#mayfaireccentric

[tyneoconnell]

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#Toptip for #Eccentrics visiting #London: after #battenbergcake at the @Wolseley stroll down #Piccadilly to @Fortnums & pick up a mini bottle of #champagne to take to the end of #PiccadillyArcade - a pilgrimage site for gentlemen of the world who come here to salute #MayfairEccentric #beaubrummell 1778-1840 creator of the #threepiecesuit & renown for polishing his boots of a morning with #vintagechampagne although actually this practice had been widespread amongst #English gentlemen since 1620 when the practice was first popularised in London. The #Dandy first emerged in 1642 in a caricature of #royalist #cavaliers who went to war in flamboyant wigs & fine velvet lace-trimmed suits with a secret pocket in which to keep a poem or miniature & feather-plumed hats. The puritans used these caricatures to mock #cavaliers as poetry & art loving #dandies & their female counterparts as #Dandizettes whom they depicted in drawings as extravagantly bejewelled ladies - their long noses in books. A hundred years after the triumph of #cavaliers gentlemen were still dressing in the same flamboyant style. When Beau failed to win the poetry prize at Cambridge (as his idol #LordByron had, he left Cambridge & moved into a house on #ChesterfieldStreet #Mayfair where he devoted himself to creating the new #masculine #silhouette of a pared down silhouette which remains the basis for the 3 piece suit of today, worn with a starched white Muslim cravat elaborately tied; a style he had created whilst at #eton & which is still represented in the uniform as the distinctive #Etonian #ribbons (at Piccadilly Arcade)

[tyneoconnell]

An afternoon with #edwarddebono Father of #lateralthinking & all-round #naughtyboy - Although our friendship began in the mid 1990’s our #history together - like that of all #mayfaireccentrics has always intertwined through the usual channels of #privatemembersclubs #charityballs #literaryevents & #cocktailparties hosted in sets at #Albany - home to hundreds of #Mayfair #Eccentrics since 1771 when ##DukeofAlbany in 1791 it’s been home to #lordbyron #aldoushuxley & my beloved #eccentric friend #JohnMorgan - famous for cashing his cheques at #Claridges - author #Debretts New Guide To #Etiquette & #ModernManners - He was tragically impaled on the railings in 2000 - leaving behind 60 #bespokesavilerow #Suits 90 pairs #bespokeshoes 300 #bespokeshirts Living in #Mayfair is rather like living a game of #cludo - without the #murder - (well mostly without the murder) & #albanypiccadillylondon always features! I recall many memorable nights that began with drinks at his set at #Albany on #Piccadilly once Gladstone’s set - who famously evaded the “No Women in Rooms” Rules by smuggling in girls via the #undergroundpassage which have run under the streets of Mayfair like a #secretcity since 1630s - there’s a hidden entrance to Albany via #BurlingtonGardens - When finally caught with a roomful of prostitutes & compelled to explain himself #Gladstone was affronted to be called to account for teaching fallen women their bible (at Mayfair) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn7H2uinFj9/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=iu57zm9t1v76

[tyneoconnell]

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Sometimes I feel like the famous #regency #mayfaireccentric “The Beard of #Mount Street” Martin Van Butchel 1735-1814 who was celebrated across the world for never leaving Mount Street who responded to a summons from the king himself with his mantra , “ I go to none for all come to me” Butchel was originally a dentist but after the death of his wife in 1775 he never left Mount Street again but had her embalmed & remained on the stoop of their house occasionally riding up & down Mount street on his grey mare which he painted daily with purple spots. His grief became a work of art & included his refusal to cut a hair of his beard. He embalmed his wife, dressed her & bathed her daily & seated in their parlour where she received illustrious guests from across Europe who paid to drink tea with his dead wife in the hope she would ensure they’d be blessed with a male heir. Alas I cannot boast either a horse or beard but I enjoy listening to the adventures of the extraordinary array of eccentrics that visit me with tales of their their marvellous adventures. Today I was blessed to welcome the dashing Oliver @obw168 from his #Egyptian travels exploring the wonders of the #valleyofthekings sailing down the #Nile as people have done for thousands of years absorbing the history of the #pharaohs (at Mayfair) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0EizrqAvHi/?igshid=1xq4gca6opban

[tyneoconnell]

#purple splendour all is #MayfairEccentric magnificence ❤️ (at Mayfair)

[tyneoconnell]

Hark is that @muirvidler the esteemed photographer & #mayfaireccentric author & historian @tyneoconnell seated with the #august personage #dowagerLadyBailey... whom amongst her extensive achievements as a colleague of #CharlesDarwin featured in The GreatExhibition in 1851 at the spectacular Crystal Palace organised by #PrinceAlbert & HenryCole & attended by all including #HRH #QueenVictoria the reclusive #CharlotteBronte & fellow eccentric & celebrated author #George Elliot ... we are honoured indeed (at Mayfair)

[tyneoconnell]

#sos The #MayfairEccentric is on the move... tomorrow- Seeking strapping chaps or chapesses to heed my Call to Charms! If there is anyone available to assist me moving my bed-Salon bibelots artworks library & the accoutrements of an #Eccentric #inkyscribes life - please contact me. I shall pay in carved gemstones & poetry & champagne but I need a car or van of a chap or chapped with license ... (at St James's Hotel and Club, London)

[tyneoconnell]

The Great #eccentric @daniellismore carries #MayfairEccentric up the stairs of @officialboxsoho #eccentrics do not #judge or #criticise nor bind with rules or regulations .... eccentrics rely on #goodmanners & #cheer to navigate their way through #salons & gardens & friendships. Eccentricity has been a quintessential aspect of the #BritishCharacter since 1662 #eccentricity was the #Phoenix that arose from the #ashes of #Puritans brutal tyranny in their #war on #art #beauty & #pleasure which like #maypoles #makeup & #fashion were thrown onto the flames of #Cromwells Commonwealth of 1649-1659 the population brutalised by #cromwells #newmodelarmy which he funded by melting all our ancient #crownjewels many originally dating back to 1043 & earlier. Cromwell melted them all, including the #crown of #edwardtheconfessor - the coronation #crown the gold turned into coins to pay his army to spy on & brutalise anyone caught singing dancing play-acting laughing or creating art or beautiful clothes buildings furniture or toys. All of which were defined as "papist" evil. From a mother singing a lullaby to a man playing with his child - it was a merciless time. The theatres & taverns closed & all but a sanctioned bible burned The gems from the Crown Jewels were sold for a fraction of their worth to #Antwerp. When our eccentric #merrymonarch was finally restored to the throne in 1660 he had to wait a year for copies of the original sceptre & Crown to be hastily crafted for his #coronation in 1661... I cannot bear to gaze at the 141 items (all copies made in 1660) that make up the Crown Jewels as it reminds me of the intolerant darkness that almost distinguished the Eccentricity that so defines our #greenandpleasantland #whatprice #intolerance (at The Box, Soho)

[tyneoconnell]

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My Passion for #Brian's cashmere blinds me not to his dashing #sartorial #exploration into his foray into #blacktie meets regimental finery - a true #mayfaireccentric a breed of mavericks that exist between #MountStreetMayfair & #PallMall carrying of the tradition of the Britisheccentric for Eccentricity is at the heart of the Quintessential British character it's #sirencall beseeches all nationalities to cut a line of their own & not be dictated by politics or policies but by the splendour of beauty & pleasure! For t'is in cutting a line of one's own deaf to those who #snear that the @mayfaireccentrics were born (at The National Liberal Club)

[tyneoconnell]

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#sticks #ahoy #andrewfish #mayfaireccentric #nationalliberalclub (at The National Liberal Club)

[tyneoconnell]

#mayfaireccentric #gypsy any port in a storm (at Claridge’s)

[tyneoconnell]

The #mayfaireccentric stands alone even on #valentinesday yet like all #inkyscribes & poets romance flows through my veins & floods my imagination ...for under the #Mayfair sky all is romance & every street signed in poetry & rich in the dreams of its historic residents ...from dowager Queen #MarieDeMedici who gave us opera & for whom the artists of London lined #StJames'sStreet in 1642 to witness her exile from England SirPeterLely describes the scene in his journal - how London artists wept in unison at the sight of the elderly queen who had devoted her life to art treated so cruelly - painting a poignant image in ink as he describes London's artists falling to their knees; feather-plumed hats in hand, to honour her as she was carried from #StJames'sPalace to Europe & her penniless death in Rubens house . Since 1660 Mayfair & St James's has been home to #artists & #Eccentrics from #catherineofbraganza to #DarothySavile #fannyburney #Lordbyron #oscarwilde #nancymitford et al (at Royal Over-Seas League)

[tyneoconnell]

Oliver Rothschild you never take a bad photograph or dull conversation. Having known you for 15 years I can say with utter certainty that I've never experienced a moment of boredom in your company. I forgot to invite you both to attend #poetry at #homehouse next Monday 27 Feb where I'm performing a poetic duet with #robindutt & a solo piece of my own celebrating our great queen #mariedemedici the mother of opera who lived in #stjames'sPalace from 1636-1641 She was the inspiration for her daughter #queenhenriettamarie commissioning her architectural #protege to create #coventgarden so #Londoners of the 1640's could experience the glory of #opera & #theatre in a #palazzo setting which was the beginnings of London as a modern city beyond the walls of the crowded #medieval #CityofLondon huddled behind the #Roman walls. In the long history of #mayfaireccentrics #mariedemedici is perhaps our luminary star. Her life was painted one of her protégés #Rubens & letters to Queen Marie De Medici from #artimesiagentileschi expose her as a bold feminist of enormous heart & generosity. She died penniless in Ruben's garret whilst he was away & though given a paupers grave artist's of Europe held memorial services throughout Europe. The greatest memorial service though was held in St James's by London artists and written about by #sirpeterLely (at The National Liberal Club)

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What have you missed most about “life before #lockdown” ? I have missed my closest friends dropping in for “Tea and Tiaras” in Mayfair - On this occasion Daniel Lismore dropped in unexpectedly to show me his sweet bald cap after a Vogue shoot. It is in moments such as this- unexpected unprepared in which our most treasured memories are made ⚜️#ancestraltiaras @daniellismore #friendship #fashionasart #teaandtiaras #eccentrics #teawithfriends #sustainablefashion #tiaras #mayfaireccentrics #mayfairhistory #mayfair #ancestraltiaras #vogueshoot #vogueuk https://www.instagram.com/p/CEAkt8ZgEjV/?igshid=1mlvz1hbhwumk

[tyneoconnell]

#tea at the @fortnums #jubileeteasalon haunt of #MayfairEccentrics since 1717 - one of the great pleasures of living in London is the ease of access to a fine bone China cup of #countessgrey & a slice of #battenberg #breakfast of #eccentrics & a soothing balm & cure all in the stormy seas of life http://m.huffpost.com/uk/entry/9276866 (at Fortnum & Mason Jubilee Tea Salon)

[tyneoconnell]

#Toptips when visiting London. Live like #MayfairEccentrics & watch the feeding of the #pelicans in #StJames'sPark at 2.30 every day. The magnificent pelicans have an unexpected elegance in flight & watching them as the ranger feeds them at 2.30 is an unparalleled pleasure for all ages. St James's was created by #KingCharlesII who was inspired by the gardens of #versailles & wanted the park to be a place for all Londoners to enjoy the multitude of fountains & waterfalls & varied bird life. The merry monarch's kept dozens of pet #ducks who like his #cavalierspaniels followed him everywhere during his daily perigrinations around Mayfair & St James's at 5-6 every morning to oversea the building work of the area. His vision for a west #london of garden squares & glass-fronted shopping arcades celebrating all the Puritans loathed; namely fun, the arts, theatre & beauty. St James's Park is a celebration of all these dreams...& feeding the pelicans is a highlight of any trip to #london🇬🇧 (at Mayfair)

[tyneoconnell]

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#croquet weather at last! #MayfairEccentrics everywhere polish your shoes with champagne & wriggle into your ballgowns & tiaras & #whitetie grandeur & grab your mallets & balls. Swing by @fortnums for a suitable hamper & head down to #StJames's Square between 9-4pm Monday-Friday when it's open to the public. Tally Ho! (at Mayfair)