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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.
Pop quiz: What has a $500 price tag, its own velvet-lined suitcase and more melons than the fruit aisle at Whole Foods? Playboy: The Complete Centerfolds, the new 720-page, 32-pound limited edition due out from Chronicle Books on Thanksgiving Day.
Hugh Hefner has been fulfilling male fantasies with a heavy dose of fromage since 1953, and he’s probably bedded the lion’s share of the 600-plus pinups inside—and paid for plenty of implants along the way.
White Wash: The massive DKNY advertising mural turned Soho icon at Manhattan’s Houston and Broadway is, like all the other signs of the neighborhood’s 80s heyday, not long for this world. [WWD]
NFL Lock Out: Football may ban excessive hair use, putting an end to those Thors and rastas of the gridiron. [Styledash]
Chaste Bunnies: The Philippine version of Playboy will be a fully-clothed, demure affair with, “maybe one nipple,” here and there. No fun. [Canadian Press]
Forever in Blue Jeans: Mike “Muffin Top” Albo searches for recession-proof denim. [NYTimes]
Panic at The Mexico: Emo kids are facing systematic beat downs south of the border and uniting to defend their rights and feathered hair. March on, wasted youth. March on. [The Daily Swarm]
Forged Signature: Refusing to let a little thing like legal permission hold it back, an Italian clothes maker bravely strikes out on its own to create the George Clooney collection. [WWD]
The Holy Grail: Bring on the male birth-control pill. [Altpenis]
Apparently not only is there such a thing as French Playboy but it seriously puts the American version—actually, make that America—to shame. While our original iteration of the classic men’s mag is irredeemably cheesy, the French version puts a high-fashion spin on things which elevates it above the onanistic urges of, well, the kind of guys who buy Playboy.
There are some pretty great life stories out there, but Hugh Hefner has to be one of the better ones. So we’re understandably excited to hear that someone’s finally thinking about the movie version.
In an interview with Comingsoon.net, Hef gives some details on the project including attached director (Brett Ratner) and hopeful star (Robert Downey Jr.). Although Hef claims Iron Man has nothing to do with it, it’s hard to ignore Downey’s recent take on Tony Starks as a techier version of the Playboy magnate. As for Ratner, we assume he’ll go easy on the car chases.
Hugh Hefner must have had a good chuckle over our post on the porta-nymphs at the Hugo Boss / Interview party the other day. “Ha,” we can practically hear him snort, “fucking amateurs.” They should have known better than to try and bite his style.
At the Playboy founder’s own pre-ESPY Awards party with Blu-Ray the other night in Beverly Hills, he not only had the nymphs—he had them make out.
Sic Transit Gloria Lad: The decline and fall of the lad mag, including more instances of the term “underboob” than you ever wanted to read. [Radar Online]
They Live: Video of the famed chupacabra surfaces…unless it’s just a steroid-enhanced pit bull. [Guanabee]
Slow Rider: The virtues of the everlasting suit. [Men’s Vogue]
The True Test of a Patriot: Tom Brady and Eli Manning face off on the covers of Esquire and Men’s Vogue. Apparently Brady starts off perfect but chokes in the last paragraph. [Daily Intel]
Chinese Democracy: Not even American Idol results are respected in China! Free Tibet? [Vulture]
Men of Summer: Playboy and Mad Men combine for the inevitable photoset. Sadly, Joan Holloway remains aloof. [Playboy]
You’re the Man Now, Dogg: Snoop Dogg expands his empire into fashion and reality television, branching out from his traditional interests in music, cameo parts, and horticulture. [TeenMusic]
The Nicest: SF’s Nice Collective politely let their Fall/Winter collection out in the world. [Selectism]
Dirty Linens: Japanese linen makes its presence felt…just in time for fall. [IHT]
Allen Wrench: Woody Allen’s production diary, complete with vividly described ménage-a-trois. Or should we say, vividly imagined. [NYT]
With a $500 price tag, its own velvet-lined suitcase and more melons than the fruit aisle at Whole Foods, Playboy’s limited edition The Complete Centerfolds book we told you about last November was one of those overly-ambitious ventures - much like the seven girlfriends - that seem to characterize Hef’s evening years.
Now however, perhaps responding to market pressures, they’ve released a more recession-friendly edition without all the bells and whistles, but still including every single strumpet to grace the famed gatefold since 1953 - over 600 of them to be exact. Presented chronologically in large format, it’s remarkable to chart the progression of soft porn aesthetics over the decades, changing with tastes and times. One thing’s for certain, however: melons have been in season for 50 years.
Although it may be outclassed by its French counterpart, the American Playboy is still good for something: science.
A pair of econometricians have pored through the Playboy archives with an eye to economic trends and confirmed a preexisting theory that in times of economic crisis—like now, for instance—men like their women a little taller, a little older, and a little more muscular. In short, we want farmer women to help us till the soil after the revolution comes.
Oh Lydia: Unemployment forces Lydia Hearst to indecency. She used to be so modest! [FashionIndie]
The Meme of Memes: Catnip for movie nerds…as usual, alphabetization is involved. [TakePart]
Portland is for Lovers: Singing the praises of Winn Perry, Portland’s finest men’s boutique. It’s also Portland’s third best kept secret, after mass transit and Stephen Malkmus’ solo work. [ultra]
A Simpler Time: A look at heaven circa 1958. Apparently it’s a kitchen. [Jezebel]
Keep it Under Your Hat: A quick roundup of your hat options as the winter approaches. We still like the beanie, but it’s a niche look. [Refinery29]
One of the great 50s pinups is in critical condition and getting the pre-obituary treatment today.
Although she’s far from a household name, Bettie Page will probably look familiar to any Dita Von Teese fans (and probably anyone especially taken by Ms. Joan Holloway). After a notorious string of pin-up shots in the 50s—which managed to inspire equal amounts of fervent admiration and moral outrage—she disappeared promptly from the public eye for a life of religion, marriage and missionary work, never to be professionally photographed again.
But as anyone interested in the early Playboy days can tell you, her legacy is still very much with us.
Hef History: When pretentious literary quarterlies write about Playboy, everybody wins. We’re still waiting for the New Yorker’s 10,000 words on Hustler. [n+1]
Stiff Upper Lip: To Esquire, the whole world is a case study on proper facial hair grooming…but the Golden Globes give more of a range than you’d think. [Esquire]
Steel Wheels: Biker gangs are terrorizing the countryside! On bicycles! [PSFK]
All the Colors: The Boston Globe’s handy guide to non-chemical hallucination. Fair warning: you’ll want to keep some ping pong balls handy. [Boston Globe]
If we were to write up a list of recession-proof commodities, nudity and beer would be pretty near the top. But apparently beer isn’t the staple it used to be, and nudity isn’t doing too well either.
Playboy lost $156 million last year, prompting the CEO of its parent company to say they were “open to discussions” on a sale. It’s the media equivalent of a fire sale…which makes us worry for the financial prospects of the Girls Next Door.
While Playboy has been rolling downhill for the past few decades, but it’s still jarring to think of a world without it. After all, you can’t hide a laptop under your mattress.
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.
