The Steeple Times

Tag: society

  • Rich Pickings

    Rich Pickings

    Trophy house with a “dictator interior” in The Boltons has nearly £10 million sliced off its asking price; iceberg home behind reduced by £5 million

    A house in London’s second most expensive street has returned to the market at the much reduced price of £30 million ($38.8 million, €35.5 million or درهم142.6 million) in spite of having an interior that would only appeal to the likes of Bashar al-Assad, Muammar Gaddafi or Saddam Hussein.

     

    Previously marketed at £39.5 million ($47.1 million, €47.1 million or درهم188.3 million) in 2015 through Russell Simpson and now offered by Knight Frank, semi-detached 6 The Boltons extends to 9,781 square foot and comes with a 2,469 square foot mews house to the rear in Creswell Place.

    Both buildings are described as “requiring modernisation throughout” and in total provide 5 reception rooms, 16 bedrooms and 11 bathrooms. The main house has a lift to all floors, air conditioning and as well as parking for 5 cars, there is an internal garage and an interconnecting garden.

     

    For those with another £32.5 million ($42.1 million, €38.5 million or درهم154.5 million) to spare, Knight Frank also offer another house adjoining the Cresswell Place mews house. Featured in The Steeple Times last May, that house, Cresswell House, has also had a rather punchy £5 million ($6.5 million, €6 million or درهم23.8 million) sliced off its asking price. A super-compound anyone?

    Rich Pickings – 6 The Boltons, London, SW10 9TB, United Kingdom – For sale with Knight Frank for £30 million ($38.8 million, €35.5 million or درهم142.6 million) – Adjoining Cresswell House, 5 Creswell Place, London, SW10 9RD for sale for £32.5 million ($42.1 million, €38.5 million or درهم154.5 million) Rich Pickings – 6 The Boltons, London, SW10 9TB, United Kingdom – For sale with Knight Frank for £30 million ($38.8 million, €35.5 million or درهم142.6 million) – Adjoining Cresswell House, 5 Creswell Place, London, SW10 9RD for sale for £32.5 million ($42.1 million, €38.5 million or درهم154.5 million)

  • Marlene’s Motor

    Marlene’s Motor

    1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport cabriolet to be auctioned; it attracted the attentions of Marlene Dietrich and has a Hermés interior

     

    In October 1949, the chameleon-like actress and singer Marlene Dietrich (1901 – 1992) was photographed “descending elegantly” from a custom-built T26 Talbot Grand Sport by coachbuilders Franay at the Paris Salon. That car subsequently won the 1er Grand Prix d’Honneur at the Concours d’Enghien in June 1950 and is now due to be sold at auction in May.

     

    The “outrageously exclusive” short-wheelbase Grand Sport, chassis 110121, was first presented in white and came with a luxurious red leather interior and fitted luggage by Hermés. It was described as “an automobile destined for the serious sportsman and chic Parisian society in equal measure”.

     

    Marlene’s Motor – 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport cabriolet by Franay – Estimate £1 million to £1.3 million ($1.3 million to $1.6 million, €1.2 million to €1.5 million or درهم4.8 million to درهم6 million) – To be sold by RM Sotheby’s on 27th May 2017 at Villa Erba, Largo Luchino Visconti, 4, 22012 Cernobbio CO, Italy – Actress and singer Marlene Dietrich (1901 – 1992)
    Marlene Dietrich “descending elegantly from the car, the crowd surrounding it completely mesmerized – a very rare instance of the occupant upstaging a Grand Sport” at the Paris Salon in October 1949
    Marlene’s Motor – 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport cabriolet by Franay – Estimate £1 million to £1.3 million ($1.3 million to $1.6 million, €1.2 million to €1.5 million or درهم4.8 million to درهم6 million) – To be sold by RM Sotheby’s on 27th May 2017 at Villa Erba, Largo Luchino Visconti, 4, 22012 Cernobbio CO, Italy – Actress and singer Marlene Dietrich (1901 – 1992)
    As it is presented today – The 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport cabriolet by Franay

     

    Subsequently subject to another makeover by Franay whilst still owned by Talbot in the winter of 1950, the 4.5-litre car was presented at the Brussels Auto Show in January 1951 in black with a new, simpler grille design. After appearing at the Concours de la Grande Cascade that summer, the vehicle passed into the ownership of an unknown “manufacturer of hard candies” and was given yet another grille – this time in the style Pininfarina Ferrari 212 Inter.

     

    Returning to the Concours d’Enghien in June 1952 and then having its final appearance on the Franay stand at the 1953 Paris Salon, the Grand Sport was sold to a butcher from Versailles. It was bought for just $800 (the equivalent of £5,100, $6,600, €6,100 or درهم24,200 today) in 1960 by Jim Bandy, an American military officer stationed in France, and then taken by him to Baltimore, Maryland in 1963. Sold on several times and subject to an engine swap with a Talbot Grand Sport Saoutchik coupé, chassis 110101, the car was partially dismantled in the 1970s and it was not until 1992 that its restoration was to properly begin under the guidance of the highly regarded Austrian restorer Egon Zweimüller.

     

    Completed in 2010, the restored “one-off cabriolet” is now described as “compelling and unprecedented”. It again has a Hermés interior and luggage – this time in black – and has been verified by the Talbot-Lago and Saoutchik authority Peter M. Larsen.

     

    Offered with an unsurprisingly punchy estimate of £1 million to £1.3 million ($1.3 million to $1.6 million, €1.2 million to €1.5 million or درهم4.8 million to درهم6 million) by RM Sotheby’s, the 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport cabriolet by Franay will be sold at Villa Erba on Lake Como on the 27th May.

     

    Marlene’s Motor – 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport cabriolet by Franay – Estimate £1 million to £1.3 million ($1.3 million to $1.6 million, €1.2 million to €1.5 million or درهم4.8 million to درهم6 million) – To be sold by RM Sotheby’s on 27th May 2017 at Villa Erba, Largo Luchino Visconti, 4, 22012 Cernobbio CO, Italy – Actress and singer Marlene Dietrich (1901 – 1992)Marlene’s Motor – 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport cabriolet by Franay – Estimate £1 million to £1.3 million ($1.3 million to $1.6 million, €1.2 million to €1.5 million or درهم4.8 million to درهم6 million) – To be sold by RM Sotheby’s on 27th May 2017 at Villa Erba, Largo Luchino Visconti, 4, 22012 Cernobbio CO, Italy – Actress and singer Marlene Dietrich (1901 – 1992)Marlene’s Motor – 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport cabriolet by Franay – Estimate £1 million to £1.3 million ($1.3 million to $1.6 million, €1.2 million to €1.5 million or درهم4.8 million to درهم6 million) – To be sold by RM Sotheby’s on 27th May 2017 at Villa Erba, Largo Luchino Visconti, 4, 22012 Cernobbio CO, Italy – Actress and singer Marlene Dietrich (1901 – 1992)Marlene’s Motor – 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport cabriolet by Franay – Estimate £1 million to £1.3 million ($1.3 million to $1.6 million, €1.2 million to €1.5 million or درهم4.8 million to درهم6 million) – To be sold by RM Sotheby’s on 27th May 2017 at Villa Erba, Largo Luchino Visconti, 4, 22012 Cernobbio CO, Italy – Actress and singer Marlene Dietrich (1901 – 1992)Marlene’s Motor – 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport cabriolet by Franay – Estimate £1 million to £1.3 million ($1.3 million to $1.6 million, €1.2 million to €1.5 million or درهم4.8 million to درهم6 million) – To be sold by RM Sotheby’s on 27th May 2017 at Villa Erba, Largo Luchino Visconti, 4, 22012 Cernobbio CO, Italy – Actress and singer Marlene Dietrich (1901 – 1992)Marlene’s Motor – 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport cabriolet by Franay – Estimate £1 million to £1.3 million ($1.3 million to $1.6 million, €1.2 million to €1.5 million or درهم4.8 million to درهم6 million) – To be sold by RM Sotheby’s on 27th May 2017 at Villa Erba, Largo Luchino Visconti, 4, 22012 Cernobbio CO, Italy – Actress and singer Marlene Dietrich (1901 – 1992)Marlene’s Motor – 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport cabriolet by Franay – Estimate £1 million to £1.3 million ($1.3 million to $1.6 million, €1.2 million to €1.5 million or درهم4.8 million to درهم6 million) – To be sold by RM Sotheby’s on 27th May 2017 at Villa Erba, Largo Luchino Visconti, 4, 22012 Cernobbio CO, Italy – Actress and singer Marlene Dietrich (1901 – 1992) Marlene’s Motor – 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport cabriolet by Franay – Estimate £1 million to £1.3 million ($1.3 million to $1.6 million, €1.2 million to €1.5 million or درهم4.8 million to درهم6 million) – To be sold by RM Sotheby’s on 27th May 2017 at Villa Erba, Largo Luchino Visconti, 4, 22012 Cernobbio CO, Italy – Actress and singer Marlene Dietrich (1901 – 1992)Marlene’s Motor – 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport cabriolet by Franay – Estimate £1 million to £1.3 million ($1.3 million to $1.6 million, €1.2 million to €1.5 million or درهم4.8 million to درهم6 million) – To be sold by RM Sotheby’s on 27th May 2017 at Villa Erba, Largo Luchino Visconti, 4, 22012 Cernobbio CO, Italy – Actress and singer Marlene Dietrich (1901 – 1992) Marlene’s Motor – 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport cabriolet by Franay – Estimate £1 million to £1.3 million ($1.3 million to $1.6 million, €1.2 million to €1.5 million or درهم4.8 million to درهم6 million) – To be sold by RM Sotheby’s on 27th May 2017 at Villa Erba, Largo Luchino Visconti, 4, 22012 Cernobbio CO, Italy – Actress and singer Marlene Dietrich (1901 – 1992)

  • Reader Offer – ‘Un Ballo in Maschera’ by Verdi at Winslow Hall

    Reader Offer – ‘Un Ballo in Maschera’ by Verdi at Winslow Hall

    Winslow Hall Opera’s ‘Un ballo in maschera’ by Verdi to be performed in Buckinghamshire in July

     

    Between 7th and 16th July, a production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera will be performed in the grounds of Winslow Hall in Buckinghamshire.

     

    The opera in three acts will be conducted by Oliver Gilmour, Winslow Hall Opera’s artistic director for the last three seasons, and directed by Carmen Jakobi. Attendees will have the opportunity to enjoy picnics before afternoon performances and supper during an 85-minute interval in the evenings.

     

    Reader Offer – Winslow Hall Opera’s ‘Un Ballo in Maschera’ by Verdi at Winslow Hall, Winslow, Buckinghamshire, MK18 3HL – 7th to 16th July 2017.
    ‘La traviata’ was performed at Winslow Hall in 2015, its set was designed by Sam Steer

     

    Grade I listed Winslow Hall itself is a fascinating house that was once described as “the Rolls-Royce of English domestic architecture”. Supposedly built to the designs of Sir Christopher Wren, the building – famed for its curiously tall chimneys – has variously been a school, an office for RAF Bomber Command and an antiques showroom.

     

    Restored as a private house by a former British ambassador to the Netherlands in the 1950s, Winslow Hall was sold to the former restaurateur Christopher Gilmour and his delightful Australian wife, Mardi, in 2010.

     

    Details:

    Tickets are priced between £75 and £95 per person (with a discount of £10 per ticket on bookings made before 15th May). For further information and to book, telephone +44 (0) 754 472 6501 or email [email protected]

     

    Performance dates:

    7th July at 6pm

    9th July at 3pm

    11th July at 6pm

    13th July at 6pm

    15th July at 5pm

    16th July at 3pm


    Dress:

    Black tie is optional.

     

    Address:

    Winslow Hall, Winslow, Buckinghamshire, MK18 3HL. Parking is available in the field opposite. Trains from London Euston to Milton Keynes take 30 minutes.

     

  • Brenda from Bristol

    Brenda from Bristol

    Pearl clad pensioner ‘Brenda from Bristol’ became the Gillian Duffy of the 2017 General Election when she shared her views about politics with a BBC reporter. This 75-year old retired secretary spoke for the nation in remarking: “You’re joking? Not another one!” Oh for God’s sake, I can’t honestly… I can’t stand this. There’s too much politics going on at the moment. Why does she [Theresa May] need to do it?” and later added: “There’s hardly anybody in any of the parties that you’d put your life on the line for. We need somebody who’s got a little bit of guts to get us all going”. Brenda is entirely right: It is time that politicians stopped bothering us.

     

    #BrendaForPM

     

    Brenda from Bristol – The voice of the nation, 2017’s Gillian Duffy – Pearl clad ‘Brenda from Bristol’ became the Gillian Duffy of 2017 General Election when she shared her views about politics with a reporter.Brenda from Bristol – The voice of the nation, 2017’s Gillian Duffy – Pearl clad ‘Brenda from Bristol’ became the Gillian Duffy of 2017 General Election when she shared her views about politics with a reporter. Brenda from Bristol – The voice of the nation, 2017’s Gillian Duffy – Pearl clad ‘Brenda from Bristol’ became the Gillian Duffy of 2017 General Election when she shared her views about politics with a reporter.Brenda from Bristol – The voice of the nation, 2017’s Gillian Duffy – Pearl clad ‘Brenda from Bristol’ became the Gillian Duffy of 2017 General Election when she shared her views about politics with a reporter.

  • Take Me To The Titanic

    Take Me To The Titanic

    Apartment in mansion block in Sloane Square for sale for £6.2 million in spite of needing updating; it is within the building from which a Mayor of Chelsea lived and departed to his death on RMS Titanic

     

    A third floor flat in a portered mansion block on Sloane Square has gone on sale for £6.2 million ($8 million, €7.3 million or درهم29.5 million) through Cluttons in spite of being decorated like a relic from the 1980s. It is situated above Hugo Boss’ flagship store and within Grade II listed Wyndham House, the building from which a former Mayor of Chelsea went to his untimely death aboard the RMS Titanic in 1912.

     

    Previously priced at £6.5 million ($8.4 million, €7.7 million or درهم30.9 million) when marketed by Russell & Simpson in February 2016, the 2,684 square foot lateral apartment includes a 30-foot long reception room, 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and features such details as ornate ceiling friezes and plasterwork and working fireplaces. A larger 5 bedroom flat within Wyndham House sold for the staggering sum of £12 million ($15.5 million, €14.2 million or درهم57 million) in July 2015 according to Land Registry records.

     

    Take Me To The Titanic – Wyndham House, Sloane Square, London, SW1W 8AR – For sale for £6.2 million ($8 million, €7.3 million or درهم29.5 million) through Cluttons – Home to Christopher Head (1869 – 1912), former Mayor of Chelsea, who died on the RMS Titanic on 15th April 1912
    Wyndham House resident and Mayor of Chelsea from 1909 to 1911 Charles Head (1869 – 1912) perished aboard RMS Titanic, his body was never recovered but a sundial was erected in his memory in nearby Cadogan Place Gardens

     

    Aside from being one of Chelsea’s grandest residential blocks, Wyndham House was at home to one of the victims of the Titanic maritime disaster in the early 1900s and it was from here that Charles Head, Mayor of Chelsea between 1909 and 1911, went to his death in April 1912. Head, a Cambridge educated barrister turned director of Head & Co. insurance brokers and underwriters at Lloyds of London, was a well known supporter of the arts, a councilor from 1906 and had only married 18 months earlier. He travelled alone on a £42 first class ticket (the equivalent of £4,400, $5,700, €5,200 or درهم20,900 today) on the Titanic’s maiden voyage and bizarrely had taken out a £25,000 insurance policy “against ocean accidents”. His precaution left his widow very well provided for given such a sum was the equivalent of £2.6 million today ($3.4 million, €3.1 million or درهم12.4 million).

     

    Take Me To The Titanic – Wyndham House, Sloane Square, London, SW1W 8AR – For sale for £6.2 million ($8 million, €7.3 million or درهم29.5 million) through Cluttons – Home to Christopher Head (1869 – 1912), former Mayor of Chelsea, who died on the RMS Titanic on 15th April 1912Take Me To The Titanic – Wyndham House, Sloane Square, London, SW1W 8AR – For sale for £6.2 million ($8 million, €7.3 million or درهم29.5 million) through Cluttons – Home to Christopher Head (1869 – 1912), former Mayor of Chelsea, who died on the RMS Titanic on 15th April 1912Take Me To The Titanic – Wyndham House, Sloane Square, London, SW1W 8AR – For sale for £6.2 million ($8 million, €7.3 million or درهم29.5 million) through Cluttons – Home to Christopher Head (1869 – 1912), former Mayor of Chelsea, who died on the RMS Titanic on 15th April 1912Take Me To The Titanic – Wyndham House, Sloane Square, London, SW1W 8AR – For sale for £6.2 million ($8 million, €7.3 million or درهم29.5 million) through Cluttons – Home to Christopher Head (1869 – 1912), former Mayor of Chelsea, who died on the RMS Titanic on 15th April 1912Take Me To The Titanic – Wyndham House, Sloane Square, London, SW1W 8AR – For sale for £6.2 million ($8 million, €7.3 million or درهم29.5 million) through Cluttons – Home to Christopher Head (1869 – 1912), former Mayor of Chelsea, who died on the RMS Titanic on 15th April 1912Take Me To The Titanic – Wyndham House, Sloane Square, London, SW1W 8AR – For sale for £6.2 million ($8 million, €7.3 million or درهم29.5 million) through Cluttons – Home to Christopher Head (1869 – 1912), former Mayor of Chelsea, who died on the RMS Titanic on 15th April 1912Take Me To The Titanic – Wyndham House, Sloane Square, London, SW1W 8AR – For sale for £6.2 million ($8 million, €7.3 million or درهم29.5 million) through Cluttons – Home to Christopher Head (1869 – 1912), former Mayor of Chelsea, who died on the RMS Titanic on 15th April 1912Take Me To The Titanic – Wyndham House, Sloane Square, London, SW1W 8AR – For sale for £6.2 million ($8 million, €7.3 million or درهم29.5 million) through Cluttons – Home to Christopher Head (1869 – 1912), former Mayor of Chelsea, who died on the RMS Titanic on 15th April 1912Take Me To The Titanic – Wyndham House, Sloane Square, London, SW1W 8AR – For sale for £6.2 million ($8 million, €7.3 million or درهم29.5 million) through Cluttons – Home to Christopher Head (1869 – 1912), former Mayor of Chelsea, who died on the RMS Titanic on 15th April 1912Take Me To The Titanic – Wyndham House, Sloane Square, London, SW1W 8AR – For sale for £6.2 million ($8 million, €7.3 million or درهم29.5 million) through Cluttons – Home to Christopher Head (1869 – 1912), former Mayor of Chelsea, who died on the RMS Titanic on 15th April 1912 Take Me To The Titanic – Wyndham House, Sloane Square, London, SW1W 8AR – For sale for £6.2 million ($8 million, €7.3 million or درهم29.5 million) through Cluttons – Home to Christopher Head (1869 – 1912), former Mayor of Chelsea, who died on the RMS Titanic on 15th April 1912Take Me To The Titanic – Wyndham House, Sloane Square, London, SW1W 8AR – For sale for £6.2 million ($8 million, €7.3 million or درهم29.5 million) through Cluttons – Home to Christopher Head (1869 – 1912), former Mayor of Chelsea, who died on the RMS Titanic on 15th April 1912

  • The Busy Borwicks

    The Busy Borwicks

    Son of Kensington MP Lady Borwick’s curious connections to the people who ensured both Brexit and the election of Donald Trump revealed

     

    On Sunday, Carole Cadwalladr of  The Observer published a lengthy and well researched article that, amongst other things, examined the connections between The Hon. Thomas Borwick – the son of the Conservative hereditary peer The Rt. Hon. The Lord Borwick and Kensington’s Member of Parliament Lady ‘Call me Victoria’ Borwick – and the controversial US hedge fund titan and backer of Donald Trump, Robert Mercer.

     

    A director of a multitude of companies, in spite of being just 29 years old, “new media expert” Thomas Borwick – whose mother was forced to apologise “after using City Hall resources to promote her husband’s [now defunct] electric vehicle business” in 2009 – it now transpires, was not only Vote Leave’s chief technology officer but previously worked with SCL/Cambridge Analytica and AggregateIQ. Borwick currently touts himself to his 202 followers on Twitter as the founder of a political canvasing consultancy named Kan.to, an organisation that he boldy claims “will out-organise, out-plan, out-leaflet, out-twitter, out-work and out-vote all of its opponents”.

     

    Mercer, one of the owners of the far-right Breitbart News Network as well as being a major shareholder in Cambridge Analytica, is a man whose “sinister” connections to both Trump and Nigel Farage have rightly been widely criticised. On that basis, that the son of fervent Brexiteer Lady Borwick – a woman whose constituents voted 69% to ‘Remain’ and whose domain was home to a greater proportion of EU nationals than any other London borough in 2016 – has links to this billionaire and his activities should only encourage the voters of Kensington to ditch her and her out-of-touch party.

     

    We urge Kensington based readers to support Annabel Mullin of the Liberal Democrats on 8th June. This principled lady is the only person who can realistically unseat Lady Borwick and she is the only candidate who will support the beliefs the majority in this constituency continue to hold dear.

     

    #DumpLadyBorwick #VoteAnnabelMullin

     

  • Pete Cashmore (AKA ‘The Sage of Media’)

    Pete Cashmore (AKA ‘The Sage of Media’)

    Born in Banchory, Aberdeenshire in 1985, Pete Cashmore founded Mashable, a “one-stop-shop” digital media news and blogging site, in his bedroom in 2005 with the aim of “changing the world”. The firm now has over 120 employees, is based in New York and has 9 million followers on Twitter and achieves over 45 million unique views per month. He was once described as “one of the most influential voices of his generation – on and offline” and was also called “more than just a superb head of hair” by Hearst’s Town & Country magazine in 2016.

     

  • Jack Schlossberg (AKA John Bouvier Kennedy Schlossberg)

    Jack Schlossberg (AKA John Bouvier Kennedy Schlossberg)

    New York born, Yale educated Jack Schlossberg is the only grandson of JFK. The son of designer and artist Ed Schlossberg and former Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy, Schlossberg co-founded ReLight New York, a non-profit organsiation that installed fluorescent lights in low-income housing developments, whilst at school and has expressed a desire to pursue a career in politics. In May 2017, he was interviewed on NBC Today and commented: “I’m inspired by my family’s legacy of public service. It’s something that I’m very proud of, but I’m still trying to make my own way, figure things out, so stay tuned”.

     

     

  • Bored of Black Tie, Crushed by ‘The Club’

    Bored of Black Tie, Crushed by ‘The Club’

    As black tie bonanzas deservedly take a bashing, we ask: “What’s next for Britain and America’s party paraders?”

     

    Last May, the acerbic Spectator columnist Taki wrote a brilliant opinion piece bemoaning the ghastly affair he believed New York’s Metropolitan Museum Gala had become. It perfectly summed up the vulgarity of an age where Kardashians have replaced Vanderbilt Sloanes and where Anna Wintour and her condescending ‘club’ have seized the mantle. This week, Primates of Park Avenue author Wednesday Martin took the debate one stage further and asked: “Is it time to say bye-bye to the black tie charity ball?” in an article for Town & Country magazine.

     

    Whilst Martin quoted a “titan of finance” as saying: “No one really wants to attend a gala”, she also suggested that “showing up feels somehow retro, tangible, genuine”. Society is still forced into the routine of putting on black tie and parading out in both America and Britain yet in reality, everyone would most likely rather be down their local spit-and-sawdust.

     

    Aside from the rubber chicken (and vomit inducing wine), the likelihood of being stuck with nine crushing bores and the inevitable raffle of rubbish, such affairs are now mostly the preserve of a club of Z-listers and desperados. At such gatherings, you’ll find trolleyed trailer trash like Dawn Ward of The Real Housewives of Cheshire clucking with titleless tosspot twits like David Furnish and each and every Friday’s ES Magazine bears testimony to this fact. The black tie bash deserves to come to its natural end, but what on earth will replace it?

     

    Bored of Black Tie, Crushed by ‘The Club’ – Death of Black Tie Balls – As black tie bonanzas deservedly take a bashing, we ask: “What’s next for Britain and America’s party paraders?” – Sir Elton John and David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley, Tamara Ecclestone, Jay Rutland, Dawn Ward, Ashley Ward, Elliott Spencer, Stephen Fry, Alexa Chung, Esther Rantzen, Anthea Turner, Grant Bovey
    The inevitable rent-a-crowd that now dominates at black tie gatherings in Britain these days is focused on daytime TV presenters and obscure reality wannabes
    Bored of Black Tie, Crushed by ‘The Club’ – Death of Black Tie Balls – As black tie bonanzas deservedly take a bashing, we ask: “What’s next for Britain and America’s party paraders?” – Sir Elton John and David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley, Tamara Ecclestone, Jay Rutland, Dawn Ward, Ashley Ward, Elliott Spencer, Stephen Fry, Alexa Chung, Esther Rantzen, Anthea Turner, Grant Bovey
    Tamara Ecclestone and husband Jay Rutland (pictured with Donna Air behind them) might be moneyed, but where’s the class?
    Bored of Black Tie, Crushed by ‘The Club’ – Death of Black Tie Balls – As black tie bonanzas deservedly take a bashing, we ask: “What’s next for Britain and America’s party paraders?” – Sir Elton John and David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley, Tamara Ecclestone, Jay Rutland, Dawn Ward, Ashley Ward, Elliott Spencer, Stephen Fry, Alexa Chung, Esther Rantzen, Anthea Turner, Grant Bovey
    Stephen Fry and husband Elliott Spencer are a duo willing to turn up to the opening of an envelope
    Bored of Black Tie, Crushed by ‘The Club’ – Death of Black Tie Balls – As black tie bonanzas deservedly take a bashing, we ask: “What’s next for Britain and America’s party paraders?” – Sir Elton John and David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley, Tamara Ecclestone, Jay Rutland, Dawn Ward, Ashley Ward, Elliott Spencer, Stephen Fry, Alexa Chung, Esther Rantzen, Anthea Turner, Grant Bovey
    If you really want to lower the tone, invite champagne swiller Dawn Ward and her ex-footballer husband
    Bored of Black Tie, Crushed by ‘The Club’ – Death of Black Tie Balls – As black tie bonanzas deservedly take a bashing, we ask: “What’s next for Britain and America’s party paraders?” – Sir Elton John and David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley, Tamara Ecclestone, Jay Rutland, Dawn Ward, Ashley Ward, Elliott Spencer, Stephen Fry, Alexa Chung, Esther Rantzen, Anthea Turner, Grant Bovey
    Alexa Chung is the ultimate guest if you want to make it to the ‘ES Magazine’s’ party pages (in spite of the fact she’s actually pretty pointless)
    Bored of Black Tie, Crushed by ‘The Club’ – Death of Black Tie Balls – As black tie bonanzas deservedly take a bashing, we ask: “What’s next for Britain and America’s party paraders?” – Sir Elton John and David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley, Tamara Ecclestone, Jay Rutland, Dawn Ward, Ashley Ward, Elliott Spencer, Stephen Fry, Alexa Chung, Esther Rantzen, Anthea Turner, Grant Bovey
    No party is complete without legendary crasher and shopping aficionado David Pun; last night he was spotted lingering outside the entrance to the opening night of the 2017 London Motor Show and given his antics he even has a Twitter account named in his honour
    Bored of Black Tie, Crushed by ‘The Club’ – Death of Black Tie Balls – As black tie bonanzas deservedly take a bashing, we ask: “What’s next for Britain and America’s party paraders?” – Sir Elton John and David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley, Tamara Ecclestone, Jay Rutland, Dawn Ward, Ashley Ward, Elliott Spencer, Stephen Fry, Alexa Chung, Esther Rantzen, Anthea Turner, Grant Bovey
    Anthea Turner and Grant Bovey used to host an annual ball in their garden; their marriage is now toast and the ball, for them at least, is most definitely over
  • The Commerce of Selfies

    The Commerce of Selfies

    A review of the showcase of vanity that is the Saatchi Gallery’s ‘Selfie to Self-Expression’ exhibition

     

    The first ever ‘selfie’ was supposedly taken on the roof of the Marceau studio on Fifth Avenue in New York. Featuring a photographer named Joseph Byron and his colleagues, the image was captured in December 1920 and now, an exhibition at London’s Saatchi Gallery examines the story of what has become a modern day social phenomenon.

     

    The Commerce of Selfies – Selfie to Self-Expression, Saatchi Gallery – A review of the showcase of vanity that is the Saatchi Gallery’s ‘Selfie to Self-Expression’ exhibition. Open until 30th May 2017.
    The first ever selfie

     

    Aside from images of Hillary Clinton during the 2016 American election and lookalikes of the British royal family by Alison Jackson, this exhibition – sponsored rather appropriately by a mobile phone manufacturer plainly desperate to get its product into the public eye in England named Huawei – features everything from selfies taken with selfie sticks to selfies taken underwater. It is an array of ridiculousness and most definitely a display of extreme vanity that is present here, but with opportunities for visitors to participate, it is also something that anyone except a true killjoy will have a little fun with.

     

    The word ‘selfie’ was announced as the Oxford English Dictionary “word of the year” in 2013 and subsequently, Business Insider, published a story that referenced selfies of groups as “usies”. Huawei Technologies, it transpires, trademarked the word “groufie” around the same time and thus it’s no wonder they managed to cut a deal with the ever-so-commercial Charles Saatchi.

     

    ‘Selfie to Self-Expression’ is on display at the Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York’s Headquarters, Kings Road, London, SW3 4RY until 30th May. The exhibition is free and open seven days a week, 10am to 6pm.

     

    #SaatchiSelfie

     

    The Commerce of Selfies – Selfie to Self-Expression, Saatchi Gallery – A review of the showcase of vanity that is the Saatchi Gallery’s ‘Selfie to Self-Expression’ exhibition. Open until 30th May 2017.The Commerce of Selfies – Selfie to Self-Expression, Saatchi Gallery – A review of the showcase of vanity that is the Saatchi Gallery’s ‘Selfie to Self-Expression’ exhibition. Open until 30th May 2017.The Commerce of Selfies – Selfie to Self-Expression, Saatchi Gallery – A review of the showcase of vanity that is the Saatchi Gallery’s ‘Selfie to Self-Expression’ exhibition. Open until 30th May 2017.The Commerce of Selfies – Selfie to Self-Expression, Saatchi Gallery – A review of the showcase of vanity that is the Saatchi Gallery’s ‘Selfie to Self-Expression’ exhibition. Open until 30th May 2017.The Commerce of Selfies – Selfie to Self-Expression, Saatchi Gallery – A review of the showcase of vanity that is the Saatchi Gallery’s ‘Selfie to Self-Expression’ exhibition. Open until 30th May 2017.The Commerce of Selfies – Selfie to Self-Expression, Saatchi Gallery – A review of the showcase of vanity that is the Saatchi Gallery’s ‘Selfie to Self-Expression’ exhibition. Open until 30th May 2017. The Commerce of Selfies – Selfie to Self-Expression, Saatchi Gallery – A review of the showcase of vanity that is the Saatchi Gallery’s ‘Selfie to Self-Expression’ exhibition. Open until 30th May 2017. The Commerce of Selfies – Selfie to Self-Expression, Saatchi Gallery – A review of the showcase of vanity that is the Saatchi Gallery’s ‘Selfie to Self-Expression’ exhibition. Open until 30th May 2017. The Commerce of Selfies – Selfie to Self-Expression, Saatchi Gallery – A review of the showcase of vanity that is the Saatchi Gallery’s ‘Selfie to Self-Expression’ exhibition. Open until 30th May 2017.The Commerce of Selfies – Selfie to Self-Expression, Saatchi Gallery – A review of the showcase of vanity that is the Saatchi Gallery’s ‘Selfie to Self-Expression’ exhibition. Open until 30th May 2017.