A Forgotten Ode to the Little Paris Shopfront

I was walking along the Seine this weekend, slowing my pace for the lonely bouquinistes (the open-air booksellers that have squatted the quays of the river since the 18th century), when a dog-eared paperback caught my eye. Inside, it was filled with the most delightful illustrations of French boutiques from the 1920s; each storefront’s name inspired…

A Bohemian’s Guide to Greenwich Village, New York, a Century Ago

I‘ve been digging through my fair share of New York’s archives while researching Don’t be a Tourist in New York and fell upon the photographs of a woman who, almost 100 years ago exactly, was doing the very same thing as I: seeking out the city’s local and off-beat gems. Oh ho, let’s go to…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. DXLII)

1. Drive & Listen (a website you never knew you needed) Drive through your city of choice, with all the ambient sounds of the street, while also having the option of listening to the city’s local radio station. Start cruising on Drive and Listen. 2. London’s Thinnest House is for Sale The two bedroom on…

A Hidden Suffragists Portrait Studio Discovered in a New York Attic

In a forgotten attic, sealed up for decades, the life’s work of a photographer for the Suffragist movement has been found, and it all started with the changing of a lightbulb. David J. Whitcomb, 43 year-old lawyer bought a building in Geneva, New York for his practice and was doing some electrical maintenance when he…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. DXLI)

1. In southern Japan, there’ a train station in the middle of nowhere, with no entrance or exit.. You get off at Seiryu Miharashi Station, but you can’t go anywhere and, to leave, you have to wait for the next train. This station has only one function: to remind men of the importance of stopping,…

Who Wants to Buy a 1950s Doo-Wop Motel?

The Jersey Shore earned a certain kind of reputation when MTV cameras infamously descended on its coast in the naughties, but “guidos” aside, in the 1950s, it was Hollywood royalty like Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly who had claimed it as their summer vacation spot. In post-war America, the shore hosted some of the biggest…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. DXL)

1. Empress Elisabeth’s mourning mask and veil. C. 1880 Empress Elizabeth’s only son Crown Prince Rudolf committed suicide with his mistress, a 17 year-old Baroness. After Rudolf’s death, Elizabeth dressed only in black for the rest of her life. The Empress Elisabeth of Austria has a seriously interesting story. Here are some interesting facts about…

But Where are the Women of Wall Street?

If you logged onto the internet this week, you probably heard about the GameStop saga involving a group of amateur investors that took on Wall Street by pushing the stock of a few underdog companies (like GameStop) to become the most highly traded assets in the United States. And if like me, your grasp on…

Let Cindy Crawford Guide you through Paris Fashion Week Circa 1992

It’s Haute Couture Fashion week in Paris – well, sort of. Shows are being attended by video links and style is being created, communicated and consumed in a virtual world. But for a brief moment, let’s pretend we’re not in the middle of a pandemic and turn the clock back to the early 90s courtesy…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. DXXXIX)

1. This Abandoned Villa in Italy After a little digging for more context, this place is rumoured to belong to Villa Pirotta in Brunate, a village on an hill over Como, Italy. This room may be inside one of several buildings on the estate, which is currently listed for sale on Sotheby’s. Photography by Mathias…