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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.
Usually when someone uses the phrase “old school,” they don’t have a specific place in mind, but when it comes to tailoring you can pin it down to a single street. Savile Row in London has been the go-to spot for bespokery since the days of the empire, and anywhere you happen to be fitted—even in Hong Kong or Dubai—it’s likely that most of your suit’s flourishes started out in the West End.
Of course, just like the empire, the Row has had some hard times lately»
It is an established rule that the farther Karl Lagerfeld ventures outside the stabilizing influence of Paris, the more troubled and chaotic he becomes. Driven mad by weight loss, he’s capable of anything, so when we heard he was headed to Dubai—which seems to occupy its own sphere of madness—we got very, very worried.
Apparently Big K has been contracted to build 80 homes on Dubai’s Isla Moda, a fashion-specific outcropping of The World, a man-made island. Each house will likely be decked out in Chanel-ery, fitting with Dubai’s ultra-luxe tendencies, but we can’t help but wonder why Karl got the nod.
Look deep into his eyes. Do you really want to buy a house from this man?
Feeling Lively: The implausibly named Blake Lively loosens up for W. [FashionIndie]
Tiny Dancer: A few days in the life of a professional dance partner. [NYMag]
Mallrats: Dubai gets incrementally more batshit insane. Yes, again. [Men.Style]
Protect Your Neck: A rundown on advanced scarf-knotting, including the elusive Tennessee Twister. [Normann Copenhagen via Selectism]
For a little over four years, Dubai has grown in the public’s imagination as the Vegas of the middle east, where Islamic devoutness could forge a local truce with unrestrained capitalism and a flood of oil money could fund obscenely ambitious construction schemes. But now that the boom times are over, the idea of a luxury oasis is seeming a lot shakier.
The Telegraph recently devoted 1500 words to cataloguing Dubai’s troubles, but the gist is familiar enough: lots of construction debt, less money than they thought, and a dwindling supply of optimism. The buildings are still going up, but no one is sure how they’ll pay for it all…at least until oil prices go back up.
Somewhere, Dana Thomas is smiling.
We knew things were getting rough for Dubai, but we didn’t expect people to be in such a hurry to leave.
Apparently people are skipping town so fast, they don’t even bother to take their cars: more than 3000 have been found abandoned in the airport parking lot in the past few months. Sharia law is pretty tough on debtors, so folks in dire financial straits tend to skip town rather than face jail time over a bounced check or two. But with boom times definitely at a close, the sheer volume of people sprinting towards the nearest outbound plane is becoming downright remarkable.
On the bright side, we bet the used car market is really taking off.
Cherchez Le Femme: Agyness Deyn has traded Albert Hammond for (we assume) a less technically proficient guitarist. [The Cut]
Heading South: Michael Williams tours Austin’s finest boutiques…one Olch at a time.[A Continuous Lean]
Crazy Time: Gawker looks at Dubai and decides to get crazy artsy. We’re not sure either. [Gawker]
Greatest of all Time: Deb counts down the 100 blogs most likely to improve your life. Somehow, Failblog does not make the list. [AskDeb]
The Glossy Life is Practiced Everywhere: Apparently Kate Moss’s latest contract currently dictates she can only be photographed in repose. [Red Carpet]
Paranoid: Kanye unleashes his latest all-caps stream of consciousness. The money quote: “I JUST WANNA BE A DOPER PERSON WHICH STARTS WITH ME NOT ALWAYS TELLING PEOPLE HOW DOPE I THINK I AM.” Life lessons, people. [Gawker]
The Skulls: Damien Hirst’s first album cover looks about like you’d think. [High Snobiety]
Notes from the Underground: Dubai is much, much, much worse than we thought. [The Independent]
Another Day: AnOther Magazine celebrates a decade of style with attractive pictures of attractive women. Seems like as good a way as any. [Fashion Copious]
Meet the Beatles: Chuck Klosterman reviews the Beatles’ box set, possibly maxes out on the number of times you can say “unheralded” ironically in a single piece. [A. V. Club]
Dubaiers Beware: Another Dubai horror story, this time from a British architect. [Building]
Going Rogue, Again: Anyone ready to pick up gear on the internet should head to Rogues Gallery for up to 60% off Fall/Winter gear. [The Choosy Beggar]
Really?: To be fair, the blindfold does make things difficult. [Fashion Copious]
Threadless: The future of Harris Tweed is surprisingly bleak. Get it while you can… [Style Salvage]
Designers Gone Wild: Where the Wild Things Are finally leaches into the fashion world. [High Snobiety]
To the Dogs: Dubai’s Ed Hardy shop just got busted for selling pets. We’d say we’re surprised, but after this, nothing that happens at the Dubai Ed Hardy shop could surprise us. [Transracial]
It’s Still in the Same Place: Cindy Crawford gets a book cover, thanks to Michel Comte. [Luxist]
City at Night: Night is now officially endangered. [PSFK]
All Over the World: Your daily Dubai horror story. [The Awl]
We’ll Miss You, Harvey: Miramax cuts back to seven films a year. [Thompson on Hollywood]
