Gentry style

Tuscany still has its secrets and the small hill city of Pontremoli seems to exist only as a whisper. An hours drive from either Parma or La Spezia, Pontremoli (which translates as “Trembling Bridge”) is one of the most beautiful outposts of the vast and splendorous Massa-Carrara region.

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Madonna (49 years & 9 months) launches her sexy new album Hard Candy with its first single “4 minutes” and blog-world goes crazy. Outrageous ! Acting sexy at nearly 50 ! BEING sexy at 50 ! Whatever next !  Whereas The Rolling Stones - combined ages 254 premiere their new concert movie and the only surprise seems to be that 64 year old Mick Jagger is several inches shorter than his current girlfriend.  No mention that she is twenty-four years his junior.

Double standards? You betchya !  But if we want advice on how to grow old gracefully (or even disgracefully) it’s to the stars of the silver screen that Gentry turns to see how it’s done.

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The truth is, penny loafers never really go away, they just vacation on the coast of Maine when the sartorial going gets tough. From time to time, however, penny loafers reign supreme – in the 1930s when they were invented, in the 1950s as worn by Montgomery Clift, in the 1960s, when sockless American campuses made them de rigeur, in the early 1980s, when the world went preppy. Penny loafers are stayers, as likely to disappear as, um, a bad penny.
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Whereas a gentleman carries an umbrella or a walking stick he “wears” a cane. The umbrella and the walking stick are functional accoutrements; but a gentleman’s cane is a finishing touch to his wardrobe. He should give equal attention to the selection of his cane as to his choice of wardrobe, the nature of the day’s business being uppermost in his mind.

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I was heartbroken to find out Lenny Kravitz has been celibate for three years. Time was, I could go to sleep at night comforted by the fact that Lenny would be working over any one of Natalaie Imbruglia, Lisa Bonet, Natalie Portman, Penelope Cruz or Kylie Minogue. If you can’t trust Lenny Kravitz, who can you trust? To be fair to him, he’s probably worn his most valuable instrument down to a harnmless nub. But he’s setting a bad example and he’s not alone in this wilfull abstinence, there is a whole rash of sex-misers on the celebrity circuit. Gentry asks the question on everyone’s lips: why, oh why?
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Not too many years ago in London, I went in search of beach towels to take with me to France. Or maybe Italy. It was a long search and one that didn’t bear much terry-veloured fruit. I finally found a couple at SCP, but, nice though they are, it doesn’t seem quite right to buy beach towels in Hoxton, at the epicentre of contemporary UK furniture design. So, while dossing in LA, where beach accessorizing constitutes serious fashion, I’ve been stocking up on beach towels, beach blankets, beach towels and…lip moisturizer (my favourite LA-based Brave Solider’s Lip Defender keeps your sunsmacked lips in good health). Here’s my pick of the best beach towels on offer, cheap and cheerful via online shopping (all under $30 and some under $20).

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There are a fine range of bags available to the gent. There are plenty of fashions to choose from and identify with; the swept back Italian leather satchel, the hip-to-be-square soho record bag, the modest backpack, the continental, vintage strapless clutch, even the tried and tested pomp of the leather legal brief. But now, fellows, we have a quandary; Totes. The fairer sex have been enjoying the practicalities of this spacious and versatile carry-all for a good few years now. Is it okay for men to muscle-in or is this shape of bag just too endemically hers? There are few barriers now regarding men’s accessories, so what’s the problem? One designer taking a shot at Tote glory is Gabrielecorto Moltedo, offering limited runs from his actory in Florence. Moltedo’s instincts should be trusted - after all,  his parents founded Bottega Veneta in the 60s. It could well be the ultimate summer bag for men, comfortably squeezing in picnic Peronis and a frisbee, as well as the weekend papers to lounge over. If other designers follow suit and offer a whole range of Totes for men, I can’t see the stigma surounding them holding up for very long. They’re just great bags, for whoever. What do you think?

Most footballers might be justifiably written off as knuckle-dragging, groupie-banging perma-adolescents, but there are a few, albeit a very few, who think on their feet, engage with the world around them and, for better or worse, use their unique position to express a range of political views.

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For those us in London, there is so such thing as spring. In this city, it’s hard to live seasonally. The daffodils which promised so much only a few weeks ago have been cruelly levelled by gale force artic winds and rain. Still, we are made of strong stuff and hope, um, springs eternal? So, here some ideas for spring, both at home and abroad – things to buy, places to go, that kind of thing. If you’re lucky enough to be somewhere where there’s the promise of renewal, all the better. If not, pretend.

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We all like a world class ski resort.  Bonnie Tsui in the New York Times recently highlighted one of our favourite resorts ‘Zermatt’. 

“It’s a real challenge nowadays to find an exciting ski-town, but Zermatt is something of a revelation, boasting the highest verticals in Europe.

Horse-drawn carriages and brandy-bearing St. Bernards may still roam Zermatt, but this resort town of 5,500 people has lately schussed its way into a modern era of solar-electric ski buses and expansive, high-tech snowmaking. During a visit earlier this winter, I hit pretty much every color-coded highlight on the ski map, thanks to the new lifts and runs that have made possible easy connections between sprawling ski areas. Sleek glass buildings are beginning to alter the traditional chalet landscape of the village. And modern Swiss efficiency has done away with what was once Zermatt’s biggest disadvantage: the resort now uses an electronic ski pass system that allows skiers to zip through checkpoints at every on-mountain gondola, chairlift, train and underground funicular, making crowds virtually nil (except at the aforementioned après-ski spots).

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