"...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."
"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."
"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."
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.
"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." |
| 'Puisqu'il nous faut vivre et lutter dans la souffrance' Death From Above |
I almost spit out my cuppa when I read the following in my morning copy of the Daily Mail: |
| Ted's Grooming Room, London |
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.
As we must all expect to leave |
| Brooks Brothers navy blazer ad circa 1940 © Brooks Brothers |
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. 
