The II Earl

"Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire." Gustav Mahler

  A FATHERS ADVICE If a sportsman true you’d be Listen carefully to me. . . Never, never let your gun Pointed be at anyone. That it may unloaded be Matters not the least to me. When a hedge or fence you cross Though of time it cause a loss From your gun the cartridge take For the greater safety’s sake. If twixt you and neighbouring gun Bird shall fly or beast may run Let this maxim ere be thine “Follow not across the line.” Stops and beaters oft unseen Lurk behind some leafy screen. Calm and steady always be “Never shoot where you can’t see.” You may kill or you may miss But at all times think this: “All the pheasants ever bred Won’t repay for one man dead.” Keep your place and silent be; Game can hear, and game can see; Don’t be greedy, better spared Is a pheasant, than one shared.

In October, for the first time in its history, the world’s most infamous gentlemen’s dining club admitted that it failed to attract sufficient membership applications. So, farewell then, dear Bullingdon Club, taken from us this Michaelmas at the tender age of 236. Yours was not an easy life. Of course, there were the good times: the braying laughter of friends in high places; that reassuringly expensive dress sense; the broken glass and opened doors; those very smart photographs on all those steps and things. But, near the end, your ailments came in crowds. How unkind Evelyn Waugh was to write, in his prophetically named Decline And Fall, of your ‘epileptic royalty from their villas of exile; uncouth peers from crumbling country seats; illiterate lairds from wet granite hovels in the Highlands’. Illiterate? Uncouth? What rot! Don’t these people know that three of your younger sons – Johnson, Cameron, Osborne – recently made it to the pinnacle of government? (Never mind that the lat...

“There is one other reason for dressing well, namely that dogs respect it, and will not attack you in good clothes.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Dress changes the manners.” Voltaire

"If you want to have order in the commonwealth, you first have to have order in the individual soul." - Russell Kirk

Trust not the heart of that man for whom old clothes are not venerable. - Thomas Carlyle

The world of men’s tailoring for a long-time now has been repositioning itself away from the stiff, exclusive and one-dimensional stigma that a section of society accused it of. Dress codes are becoming less polarised which has meant tailoring houses engendering towards an aesthetic that has a continued relevance to the people. This has meant that working attire in one respect has changed over the course of this period, but the basic shape of a suit is determined by history. It is a case of finding ways to alter the proportions of the suit but retaining the customer's quest for extraordinary provenance. ✠

I pretended to be somebody I wanted to be and I finally became that person. Or he became me. - Archibald Leach

   A quintessential gentleman, a charismatic icon of timeless elegance and grace, Cary Grant will forever remain in our hearts and on our screens as one of the best-dressed men Hollywood has ever seen. Described as having a gracious manner, the debonair Grant always seemed to have everything in place. His hair was always coiffed, his cars shined and pristine and his attire could only be described as impeccably tailored and fit for a gentleman. He was once Archibald Leach, a young miscreant from a tough upbringing whose mother spent much of his life locked away in a sanitarium and whose father re-married and forgot him in the shadows as he began a new family. It wasn’t until Archie Leach reached Hollywood that he became known as the iconic Cary Grant, a leading man known for his savvy sense of style and his charmingly sophisticated grace. Tucked under the suits and smile was a frightened young man who changed his stars in search of the life most men only dream about. Perh...

  These photos dating from the 1940s, in the archives of Tri-Kap fraternity. They were part of a senior's book, which would have been given as a memento at graduation. Because of the war, Dartmouth students graduated early, and thus men of all years are represented here. This fellow wears a classic Dartmouth sweater. Unfortunately, these days it's more likely to see this paired with sweatpants rather than a pair of wool trousers and a white collared shirt. On the back of the Photo, it says that dog's name is Duke. The pipe and wool sweater lend an air of nonchalance to this photo. 'Ol Fuzzy's sweater and wool pants combination is timeless and relaxed. I also like his Indian head cane, which you can still buy today. Playing cards in a striped suit and repp tie? You'd be lucky to see an outfit like this at a formal. T-shirt and blazer? Probably the most informal photo of the lot. Reminds me a little bit of Miami Vice.   One fi...

A king may make a nobleman but he cannot make a Gentleman.   Edmund Burke was surely thinking along similar lines when he stated that the king may make a nobleman, ‘but he cannot make a gentleman’. And, when a notice was put up in a St James’s club that stated ‘Would the nobleman who has stolen my umbrella please return it’, the author pointed out, by way of an explanation, that it was a club for gentlemen and noblemen and that ‘a gentleman would never have stolen my umbrella’. ✠

A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN NO FURKING ALLOWED! BUT, THERE IS POST-GAME SPONGE CAKE. WELCOME TO THE PECULIAR TRADITIONS OF “THE WALL GAME” AT ENGLAND’S SUPERELITE ETON COLLEGE A knot of young men in striped shirts shove up against one another, heads down and grunting as other boys sitting atop a wall jeer and urge them on. The scene resembles a rugby scrum, or that moment in American football when a running back smacks into the opposing line—except that the struggle goes and on and on, the ball hidden beneath a muddy tangle of arms and legs, until the unacquainted spectator realizes that what he is witnessing is basically the whole game. This organized hour of “constant, hand-to-hand, Homeric conflict,” as the British writer Arthur Clutton-Brock described it in the book  Eton , is known as the wall game, and it’s been played for centuries at Eton, Britain’s most exclusive boys’ school.  Illustrations by Lachlan Campbell from  Eton Colours: An Essential Il...

I’VE ALWAYS BELIEVED IN THE ART OF FINE TAILORING. BEFORE I STARTED MY OWN COMPANY, I HAD MY SUITS CUSTOM-MADE. I WANTED THE FIT AND CONSTRUCTION TO HAVE THE INTEGRITY OF OLD-WORLD CRAFTSMANSHIP YET REMAIN SOFT AND SUPPLE, NATURAL AND COMFORTABLE. PURPLE LABEL TO ME IS MORE THAN JUST BEAUTIFUL CLOTHING; IT REFLECTS THE PERSONAL STYLE OF THE WEARER AND A WAY OF LIVING INSPIRED BY TIMELESS QUALITY. —RALPH LAUREN

For a long time, the car was the ideal way to communicate wealth to the outside world. There is no doubt that this phenomenon has always existed, throughout the ages and in every countries: the car has a long history of use as a means of self-projection, a completely public and symbolic object with which we become one as we drive. That as a child I always thought to be a car of choice for the distinguished man. The German-American art historian Erwin Panofsky once examined the famous Rolls-Royce radiator grille and noted its similarities to antique temples. Even John Lennon fell victim to its aura and bought a Rolls-Royce Phantom V Touring in 1966 – only to have it painted almost immediately to look like a circus wagon in bright yellow with flowers and scrolls. An ironic gesture with which Lennon humorously took the classic status symbol to absurdity. Representatives of a younger affluent generation in particular are increasingly to excellent racing or invest on the cars expensive i...

Terrible fun, aren’t they, birthdays? The cake, the cards, the gifts – and how we do love being the centre of attention. There’s just one problem, though. Spend too long in the limelight and it starts to eat away at you, exposing your soul and the egotistical monster that lies within. Today, I’m turning 28. I admit, but one that belies my experience when it comes to the matter of growing old gracefully. So what, then, is the appropriate way for a grown man to behave on his birthday? That’s why I’ve decided to draw on the collective wisdom – to compile a handy gentleman’s guide to not screwing up your birthday. 01. It’s not all about you: The point is this: while it’s perfectly normal to attach a certain personal significance to your birthday, it’s worth keeping in mind that to everyone but you, it’s just another day. Hence our first rule of birthday etiquette: develop a sense of humility. 02. Peter Pan Syndrome Sure, a temporary relapse into infantilism can be...