Feb 09
Since m1k3y just declared flâneur to be the word of the week and thinking on that very subject helped inspire me to quit Facebook, I thought I’d share another old essay that, once upon a time, helped define some of the sensibility of this blog. Allow me to introduce, The Data Dandy. The data dandy collects …
Dec 02
The Buddhist meditates on his breath and is thought deep. The dandy meditates on his cufflinks and is thought shallow. From the Samurai Monk, Yamamoto Jocho: Among the maxims on Lord Naoshige’s wall there was this one: “Matters of great concern should be treated lightly.” Master lttei commented, “Matters of small concern should be treated seriously.” From the …
Aug 22
Toronto Life decided that I’m one of the city’s twelve most stylish people. The wife still can’t believe they didn’t go with the pic of me eating tacos in my underwear. I can’t believe they actually got a usable photo. I’m pretty stiff in front of a camera and don’t like being told what to …
May 31
I first heard of Jacques de Bascher when a friend lent me a copy of The Beautiful Fall: Lagerfeld, Saint Laurent, and Glorious Excess in 1970s Paris. I never finished that book. It bored me stupid, actually. But the character of Jacques de Bascher caught my attention. Insofar as being a muse can be called a function, …
Mar 30
A fairly decent short news report on Chappism, which has spread to France. While I don’t consider myself a chap and chaps don’t consider me a chap, I do feel a certain affinity with this group and view them as friendlies. We share many common points. (Both in insurrectionist methodology and style.) I suspect that …
Feb 12
Yesterday, when Mubarak finally resigned, I was at my tailor. Dandyism and revolution have long made strange bedfellows. Eons before the British mocked the American revolutionaries with their song of Yankee Doodle Dandy some of our better dressed people have done much to overthrow the powers that be in politics and culture. If a camera phone is …
Feb 11
I have an appointment with my tailor this morning. Looking forward to it. It’s going to be filmed and I’ll be asked for some of my thoughts on style and whatnot. I’ll tell you more about all that when I know more.
Jan 24
As I child, I’d watch Blue Jays games with Dad. The bat cracked, the ball sent on a line into a gap for a sure double. We’d hold our breath. Devon White loped towards it. Then, somehow, he’s there. Waiting. Never seemed to speed up. Always seemed to jog. But his glove always found the …
Jan 20
“The redemption of objects is impossible except by virtue of becoming an object. As the work of art must destroy and alienate itself to become an absolute commodity, so the dandy-artist must become a living corpse, constantly tending toward another, a creature essentially nonhuman and antihuman.” –Giorgio Agamben
Nov 29
I wanted a simple grey suit. Something dark and conservative. A counterbalance to my more outlandish choices. It is a classic choice and a male style staple. This potato of suits looks good. I have not given up on the idea. But I have slightly delayed it. Because, when I entered my tailor’s shop and had a …
