A Brief Compendium of Ruffs, History’s Most Inconvenient Fashion Fad

To us comfy dressers of today the idea of an itchy, restrictive gadget – fashionable or not – impeding our head movement isn’t the most appealing of accessories. But the ruff, a cumbersome featherlike collar worn around the neck, like so many other awkward fashion fads throughout history, was very much of its time and…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 678)

1. David Hockney in Paris, 1972 That sweater! Portrait by Jean Léger? Found on Pinterest. 2. Old Bohemia vs faux new Bohemia – The Bystander, 1913. “There is, at the present time, a curious tendency among so-called ‘Society people’ to play at Bohemianism.” Found on Alchemie Books. 3. “We’re not the people with the tinfoil…

The Familiar Hollywood Tale of How Screen Legend Veronica Lake Wound up Working in a Dive Bar

In 1962, a reporter with the New York Post got a tip that screen goddess of the 1940s, Veronica Lake, was working as a barmaid in the lobby of the Martha Washington Hotel, a low rent boarding house in Midtown Manhattan. Using the name Connie de Toth, she said she enjoyed her job because “I…

Time Machine du Jour: A 1960s London Flower Taxi

It can’t be often that you come across a charming little business lost in the archives and think – wow, that’s a really innovative idea! Time travel with us back to a 1960s London when a young couple decided to sell flowers from the back of a taxi… This got me thinking about the classic…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 677)

1. Haute Couture from the village of Goor in the Caucasus Mountains Found on Tumblr. 2. This perfect Belle Epoque Mansion in the Loire Valley for Sale Found via The Spaces, asking 1.59 million euros on Espaces Atypiques. 3. These Art Nouveau prints by French painter Georges de Feure Found on Gods and Foolish Grandeur.…

The Real Ziggy Stardust who Lost his Career to Acid

In 1966, David Bowie had a chance encounter with Vince Taylor an early exponent of the British Rock and roll scene. Taylor had been a leather-clad, chain-wielding rocker from the 1950s, a combination of Elvis, Eddie Cochran, and Gene Vincent. What now stood before Bowie in London’s West End was a bedraggled, wide-eyed religious zealot…

Wild Card Destination du Jour: Southern Indiana’s Failed Utopia

What put Southern Indiana on our radar? Mysterious utopian experiments and end-of-the-world 19th century religious cults of course! The beautiful historic town called New Harmony was once home to a esoteric doomsday group of German pioneers called the Harmonists, who had a taste for quirky architecture and kooky modern ideas like equal rights and free…

The Resurrection of a Sleeping Art Nouveau Palace

Gatsby’s mansion has nothing on Chateau Laurens. Perched majestically on a river bend on the outskirts of Agde, a former Ancient Greek colony in the south of France, this exceptional place lost in time has spawned countless stories and speculation about what went on behind its mysterious walls. Some say that the lavish villa was…

The Snowman, introduced by David Bowie

I remember every detail, as if it was yesterday. Without fail, we would put on the VHS tape on Christmas day after opening presents. I also remember at the time having no idea who David Bowie actually was, just that he was the man that introduced the Snowman in his attic. Here is the full…

13 Cheap, Last Minute and Actually Good DIY Gift Ideas

From D.I.Y. TO “I.O.U”, here is a round-up of the best and cheapest gift last-minute ideas out there. For just about anyone: A “Gift Bucket”… Stock it with personalised little surprises according to the person’s taste and personality. You can find the lanterns or buckets at most supermarkets/ gardening/ homeware stores for as little as…