The II Earl

"A poor man, if he has dignity, honesty, the respect of his neighbours, a realisation of his duties, a love of the wisdom of his ancestors, and possibly some taste for knowledge or beauty, is rich in the unbought grace of life." - Russell Kirk

This cheery tribute to bibulous conviviality also serves up a warm moral. Written at an Inn at Henley To thee, fair Freedom! I retire, From flattery, cards, and dice, and din; Nor art thou found in mansions higher Than the low cot, or humble inn. ’Tis here with boundless power I reign, And every health which I begin, Converts dull port to bright champagne; Such Freedom crowns it, at an inn. I fly from pomp, I fly from plate, I fly from Falsehood’s specious grin; Freedom I love, and form I hate, And choose my lodgings, at an inn. Here, waiter! take my sordid ore, Which lackeys else might hope to win; It buys what courts have not in store, It buys me Freedom, at an inn. Whoe’er has travell’d life’s dull round, Where’er his stages may have been, May sigh to think he still has found The warmest welcome – at an inn.

“A king may make a nobleman but he cannot make a Gentleman.” - Edmund Burke The idea of a gentleman was a more inclusive one than it sounds to modern ears. One of its greatest advantages was that you could define it so as to include yourself. You could behave like a gentleman, without possessing any of the social attributes which a gentleman might have: there was no need to possess a coat of arms, or a country estate, or engage in field sports, or wear evening dress. At least since Chaucer's time, there had been a distinction between the social meaning of the word, and the moral. It was evident that well-born people, who ought to know how to behave like gentlemen, did not always do so, while others sometimes did. Philip Mason, whose perceptive study, The English Gentleman , was published in 1982, argues that "the desire to be a gentleman" runs through and illuminates English history from the time of Chaucer until the early 20th century. He suggests that "fo...

“War has a way of distinguishing between the things that matter and the things that don’t.” - Matthew Crawley, Downton Abbey, Written by Lord Fellowes of West Stafford

In modern parlance, the term gentleman (from Latin gentis, belonging to a race or gens, and man, the Italian gentil uomo or gentiluomo , the French gentilhomme , the Spanish gentilhombre , the Portuguese gentil-homem , and the Esperanto gentilmano ) refers to any man of good, courteous conduct. It may also refer to all men collectively, as in indications of gender-separated facilities, or as a sign of the speaker's own courtesy when addressing others. In its original meaning, the term denoted a man of the lowest rank of the English gentry, standing below an esquire and above a yeoman. By definition, this category included the younger sons of the younger sons of peers and the younger sons of baronets, knights, and esquires in perpetual succession, and thus the term captures the common denominator of gentility (and often armigerousness) shared by both constituents of the English aristocracy: the peerage and the gentry. In this sense, the word equates with the French gentilhomm...

Being more and more convinced that simplicity in dressing represents the secret key of a true elegance, I am always looking for cloth configurations characterized by the subtraction of stylistic features. By chance few days ago I came across on Internet with these images that fully highlight how beautiful and refined can be a velvet dinner jacket in this configuration. We can admire in it three 2x 1 self faced shawl collar velvet dinner jackets, one in black, the second in dark blue and the third one, in my opinion the most sartorially interesting, in a wonderful dusty coral shade. Finally an additional observation derived from these picture concerns the lapel hole, a sartorial detail often considered aesthetically not pleasant on silk faced shawl collared jackets but that, as shown here, regains its validity on self faced shawl lapels.

I would say a Timex. I once knew a fourth generation member of a wealthy family who came from what one could consider ‘old-money’. She lived in a nice but relatively modest home in a very good, but not extraordinary neighborhood. She drove a car that I barely remember and her jewelry consisted of a wedding ring (of what appeared to be just under one carat), a clean, and black-banded Timex watch to be worn for everyday, in place of her Cartier, and a strand of her Grandmother’s pearls. It is common for the upper class to wear a black-banded Timex in place of a high-level watch and is a sort of code among class members. I couldn't care less about "status stuff", but hey, why not pick up a Timex and play along?

If you accept a dinner invitation, you have a moral obligation to be amusing. The Duchess of Windsor

This is a post about old meeting new; about the new face of the old traditional tweed. For the artist, artisan, and aristocrat in all of us; a heritage from the loom. Tweed and other natural fibre clothing for all occasions. I just found out that Walter Slater has a shop quite close in London, but where I found the shop was in Edinburgh quite a while ago. Victoria Street is one of those charming little streets in the Scottish capital and it just fits right there. This is not a new brand but this company has been based in Victoria Street for many years. Walker Slater has grown naturally from starting in the Highlands in 1989 and have harnessed its years of tailoring experience; in Edinburgh's cobbled Old Town to create rugged tweed jackets and coats, beautiful three pieces suits, and exquisitely handcrafted luggage. I assure you will not leave empty handed (I didn’t). Walter Slater is proper British but with a modern twist. Just think about a twe...

Harris Tweed Hebrides–Elite London model Jacob Barber finds himself in front of the lens of Duane Nasis once more for Topman. This time around, Jacob is styled by Harry Lambert as Topman hones in on tweeds for the fall season. From the matching waistcoat and blazer to a structured overcoat, Jacob charms in a smart wardrobe of classic essentials.

This project was conceived and shot in one week on assignment for Le Monde magazine, France. Former British prime minister Tony Blair's government imposed a ban on the hunting of foxes in Great Britain making all traditional hunting activities illegal. Hunting still goes on today however despite the ban as it is almost impossible to police. The British expression 'In the pink' is believed to have derived from the centuries old hunting tradition on the British Isles. Here a detail of a torn and much repaired riding jacket as worn by a member of the Warwickshire hunt, England. A hunt meet in the county of Rutland before a ban was imposed on fox hunting by former prime minister Tony Blair. A long standing member of the Rutland hunt poses for his portrait. Exhuasted pack hounds rest between calls to hunt for fox in the county of Rutland, England. Robin Smith-Ryland, leader of the Warwickshire hunt, England. Study of a pair of worn riding boots. L...