Murakami in Versailles

From a book by Phillipe Dagen, Jill Gasparina and Laurent Le Bon

Shepherd

Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, Shepherd Boy (Tank top), 2009)

Goodbye, Liz

I've been reading the tributes to the late Dame Elizabeth Taylor but I've yet come across that captured her particular magic. Sure she was an early acknowledged beauty - one of the greatest perhaps, but she was also quite stout. She was not all that stylish or elegant or refined - in fact, what I adore about her is her lusty vulgarity, and her wackiness and eccentricities through the years. She's unpretentious and humourous. I shall miss her, the last one of the greats, and a true icon.

Rob Evans

I want to be Lara Stone in this one!

That's How I Like 'Em???

He seems to be advertising the state of his errr... skin?

VISIONAIRE 60: Religion

VISIONAIRE 60: Religion is by Riccardo Tisci in collaboration with Givenchy: "This collection of work celebrates religion, inner truths, inner dialogues, moments which words cannot quantify.” In this sneak peek, Lea T is envisioned by Giovanna Battaglia and Pierpaolo Ferrari.

Be A Man About It

I think there's something darkly ironical about needing tips and what amounts to a pep-talk on how to be a man but let's hear it form the aunties Tom Ford and Glenn O'Brien shall we? In the latest issue of Another Man Miss Ford holds forth on the "five easy lessons in how to be a modern gentleman," including not wearing shorts in the city. Then Madam O'Brien— GQ columnist and author of How to Be a Man, writes down his version. In an entire book. And I always thought the appeal of masculinity was a total natural-ness of it all.

Tom Ford:

• You should put on the best version of yourself when you go out in the world because that is a show of respect to the other people around you.

• A gentleman today has to work. People who do not work are so boring and are usually bored. You have to be passionate, you have to be engaged and you have to be contributing to the world. • Manners are very important and actually knowing when things are appropriate. I always open doors for women, I carry their coat, I make sure that they’re walking on the inside of the street. Stand up when people arrive at and leave the dinner table.

• Don’t be pretentious or racist or sexist or judge people by their background.

• A man should never wear shorts in the city. Flip-flops and shorts in the city are never appropriate. Shorts should only be worn on the tennis court or on the beach.

Glenn O’Brien:

• Having sex with women is natural and most of us manage to pull it off eventually. The trick is simply to find ways to have intercourse with women (in the various senses) without giving them undue power or influence over you.

• The girls on Sex and the City sleep with typical hetero men. But socially they prefer the company of gay men. Even the ancient Mayans probably had fag hags. In the interest of evolution, or at least more peaceful relationships, we must learn to be gayer heterosexuals.

• Since the world’s religions have spent the last millennium disgracing themselves, what have we left to believe in but fashion? It is more faith-based than anything else I can think of, and yet it doesn’t contradict science.

• Style is the way Clark Kent took off his glasses. The way Jean Cocteau rolled up the sleeves of his suit jacket when he read Le Monde. The way Louis Armstrong played the cornet with a handkerchief draped over it. The way Michael Jordan wore his shorts. The way Sinatra held a cigarette. Style is in the details, in the nuance.

Royal Sick Bag

My fave of all the Kate and Will memorabilia. There's something completely charmless and grim about this coupling.

Marlon

Model Marlon Texeira in EY!... and very little else. As usual.

Onwards, Carine

Confirmed: Ms Roitfeld is headed to Barneys New York to serve as guest editor/stylist/muse for their fall projects. Collaborating with Mario Sorrenti, Carine Roitfeld will edit Barneys's ad campaigns, catalogs, and windows that'll be pushed out at the end of the summer. “For me, Barneys has always been the biggest name in luxury department stores, so to be able to participate in this project with them, and be visible during the next fashion week in New York, is my dream come true,” says Ms Roitfeld.Plus she's got her book out: I don't really think her theme has been irreverence, and what's irreverent in today's context? Nudity? Sex? Smoking? Drags? It's all very, very banal, if you ask me.

Brand Anna

Even if you aren't a fan of Ms Wintour, and I know some of you are already rolling your eyes, you should read Wall Street Journal's quite detailed piece on Anna Wintour. The story is ever so slightly foaming at the mouth, and drooling like a rabid Komodo dragon but she does warrant such response. The pictures are by Mario Testino, the court photographer/jester. He's finally found a subject that doesn't boare one to tears. Copy and paste: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704893604576200722939264658.html#articleTabs%3Darticle%26project%3DANNASARMY032320110323

Feeling Glamourous

Does this not look like a Christmas cover?

All About Hair

"That German actress wanted to wash my hair. She came into my dressing room and made the offer. I had to turn her down - I was afraid she didn't mean the hair on my head." - Mae West on Marlene Dietrich"Don't think I don't know who's been spreading gossip about me. After all the nice things I've said about that hag! When I get hold of her, I'll tear out every hair of her mustache!" - Tallulah Bankhead on Bette Davis

The Morning is Already Ancient

"He snaps on the electricity just before daybreak. For twenty five years he has not lived in this country, though up to the age of eleven he slept in rooms like this - with no curtains, just delicate bars across the windows so no one could break in. And the floors of red cement polished smooth, cool against bare feet.

Dawn through a garden. Clarity to leaves, fruit, the dark yellow of the King Coconut. This delicate light is allowed only a brief moment of the day. In ten minutes the garden will lie in a blaze of heat, frantic with noise and butterflies.

Half a page - and the morning is already ancient."

Michael Ondaatje, Running in the Family

“Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again. And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are?
We should say to each of them:
Do you know what you are?
You are a marvel.
You are unique.
In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you.
Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move.
You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven.
You have the capacity for anything.
Yes, you are a marvel.
And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel?
You must work, we must all work, to make the world worthy of its children.”
- Pablo Picasso

Alt's First Issue

There's life after Carine!!! This her successor Emmanuelle Alt's first issue, and despite my misgivings at her putting Giselle on the cover, it looks quite fresh and exciting. I must say it's promising...

James Franco's Armpit

This is Kate Winslet?

...After a huge pot of Photoshop Extra Virgin Oil Youth Serum, of course.

The Official Word on the Dismissal

From the Dior CEO: “Since its founding by Monsieur Dior, the House of Christian Dior has lived an extraordinary and wonderful story and has had the honor of embodying France’s image, and its values, all around the world. What has happened over the last week has been a terrible and wrenching ordeal to us all. It has been deeply painful to see the Dior name associated with the disgraceful statements attributed to its designer, however brilliant he may be. Such statements are intolerable because of our collective duty to never forget the Holocaust and its victims, and because of the respect for human dignity that is owed to each person and to all peoples. These statements have deeply shocked and saddened all at Dior who give body and soul to their work, and it is particularly painful that they came from someone so admired for his remarkable creative talent. Christian Dior’s values were those of excellence in all that he undertook, of elegance and craftsmanship reflecting his unique talent. The heart of the House of Dior, which beats unseen, is made up of its teams and studios, of its seamstresses and craftsman, who work hard day after day, never counting the hours, and carrying on the values and the vision of Monsieur Dior.” - Sidney Toledano

Dazzling