Mask (Bauhaus)

Norman Hilton: English Worsteds

Space Pirate Captain Harlock

"Though the night goes on, the sun will not die. At the end of the darkness, it will keep shining. Lift up your faces, friends, and look up at the dawn. Friends who still do not see, tomorrow will surely come. Within the frozen ground, the flower's secret life continues on. Friends, do not lose the seed of hope. Friends whose names I do not even know, tomorrow will surely come..."

Arcadia Of My Youth (1982)

Hair By Cougar

I could never be a bartender. Not only would I drink the merchandise, but I could never tolerate the customers' nonsense and bullshit stories. Too much talking, not enough drinking. Just shut the fuck up and drink. And while you're at it, get a fucking life. Barbers must feel the same way. The woman who cuts my hair is a hot Vietnamese cougar. She must be well into her late 40s or early 50s, but with the curves, hair, and lips of a much younger woman. She sports subtle blonde highlights in her medium-length hair, which I've always interpreted without fail as a sign of an Asian woman's interest in European men. I've no interest in Asian women myself, but female magic in action from whatever source is lovely to behold. She has a soft, sweet, lisping accent. The effect is utterly charming. As you know, my hair is cropped according to the traditional Prussian configuration--#1.5 on the back and sides and #3 on top. She accuses me of being a cop, soldier, or nazi...and then she laughs. We go through this routine every other time I visit her. The last time I saw her she had a black eye on her left side, which she endeavoured to cover up with loads of make-up. It didn't work.

Margin Call (Trailer)

Death Of A Dictatorship

A friend asked for my reaction to recent events in Libya. I lack strong interest in it. What happens there is their business--not ours. To the extent the West is involved--and it is--I oppose US/NATO meddling in other countries' affairs. I oppose liberal democracy and I oppose forcing it on North Africa and the Middle East (or anywhere else for that matter). Democracy is just a cover term for the same brand of soft-totalitarian, multikult one-party rule that prevails in the West. In this case, the globalists are unlikely to get what they want.

American support for revolution in the region is duplicitous. Do we really think the globalist American regime's commitment to "democracy" would extend to allowing an Arab Spring-like patriotic uprising to occur in America? Would European regimes tolerate ethno-nationalist revolutions? Fat chance. Already the American ruling elites are labelling Middle American political activists "terrorists". In Europe nationalists are persecuted by the state. To what end? In preparation, I think, for a crackdown and a final showdown. The fate of Gaddafi, Awlaki, and bin Laden awaits all opponents of globalist totalitarian rule.

If so, it might be a good thing. Enough talking. The time for debate is over. For dissidents like us, the media images of outlaw corpses paraded in front of the cameras should fire our imagination. We, too, have a dream: we hope someday to see the bloodied corpses of the globalist rulers, media figures, and functionaries at all levels presently in power in Western countries dragged through the streets. Who among us wouldn't crack a smile at the sight? We simply need to summon the will and muscle, when the time comes, to act.

RB Men's Collection Autumn/Winter 2011/2012

Ridewell



© Hedi Slimane



Irish Blood, English Heart (Morrissey)

Check Tweed

Soldiers & Women

"Soldiers and women. That's how the world is. Any other role is temporary. Any other role is a gesture."

Jeanette Winterson, The Passion (1987)

Ein Film aus Deutschland (Hans-Jürgen Syberberg)

Lohengrin - Prelude to Act I (Wagner)

Je vous salue, Marie

... et à vous, mon jeune auto, innocente

Anderson & Sheppard: A Style Is Born (Quercus)

"Anderson & Sheppard: A Style Is Born takes a privileged look behind the scenes of one of Britain's best-kept fashion secrets--from the firm's early days as the renegade of Savile Row to its current status as a byword for taste, relaxed stylishness and supreme quality--and as the establishment of choice for the elite of today's fashion, film, business and diplomatic worlds.

Edited by Vanity Fair's Graydon Carter and Cullen Murphy--with modern photographs by Jonathan Becker and Christopher Simon Sykes; exuberant paintings by the incomparable Paul Cox; and a playfully elegant historical essay by David Kamp--this unique book lays bare century-old traditions, tailor's tricks and painstakingly detailed craftsmanship, as well as showcasing Anderson & Sheppard's famous measure books and its wide range of exclusive cloths. A selection of the firm's distinguished clientele offers first-person accounts of their experiences at Anderson & Sheppard.

This sumptuous edition is packed with stunning images of Anderson & Sheppard's distinctive cut being worn by the leading lights of stage, screen, high society and literary and artistic life. Some of the photographs are vintage--featuring Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, Fred Astaire, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Laurence Olivier, Alec Guinness, Noel Coward, Evelyn Waugh and Marlene Dietrich. H.R.H. the Prince of Wales makes an appearance in his wedding suit. But the book also brims with specially commissioned full-colour portraits of today's Anderson & Sheppard clients--including Ralph Fiennes, Liam Neeson, Bryan Ferry, Taki Theodoracopulos, Henry Koehler, Jay McInerney, Nicolas Roeg, Manolo Blahnik, Nicky Haslam, Sir John Ritblat and Sebastian Guinness.

With over 180 photographs, this beautiful volume is a rare glimpse of the very best of classic British tailoring."

Anderson & Sheppard: A Style Is Born, Graydon Carter & Cullen Murphy (2011)

Surf Windhoek

Source: Riviera Club



On Women: Some Thoughts on the Female Race

I'm not the kind of chap to toot his own hunting horn, but I'm considered somewhat of an expert on women. Yes, I have an eye for the ladies. It's non-stop. Now I could chat all day on the subject--and I would, too, if provided with enough cocktails--but I shall keep this brief and venomous. Pardon me in advance if I'm too candid, as English is not my first language. This is a warning.

My relationship with women goes way back. My dear old mother was a woman, that is until she skipped out on us to join a hippy commune and became...well, became something else. As a little boy I was surrounded by spoiled female relatives whose desires and demands, it was explained to me, were supposed to come before mine, just because [and this is key] they were women--an unnatural situation, I realised, that I kicked at with determination, creating permanent discord.

My natural interests as a man, I saw, were supposed to come second, as an afterthought. But the experience was good training, providing useful insights into the mind both of the woman and the mangina. The mangina functions as the male enabler for the bitch, especially the All-American Bitch (AAB), two halves of a symbiotic relationship. I managed to snap out of it in my early twenties, having learned a few painful lessons along the way.

Just because they were women. Let it sink in. You know where this comes from, don't you? Romance, chivalry, the cult of the gentleman. All of these were designed by sunken-chested men to tame not only women, but also stronger, more savage males.

I know grown men who've succumbed. They are successful and secure, but nevertheless a flame of disillusionment and anger burns inside, that might set off in unexpected ways. How many random shootings can society take? I hope you have a strong stomach, for these are the wages of feminism. Feminism sows conflict between the sexes, fostering disappointment and resentment, and leading, ultimately, to lowered birth-rates. In this way, feminism can be understood as the ideology of genocide. Feminism is anti-life.

It is paradoxical, in light of the aforesaid, that insofar as I enjoy human company, which admittedly is not very much, I often prefer that of women over men. One of the reasons for this, I think, is that I understand them. They are bearable because they simply can not help their nature. I forgive them--and love them--for it. In addition to which, there's nothing here for them to target. One of the advantages of a frozen heart is that it is largely impervious to their machinations. A chap with nothing to lose, has nothing to lose.

The cost of knowing the score is isolation. It is something to be endured. Consorting with other men, the manginas, is simply too painful to bear. Sometimes the silliest bitch is an improvement over a pussified male.

Eventually Nature will re-assert itself and the natural order of things will be restored. Whether it is achieved by a Western Restoration, or an alien ideology such as Islam, is a matter for us to discuss over whisky and cigars. But it will happen. It's just a matter of time. What we have been living through for the past 60 years or so is a temporary situation, an aberration. It will pass. So be patient, take heart, and take back what is yours. Tomorrow belongs to us.

Sent from my iPhone

Histoire des parachutistes (Légion Étrangère)

Smash The Reds !

via AAR

Well Cuffed

As you may have heard, I recently had a new pair of Brooks Brothers trousers tailored to my usual specifications. Where the tailor sometimes ignores my request for large cuffs leaving me with 1.75" or even 1.50", this time I positively insisted on a 2" cuff. The image (at left) shows me verifying the tailor's handiwork in case I need to submit photographic evidence. As you know, big cuffs are more appropriate for taller chaps such as yours truly. Cuffs serve to anchor the trouser and keep the bottoms from flopping about or swinging in the breeze. Endowed with the proper cuffs, for once, one does feel rather sartorially blessed.

Crimson Dining Room

Après le Grand Soir (Pierre Drieu La Rochelle)

"Après le Grand Soir, il y aura le petit matin. Et nous qui ne sommes ni bourgeois, ni conservateurs, ni réactionnaires, ni démocrates-chrétiens ni maçons et qui sommes capables, nous aussi, de manier les mitraillettes, nous nous intéressons à ce petit matin."

- Pierre Drieu La Rochelle

Corneliani

The photographic image (at left) depicts one of five (5) new Corneliani suits in my collection. This one is a navy pinstriped number with three buttons and twin vents. I don't usually do Italian (clothing, that is) but I decided to give Corneliani a try due to the high quality light-weight cloth, as well as the fact Corneliani produce one of the Polo lines of suits. It's a slimmer, more form-fitting style and as such fits better than my Brooks Brothers and Southwick suits. I was concerned this would not be the case, on account of my broad chest, but the effect is very pleasing.

Jaguar Shark

Lacoste: pour vos pieds

The Lavender Hill Mob

A Spiritual War

Savile Row Style

Samurai Ethic: A Political Science Of The Heart (Mishima)

"...the samurai ethic is a political science of the heart, designed to control such discouragement and fatigue in order to avoid showing them to others. It was thought more important to look healthy than to be healthy, and more important to seem bold and daring than to be so. This view of morality, since it is physiologically based on the special vanity peculiar to men, is perhaps the supreme male view of morality."

- Yukio Mishima

La Femme D'Argent (Air)

City Gent

"He used to be the bastion of Britain, sorting the nation's finances out during the week then shooting pheasant at weekends on his estate in Berkshire. These days the city gent has moved rather swiftly to being the country's favourite pariah, and is forced to wear his beloved pin striped suits and bowlers only at night in select gentlemen's clubs, to avoid being stoned in the street."

Am I A Chap?, Gustav Temple (2011)

Tolkien in Tweed

Crimson Trousers

Vintage Tweed

Lermontov: Magic Scenes

"Anyone who has chanced like me to roam through desolate mountains and studied at length their fantastic shapes and drunk the invigorating air of their valleys can understand why I wish to describe and depict these magic scenes for others."

Mikhail Lermontov, A Hero of Our Time (1839)

Long Gallery

Butcher's Stripe

I generally avoid colourful shirts, preferring white, as we all should. But where dress shirts are concerned I occasionally make an exception. And when I do I keep it simple and classic. Depicted in the photo (at left) is one of my butcher's striped shirts from W.H. Taylor. It's an old Jermyn Street design and typically associated with financial workers in the City. The pattern actually originates with the striped aprons worn by butchers, which in turn derive from the blue and white crest of the ancient Butchers Guild, hence the name. The alternating blue and white stripes measure slightly under .25" and a full .25" respectively. Pair this sort of shirt with relatively sober-looking suit and tie. Dressing well, it is true, is a balancing act and requires attention to detail, but don't lose sight of the larger picture.

Beagling at Millbrook

Millbrook, New York

Hiroo Onoda !

International Bright Young Things

Ivy League

British Falcons & Hawks Club

Neat Neat Neat (The Damned)

Real Dandies

"So who are the real dandies? Charles Baudelaire, Quentin Crisp, Bunny Roger, Tintin, Marc Bolan, Johnny Rotten, Robin Dutt and me--not in that order of importance. All these dandies are roped together like mountaineers heading for the summit of beauty. You see, my darlings, true dandyism is rebellious. The dandy is part warrior, part stargazer, part gambler, part crusader, part plunderer, part violator, part martyr. He is fit for the highest and the lowest society--and keeps out of both."

- Sebastian Horsley

Tweed Suitery

Edinburgh

French Paras: Honneur et Fidelité

'Puisqu'il nous faut vivre et lutter dans la souffrance'
Death From Above 

Tea Up !

I almost spit out my cuppa when I read the following in my morning copy of the Daily Mail:

Britain's passion for a cup of tea is falling out of fashion as younger generations spurn a good brew.

More than half of British tea drinkers are over 45, while just four per cent are under 25, a survey has found.

It discovered most youngsters drink just one variety of tea, and are opting for soft drinks, bottled water and fruit juices instead.

WTF?! This is most alarming, but, I suppose, not very surprising given the general direction of things.

So, what are you going to do to reverse the trend?

Time to tea up. And pass the PG Tips.

Drones Club Tie

Clip and Shave: A Short and Tidy Treatise on Grooming

Ted's Grooming Room, London

I can't stress enough the importance of being well-groomed. That means short and tidy hair. Keep facial hair to a minimum. And clip what needs to be clipped on a regular basis. Keep sideburns at a moderate length, unless you want to look like a damned hippy in which case you shouldn't even be here. As you know, I prefer very short hair and get mine cut every 2 to 3 weeks. This is one reason, I think, that I am frequently asked if I am a soldier or Russian gangster. Like a good fuck or work-out, getting a haircut can be an invigorating process. A haircut is a sloughing off of the old. It is a new beginning, a starting-over. It can be a mood-altering event. If you're feeling down, visit the barber. You'll find men who take care of themselves in this manner make better, more attentive lovers. Long hair, of course, leads to impotence and unemployment. Avoid it.

The Den

Darien, Connecticut, 1976

Austrian Nationalist Style

La musica notturna delle strade di madrid no. 6 (Boccherini)

Wall Street: Notes On The Occupation

This past weekend I received a death threat for being a banker. I have received emailed threats of physical violence before, which I suppose is a hazard of the job. This one was an anonymous email in support of the ongoing 'Occupy Wall Street' demonstrations around the country that began last month. These events were ostensibly meant to protest the issue of "wealth inequality", which is like trying to blame the sun for rising. But actually they represent a feeble effort by the usual political troublemakers and urban filth--with aid from operatives in the current ruling regime--to counter the rise of Middle American political activism. It is an attempt to encourage support for radical policies of wealth redistribution and racial retribution. That they blame and target Wall Street and not Government--which is the real source of the economic crises bedevilling America--betrays their true intention. After all, the scruffy street-demonstrators are merely the foot-soldiers, the 'boots-on-the-ground', of the same hegemonic interests that have been in power for decades. Who is occupying whom? In any event, the anti-Wall Street crowd are cowards. Wall Street is a soft target. Banks and bankers are easy prey. For the time being, that is. As I have pointed out on more than one occasion, we are reaching a place where it will be shocking not that such threats are made, but that they are not carried out with relish in reply. In other words: bring it on. Today Wall Street. Tomorrow, Middle America. We look forward to the day.

On Writing

A colleague recently asked: "LBF, why don't you write something every day?" Good question. My response is, who wants to talk nonsense all day every day? I certainly don't. I prefer to think before I speak, and reflect before I write. Only 5% of available published information is worth reading anyway. The vast majority of scribblers are people who ought to take up another pastime. "Put the keyboard down and step away from the electric typewriter", indeed. Do bored housewives and angry young men really think they have something meaningful to say? No, they don't. The advent of the Interwebs has allowed and encouraged the proliferation of drivel. For the rest of us, the situation requires a corresponding fine-tuning of our filter.

Daring Is The Thing

As we must all expect to leave
our life on this earth, we must earn some renown,
If we can before death; daring is the thing
for a fighting man to be remembered by.
A man must act so
when he means in a fight to frame himself
a long lasting glory; it is not life he thinks of.

Beowulf

Private Chapel

Brooks Brothers Blazer

Brooks Brothers navy blazer ad circa 1940
© Brooks Brothers

I don't wear blazers, at least not now, as you well know. I don't like the way I look in them. They make me look schoolboy-ish. Still, I find the blazer in the old Brooks Brothers ad (at left) rather attractive. I think it's the mix of colours. The yellow piping, in particular, gives the garment a nautical or regimental air, which of course was its original purpose. The same can be said about the repp tie. It's a uniform. However earnestly we might deny it, human beings are social beings with a need to belong and fit in. We are tribal. We belong. It's not a matter, however, of simply wearing the right clothing. We are born with unique identities that should be cherished and displayed with confidence and pride, just like the Brooks Brothers blazer in the ad. Show your colours, as it were. Become who you are.

Sent from my iPhone

A Passion For Life

It was the vigor, boldness, and the acquisitiveness of Germanic war-bands that kept the West alive [after the decline of the Western Roman Empire]. These lads were uncouth and unlettered, much given to quarrelsome rages, but they injected energy, daring, and indeed an uncomplicated and sincere love of freedom, a keen sense of honor and a restless passion for battle, adventure, and life.

Ricardo Duchesne, The Uniqueness of Western Civilization (2011)