspects are also disturbingly similar to mine, but I've already answered question 2

• The Merest Flâneur, whilst I'm on the topic, I suppose. Will C is a fellow forumite whom I think should capitalise on the very promising start his column made last year (Postscriptum: yes, the site has been shuttered, but Will assures me that he will return under a new guise in due course)

•  The Grumpy Owl. Similar to Mr. Edwards, I suspect that this may not be Ryan Oakley's thing, but he is nevertheless a longstanding favourite, Canada's most cleverly idiosyncratic dandy and almost too intelligent to live. I'm looking forward to his soon-to-be-published novel

• The House of Beauty and Culture. Similar in purview to Little A, HOBAC keenly refracts a love of aesthetics through a knowledge of myriad cultures, forms, designs, quotes and history

• Pigtown Design. Another home for those in love with the pleasures of design. And occasionally, food

• An Affordable Wardrobe. Shamelessly reciprocal: Giuseppe Timore sent almost 600 viewers my way when he quoted my Tommy Nutter post on Wednesday of last week. Like Winston and I, he also believes in the essential power of budgeted dressing

• Perfect Gentleman SA. For anyone curious about 21st century South African sartorialism, Mxolisi Ngonelo has a perspective. He also has a fondness for Simply Red, but no one is truly perfect; once, I found Janet Reno attractive
  

   Enjoy,

   BON