Art · Mores · Society

Presidential portraits in the Oval Office and Trump's choice of Andrew Jackson

There is a tradition in the USA of presidents staging a demonstrative dialogue with their predecessors by invoking their historical images or the trends characteristic of their era. Every new president rearranges the Oval Office and adds a few details, down to changing the colour of the carpet, but chiefly,

Art · Mores · Humour

A young man in very strange breeches points at his unfaithful sweetheart in the company of another man

Czech engraver Wenceslaus Hollar, 1646

NB! · Archive · Monarchies · Mores

Little Lilibet, the future Queen Elizabeth II, smiles at her grandfather, King George V, while out walking with her grandmother, Queen Mary of Teck, in 1929

NB! · Archive · Mores

A Happy Girl with a Cat, France, 1959

Books · Monarchies · Mores · Ethnography

Engelhardt, in his book A Complete School of Hunting Fur and Feather in All Zones of Russia, notes that the Grand Dukes went hunting in bast shoes, since there is no handier or more practical footwear for the forest in winter: snow gets into them as easil

Books · Mores · Society

At least Khlestakov, for all his lying, still feared a little, in the midst of it, that they might take him by the scruff and throw him out

At least Khlestakov, for all his lying, still feared a little, in the midst of it, that they might take him by the scruff and throw him out. The Khlestakovs of today have no such fear and lie in perfect tranquillity. Everyone is calm, everyone is immeasurably vain, and one

Archive · Mores · Humour

Inspiring Examples of Import Substitution:

In January 1921 Khodasevich recalled that Gorky had treated him to chocolate made from sunflower husks, without any sugar.

Archive · In the Press · Observations · Mores · Humour

The New York Times criticised Winston Churchill's wedding coat on 22 September 1908

A note in the New York Times of 22 September 1908 finds fault with Winston Churchill's wedding coat. The editor of The Tailor and Cutter pronounced it the least successful wedding attire on record. The fashion critics were displeased that the coat was too long, too tight, and

In the Press · Monarchies · Observations · Mores · Pop Culture

Dress codes and the steady taste of King Philip of Spain, who was dressed by Jaime Gallo

In one interview I was asked about my attitude to dress codes. In truth, mine is simple: irrespective of the whims of event organisers, I wear whatever I consider appropriate and whatever I happen to have to hand. Remember how Anna Wintour dressed for the recent Met Gala? In a

NB! · Archive · Cinema · Mores

Elderly Charlie Chaplin and his wife Oona, 35 years his junior

Elderly Charlie Chaplin and his wife Oona, 35 years his junior. With a little dog

The East · Books · Mores · Humour

Pushkin on the price of a cab fare in Tiflis in “Journey to Arzrum”

In Tiflis I was struck by the cheapness of money. I drove in a cab across two streets and dismissed the driver half an hour later, and had to pay two silver roubles. At first I supposed that he meant to take advantage of a newcomer's ignorance; but

Aristocracy · Archive · Books · Mores

A week of dinners and evenings in the notes of Princess Varvara Turkestanova

"On Monday I dine at home on a small quantity of soup, a cutlet, eggs and a little glass of port; then I spend nearly the whole day writing; in the evening, that is at 9 o'clock, I go to Princess Boris. Nothing is yet decided as