< PreviousAn Ode to an Elisabethan RosePHOTOGRPAHY BY ROBIN LAMBERTSET DESIGN BY AIDAN ZAMIRI11WWW.PENHALIGONS.COMWhomever presumed: “Woman must choose, If sensual, her strength she lose,”Had clearly never chanced to use The influence of our new perfume.Because as wooden musk bestows It’s regal force commanding,Alluring notes of Lily and Rose,Come softly, less demanding.Bottled together, with waxen seal,In an elixir most beguiling,This rose has thorns and yet can feelIn passions still surprising.Seductive in the one breath,And magisterial in the next,That it’s a spritz that’s fit for queensDoth hardly need be said.WORDS BY BENJI WALTERSThe DARINGDOYENNESand BOLDBELLADONASof LondonIt was poet and rake Charles Baudelaire who once proclaimed: “The dandy must aspire to be sublime without interruption. He must live and sleep before a mirror.” For London’s 18th and 19th century gentlemen, a life squandered in such well-scented self-reflection would have been a subversive proposition. To spend one’s time preening rather than doing was anathema to the imperialistic men of action who were the heroes of their day. But for the city’s women, quite the opposite was true. In London alone there are thousands of tales, great and small, of remarkable ladies who wrote, acted and achieved in an age when they were expected to do little more than sit quietly in front of the mirror. And, so what if, like the inspirational individuals below, they happened to be both fiercely intelligent and fabulously powdered and polished…? More power to them, we say. WORDS BYBENJI WALTERSFANNY BURNEY, MAYFAIRAnyone described by no less than Virginia Woolf as “the mother of English fiction” is certainly worth knowing about. Later to become one of the most popular novelists of her day, Fanny Burney began her career with a decisively anti-patriarchal gesture: publishing her first novel anonymously in 1778 without the permission or knowledge of her father. It became harder to conceal, however, when that book became the talk – and the toast – of the town. Blessed with both wit (her sharp-tongued diaries are a fascinating glimpse into the scandalous lives of literary London) and penetrating brilliance (she wrote of experiences with breast cancer with a frankness that was unprecedented in 1810), Burney is fittingly honoured with the oldest surviving blue plaque to a woman in London.VESTA TILLE , WEST ENDThink cross-dressing is a recent phenomenon? Think again. Music Hall star Vesta Tilley, the highest paid female entertainer of the Edwardian period, so perfected the art of gender bending that she became a style icon for the very men she was busy lampooning. Tilley’s impeccably tailored clothing and winning charisma were even enough to get her an audience with royalty. And though Queen Mary may have averted her eyes from Tilley’s scandalously mannish trousers, other women up and down the country admired and recognised her as the financially independent heroine she was.13ADA, COUNTESS OF LOVELACE, ST JAMES’Strong-willed elegance clearly runs in the blood if the exquisitely named Ada, Countess of Lovelace is anything to go by. The only legitimate child of Lord Byron, the inarguable dandy ne plus ultra, Ada has the extraordinary distinction of being regarded as the world’s first computer programmer thanks to her work with Victorian scientist Charles Babbage – who created a mechanical calculation device considered to be one of the earliest proto-computers. Babbage referred admiringly to his friend and collaborator as “The Enchantress of Numbers”. Ada herself, meanwhile, with Byronic self-assurance, proclaimed, “I do not believe that my father was (or ever could have been) such a Poet as I shall be an Analyst (& Metaphysician).” Whomever said great women need be modest ones?MARY QUANT, KING’S ROAD KRYSTYNA SKARBEK, AKA CHRISTINE GRANVILLE, KENSINGTONSaid to be the inspiration for the original (and most capable) Bond girl, Vespa Lynd, Krystyna Skarbek was as glamorous as she was fearless. The daughter of a Polish nobleman, Skarbek became Winston Churchill’s “favourite spy” when she volunteered her espionage services to Britain following the invasion of her homeland. Operating under the alias Christine Granville, Skarbek hatched a plan worthy of the silver screen when she skied past enemy lines in Nazi-occupied Poland to circulate Allied propaganda. Living out her post-war days in London, she was tragically murdered by a jealous admirer in The renowned reputation of the Great British High Street might never have come to be without the fashion icon of Cool Britannia, Quant and her King’s Road boutique, Bazzar, pioneered miniskirts, hot pants, and the very concept of youth fashion. What’s more, she put paid to the idea that shopping need be stuffy: you have her to thank the next time you’re offered complimentary bubbly at a Shoreditch pop-up. An all too often unsung feminist icon, Quant truly embodies the sexual liberation and freedom of expression that made 60s London swing.era-defining style of Mary Quant. A quintessential GERTRUDE BELL, WESTMINSTERNot content with being the first woman to graduate with first class honours in Modern History from Oxford, Gertrude Bell was also the first woman to achieve seniority in the intelligence service as well as the only woman to play a substantial role in the foundation of the modern Iraqi state. Whether climbing mountains or crossing the desert, this cigarette chomping, fur clad adventurer got her early education from Westminster’s Queen’s College and from then on did everything the men could…only side-saddle. No mean feat, we’re sure you’ll agree.1952 and is now commemorated with a handsome bust in Kensington’s Polish Hearth Club.GEORGE GROSSMITH When the notion of a celebrity ‘entertainer’ was still in its infancy, Marylebone’s George Grossmith was the consummate all-rounder. A dab hand on the piano, this soigné actor and writer was the leading man in many of Gilbert and Sullivan’s wildly successful operettas and a beloved comic of the late Victorian period. Known as the “Society Clown” – though rest assured, there was nothing the least bit baggy about his pantaloons – there’s some contention as to whether or not Grossmith was known to allay his pre-show nerves with a dram or two of morphine. With W.S. Gilbert’s reputation for theatrical ferocity, he could hardly be blamed. Thankfully, though, unlike so many fine men of the stage, he died not destitute in a Parisian bordello but surrounded by loving family, loyal hounds, and a distinguished collection of antique pianos: a fate too mundanely idyllic to warrant infamy or, it seems, perpetuity.Oscar Wilde. Beau Brummel. Lord Byron. Any man about town worth the handmade shirt on his back will doubtless be familiar with that great triumvirate of St. James style. But what of those debonair gentlemen of Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Marylebone whom history has cherished a little less dearly? What of those well-pressed men of taste who have faded a little with time’s devouring passage and are now, to put it bluntly, a tad overshadowed in the sartorial stakes by their more preeminent neighbours? It being our business to know such wicked trifles, permit us the honour and privilege to stroll with you on a journey through history’s forgotten fops. ANDTOPHAM BEAUCLERKOne isn’t simply born with a name like Topham Beauclerk; one has to earn it. And earn it Topham did. A trusted confidante and sparring partner of such preeminent Georgians as Dr. Johnson and Horace Walpole, Beauclerk was a bon vivant in the best Enlightenment tradition. Which is to say, he could philosophise almost as well as he could gamble – and did both to the best of his ability from his comfortable Belgravia bolthole. That apparently paradoxical breed, the intellectual-hedonist, is regrettably long extinct today. But who better to eulogise such an exemplar of erudite vulgarity than that great man of letters Dr. Johnson himself? “His wit and his folly, his acuteness and maliciousness, his merriment and his reasoning, are now over. Such another will not be found.” Here, here. WORDS BYBENJI WALTERSA PORTRAIT OF THREE POPINJAYSWWW.PENHALIGONS.COMMICHAEL ‘DANDY KIM’ CABORN-WATERFIELD He may not have lived in Knightsbridge, but the gentleman villain Michael ‘Dandy Kim’ Caborn-Waterfield spent enough time in the exclusive watering holes and luxury boutiques of the area to be called an honorary resident. Devilishly handsome, dashingly dressed and an incorrigible rouge of the very worst kind, Caborn-Waterfield first made his fortune selling black-market stockings during the rationing of the 1940s. From there things only got more fiendish for this camel coated cad. Whether it was founding the first Ann Summers shop, marrying an American heiress for her fortune (only to jilt her days later), running weapons to Cuba or raiding the safe of Hollywood tycoon Jack Warner (a crime for which he was charged in absentia, having long fled the country), there were no depths to which Dandy Kim wouldn’t stoop for a quick buck. The one sin he would never admit to? Landing his helicopter illegally in Hyde Park. Well, everyone has to draw the line somewhere. Wouldn’t you say?“Oh, yes, I’ve certainly got the best seat in the house: there’s no better view of society in all of London, I assure you. God knows I’d rather be here than a box at the opera. The company here is really second to none. Take that Madame de Pompadour across the room: she’s been here almost as long as I have and is rather fetching, to boot, if I might be so bold. Still, she will insist on calling me the Laughing Cavalier. And, as anyone with a grain of sense knows, while I may be smiling I’m certainly not laughing. A smile is dashing. A little…enigmatic, even. A laugh is vulgar. Brash. Rather, dare I say it, American?Which, incidentally, reminds of a new chap I’ve spotted once or twice in here. The blazing Mister Sam, I think they call him. Handsome, yes, but terribly showy. Just moved here from across the pond and throws money around like water (rich as sin, so they say). The type of upstart to wear a dinner jacket when everyone else is in tails – you know the sort. Times change, I suppose. More’s the pity!Though I’m afraid I really must draw the line when it comes to Lady Blanche’s younger sister, Constance. Inconstant, I should say! Forever going wherever she pleases with whomever she pleases, she’s ravishingly pretty but far too bold. I could never abide a woman in trousers, I’m afraid: much too modern. One does wonder what her father thinks of it all, doesn’t one?Then again, perhaps I’m just an aging stickler…a has-been. None of the new portraits seem to mind her behaviour. But I don’t look past-it to you, do I? Of course, I know all this silk and embroidery is a little old hat – to say nothing of this thing on my head – but that’s just the way I was made, you see. Anyway, can’t talk long, I’m afraid. Madame de Pompadour’s coming over for a chat and she’s always got some scandalously delectable titbit to tell me. Toodle-oo!” WWW.PENHALIGONS.COMTAKING PRIDE OF PLACE IN Marylebone’s EXCEPTIONAL Wallace Collection, The Laughing Cavalier ISALWAYS GAME FOR A GOOD GOSSIP. WHICH MEANS HE’S JUST THE MAN TO ASK ABOUT TWO OF THE NEW ARRIVALS COMING SOON TO OUR Portraits collection…En garde! We spar over next season’s scents with London’s jolliest portrait.WORDS BYBENJI WALTERS15We know as well as you do that it simply doesn’t do to follow the crowd. The gentlemen and ladies of society might well live to be seen, but not in the same places as everyone else. That’s why when we’re roaming the world for the most exotic infussions and ingredients, or just roaming London for the best Martini, we prefer to take the boulevard less travelled. By way of an homage to our newest triptych of olfactory magic, Hidden London, permit us, then, to recommend some of our favourite haunts from the three places that inspired our collection. Do keep them under your hat, mind: there’s nothing like crowds to tarnish a good gem.THE HIDDEN LONDON COLLECTIONL’ENTRÉE SENT LE BOIS DE SANTAL FUMÉ SECLE SALLON DU VÉTIVER MOUSSULA BIBLIOTHÈQUE EST UN CHAUD CRÉMEUXPATCHOULIMARYLEBONE17While we’re on the subject of music, we’re confident in claiming that there are few better places than Wigmore Hall to take in a recital. What this beautiful little treasure lacks in the size of, say, the Royal Opera House or the Royal Festival Hall (terribly overcrowded, dear), it more than makes up for with its exquisite – near perfect, according to those who know – acoustics. Handsomely clad in velvet and marble, with an intricate Arts and Crafts cupola above the stage, this turn of the century building was the favoured venue of the great Benjamin Britten and thrives today with an exceptional repertoire of chamber music both iconic and esoteric. See you at the matinee!The esteemed John Simons is a living legend of London menswear lore. Before Ralph Lauren and his mass-produced prep, there was Simons: the man who brought the Ivy Look to Swinging London in the early sixties and even gave the mighty Harrington Jacket its name. Part classic, part cool, Simons stocks the kind of soft shouldered blazers Miles Davis wore in his Kind of Blue era – not to mention the properly proportioned button down collars, slim knitted ties and hand-made penny loafers to go with them. Since those days he’s dressed not just in-the-know skins and mods, including one Paul Weller, but also scores of debonair gentleman in pursuit of mid-century Americana that’ll last a lifetime. What’s more, you’ll still find the man himself on-hand to dispense sartorial wisdom at his Chiltern Street store. Our advice? Heed his.JOHN SIMONSVV ROLEAUXIf you’ve ever wondered where London’s good and great go for their trimmings, then look no further. And no, darling, we’re not talking about the spuds and sprouts. We mean those braids, bows, fringes, tassels and tie-backs which finish the world’s greatest frocks and furnishings. From brand name fashion houses to by-appointment interior insiders, there are few designers worth mentioning who haven’t passed through the colourful doors of VV Roleaux for a ribbon or two in their time. Fear not if you’re a textiles neophyte, however, as the boutique offers a range of bespoke services tailored individually to your needs. They even offer craft courses and workshops: so you’ll be embellishing with the best of them before you know it.As the UK’s oldest conservatoire, the Royal Academy of Music isn’t exactly unheard of. But while prodigies-in-waiting up and down the country dream of studying there, the institution’s on-site museum is a hidden gem. Boasting such precious artefacts as the Stradivari violin once used to serenade Marie Antoinette and the original score f or Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado – in addition to an on-site workshop where master craftsman maintain some of the finest instruments in the world – the museum is a must-see for even the most tone-deaf aficionado.THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC MUSEUMWIGMORE HALLWWW.PENHALIGONS.COMWWW.PENHALIGONS.COMBELGRAVIA18If the idea of making a beeline to East London’s buzziest new small-plates eatery troubles you – and who wouldn’t it trouble, given their inevitable no-reservation policies and stubborn insistence that even the most inappropriate cuisines can be served à la tapas? – might we suggest a more sophisticated proposition. Mosimann’s is the Belgravia dining club globally renowned for its intimate atmosphere and esteemed clientele. The members-only dining room is one of the few places in the city where one can have a truly confidential conversation: nobody eavesdrops here, old chap. Still, if romance demands absolute intimacy, there are also a number of opulent private rooms available for the use of non-members. The restaurant is handsomely housed in a former Presbyterian church, but it’s safe to say that the building now plays host to a rather less ascetic crowd. Fear not, however, the food remains heavenly.Historic pubs are ten-a-penny in London, as any dissolute and drunken dandy will tell you. But few can boast quite the colourful past of Belgravia’s Star Tavern. Tucked away down an elegant mews, this establishment was part of that Swinging London constellation which, for the first time in Britain’s class-ridden history, saw aristocrats, East End villains and soigné thespians all boozing and smoking together under one roof. As such, The Star has served patrons as debonair as Peter O’Toole and as infamous as the Great Train Robbers. In fact, it was allegedly in the pub’s upstairs dining room that the 1963 heist was plotted – dare we say that if they’d chosen a less intoxicating location, the robbery may have gone a little smoother? Nowadays, you’re guaranteed a good ale, if not a brush with the underworld.THE STAR TAVERNMOSIMANN’SAPSLEY HOUSECHELSEA PHYSIC GARDENThe merest stroll away from Belgravia’s hushed residences, Apsley House is one of those London icons that hides in plain sight and, as a result, is blissfully free of photo-hungry tourists. Overlooking Hyde Park Corner in columnar Georgian splendour, this imposing building was the primary residence of statesman and military hero Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington. And, as befits a man of Wellington’s stature in British history, Aspley House has the distinguished address of Number 1, London (please, send a letter if you don’t believe us). Inside there are paintings by masters such as Rubens, Van Dyck and Goya, as well as décor of extraordinary pomp and magnificence. For a taste of historic London at its most exquisitely grand, look no further.Now, we’re well aware that this particular gem isn’t strictly contained within Belgravia’s borders. But more criminal than a little geographical imprecision would be to deny you, dear reader, the pleasure of visiting one of the capital’s most sublime horticultural delights. Referring to the science of healing, “physic” gives a clue as to the garden’s original purpose: a place for the Apothecaries of the late 17th century to grow the rare medicinal plants required for their restorative ointments and embrocations. Today, it boasts the largest fruiting olive tree in the UK – happily ensconced between heat-trapping walls – and over 5000 plants. But for those whose fingers are too well-moisturised to be green, it’s quite simply an urban idyll perfect for a little summer reading.L’ENTRÉE SENT LE BOIS DE SANTAL FUMÉ SECLE JARDIN EST AROMATIQUE AVEC DE LA CANNELLE EXOCTIQUELE GRAND SALON EST LUXUEUX ET SENT LA VANILLEDÎNEZ AVEC DIGNITÉ, ENTOURÉ DE L’ODEUR DES FÈVES TONKA FRAÎCHESNext >