Wednesday 31 July 2024
Tuesday 30 July 2024
国产复古男装种草计划 Highly Recommend China Vintage Clothing Brand - Labour Union
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ABOUT US
Labour Union Clothing originally stems from a
designer’s family-run tailor shop that focuses on customizing the trending
American style suits since 1986. Our mission is quality and style.
To this day, the company continues to obsess over
its values and principles. We don't sell trends. We reproduce heritage
craftsmanship and authenticity.
For showing our revere to the working class that
contribute to the timeless style and made-to-last garments from that golden
era, Labour Union Clothing has been chosen as the name of our brand, dedicated
to bringing the 1940s to 1980s menswear permanent style back to modern and
designed to last a lifetime.
The LU collection is only made in small batches
by skilled tailors using the finest fabric from all over the globe, customized
high-quality materials, and the sewing and construction methods and machinery
from the past with the utmost attention to detail to ensure all the quality and
working conditions meet a successful heritage reproduction.
Stand firmly on the ever-evolving fashion
landscape.
Monday 29 July 2024
The Ivy Look: Classic American Clothing - An Illustrated Pocket Guide Graham Marsh J.P. Gaul
The Ivy Look: Classic American Clothing - An
Illustrated Pocket Guide
Graham Marsh
J.P. Gaul
Before the "Preppy Look," there was the
"Ivy Look." Democratic, stylish, and comfortable, the Ivy Look's
impact and influence can be seen to this day in the clothes of designers such
as Ralph Lauren and Giorgio Armani, as well as in the more proletarian
offerings of L. L. Bean, J. Crew, Dockers, and Banana Republic. From the
button-down hip of Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, and Miles Davis to the enduring
style of the cast of Mad Men — they all knew the true cool of the Ivy Look. The
Ivy Look digs deep into the vaults to produce the ultimate guide to the genuine
article, featuring new, still-life shots of original clothing and accessories
plus key examples of the cover art of Blue Note, Stax, Motown, and Atlantic
Records. Contemporary magazine advertisements, French New Wave, and key
American movie posters and new illustrations bring the Ivy Look into sharp
focus.
Graham Marsh
is an art director, illustrator and writer. He has written and art directed
many ground-breaking visual books, including The Cover Art of Blue Note
Records, Volumes I and II, East Coasting and California Cool. He has
co-authored and art directed Denim – From Cowboys to Catwalks and a series of
books with Tony Nourmand on movie posters. His most recent projects include The
Ivy Look and an illustrated children’s book, Max and the Lost Note. He is also
the creator of the Kamakura Vintage Ivy style shirts.
Graham’s
illustrations have appeared in magazines, newspapers and on many CD and album
covers. He has contributed to numerous publications including Country Life and
Financial Times. He lives in Greenwich, south-east London.
Graham is
the Art Director of The Rat Pack (R|A|P Two) and Weddings and Movie Stars.
He is the
Art Director and Writer of Hollywood and The Ivy Look.
Helen / review
November 5, 2018
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8418459-the-ivy-look#CommunityReviews
This is an oddly addictive volume that I browsed for a
few days before actually sitting down to read it through, which can be done in
a couple of hours, since the text is minimal - the book mostly consists of
vintage ads for Ivy menswear, Ivy-wearing stars who epitomized cool (Paul
Newman, Steve McQueen), JFK, movie posters (McQueen films; also, art films,
such as French New Wave films such as "Breathless" & also Fellini
films such as "La Dolce Vita") wonderfully designed and photographed
album covers (jazz giants such as Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk, John Coltrane,
and many others) ads for iconic products of the era, such as cars (Mustang, VW
Beetle), motor scooters (Vespa and Lambretta), cigarettes (Camel, Marlboro,
Gitanes) lighters (Zippo), and so forth. It was enjoyable to me at least to
browse through the book, reliving those days and the enthusiasms of those days.
I especially was drawn into the lost world of the cultural attitudes revealed
in the ads - and the actual drawings of clothing, which aren't as prevalent
today as they once were. Fashion illustration in clothing ads isn't as visible
as before, possibly because ads have moved to the internet and photography or
videos are used rather than drawings. The 50's and 60s were the heyday of the
low-key look, which favored narrow lapel natural shoulder suits, narrow ties,
the use of wide wale corduroy cotton and herringbone wool fabric, khaki pants,
Lacoste polo shirts, Bass Weejuns, or (Alden or Florsheim) quality brogues.
There was also head-gear - such as the Ivy cap, which is a golf cap, and of
course the era of men wearing hats hadn't ended, so there are ads for hat shops
and manufacturers. Also - almost every clothing or accessory was made in
America at that time, and the author usually relates a bit of the interesting
history of how various shoe and clothing companies started and so forth, as
well as the interesting history of iconic clothing items such as the pea coat
and the duffel coat. The book is both a compendium of what was cool in those days
and an elegy to a long-gone era, since mass production of clothing overseas
more or less homogenized clothing and the sneaker basically has won out in the
casual shoe category. The Ivy look represented cool and low-key quality once
upon a time, but that was all erased once the youth quake occurred with its
flamboyant look and lifestyle. I suppose I was influenced by the Ivy look even
as a chick. I remember owning herringbone wool clothing items, a grey
herringbone jumper, Bass Weejuns, I suppose Fred Braun shoes and bags would
count as cool/Ivy. I had a wonderful duffle coat, and a pea coat. I would even
seek out Gitanes in HS. I would have been an adolescent in the 1960s and a
child in the 1950s, so the Ivy Era was a bit before my time. By the middle to the
end of the 60s, the hippies were becoming the cultural force, and
jeans/sneakers/T-shirt the uniform, which has stayed with us more or less since
then. Still, I remember shopping for jeans before they were really the thing -
before designer jeans, when the only option was Levis and the cut was rather
bulky, not very streamlined. The "rebellious" trend of my era was the
hippie look/lifestyle - so it was out with the low-key Ivy look and in with the
assertively rebellious hippie look. Of course the lifestyle was also connected
with the antiwar movement - somehow all those attitudes were connected with
clothing, haircuts (or lack of same) etc. I would say I was a low-key
(unintentionally Ivy) person in JHS, then a jeans wearing (but still low-key)
person in HS, after which the jeans/hippie look (or various degrees of same),
rock music, etc. became de rigueur for most young people. I remember how styles
changed from more formal, constructed, to less formal, over a period of a few
years. In elementary school, a dress or skirt was always worn. I'm not sure I
even had a pair of pants in those days. There were also crinolines. I must have
latched on to the studious/Ivy look in JHS - once my elder siblings were in HS
& college - to emulate them, since they were both very much into the look
and I more or less imitated everything they did or read etc. When I was in HS,
dress codes for female students changed - after a struggle - to allow girls to
wear pants to school. That was the turning point - since wearing pants was also
linked to more assertiveness, feminism (even though at the time I might not
have consciously realized it) in general, struggle and advancement.
Nevertheless, I was still fairly conservative when I went to college, but over
the course of a few years, adopted the prevailing "modern" style,
which had nothing to do with the Ivy/studious look. The "preppy" look
of the 80s was possibly an Ivy comeback, but it had different connotation by
then, since it occurred in a much less hopeful period, the time of Reagan, and
was associated with simply making money, getting yourself over and so forth. It
had nothing to do with the magical excitement of the 60s. No doubt there are
people who still try to live an Ivy lifestyle, even in the age of cheap smart
phones and the internet - the revolting era of Trump. Just think back to the
time of JFK vs. the time of Trump and you will see why what Ivy meant once
cannot be recaptured today: Idealism has been trounced by snark and hate, and
globalization has homogenized and made nearly identical pieces of sportswear
(jeans/T-shirt/sneakers) the uniform of casual wear. People interested in
fashion history and lifestyle trends will enjoy this book, especially those,
like me, who lived through the storied era!
Saturday 27 July 2024
Why fixing family rift isn’t Prince Harry’s priority | Royal Insight / Prince Harry: decision to take on tabloids contributed to family ‘rift’
Prince
Harry: decision to take on tabloids contributed to family ‘rift’
Duke of
Sussex tells ITV documentary that legal battles against newspapers ‘central’ to
deterioration in relations
Caroline Davies
Wed 24 Jul 2024 16.46 BST
The Duke of Sussex believes his determination to take on
tabloid newspapers in the courts was a “central piece” in the deterioration of
relations between him and his family in the UK.
Speaking about his legal battles against newspapers over
privacy, Prince Harry told an ITV documentary Tabloids on Trial that his
decision to fight contributed to the “rift” with the royal family.
Asked if his decision destroyed the relationship, Harry
says: “Yeah, that’s certainly a central piece to it. But, you know, that’s a
hard question to answer because anything I say about my family results in a
torrent of abuse from the press.”
He continues: “I’ve made it very clear that this is
something that needs to be done. It would be nice if we, you know, did it as a
family. I believe that, again, from a service standpoint and when you are in a
public role, that these are the things that we should be doing for the greater
good. But, you know, I’m doing this for my reasons.”
Asked what he thought of the royal family’s decision not to
fight in the way he has done, he replies: “I think everything that has played
out has shown people what the truth of the matter is. For me, the mission
continues, but it has, it has, yes. It’s caused, yeah, as you say, part of a
rift.”
Harry has long despaired of the royal family’s failure to
take on the press, and has previously revealed that his father, King Charles,
told him it would be a “suicide mission”.
In his memoir, Spare, he wrote of what he saw as the royal
family’s connivance with the media through alleged leaking, believing himself
to be collateral damage. In the book Harry was withering about his father’s
failure to take on the media, writing that “the same shoddy bastards who’d
portrayed [Charles] as a clown” were now “tormenting and bullying” him and his
wife, Meghan.
In December 2023, after he won damages in his hacking case
against Mirror Group Newspapers, Harry made clear he felt vindication for his
long-running legal battles against sections of the British media. He said in
the statement at the time that he had “been told that slaying dragons will get
you burned”, adding a defiant: “The mission continues.”
Speaking for the first time about the case, he told the
documentary: “To go in there and come out and have the judge rule in our favour
was obviously huge … a monumental victory.”
He also spoke about fears that his mother, the late Diana,
Princess of Wales, may have been an early victim of phone hacking.
The duke, who is one of several celebrities appearing in the
documentary which airs on ITV1 and ITVX at 9pm on Thursday, is also involved in
continuing legal actions over privacy against News Group Newspapers and
Associated Newspapers.
Friday 26 July 2024
Prince Philip, who was late Queen Elizabeth’s husband, was mentioned in FBI’s top-secret documents that are related to the 1960s Profumo affair.
Royal
Prince
Philip Named In Sex Scandal With Christine Keeler
Prince
Philip part of John Profumo affair that brought government down
By Web Desk
July 21,
2024
https://jang.com.pk/en/16457-prince-philip-named-in-sex-scandal-with-christine-keeler-news
Prince
Philip, who was late Queen Elizabeth’s husband, was mentioned in FBI’s
top-secret documents that are related to the 1960s Profumo affair.
According to
Mail on Sunday, he was “personally involved” with Christine Keeler and Mandy
Rice-Davies, who were the heart of a s*x scandal that brought the government
down.
A memo by
former FBI director, J. Edgar Hoover, made revelations surrounding this case,
which ended John Profumo’s political career because of his intimate
relationship with 19-year-old Christine Keeler.
Although the
democrat had denied these allegations, he was forced to resign after proof from
the affair was made public within the next few months.
Osteopath
Stephen Ward had introduced both Mandy Rice-Davies and Christine Keeler to John
Profumo so he could benefit from the “immoral” payments made to them.
After being
convicted, he died of an overdose three days later.
A friend of
Stephen Ward’s named Thomas Corbally made confessions about Prince Philip in
1963, saying that he was also “involved with these two girls.”
The royal
had stayed in touch with the artist, and was even sketched by him in a portrait
made at Buckingham Palace.
REMEMBERING November 2017 : The Crown links Prince Philip to the Profumo Affair: Uproar as new series implicates Duke of Edinburgh in one of Britain's most damaging sex scandals The new series of The Crown links the royal to the Profumo Affair in the early 60s .
 |
It is known
that Ward, who was a gifted artist, painted a picture of the Prince. Pictured:
The drawing
|
The Crown links Prince Philip to the Profumo Affair: Uproar as new series implicates Duke of Edinburgh in one of Britain's most damaging sex scandals
Wednesday 24 July 2024
Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam | Official Trailer | Netflix / ‘Greed, power and fame’: inside pop music’s biggest Ponzi scheme
‘Greed,
power and fame’: inside pop music’s biggest Ponzi scheme
A new
Netflix docuseries spotlights Lou Pearlman, the man behind the Backstreet Boys
and ‘NSync – and a criminal mastermind
Veronica
Esposito
Wed 24 Jul
2024 16.02 BST
With
hundreds of millions of records sold, careers that are still thriving in their
fourth decade, and admiration from the likes of Taylor Swift, the boy bands the
Backstreet Boys and ‘NSync are absolute pop royalty. They were also the
creations of one of America’s biggest criminals. It’s this bizarre duality that
Netflix’s new docuseries Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam explores with energy and
style.
This is the
strange, extremely American story of Lou Pearlman, who got the startup money
for his boy band empire by crashing his own blimps, and who eventually built a
fortune by masterminding what is widely believed to be the longest-running
Ponzi scheme in US history. Dirty Pop masterfully captures the many facets of a
man who seemed genuinely delighted to be a part of the bands he lovingly put
together, even while acting as the casting director of his own reality, putting
the con on everyone from his secretary to powerful politicians and bankers.
It begins
with a daydream – while assisting New Kids on the Block with an airliner lease,
Pearlman is reported to have exclaimed, “I’m in the wrong line of business!”
once he learned of the staggering revenues generated by the band. From there he
went on a talent search, eventually putting together the group that would
become the Backstreet Boys. Once that group reached the heights of pop stardom,
he very cannily reasoned that someone would eventually create the Pepsi to his
Coke, so why not do it himself – thus ‘NSync became his next big project. A
dizzying array of others would follow, including the chart-topping bands O-Town
and LFO, Hulk Hogan’s daughter Brooke, and the tween idol Aaron Carter.
Yet there
was a dark side to the success – all but two of Pearlman’s bands and solo acts
ended up suing him, all of these lawsuits resulting in either court losses or
settlements. Pearlman also eventually faced criminal charges for conspiracy,
money laundering and filing false bankruptcy, being sentenced to 25 years in
jail, an almost unheard of sentence for white-collar crimes.
Dirty Pop’s
deep dive into the complicated reality of bands who owed much of their
incredible success to the very genuine relationships they developed with
Pearlman, yet who eventually came to see him as a Judas, comes together in the
voice of Michael Johnson. A drummer in Pearlman boy band Natural, Johnson ends
up becoming a close confidant of the conman, only to later revolt as Pearlman’s
facade begins to wither away. (Johnson also serves as an executive producer on
Dirty Pop.)
“He’s one of
the most complex characters that I’ve ever heard of,” Johnson said in a video
interview. “The person who caused the death of one of his best friends and
stole people’s entire life savings, he also lent me his – or whomever’s –
private jet to fly to my grandfather’s funeral, and was there for me when my
girlfriend broke up with me. Everything about him was genius, but he applied it
in really different ways.”
Johnson’s
tracing of Pearlman’s arc from father figure to betrayer gives the series a
very necessary and potent emotional core, the drummer’s heartfelt testimony
driving home the human cost of the mogul’s deceit. “I had a front row seat to
that weaponization of that greed, power and fame,” he told me, “how Lou was
able to exploit everyone’s dreams. The people I started meeting and caring
about in 1998, who never recovered from Lou’s crimes. That effect still really
weighs on me.”
Pearlman’s
story has been told before in various forms, and one thing that distinguishes
Dirty Pop is the level of archival research that went into the project. The
creators of the series have unearthed a treasure trove of “before they were
stars” footage that adds a level of fun and 90s nostalgia – this is, after all,
as much a story of what the 90s sounded like as it is the tale of a classic
American con artist. “Digging through the archives, we had a thrill almost
weekly,” said Johnson. “We’d constantly be talking to each other, saying, ‘Oh
my God, did you see that!?’”
Dirty Pop
also successfully tells the story from multiple sides, granting some insight
into how a man like Pearlman could operate and what made him tick. This proves
fascinating, especially when these worlds often merge. “There’s this moment
when Lou and the Backstreet Boys are singing the Commodores’ Easy at the
piano,” said Lance Nichols, an executive producer of the show. “It’s like this
guy is running a Ponzi scheme and somehow he’s easy like Sunday morning at the
piano with these kids. It’s just surreal to me.”
One of the
most interesting choices of the docuseries is to essentially deepfake Pearlman
by using AI technology to put words from his autobiography, Bands, Brands and
Billions, into promo footage of him speaking from home office. “He’s absolutely
so unencumbered and full of it in his book, we wanted to include it in some
way,” David Fine, a director of the show, said. “This idea arose as do so many
good ideas as a passing aside. Michael was like, ‘maybe we just deepfake him,’
and something kind of clicked. I was like, ‘well he was a deep fake,’ I mean he
faked so many people out. So I think formally the choice is very rooted in
character.”
These
AI-rendered pieces of Pearlman offer a kind of counterpoint throughout the
show, giving a side that feels less performative, and more intimately directed
at the viewer, than the public-facing persona. “The words in his book show the
reality that he was living in, and for us to go back and check in with Lou’s
reality throughout the series was very important,” said Johnson. “Here’s this
guy who, maybe he’ll lure you to sleep, maybe you’ll come to believe him,” said
Johnson. “It’s like, if he offers you a deal, would you take it?”
Wary of the
ethics of deepfaking Pearlman, the team brought on a consultant from the MIT
Open Documentary Lab and tried to make use of the technology in a responsible
manner. “As people who do unscripted nonfiction, I think this is a tool that we
can use, if it’s done ethically,” said Nichols. “This is probably a question
we’re all going to be dealing with for the rest of our lives. This technology …
it’s not going back.”
Dirty Pop
offers some opportunity to reflect on the kinds of people the celebrity culture
enables, and makes one wonder if the next Pearlman isn’t already out there
choreographing the rise of the next big pop act. One imagines there will be
many more chances to tell this story. “This is a very American tale – you don’t
hear of Ponzi schemes in that many other places,” said Johnson. “People are
able to feed on the rat race of capitalism, and proximity to celebrity and
power is one of the easiest ways to manipulate people. Lou had a way of using
these people flawlessly. They would have done anything for him because they
wanted to feel cool. He made them feel like they were cool.”
Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam is now available
on Netflix
Monday 22 July 2024
Lucy Worsley on Samuel Pepsy's dirty diary entries / Samuel Pepys: diarist, administrator … budding fashionista
Samuel
Pepys: diarist, administrator … budding fashionista
New
analysis of 17th-century diarist’s French fashion engravings shows he was not
only a shrewd political operator but had a keen eye for new trends
Nicola Davis
Science correspondent
Mon 22 Jul
2024 00.01 BST
He may be
best known for his juicy diary, administrative prowess and wandering eye – but
new research has highlighted a different side of Samuel Pepys: that of a
budding fashionista.
A historian
from Cambridge University has conducted a fresh analysis of the diarist’s
collection of French fashion engravings, arguing they not only show Pepys was
keeping up with the scholarly and gentlemanly trend of collecting prints, but
reflect a long-term interest in the latest styles of dress, and the link
between clothes and social status.
“It
demonstrates that Pepys had – to put it in very colloquial terms– a finger in a
lot of pies,” said Marlo Avidon, whose study has been published in the journal
The Seventeenth Century. “[He] was very concerned with appearing a certain way
and cultivating this gentlemanly reputation – both in an intellectual capacity
but simultaneously as a member of fashionable society.”
But Avidon
added while these concerns have previously been considered separately, the
prints show they are not mutually exclusive.
Born in
London in 1633, Pepys was the son of a tailor and a washerwoman, who became an
MP, secretary to the Admiralty, and president of the Royal Society.
But he is
perhaps most famous for the diary he kept for almost a decade during the 1660s.
As well as offering a first-hand account of a number of momentous events such
as the plague and Great Fire of London – during which he buried his wine and
parmesan cheese in the garden for safekeeping – it provides fascinating
insights into more mundane aspects of daily life.
After
Pepys’s death, his diary and other papers were bequeathed to his alma mater,
Magdalene College, Cambridge. Among them were ballads referencing clothing, and
two volumes that contained his collection of French fashion illustrations.
Printed between 1670 and 1696 these depicted the latest styles, as modelled by
the French elite.
While not
the first time the prints have been examined, Avidon said her work considers
them alongside Pepys’s diary to demonstrate that throughout his life he had a
very keen interest in clothing – his own, and that of the people around him.
“Even when
he stopped writing the diary in 1669, what these prints help us see is that
that interest in clothing didn’t necessarily go away, it just manifested in
another form,” she said.
The diary
reveals Pepys could be controlling and overbearing regarding the attire of his
wife, Elisabeth, while reflections on his own wardrobe are also carefully
noted.
Avidon cites
one entry of 1663, in which Pepys records a colleague approving of some of his
new clothes – including a velvet cloak. As a result Pepys writes he is
“resolved to go a little handsomer than I have hitherto”.
But not all
of his clothes struck the right chord. In 1669 Pepys shelved his new summer
suit “because it was too fine with the gold lace at the hands, that I was
afeared to be seen in it”. When he did wear it out and about, a colleague
criticised the cuffs as being too fancy for Pepys’s position. Pepys
subsequently resolved to have the trim removed.
Yet, perhaps
tellingly, he later bought a print depicting an elite Frenchman bedecked in
similar lace cuffs, with ruffles and ribbons.
Avidon said
Pepys’s diary also reveals his eye for new trends, be it the introduction of
periwigs or the emergence of the vest – a precursor to the three-piece suit.
The prints
not only tie into these interests, Avidon suggested, but provide a lens through
which to consider wider social behaviour and cultural attitudes towards French
fashion in the late 17th century – including economic concerns regarding
textile imports, and moral worries arising from the association of French
fashion with vanity and excess.
Yet while
Pepys criticised Frenchified English fops in his diary – describing one as “an
absolute Monsieur” – he also seems to have admired the styles.
The prints
may even provide a link to Pepys’s later life, with Avidon suggesting the
“unsteady, untrained hand” that coloured them could have been that of Mary
Skinner, who became Pepys’s housekeeper and mistress after Elisabeth died.
Robert
Blyth, senior curator of maritime history at the Royal Museums Greenwich, said
Pepys had a fascination about the world around him and a desire to be at the
forefront of knowledge.
“It doesn’t
surprise me that this applies to fashion prints as well,” Blyth said,
describing Pepys as “a man of the now”.
Blyth noted
Pepys would not only have seen the latest trends on the streets, but had access
to the court of King Charles II where he would have seen high-end fashions.
“During the
diary, he is a young man. He’s a man about town,” Blyth said. “So he’s
continuing this interest in fashion into his middle age.”
Friday 19 July 2024
REMEMBERING 1974: A Wonderful Time: An Intimate Portrait of the Good Life by Slim Aarons
A
Wonderful Time: An Intimate Portrait of the Good Life Hardcover – January 1,
1974
by Slim
Aarons (Author)
From the
front flap of this 190 page book: "'A Wonderful Time' captures
magnificently the life of America's elite from coast to coast, in Bermuda, the
Caribbean, and Acapulco. Drawing from thousands of pictures taken since World
War II on assignments for 'Holiday', 'Town & Country', 'Harper's Bazaar',
'Life'. 'Vogue', 'Travel & Leisure', and other publications, Slim Aarons
has put together the best of them - many never published before - with a
narrative of his experiences and impressions while photographing American
aristocrats on their estates and at play at their favorite resorts. Here are
the Cushings of Newport, The Fords of Grosse Pointe, and the Rockefellers of
New York; here are the kings and queens of Beverly Hills playing croquet, the
Cabots sailing off Boston's North Shore, and Barry Goldwarer on the range in
Arizona. Here are the Whitneys entertaining on Long Island, the Armours in
their pool in Lake Forest, the Klebergs on their Texas ranch. and the scions of
Palm Beach, San Francisco, and New York having a wonderful time." And from
the rear cover: "'A Wonderful Time' is a book about Snowmass, Tom Watson,
Nonie Phipps, Harold Vanderbilt, CeeZee Guest, Commander Whitehead, Lilly
Pulitzer, New Orleans, T.S. Eloit, Jamaica, Minnie Cushing, Washington, Damon
Gadd, Mrs. Atwater Kent, the Rockefellers, The King Ranch, Merle Oberon,
Sugarbush, Cecil Beaton, Scottsdale, Brenda Frazier, Baltimore, Angie Duke,
Palm Beach, Eva Gabor, Acapulco, Burl Ives, the Duchess of Windsor, La Jolla,
Peter Widener, Babe Paley, Nassau, Roger Lion Gardiner, Mary Hemingway, Stowe,
Mike Phipps, Bailey's Beach, Gloria Guinness, The Exumas, Herb Caen,
Romanoff's, Mrs. William Randolph Hearst, Jock Whitney, The Bath and Tennis
Club, Mary Martin, Aspen, Truman Capote, Hobe Sound, Cobina Wright, Howard
Hughes, The Waldorf, Fleur Cowles, Peter Pulitzer, The Myopia Hunt Club, Dolly
Fritz, and a lot of other people having a wonderful time."
Wednesday 17 July 2024
HER MAJESTY'S BODYGUARD OF THE HONOURABLE CORPS OF GENTLEMEN AT ARMS
Her Majesty's Bodyguard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms is a bodyguard to the British Monarch. Until 17 March 1834 they were known as The Honourable Band of Gentlemen Pensioners.Formation
The corps was formed as the Troop of Gentlemen in 1509 by King Henry VIII to act as a mounted escort, armed with spear and lance to protect the sovereign, in battle or elsewhere. Henry decided to have "this new and sumptuous Troop of Gentlemen composed of cadets of noble families and the highest order of gentry as his personal Body Guard or "Nearest Guard"".
As his Body Guard it accompanied Henry to France in 1513 and took part in the Battle of Guinegate (better known as the Battle of the Spurs) and then at the Field of Cloth of Gold in 1520. In 1526, they became a dismounted bodyguard armed with battleaxes. They last saw service in battle during the English Civil War (during which a Gentleman Matthews saved the Prince of Wales at the Battle of Edgehill (1642) from one of the Earl of Essex's troopers). They were always intended as a primarily ceremonial unit, but were on regular duty until the 19th century.
Under Henry VIII the Troop of Gentlemen varied in size, according to funding available. As the "Nearest Guard" to the Monarch the unit attracted an aristocratic and aspiring membership, which could be utililsed as a cadre of young officers when levies were raised for overseas service[1].
Duties
Today, the duties are purely ceremonial - the Gentlemen attend the Sovereign at various ceremonies, including state visits by Heads of State, the State Opening of Parliament and the ceremonies of the various orders of chivalry, including the Order of the Garter. The Gentlemen now parade for the State Opening of Parliament, state visits, Royal Garden Parties, the Garter service, Diplomatic Corps receptions, royal weddings, coronations, the Investiture of the Prince of Wales, and lying in state. They also have three mess dinners annually.
Officers and administration
The Corps today consists of five Officers (the Captain, the Lieutenant, the Standard Bearer, the Clerk of the Cheque and Adjutant and the Harbinger) and 27 Gentlemen. The senior Officer is the Captain, a political appointee who is now always the Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords. The senior permanent officer is the Lieutenant. The Clerk of the Cheque and Adjutant issues all orders to the Corps. The Harbinger runs the Mess and assists the Clerk. The Mess, at St. James's Palace, is run by a permanent Axekeeper and Butler also assisted by The house keeper. All Officers (except the Captain) must have served in the Corps prior to promotion to officer rank. In the 1600s there was also the office of Paymaster of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms and Co-Paymaster of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms.
Membership and age limits
All subordinate officers, and all Gentlemen, must be under the age of 55 years on joining, and are on average 52. The Gentlemen retain their prior military ranks (currently most rank between major and colonel). They must retire at 70 years, thus giving an average age of approximately 61 years.
Although all Gentlemen are retired officers, uniquely one recent member was also a clergyman. Colonel the Reverend Richard ("Dick") H. Whittington, MBE joined the Corps in 1999 after retiring from the Corps of Royal Engineers. He had been ordained a deacon in 1993 and a priest in 1994. He was Chaplain of the Royal Hospital Chelsea.
Uniform
The uniform is that of a Dragoon Guards officer of the 1840s. It has a skirted red coat with Garter blue velvet cuffs and facings embroidered with the Tudor royal badge of the portcullis. Helmets with white swan feather plumes are worn when on duty, even in church. Officers wear, in addition, gold aiguillettes, and carry sticks of office - gold for the Captain, silver for the Lieutenant, Standard Bearer and Clerk of the Cheque, and ivory for the Harbinger - which they receive from the Sovereign on appointment. Cavalry swords are worn, and long ceremonial battle-axes, over 300 years old, are carried by all the Gentlemen.
Standard
The corps' carries a standard, similar to that carried by cavalry and infantry regiments of the British Army, upon which is mounted the corps' various accoutrements and a selection of its battle honours. In the case of the Gentlemen at Arms, this is a swallowtailed standard of crimson edged in gold. The cross of St George is at the hoist. Next to this is the royal cipher of the reigning monarch, with the name of the corps ("Gentlemen at Arms") put diagonally from top to bottom. Between the two pieces of text is the corps' portcullis badge, while at the end of the standard are a selection of battle honours.[2] In 2009, at a celebration of the Corps' 500 years of personal service to the Sovereign, HM The Queen presented a special riband to be displayed on the Standard.[3]
Tuesday 16 July 2024
Monday 15 July 2024
Berry Bros. & Rudd. London.
Berry Bros. & Rudd is one of Britain's oldest wine and spirit merchant: in 1698 it opened its doors for the first time at 3 St. James's Street, London, United Kingdom, and today it continues to trade from the same premises. The company also has a discounted store in Basingstoke, Hampshire and offices in Japan, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
Founded by the widow Bourne, the company has supplied the Royal Family since the reign of King George III. Berry Brothers & Rudd was his wine supplier then. First they sold coffee, and then coco, tea, snuff, spices, anything that was considered exotic and new, and became one of London's premier grocers. The proximity to St. James's Palace and the fashionable area they were in also helped.
A first Royal Warrant of Appointment was granted in 1903 by King Edward VII. Queen Elizabeth II granted her royal warrant in 1995, Charles, Prince of Wales granted his in 1998. Customers have included Lord Byron, William Pitt the Younger and the Aga Khan.
In 1923 it created the Cutty Sark Scot's whisky. The brand was sold to The Edrington Group in 2010. Under the deal, Berry Bros & Rudd acquired The Glenrothes single malt brand from Edrington.
Berry Bros & Rudd: ready for new growth after maturing for 300 years
The Mayfair wine merchant, family run since 1698, is a venerable model for 'non-predatory' capitalism to follow.
Zoe Wood
The Observer, Sunday 26 February 2012
Squint through the elegant arched windows of Berry Bros & Rudd's famous store in London and you half-expect to see sombre clerks using quills to scratch orders in the giant ledgers that fill its shelves.
But while the interior of the capital's oldest wine merchant, with its high panelled walls and cosy back parlour, has changed little since the shop opened more then 300 years ago in Mayfair, the family-owned business is preparing for a new era. The swollen ranks of Berrys, Rudds and in many instances new branches of the clans called "something completely different" means the ownership structure will have to change.
"There are 50 in the next generation," says chairman Simon Berry, who is a scion of the seventh generation. "We are looking very seriously at how to cope with this and at the different models used by other family businesses."
Berry says the family motto is "never stop changing": "We didn't get something right in 1698 and cling to it. You have to adapt; that is what family businesses are good at."
The store, No 3 St James's Street, is a postcard from Georgian London with the worn, uneven floor testament to the passage of the years. The dark wood and high desks make it feel like a club you need to pass wine exams to enter.
"Some people think the shop might be intimidating and if they pronounce the name of the wine wrong we will say 'off you go to Oddbins'," jokes Berry.
The price range of the thousands of wines on sale spans "supermarket top shelf" to "sharp intake of breath": two selections at random from the burgundy list might be a "zippy and lip-smackingly fresh" Maison Roche de Bellene that would give you change from a £20 note, or a £118 bottle from premier-league appellation Charmes-Chambertin.
The political debate about "predator" capitalism has seen alternative ownership models such as employee-owned John Lewis attract renewed respect – not least as a growing number of private-equity-backed firms sink under the weight of their debts. Dr Ajay Bhalla at Cass Business School in London says family businesses typically "don't grow very fast" but their willingness to invest over the long term means there is less "boom and bust". He highlights success stories such as Merck, the German pharmaceutical giant, and Warburtons the bakers. It is important that the next generation of owners is apprenticed in the business, rather than arriving out of the blue with an MBA, says Bhalla.
Fifty-year-old Berry, who started visiting the shop when he was five, became chairman after 30 years' service, in addition to several years working for wine producers such as Moët & Chandon and Mouton-Rothschild. "Family businesses don't exist to give jobs to unemployed members," says Berry firmly.
This commitment is perhaps one reason why the company has been able to weather both the South Sea bubble and the credit crunch. The walls of the parlour at the back of the store offer a walk through history, with framed prints of Spy caricatures from Vanity Fair lampooning the politicians and aristocrats of days gone by – ranging from a prelapsarian Duke of Windsor to the Aga Khan – who were also its monied clientele. There is also a gallery of Berrys and, later, Rudds, including Berry's great-great-great grandfather George, who boasts formidable sideburns.
"For a family business to survive you have to be very professional and go out and recruit the best non-family executives," says Berry, reeling off a list of outsiders including managing director Hugh Sturges and former Allied Domecq chief executive Philip Bowman. And ideas on how to integrate future family members into the business include forbidding those who don't work for Berry Bros, which last year had sales of £215.8m, from owning shares, or drawing up a code setting out stiff conditions to be met when applying for a post.
Last year's decision to sell Cutty Sark, the whisky brand it created in 1923, was "family led", says Berry, explaining: "We sold Cutty Sark while it was still profitable. We don't have the advertising budget to support an international brand so it was likely to be squeezed out."
Now it is concentrating on a diverse portfolio of luxury brands that includes The Glenrothes single malt, "No 3" London gin, liqueur The King's Ginger and its most recent addition, Pink Pigeon: an "ultra-premium" vanilla rum from Mauritius aimed at nightclub-goers.
"In a drinks portfolio you have to spread your bets," Berry says. "We were interested to see if the team we had could create something sexier."
Berry Bros, which is predominantly a mail-order business, tends to have regarded new technology as an opportunity. In 1994 it became the first wine merchant to launch a website and over the years has embraced blogging, social networking (sales director Simon Staples, "@BigSiTheWineGuy", has 3,700 Twitter followers) and launched the Berrys' Broking Exchange, an "eBay for fine wine" that lets customers sell and buy wines stored privately in temperature-controlled cellars in Basingstoke.
The web, says Berry has made wine "more democratic". "It offered customers who were fearful of seeming ignorant grateful anonymity. They can ask their questions to a computer screen."
Bhalla says strong "family governance" is key to successful founder-run companies: "How does a family view its role in the business? Is it there to spend or be a guardian of the wealth?"
Whatever the difficulties Berry Bros may face in the future, a family schism of that type is unlikely to be a problem. "We have disagreements but tend not to have rows," Berry says. "We have never had a vote: we reach a consensus."
TIMELINE
1698 Established at 3 St James's Street, initially as a grocer.
1765 Weighing customers on the shop's giant coffee scales begins, with Pitt the Younger, Beau Brummell and Lord Byron among those taking advantage of the free service.
1903 Although the shop has supplied royalty since George III's reign, it is Edward VII that awards its first royal warrant. It creates a ginger brandy later renamed "The King's Ginger Liqueur" after the royal doctor requests something to ward off the cold when the king is out in his "horseless carriage".
1920 Major Hugh Rudd, son of a Norwich wine merchant, joins the Berrys.
1923 Firm creates Cutty Sark whisky.
1967 Becomes first independent wine merchant to open temperature-controlled cellars outside London, at Basingstoke in Hampshire.
1994 Launches website www.bbr.com.
1998 First overseas premises opened in the Old Corporation Weights and Measures building in Dublin.
2005 Simon Berry becomes chairman.
2010 Berrys' Broking Exchange (BBX) debuts on the website.
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