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A blog dedicated to the interesting, scandalous, useful and cutting edge in the world of men’s style, fashion and grooming.
Would you pay $30,000 for a bottle of Scotch? The folks at Christie’s are hoping somebody will at what is certainly an auspicious occasion: the first auction of rare spirits in New York since Prohibition began in 1920, taking place this Saturday at their Rockefeller Center HQ. Read more »
The waiting list on a wicked new 420 h.p. $130,000+, all wheel drive Audi R8 is running at least six months, but if you’re quick on the draw you can snag one this week at an auction courtesy of Bergdorf Goodman. Of course you’ll pay a premium—the bidding starts at $160,000—but then this is no ordinary Audi, and you have to factor in the inestimable value of getting one up on the Joneses.
For starters, the R8 in question is customizable to the winner’s specifications »
Banging the Gavel: With the recent sale of Carla Bruni nudes and the new offering of this Michael Comte Gisele shot, it’s clear that British auction houses are becoming the place for top-drawer spank fodder. [Vogue UK]
Penny Pusher: Every time blue-eyed, honey-blond men’s fashion blogger Amanda Brooks writes a tribute to a male dress staple, we fall a little harder. [Men’s Vogue]
More Cushion for the Pushin’: If you’re using padded underwear to get laid, there’s really nothing we, or anyone else, can do for you. [NYMag]
Supercops: English bobbies may soon have cool designer capes. Maybe it would be cooler if the government gave them firearms, but what can you do? [BBC]
Big Bubba: Bill Clinton uses big fat, dies to distract the eye from his big, fat mouth. [HuffPo]
Stupid is as Stupid Does: England’s premier scientific journal, The Sun reveals that the more educated a woman is, the harder it is to satisfy her sexually. Well, duh. [The Sun]
Preppy is as Preppy Does:Brooks Brothers debuts their Black Fleece collection. [Luxist]
Two years after the great James Brown’s passing, Christie’s is selling off the Godfather of Soul’s most prized possessions this Thursday in an auction featuring everything from his multiple music awards, well-worn hi-fi, and metallic green vinyl sofa to childhood mementos and photographs.
The big ticket items are his custom electric organ and baby grand piano at est. $20,000 - $30,000 and $15,000 - $20,000 respectively, along with dozens of jumpsuits in denim, polyester and other flammable fabrics (and all the colors of the puke rainbow) in the $5,000 - $7,000 range.
However we were entranced by a couple of the collections Big Brown amassed, including the keys to 11 cities he was presented with over the years (est. $2,000 - $3,000), and especially this assemblage of 83 pairs of shades he wore during countless concerts and debauchs - a steal at only $1,000 - $1,500. If only they could talk…
Once upon a time, in a more graceful age, a gentleman wouldn’t dream of leaving the house without certain items, including a hat of course but also of equal importance, a walking stick. This had nothing to do with infirmity, though it wasn’t always purely ornamental either. There was a thriving trade in walking sticks of every description, some ingeniously made to conceal all manner of items a gentleman might find useful on his travels.
Buried among the multimillion dollar Ferraris, Bugattis and Lamborghinis at this past weekend’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and Gooding & Co.’s concurrent auction was a little piece of automotive history belonging to one Steve McQueen..
The King of Cool’s 1976 Porsche 930 Turbo Carrera (above), in an understated shade of slate gray, was the car the actor drove daily for the last years of his tragically short life. While nothing like his older Jaguar XK-SS and Ferrari 250 Lusso, both of which sold for millions in years past, the Porsche—which was hammered down for a measly $137,000—is somehow a more authentic, poignant relic of the once and future King.
While some claim Sotheby’s’ upcoming Damien Hirst blowout—which is expected to bring in about $120 million—is merely an excuse to clear out a backlog of unsold work from Hirst’s London gallery, the bad boy Brit artist insists it actually marks a major turning point in his colorful career.
Titled Beautiful Inside My Head Forever and timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the celebrated Freeze exhibition which launched his career, Hirst says the sale represents the last of his long-running series of formaldehyde works, spin, and spot paintings, which have become a bit too predictable.
“It’s like my friend [late Clash frontman] Joe Strummer once told me about writing songs,” Hirst says. “If you can guess what the rhyme’s gonna be in the next line, then it’s shit and you’ve gotta change it.” We couldn’t agree more; Hirst’s work, turned out by his “factory,” Warhol-style, resembles nothing more then a broken, though very profitable, record at this point. Time for a new gimmick, old boy.
If you missed your shot at the Godfather of Soul’s shades, don’t despair—there’s still time to get your paws on Tom Jones’ billiard table.
On Thursday, London’s The Fame Bureau is auctioning off the table owned and used by the Welsh pop star in the ’60s and ’70s. Made by Burroughes & Watts of London c. 1880, the mahogany masterpiece made a cameo on the record sleeve of Jones’ 1971 LP She’s A Lady and is expected to fetch $100,000 - $150,000. Also on offer: Jimi Hendrix’s first burnt guitar, a 1967 Fender Stratocaster, which could go for as much as $1 million; the Bechstein Grand piano used by the Beatles to record Hey Jude in 1968, est. $600,000 - $800,000, and a slew of other less expensive but equally entrancing lots.
Start your bidding here.
Got an extra 25 grand, a blank wall and some friends you want to fuck with? Then head over to Sotheby’s today and snap up this eye-popping photo of Pamela Anderson by merry prankster David LaChapelle. The pic, which was taken in 2004 and measures an impressive 3-ft. tall, is a playful take on Pam’s permatan—not to mention her massive mammalian protuberances.
The pneumatic portrait is buried among a fairly ho-hum collection of contemporary art in the auction house’s New York sale today, with an estimate of $18,000 - $25,000 which we predict will end up on the high side even though most people will be bidding on paintings. Because there’s always been a heated competition for Pam’s ample charms.
As the hype crescendos around Quantum of Solace’s impending release—new Bond Girls!—it’s a good time to consider the flick in its historical context. Especially as a smashing collection of classic 007 placards are hitting the block at Christie’s in London tomorrow. The prized Bond lot in the auction house’s Vintage Film Posters sale is a mint condition 1964 Goldfinger sheet in the rare British quad style B format, estimated at $7,00 - $10,000.
We’re partial however to this quirky and equally scarce Aston Martin promo piece produced for Thunderball in 1965, which is a much better deal at est. $3,000 - $3,500. Also included are classics from Dr. No (1962, est. $2,700 - $4,500), From Russia With Love (1963, est. $2,700 - $4,500) and the rest of the pantheon, with several variations of each. Mr. Craig would do well to study these masterpieces if he hopes to err on the side of Connery.
Swashbuckling photographer Peter Beard’s work isn’t getting any cheaper—quite the opposite in fact—but we consider it fairly recession proof as these things go. We recently told you about the re-release of his classic 1965 book on Africa, The End of the Game. Then we reported on his shoot in Botswana for the 2009 Pirelli Calendar featuring naked supermodels and an elephant named Cathy.
Luckily, the reach of an auction house goes a little farther than a trunk show.
Swann Galleries is having a photo auction with some of the best photos of the past two centuries. Big names include Horst P. Horst (pictured), Henri Cartier-Bresson, Diane Arbus, Robert Mapplethorpe and Alfred Stieglitz, with over 400 photos on the block in sum.
Needless to say, it’s an embarrassment of riches, and auction technology has come a long way since the days of wooden paddles and fast talking Brits. You can peruse the selections online or place a bid here, even if you’re a few time zones away.
And of course, just looking is free.
As much as we make fun of steampunk, there’s still a lot of glamour to be found in those days. But we prefer magicians to engineers.
A bunch of magic related mementos, including a sizable chunk from Harry Houdini himself, are going up for auction next Tuesday at Swann Galleries. You can get a few of the great man’s handcuffs, trick hinges, his magic wand, or just a few posters and photos like the one above. If apparatuses are more your speed, there’s also a few trick clocks from his namesake Robert Houdin and a host of other goodies from the period. If you’re looking for something to put on your wall, you could do a lot worse than a playfully historic document challenging Houdini to escape from a beer barrel, or a photo of the same man hung upside down above an adoring crowd. It might even inspire a novel or two.
Luckily, it’s just in time for Halloween.
We may have been a little hasty when we predicted a depressing art boom.
New York favorite Mark Rothko landed sales as high as $72 million before the troubles—possibly fueled by eccentric advertising executives—but the latest sale couldn’t even pull a measly $10 million bid. That’s even more remarkable given that the painting depicts the gaping emotionless void within us that no light can pierce…so it would seem to have the depressing art market cornered.
Maybe we should hold on those Van Goghs a bit longer.
American Flag: ACL demonstrates the proper way to wear the American flag…with a little help from Chan Marshall. [A Continuous Lean]
Omega Man: Daniel Craig auctions off his watch for underprivileged youth. To keep his Bond credentials intact, we’re going to assume he was drunk at the time. [Hodinkee]
A Meme is Born: Apparently, the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme makes anything funny. Especially Crash. [CurbThis]
The Hour is Nigh: If you’re sending things in time for Christmas, this is how long you have to order. [Dealhack]
A fast car is always good news, especially when it’s a torpedo-shaped European model with just enough room for two seats and a gearshift. And if fewer than two dozen were ever made…the pot just keeps getting sweeter.
A little history will get you a long way…although you usually have to pay for it.
John F. Kennedy wore this watch for swimming for just under a year, and since then it’s passed from Jackie O to Aristotle Onassis, and eventually to a New York auction house. It’s going on the block in March, and costs a truly staggering amount, but as presidential memorabilia goes, this looks better than anything else we’ve seen.
It’s also worth more than five times as much as a watch on the same block that once belonged to Ghandi—just one more sign of what a little style will get you.
Of course, if JFK isn’t quite your speed, there’s always more recent royalty to pick through. For instance, the king of pop.
Michael Jackson has fallen on hard times lately—after all, lawyers ain’t cheap—and he’s putting a few of his less essential purchases up for auction. The result is a peek behind the scenes at one of pop culture’s strangest creations, sequins and all. For a good chunk of the 80s, the glittering epaulette look was the coolest thing anyone had seen. The plastic aviators may be the only thing that survived.
Playboy may be in dire straits at the moment but we’re pretty sure they’ll land on their feet. For one, they’ve got quite an art collection.
Well, the auctioneers must have been quite persuasive, because Hef & Co. are going in for their second art auction in less than a year. Of course, the previous one grossed just under a quarter of a million dollars, so we understand the temptation.
It’s enough to keep the empire running for another weekend.
Our dreams of owning MJ’s sequined glove were dashed today as Jackson succeeded in blocking Julien Auction House from auctioning off a few of his more awesome personal effects. Instead, the slate of items will be exhibited and then possibly shipped off to form a kind of Michael Jackson museum.
We’re going to contain our excitement, except to say this: a museum would easily be the best thing M.J.’s done since Dangerous. Consider us first in line.
Leafing through the Julien catalogs is bizarre enough—gaudy, heartbreaking, and creepy by turns—but seeing the items in person would be nothing short of amazing. Race, celebrity, childhood traumas and interior design trends all get mixed together into one glorious nouveau riche trainwreck that should beat anything you’ll find in the MoMa.
At least until they open up their pop culture wing.
Steve McQueen’s gotten a lot of cred as a style icon in the past few years, but memorabilia has been pretty hard to come by.
But a few of his more iconic items are going on the block, specifically a pair of his prized racing watches. This HEUER Monaco might be our favorite watch in the world. It’s a relic of the European racing culture McQueen loved, and they genuinely don’t make them like this anymore.
Of course, a $10,000 starting price will give anyone second thoughts, but it’ll be interesting to see who comes away with it.
