"Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.” – P.J. O’Rourke
The Senior - Issue #6
7th May, 2020
Like the FT's "How To Spend It" The Senior has taken on a new form. Consider this a new wardrobe - hopefully the adage that clothes maketh the man has real value. Hopefully readers like the redesign. If you have any comments or suggestions get in touch.
15th April, 2020
Entering the world of F.E. Castleberry is like going through a door into a Guggenheim of Good Taste. Fred is a natural curator. His louchely-preppy style a relaxed disguise for someone so studiously bookish in his discovery of source material and in the time and passion invested in creating his own unique aesthetic. Browsing his collection is like reading the pages of Glenn O’Brien — simple words assembled together to create great wisdom. It makes me want to steal a great artwork if only to order a new wardrobe.
Sid Mashburn
In one of my favourite quotations about menswear Tom Ford was known to once say "Dressing well is a form of good manners". Listen to Sid Mashburn speak (check out Blamo! for a good example of the experience) and it's clear that he's a leader in good manners and menswear too. Sid is the college football coach you never had, giving confidence and a wisdom that will spill off the field into the rest of your life. Appropriately Sid is apparently keen on a team huddle and quick to quote Deion Sanders too - ‘If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you play good. And if you play good, they pay good.’
Shave Every Day
9th April, 2020
Shave every day and always carry a handkerchief - two of the man things my Father taught me. Similarly always make your bed. If you ever doubted the importance of small personal gestures then I'd recommend watching this video:
Cold Martinis, Fresh Vermouth
4th May, 2020
I'm aware that there might be a slight menswear theme running through much of the issue , in that vein I would add that the best accessory for a well-dressed silhouette is a martini. Here then we revisit Dolin and a tip for optimum freshness. The code shown in the inset shows that this bottle was bottled on the 331st day of 2019. I’ve never really found an old bottle of Dolin for sale however as they seem to be opened and consumed well before that. What I would say is always keep any vermouth in the fridge and ideally use up within a few months of opening. On the subject of refrigeration too after I once heard a noted bartender talk out against an olive in a martini (calling it a heat bomb and therefore I guess therefore against the bracing nature of the ideal form of the drink) I check this concern by refrigerating my olives.
1st May, 2020
Much to the disappointment of my wife I'm a lover of collecting. Vintage books, auction catalogues, colognes, Santa Maria Novella pomegranates, wine bottle corks (and bottles - both empty and full), matchbooks the list goes on extending even to these toy cars that I bought for my sons to emulate the amazing collection of Ralph Lauren, To build any great collection start small.
5th April, 2020
I’m at that stage in my life where I’ve become a creature of habit. Listen to my wife — like I do — and she’ll tell you my wardrobe contains far too many of the same identical OCBD in various states of wear. She wouldn’t put it quite like that because she wouldn’t know what a OCBD is, but ask her about my shirts, and she’ll certainly tell...
Originally published on Instagram.
Drake's, 9 Savile Row
Drakes recently moved out of their iconic blue-tiled Clifford Street location and into a wonderful art-filled new store round the corner on Savile Row itself. The store feels like a perfect assemblage of Drake's vision. A Drake's tie is the distillation of a whole ethos - imbued with a passion of craftsmanship, a well-travelled mentality, filled to the brim with good taste, a calling card of traditional civility and yet relaxed comfort. The store then is a Drake's tie in brick and mortar. I've visited several times already and it's well worth the trip. Until you can visit order from the website - they currently have a sale running until Sunday too.
Sausage and Egg
3rd April, 2020
A small piece of light relief to the day. Much like lunch itself. Here a short piece humorous piece I wrote about the lunch and parenthood, all humour provided by my son.
La Grande Annee?
26th April, 2020
Readers will recall me mentioning laying down Lanson. Their disgorgement dates on bottles help no end here with understanding the age of bottles in the cellar. I've long been at a loss that Bollinger didn't do the same. Based on the Dolin advice however I spent some time investigating whether I could decipher any codes on Bollinger bottles in my cellar. Fortunately I lay them down in order of purchase and so after checking each and using the code on the neck of each bottle, I can confirm that the code seems to follow a L-YYDDDBB where Y is the year of bottling, D is the calendar day, and B is batch or bottling machine or similar.
The Wolseley
Jeremy King of the Wolseley reached out this morning to request that fans of the Wolesley support the great C&K team at this difficult time by purchasing E-Vouchers against future meals. As a show of optimism for the future I can't think of anything better. Link to video below. The Wolseley website for purchases is at www.thewolseley.com
Fin!
You've reached the end of this issue. Back issues available below.
If you have any comments, requests or recommendations for future editions please reach out to me via Instagram at @mrharrisonsr
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