"The limitless destructiveness of this economy comes about precisely because a corporation is not a person. A corporation, essentially, is a pile of money to which a number of persons have sold their moral allegiance. As such, unlike a person, a corporation does not age. It does not arrive, as most persons finally do, at a realization of the shortness and smallness of human lives; it does not come to see the future as the lifetime of the children and grandchildren of anybody in particular. It can experience no personal hope or remorse, no change of heart. It cannot humble itself. It goes about its business as if it were immortal, with the single purpose of becoming a bigger pile of money."
--Wendell Berry, from his essay “The Idea of a Local Economy”
Tuesday, March 4, 2025
Sunday, March 2, 2025
BEAUTY: Painting--Men of Antiquity, Part Fifteen
In a continuing series (previous entries seen here), here are, yet again, a lot of handsome-ass men from long ago...
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Top to bottom: Eliseu Visconti--Self-Portrait (1898); Glyn Warren Philpot, British 1884-1937--Man in a Flying Jacket, 1916; Jacek Malczewski--Portrait of Michala Gorstkina Wywiorski, painted 1892; Jean-Léon Gérôme--Le Comte de la Rochefoucauld et duc de Doudeauville; Lawrence Alma-Tadema--Portrait of Ernest Albert Waterlow; Leo Gestel--self portrait; Luigi Serena--Autoritratto, 1876; McClelland Barclay--LTJG R.F. Lynch, Jr., 1943; Merry-Joseph Blondel--Portrait of Maréchal de Bourdillon
.jpg)
Top to bottom: Eliseu Visconti--Self-Portrait (1898); Glyn Warren Philpot, British 1884-1937--Man in a Flying Jacket, 1916; Jacek Malczewski--Portrait of Michala Gorstkina Wywiorski, painted 1892; Jean-Léon Gérôme--Le Comte de la Rochefoucauld et duc de Doudeauville; Lawrence Alma-Tadema--Portrait of Ernest Albert Waterlow; Leo Gestel--self portrait; Luigi Serena--Autoritratto, 1876; McClelland Barclay--LTJG R.F. Lynch, Jr., 1943; Merry-Joseph Blondel--Portrait of Maréchal de Bourdillon
Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Tuesday, February 25, 2025
Messengers
Once upon a time, a young man who loved synth-based New Romantic music went to a concert at the Kabuki Nightclub in San Francisco to see one of his ultimate favorite bands, Ultravox, fronted by the amazing singer-songwriter Midge Ure, on their 1983 Quartet/Monument Tour. It was a magical night but what remained an enigma for this young man was the opening act whose name he never did get: two men on synths who sounded eerily similar to Midge Ure himself. He really liked all he heard, and the lyric of one song in particular leapt out, a song about a Dancing Bear. After this opening act and before Ultravox took the stage, a friend of this young man said he thought perhaps the song was a metaphor for Russia.
Over the next many decades, the young man aged, but every now and then he would recall this concert and think wistfully of the mysterious opening act. If only he could find some information about them, maybe he could find their music. Eventually, there was an electronic medium that spanned the world and connected people in ways never dreamt of. He decided to cast a net out onto this electronic medium and immediately found what he had been dreaming of all those years.
The band he heard over forty years ago was Messengers, a Scottish duo of drummer Colin King and guitarist Danny Mitchell. Their music was produced by Ure, explaining the resemblance to that unmistakable, heart-stopping tenor and the soaring sound of Ultravox. He found their music on a worldwide electronic video encyclopedia called YouTube. In 2004, twenty years after recording songs for an album, the duo released "It's Been Twenty Years...Let's Try Turning Up The Volume." The now-older man reveled in hearing familiar sounds, in particular, "Art," "Departure," and "T.D.P." He is so grateful for finding these sounds, the sounds of his youth, sounds that inspire him to this day.
Thus, after decades of yearning and searching, the enigmatic melodies that had once filled the Kabuki Nightclub on that fateful night were no longer a mystery. They were brought back to life, rekindling the spirit and passion of a time long past, and adding a melodious chapter to the story of a man and his eternal love for music. And he lived happily ever after. The end.
And here is "The Dancing Bear" that stuck in his mind...
Over the next many decades, the young man aged, but every now and then he would recall this concert and think wistfully of the mysterious opening act. If only he could find some information about them, maybe he could find their music. Eventually, there was an electronic medium that spanned the world and connected people in ways never dreamt of. He decided to cast a net out onto this electronic medium and immediately found what he had been dreaming of all those years.
The band he heard over forty years ago was Messengers, a Scottish duo of drummer Colin King and guitarist Danny Mitchell. Their music was produced by Ure, explaining the resemblance to that unmistakable, heart-stopping tenor and the soaring sound of Ultravox. He found their music on a worldwide electronic video encyclopedia called YouTube. In 2004, twenty years after recording songs for an album, the duo released "It's Been Twenty Years...Let's Try Turning Up The Volume." The now-older man reveled in hearing familiar sounds, in particular, "Art," "Departure," and "T.D.P." He is so grateful for finding these sounds, the sounds of his youth, sounds that inspire him to this day.
Thus, after decades of yearning and searching, the enigmatic melodies that had once filled the Kabuki Nightclub on that fateful night were no longer a mystery. They were brought back to life, rekindling the spirit and passion of a time long past, and adding a melodious chapter to the story of a man and his eternal love for music. And he lived happily ever after. The end.
And here is "The Dancing Bear" that stuck in his mind...
 |
| L to R: Colin King, Midge Ure, Danny Mitchell |
Monday, February 24, 2025
BEAUTY: Clothing--Paolo Carzana
London Fashion Week is wrapping up and I am so pleased to end on this high note:
Welsh designer Paolo Carzana is still a little new to the industry but has already amassed followers as well as some clout: he is a recipient of the British Fashion Council NewGen award and has BFC support money to put on shows, and is also an artist in residence at the Sarabande Foundation, the arts foundation supported at the bequest of Lee Alexander McQueen.
His vision is fairly singular, much like McQueen. While promoting his Fall Winter '23 collection entitled "Queer Symphony," he said, "It’s mainly related to this idea that everything I was ashamed of as a kid is now my strength. Up until I was 17, I would literally pray every night to wake up straight, and pray to be normal. And every single day, I was bullied in school, when I didn’t even know who I was."
It is a shared story among many of us in the gay community, one I have heard many times...surviving emotional, psychological, and often physical abuse and attacks to emerge on the other side, despite or probably because of it all, with a hunger and drive to create something beautiful, to express a force that could not be taken from us. I can attest to the truth of this from my own personal experience. So I feel great tenderness toward and interest in the creations of Paolo Carzana.
His sartorial vernacular is made of delicate fabrics tied and stitched together that seem like creations from some dream world, as if those wearing his garments should be lounging around on marble terraces in bright Pre-Raphaelite splendor, or in a lush production of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The cuts feel like they are memories of historical clothing, like tattered remnants of a far-away homeland after a shipwreck, and his beautiful sheer, ripped, ruched tops and trousers seem like they belong on wood sprites, elves, fairies. There is a hushed beauty to the silhouettes and construction of the garments that casts a spell. The cherry on the cake of his brand is his earnest commitment to sustainability. He uses deadstock, antique, or recycled fabric, and he uses plant dyes and spices to color his fabrics, including black walnut, Himalayan rhubarb, wild cherry bark, turmeric, tea, orange spice, hibiscus, and apple wood
So for this FW '25-'26 collection at London Fashion Week, entitled "DRAGONS UNWINGED AT THE BUTCHERS BLOCK," he showed his dreamy creations in a small pub called The Holy Tavern that could only hold forty people inside while a dozen more sat on bar stools in light rain on the pavement, and a legion of fans inside an adjacent narrow Victorian passage named St John’s Path. The clothing is sublime but the message is dire. Carzana explained, "I wanted to show where we are today--in purgatory. We live in dark times… Because humanity is destroying our planet. And also the way that LGBT rights are being taken away from us, so we cannot be ourselves." The title itself: dragons who are normally fierce creatures, flying about free, have had their wings removed...and they are on the butcher block, to be mutilated and killed. And how could such an image relate to what is going on in the world...hmmm, think think...
https://www.paolocarzana.com/
Welsh designer Paolo Carzana is still a little new to the industry but has already amassed followers as well as some clout: he is a recipient of the British Fashion Council NewGen award and has BFC support money to put on shows, and is also an artist in residence at the Sarabande Foundation, the arts foundation supported at the bequest of Lee Alexander McQueen.
His vision is fairly singular, much like McQueen. While promoting his Fall Winter '23 collection entitled "Queer Symphony," he said, "It’s mainly related to this idea that everything I was ashamed of as a kid is now my strength. Up until I was 17, I would literally pray every night to wake up straight, and pray to be normal. And every single day, I was bullied in school, when I didn’t even know who I was."
It is a shared story among many of us in the gay community, one I have heard many times...surviving emotional, psychological, and often physical abuse and attacks to emerge on the other side, despite or probably because of it all, with a hunger and drive to create something beautiful, to express a force that could not be taken from us. I can attest to the truth of this from my own personal experience. So I feel great tenderness toward and interest in the creations of Paolo Carzana.
His sartorial vernacular is made of delicate fabrics tied and stitched together that seem like creations from some dream world, as if those wearing his garments should be lounging around on marble terraces in bright Pre-Raphaelite splendor, or in a lush production of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The cuts feel like they are memories of historical clothing, like tattered remnants of a far-away homeland after a shipwreck, and his beautiful sheer, ripped, ruched tops and trousers seem like they belong on wood sprites, elves, fairies. There is a hushed beauty to the silhouettes and construction of the garments that casts a spell. The cherry on the cake of his brand is his earnest commitment to sustainability. He uses deadstock, antique, or recycled fabric, and he uses plant dyes and spices to color his fabrics, including black walnut, Himalayan rhubarb, wild cherry bark, turmeric, tea, orange spice, hibiscus, and apple wood
So for this FW '25-'26 collection at London Fashion Week, entitled "DRAGONS UNWINGED AT THE BUTCHERS BLOCK," he showed his dreamy creations in a small pub called The Holy Tavern that could only hold forty people inside while a dozen more sat on bar stools in light rain on the pavement, and a legion of fans inside an adjacent narrow Victorian passage named St John’s Path. The clothing is sublime but the message is dire. Carzana explained, "I wanted to show where we are today--in purgatory. We live in dark times… Because humanity is destroying our planet. And also the way that LGBT rights are being taken away from us, so we cannot be ourselves." The title itself: dragons who are normally fierce creatures, flying about free, have had their wings removed...and they are on the butcher block, to be mutilated and killed. And how could such an image relate to what is going on in the world...hmmm, think think...
https://www.paolocarzana.com/
BEAUTY: Clothing--Toga
Yasuko Furuta's brand Toga was not on my radar until now. But that's understandable since she has not really shown much since the pandemic...but for this London Fashion Week, she created a rather masterful Fall Winter '25-'26 collection that posed the question: is formalwear even relevant anymore? Of course my personal answer is yes (come on, make an effort), but her answer is a little less definitive. She took the idea of men's suiting and stretched it a bit...using some wonky proportions. I really love the enlarged collars that sort of fold over each other, with nowhere else to go. Backward blazers are topped with waves of thin wool. And the casually draped bow tie is a conscious homage to William Eggleston, the father of modern color photography as an art form. He often wore an untied bow tie around his neck more like a scarf than a tie. She managed to close the show with a black caftan or toga (it's right in the name) as a way to show that formal and casual can mix. So ultimately, her answer to the original question is...it can be if you want it to be.
https://int.toga.jp/
https://int.toga.jp/
Sunday, February 23, 2025
BEAUTY: Clothing--Denzil Patrick
For London Fashion Week, Denzil Patrick designer Daniel Gayle showed a collection only for the second time in his own hometown. Launched three years ago by Gayle along with his husband James Bosley who is also Artistic Director of the brand, Denzil Patrick has carved out a place in the industry. The pair like to play with British elements of fashion (see their British Navy-inspired SS '25 collection here), but also to deconstruct and then reassemble pieces of traditional masculine garments.
So for this Fall-Winter '25-'26 collection, they looked to the world of motocross through a Medieval lens, and the resulting Romantic, swashbuckling presentation ended up looking like a modern staging of Romeo and Juliet, with pieces that evoked padded and slashed Elizabethan jackets. Breastplates and aiguillettes (ornamental braided cord often found on military uniforms) helped this look along. And the motocross reference blended in well too: the pattern of the traditional checkered flag from the racing world felt like it was a leftover from Tudor England--the collection was entitled "Everyday Majesty" after all!
https://www.denzilpatrick.com/
So for this Fall-Winter '25-'26 collection, they looked to the world of motocross through a Medieval lens, and the resulting Romantic, swashbuckling presentation ended up looking like a modern staging of Romeo and Juliet, with pieces that evoked padded and slashed Elizabethan jackets. Breastplates and aiguillettes (ornamental braided cord often found on military uniforms) helped this look along. And the motocross reference blended in well too: the pattern of the traditional checkered flag from the racing world felt like it was a leftover from Tudor England--the collection was entitled "Everyday Majesty" after all!
https://www.denzilpatrick.com/
BEAUTY: Clothing--Central Saint Martins MA Graduate Show
The fashion school of London's Central Saint Martins has produced some astonishingly great talents, including Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Riccardo Tisci, Stella McCartney, Craig Green, Katharine Hamnett, Charles Jeffrey, Zac Posen, and Gareth Pugh. And for London Fashion Week, the MA graduates showed some wonderful, fresh designs for their Fall Winter '25-'26 graduate collections.
A trio of Asian designers stood out for me...
Jake Zhang created a collection based on athleticwear but added odd geometric shapes and foam padding of unknown purpose, making these vaguely unsettling pieces look at once familiar and alien. They seemed like something from a Matthew Barney film...
Then Liu Xueyang showed a simple collection but with such a sense of ease and lyricism, it recalls the original way humans used fabric...as sweeping wraps and covers. Such a primal, elemental way for a wearer to interact with their garment, as not just a garment but as comfort and shelter. It only helps that Xueyang produced it all in what appears to be a soft, supple jersey knit. *sigh* Just lovely.
And finally, Zihan Miracle Liu sent out a collection clearly inspired by his Chinese cultural background, but once again, we see a designer working with fabric in an elemental way, letting it drape, fold, collect, and flow. I particularly love the mono printed images that elevate these pieces into wearable works of art.
https://jakezhang.co.uk/
https://www.instagram.com/xueyang.l/
https://www.instagram.com/Zihanliuzihan/
A trio of Asian designers stood out for me...
Jake Zhang created a collection based on athleticwear but added odd geometric shapes and foam padding of unknown purpose, making these vaguely unsettling pieces look at once familiar and alien. They seemed like something from a Matthew Barney film...
Then Liu Xueyang showed a simple collection but with such a sense of ease and lyricism, it recalls the original way humans used fabric...as sweeping wraps and covers. Such a primal, elemental way for a wearer to interact with their garment, as not just a garment but as comfort and shelter. It only helps that Xueyang produced it all in what appears to be a soft, supple jersey knit. *sigh* Just lovely.
And finally, Zihan Miracle Liu sent out a collection clearly inspired by his Chinese cultural background, but once again, we see a designer working with fabric in an elemental way, letting it drape, fold, collect, and flow. I particularly love the mono printed images that elevate these pieces into wearable works of art.
https://jakezhang.co.uk/
https://www.instagram.com/xueyang.l/
https://www.instagram.com/Zihanliuzihan/
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
BEAUTY: Interior Design--Hendricks Churchill
For this 4,000 square foot apartment in a new building in New York City's Carnegie Hill neighborhood, architecture firm Hendricks Churchill took a route that is unexpected. So many of these of these new high-rise apartments are designed in a style that is a little on the minimal side, a little on the neutral side, and, while appointed with well-made and luxurious items, can read a little on the uneventful side. But here, the team furnished the spaces with color, pattern, wood, and an appealing artistic sensibility, mixing contemporary and antique pieces, bringing a delightful sense of life and interest to the entire home.
Photos by Chris Mottalini
https://mottalini.com/
https://hendrickschurchill.com/
Photos by Chris Mottalini
https://mottalini.com/
https://hendrickschurchill.com/
Friday, February 14, 2025
In Love: Happy Valentine's Day 2025
To my husband: Happy Valentine's Day. I love you...
If I asked you now
Will you be my prince
Will you lay down your armour
And be with me forever
When you open me
All the power in me moves
How you want to see
All the depths of me real
When you open me
All the power in me moves
I feel real
I love you
Love you
When I look into your eyes
There's a danger inside
When I see the edge
I can never hide
See me runnin', runnin', running...
...to you...
...from you...
...to you
There's a strange love inside
It's getting louder, louder, louder, louder, louder
There's a danger I can't hide
Who I am, it's who I am, it's who I am
I'm in love!
I'm in love!
I'm in love!
I'm in love!
I'm in love!
I'm in love!
I'm in love!
I'm in love!
https://linktr.ee/theirrepressibles
If I asked you now
Will you be my prince
Will you lay down your armour
And be with me forever
When you open me
All the power in me moves
How you want to see
All the depths of me real
When you open me
All the power in me moves
I feel real
I love you
Love you
When I look into your eyes
There's a danger inside
When I see the edge
I can never hide
See me runnin', runnin', running...
...to you...
...from you...
...to you
There's a strange love inside
It's getting louder, louder, louder, louder, louder
There's a danger I can't hide
Who I am, it's who I am, it's who I am
I'm in love!
I'm in love!
I'm in love!
I'm in love!
I'm in love!
I'm in love!
I'm in love!
I'm in love!
https://linktr.ee/theirrepressibles
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