If there is a Paris’ Left Bank elegance, nourished by the irreverence of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the omnipresence of publishing houses, the Faubourg’s Proustian aristocracy – a syncretism once so well embodied by Arnys – then there must be an elegance of the Right Bank. On the left bank, the settled men ; on the right bank, […]
HUSBANDS JOURNAL
JOURNAL
WALL STREET STYLE
In 1975, the industrialised world witnessed a rapid deterioration in the main economic indicators: inflation, falling growth rates and unemployment. At the time, few economists understood that these indicators heralded the entry of the industrialised countries into an economic crisis that would last more than 20 years. A statutory and flamboyant wardrobe On Wall Street, […]
MEN’S SMALL ACCESSORIES
The 1960s and 1970s marked a kind of apogee for men’s accessories. At first purely functional, these everyday objects borrowed increasingly sophisticated know-how, creating an elaborate aesthetic which transformed them into “jewels” for men. THE BELT thin belt from Old England, Sulka or Lanvin with a gold buckle, exotic or patent leather. THE WALLET/CARD-HOLDER made […]
IRISH LINEN
Linen was introduced into Europe 2000 years ago. Originally considered as bad weed, its cultivation developed very early on to be transformed into textiles. The manufacturing process has remained unchanged through the ages: the plucked flax stalks are first spread out in sheets on the ground and then treated to extract the fibres (this is […]
CASUAL FRIDAY
Casual day, casual Friday or dress-down Friday is a custom that allows employees of a company to dress down on Fridays. In France, the false anglicism of “Friday wear” is used. Employees are invited to leave their suits at home and loosen their ties. Instead, IT people, bankers, HR managers and accountants put on a […]
THE SHORT-SLEEVE SHIRT
The short-sleeve shirt was democratised in the 1920s by tennis players who wore it to play with more ease. A new smock for artists and painters Subsequently, short-sleeve shirts became very popular within artists, particularly painters, who thus avoided getting their sleeves dirty while painting: Picasso, Léger, Albers and Matisse all wore one in their […]
PLAYTIME
On the outskirts of Paris, an upright city, an airport concourse, American tourists, Monsieur Hulot, a missed appointment, endless back and forths, a lift, a Household Arts Show, misunderstandings, reflections, open-space offices, an American girl, preparations for the Royal Garden restaurant opening night, cocktail jackets and dinner jackets, dancing all night, mornings at the drugstore […]
EVENING WEAR
The dinner jacket first appeared following the Crimean War. British soldiers, stationed in Turkey from 1853 to 1856, began to smoke local tobacco, taking it back to England with them on their return. The idea of smoking in groups after dinner then spread in England among the aristocratic class. Before entering the smoking room, men […]
THE POCKETS
Pockets were not originally sewn-in pockets like the ones we know today, but rather separate bags attached to clothes. Used principally for the carrying of tools, it was from the 15th century that these bags were knotted around the waist or suspended from the belt. Coveted by pickpockets and purse cutters, slits were then cut […]
DIETER RAMS
Born on may 20th, 1932 in Wiesbaden, Dieter Rams is a German industrial designer considered as one of the founders of the functionalist school of industrial design. His work is closely linked to the Braun company, for which he designed radios, record players, scales and calculators from 1955 to 1995 A synthesis between Ivy League […]