Magazine loaded

Lord Bassington-Bassington has long been on the lookout for style magazines to supplement his favourite publication The Chap. Modern style mags tend to be filled with, well, modern clothes, and let's not even get into the pointless interviews with random celebrities.

But lo and behold, help comes from Germany, and His Lordship has found a new magazine to paw through. The Heritage Times is an excellent German-language magazine which has also launched an English edition. And a revelation it is. Why don't all lifestyle magazines feature Lederhosen?

The latest issue has a lot of good stuff for the subculturally interested (such as a pretty solid piece on skinheads). But what really takes the Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte is a this most neofolky fashion shoot.

Copyright laws probably prohibit us here at the Chronicles from stealing the whole thing, but Lord Bassington-Bassington found it imperative to share this fabulous photo, which His Lordship likes to call "Darkwood in tandem with Sturmpercht".

Which, come to think of it, sounds like a great double bill, if it wasn't a bit impossible now that lead Percht Max has deserted neofolk for new adventures in Afro-funk. Which makes the skin tone of the  model on the back of the bike even more appropriate.

So if you're looking for Lord Bassington-Bassington, he will be curled up on the sofa engrossed in The Heritage Post, to a soundtrack of… well, you guessed it!

Time to order some more issues of The Heritage Post soon. And perhaps some Afro-funk.

Recording Inspiration

So now that Lord Bassington-Bassington is one of the proprietors of a recording label it shouldn't surprise anyone that His Lordship takes some outfit inspiration from records...

Vinyls by Solblot. Tweeds by Walker Slater.

Left Paw Path

"The Key of Joy is disobedience"

(Aleister Crowley)


"Hey, I'll use that as a fancy excuse for not bothering to pair my socks properly!"

(Lord Bassington-Bassington, not aka The Great Basset 666)

The perfect basset-cessory

It would hardly be an exaggeration to say that Lord Bassington-Bassington likes to accessorize, whether we're talking about bow ties or, well, more eccentric accoutrements.

A nice thing to liven up an otherwise down-to-earth outfit is the thing known in modern parlance as bling, which His Lordship is also quite fond of. Indeed, he could even be accused of joining clubs to get even more such accessories.

So imagine the droopy-eared's delight when he received this generous gift from in-laws, a lovely hand-crafted pin that is a perfect depiction of the above young lady, the lovely Balbina – award-winning member of the extended Mju clan.

The silver pin is indeed the perfect accessory, and gives even the sturdiest Harris tweed a touch of velvety basset-eariness. But it works particularly well with Lord Bassington-Bassington's recently acquired summer tweed jacket.

This might well lead to some outrageous style experiments, because His Lordship finally has a tweed jacket that can be worn with shorts. A bit over the top, perhaps, but hey – it's all about basset pride, saying it loud, being tricolor and proud and all that.

As one says in India, as important as having a good spouse is to get good in-laws. And we can safely say that Lord Bassington-Bassington is lucky enough to be very well off on both regards.

Dandy revolutionists?

Does dandyism have political implications? While Lord Bassington-Bassington certainly has political opinions, he likes to think that they have little relevance to how he dresses. Even if his taste for the classic might reveal a predilection towards conservatism. And sure, today people assume that if you dress a bit old-fashioned it's because you long for the days when the lord of the manor held sway, peasants knew their place and pheasants lived in fear.

An assumption as stupid as suspecting that all who wear jeans hanker back to the social order during the Wild West.

For men who take an interest in clothes come in all shapes, sizes and colours, from all walks of life and hold all sorts of political convictions. So while perusing an edition of The Communist Manifesto the other day, Lord Bassington-Bassington was pleased to find these comments on the connection between men's dress and revolution in A.J.P. Taylor's insightful introduction.

"None of them (Marx' early disciples) was a proletarian in the new Maxist sense; none, that is, was a factory worker. Their occupations provide striking examples of the class from whom revolutionaries are often drawn. Most of them were tailors - an occupation which gives a man much time for solitary revolutionary reflection and also perhaps an intimate distaste for the upper classes."

"In old England the village cobbler was always the radical and the Dissenter. After all, the lord of the manor had to have his boots made and mended, whatever the cobbler's political opinions."


So how better to celebrate these astute observations than to publish a picture of Russian Futurist poet Vladimir Mayakovsky? Lord Bassington-Bassington first saw this picture when still a puppy, on the back of an LP of Swedish punk and hardcore, and it's fair to say that it has exerted a certain influence on how His Lordship dresses.

A gentleman's armour

"No, no, really, I, uh, I don't think it went in too deep. The... advantages of layers of tweed. Better than kevlar." – Rupert Giles

Greetings from the Free State!

Lord Bassington-Bassington has been on an small pilgrimage to Rijeka, Croatia, following in the footsteps of arch-dandy Gabriele D'Annunzio: The poet who annexed the city and established the Free State of Fiume right after WWI. After all, one isn't a proper neofolk nerd unless one has taken a certain interest in this enigmatic character, and since "nerdy" is one of the most appropriate adjectives to describe Lord Bassington-Bassington, perhaps even more so than "droopy", His Lordship has already visited D'Annunzio's famous Vittoriale in Italy proper. So this time it was time to explore the Fiume Republic.

While D'Annunzio's anarcho-fasco-artisto-dandyist republic only lasted a short while, its influence on local culture lives on today, more than a century later.

Many of D'Annunzio's troops wore fezes, and the fez is still a feature of the cityscape. As in this obvious D'Annunzian reference.

D'Annunzio's sense of style lives on in the local populace.

Even the Toy Museum commemorates D'Annunzio. This exhibit is an obvious nod to his daring airborne exploits.

While some light summer reading is always good, Lord Bassington-Bassington also recommends Italian band Ianva's concept album about the Fiume affair.

Micro Presses, Micro Books

A micro press should issue micro books. And now Valentine & Valentine have produced a most appropriate title.

This tiny tome, a short discussion of the aliases used by TE Lawrence (you know, the one of Arabia) is so small and well made (sown spine and everything) that it is hard to wrap one's head around it.

So to show its size, here is the book next to some everyday objects.

What? You mean straw boaters, bow ties and statues of Great Cthulhu aren't everyday objects for you? Then surely it's time to reexamine your life, Sir!

Sartorial Anarchism

Anarcho-dandyism in Fascist Italy, as seen in the superb mini-series Il commissario De Luca.

Well, Lord Bassington-Bassington's stance on bow ties should be well known at this time.

As usual, hats off to the World's Coolest Librarian.

Season's greetings!

We here at Bassington Manor have had a visit from the Ostara Bunny!

Any similarities to Germanic superhero Superfritz are surely a coincidence.

Tattoo shoe

Lord Bassington-Bassington has always had an ambivalent relationships with tattoos. In his early youth, when books such as Modern Primitives inspired people around him to do scary things with their bodies, His Lordship decided that this wasn't for him. It didn't improve his relationship with body modification culture that he at some point became convinced that Odin wanted him to not have tattoos (well, it's a long story...)

In later years Lord Bassington-Bassington has come to realize that tattooists can produce some beautiful work – even basset-related! By Jove, His Lordship has even considered getting some ink himself.

At the moment, though, it seems like Lord Bassington-Bassington's natural contrarianism will lead him to remain one of the very few in his circles with an unadorned body, but that doesn't mean that His Lordship doesn't want to enjoy tattoos. And when tattoos can be combined with the long-eared one's somewhat obsessive relationship with Jeffery West footwear, it's a surefire hit.

On Lord Bassington-Bassington's recent visit to London, the Jeffery West shop in Piccadilly Arcade (also known as "His Lordship's magnetic north pole") had one of their special services on offer. So a pair of quite charming Chelsea boots were purchased.

Tattoo artist Aasen Stephenson ready to swing the needle.

The finished result.

Remind you of anyone...?

Happy basset, by the amazing Tini Malitius.

Chocolate cobbler

Matching colours can be difficult, especially when one is, like Lord Bassington-Bassington, a bit colour-blind (even if canines can see colours). One must simply accept what assistance one can get.

So imagine Lord Bassington-Bassington's joy when His Lordship encountered this charming young chap at the airport in Bergen. Apparently, the young chocolate lab was very taken with the Jeffery-West brogues with contrast lacings. Not only was it a perfect match, the little chap was also very keen on helping with shoe cleaning.

Sorry for the bad pictures, but it is a bit hard to both photograph a puppy who catches the exquisite scent of finer footwear and keep it from chewing it at the same time.

Rebel club

Because Lord Bassington-Bassington loves club ties. And Moomintrolls. And because this lovely coaster was a Yuletide present from Lady Mju. Thank you very much!

Perhaps it is time to finally try to join the Handlebar Club?

Casual(ty) ward

Over the years, Lord Bassington-Bassington has reached the point where he will don a tie or bow tie on practically every weekday and social occasion.

You know how it is: You feel naked without a jacket, a jacket needs a pocket handkerchief, and then it all looks wrong without an ironed shirt (which of course is no fun without cufflinks), and an ironed shirt looks sad without some neckwear, and suddenly you're dressed to the nines even if you're only popping out for a pint.

Well, possibly you don't know how it is. Because you just might be a sensible person, because most people are more sensible than Lord Bassington-Bassington. Who, in his defense, is a Hound, not a person.

So this blog post is simply a small assortment of pictures that Lord Bassington-Bassington has found himself returning to for examples of more casual looks that still cut a dash.

This picture comes straight from the Facebook page of Jeffery-West, His Lordship's favourite footwear outfitters.



Because cultures such as mod and skinhead are good places to go when you need to dress down.

This has been shamelessly lifted from the web page of esteemed milliners Lock & Co. And yes, naturally His Lordship ended up getting a hat or two from them.

While this picture of Scottish journalist Vic Galloway is ripped from the Facebook page of tweed dealers Walker Slater, another of His Lordship's favourites.

So, apparently, Lord Bassington-Bassington is now at the point where he considers a three-piece suit to be casual clothing as long as one dispenses with the tie and pocket hankie.

Could someone please refer His Lordship to some sort of dress rehab?

A styling challenge

Corduroy jacket are not just hard wearing - they can also be hard to wear. This is the reason why an olive green cord jacket has been haunting the wardrobe here at Bassington Manor for a few years now. There is nothing wrong with the jacket itself, quite the opposite in fact: Its manufacture is excellent, as it was snached at a sale at a Hackett supplier in London. The problem is how to wear it. How do you accessorise a cord jacket?

As the reader can clearly see, the jacket is a bit too much "geography teacher". Now, teaching is a noble profession, and Lord Bassington-Bassington occasionally finds himself giving lectures (or at least waving his paws and going "woof woof" a lot). But on such occasions, His Lordship tends to prefer tweeds.

So what can be done to liven up this jacket? Perhaps it would be an idea to match it with a fair isle sweater (from Cordings) and a knitted tie (picked up for a couple of euros from a Swedish webshop that was changing its collection).

Ummm, what was that about "geography teacher" again?

So here's another idea: Fill the jacket's lapels with badges and other neofolk bling for a slightly post-punky look.

Again: No. The badges don't work at all. Perhaps they would work better if they advertised the Socialist Worker's Party and FNL Solidarity or something. And then we're not even in teacher territory anymore, we're in leftist teacher territory. Not to belittle the great leftist teacher Lord Bassington-Bassington was exposed to in younger years, but they werem't exactly style icons.

While there are certainly leftists that can out-dress anyone on the right, Lord Bassington-Bassington is more comfortable with a more conservative look. So perhaps the jacket can be saved by a touch of tweed - a reassuringly reactionary fashion statement?

No. Njet. Nein. Nie. The pocket hankie and bow tie don't work at all.

But there must be a simple fix, an all-round accessory that can elevate any outfit. Perhaps...

Well, there we are. Perfection! Winthrope always helps out.

A craving for cravats

Tomorrow is cravat day in Croatia. And if you wonder why the country has a day dedicated to a piece of neckwear, it helps to know that the very word "cravat" is developed from Croat. Indeed, the custom of tying a piece of stylish cloth around one's neck spread around Europe after Croatian mercenaries were seen sporting some very stylish neckpieces.

The oldest known depiction of a cravat. Naturally, sported by a Croatian.

As such, the question isn't why Croatia has a cravat day, but why the rest of Europe doesn't celebrate this excellent piece of neckwear as well. Lord Bassington-Bassington is certainly planning to get in on the action.

But what of the cravat today? Here in Norway, the cravat has long been associated with certain insufferable upper-class types, eminently parodied by legendary comedian Trond Kirkvaag. Unfortunately, this clip only seems to be available in Norwegian, but even non-Weegies should get the point.



In many ways, the cravat has fallen from favour, a sad fact that is also reflected in contemporary style books. While perusing a rather entertaining tome known as The Chic Geek's Fashion, Grooming and Style Guide for Men, Lord Bassington-Bassington came across the following passage:

Cravats. This is a difficult one. Because the tie has become so much smaller, the big voluptuous cravat looks wrong at the moment. If you can find a way of making the cravat seem casual - and this will depend on the fabric and pattern - then try it but generally one to avoid.

Well, with His Lordship being the natural contrarian that he is, it wasn't hard to predict what would happen next.

For if there's one thing that punk rock should have taught us, it is that when dressing in the morning, one's ability to annoy boring conformists should definitely be a factor. And as today's boring conformists are people who wear jeans and t-shirts and think they are rock'n’roll rebels, or wear suits because they have to but skip the ties because they think that shows individuality, cravats are the new bondage collars.

Oh bondage up yours!

So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Lord Bassington-Bassington has amassed a small collection of cravats. And what would be the use of having one's own private Chronicles if one can't inflict one's peccadilloes on the world?

His Lordship’s cravats are, from left to right, a vintage item bought at a flea market in Lisbon, a summery cravat from Holland Esquire, a skull and paisley-patterned loveliness from Jeffery West and a nice and heavy number from New & Lingwood that is great for the current season.

Lord Bassington-Bassington's most recent acquisition on the cravat front was a vintage piece from legendary manufacturer Tootal, bought from eBay. And here modelled by the lovely Balbina Basseti, who hereby makes her debut on the fashion scene.

So cravat up! You know you want to. Unless you don’t. Which is also fine. Sort of.

Suede operators

Yes, Lord Bassington-Bassington has a long-standing interest in various street style cults such as skinheads and suedeheads. It has even escalated to the point where His Lordship commissioned artworks inspired by those cults.

And as Lord Bassington-Bassington is still a bit high after Cock Sparrer's recent concert in Oslo, here's a few more or less random pictures stolen from the Internet to pay tribute to some of the greatest style cults ever.

EnjOi!

Dandified canines

The British artist Julian Quaye has produced some stunning studies of superbly stylish canines. With the artist's kind permission Lord Bassington-Bassington would like to share them with the readers of the Chronicles.

From a Bassetological standpoint Mr. Quaye's work has some obvious flaws. Where is the master race, one might ask. But Lord Bassington-Bassington isn't going to let the lack of droopy jowls and droopier ears detract from his enjoyment of these magnificent pieces. And His Lordship certainly feels tempted to acquire a piece or two.

This is how stylish canines can hope to be. As for humans – those hairless apes – they are beyond help. Lord Bassington-Bassington can only hope that they will realize what is good for them.