The Simple Connoisseur

Picky Freaks Unite!
Just discovered this blog curated by a financial consultant in Salt Lake. He has outrun me on several ideas, Hans Hartung for one, Audubon prints for another. Perfect taste in cars too.
Check out his second blog too, Dependable Goods.
(all images: thesimpleconnoisseur.blogspot.com)

"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored" (Aldous Huxley)

Still very in love with but does it float...
(photo: Lauris Paulus)

Globe-Trotter cases

Mathieu P. introduced me to these hard yet lightweight travel cases made in the UK since 1897. The website claims Queen Elizabeth II used them on her honeymoon, Winston Churchill used the 18" attaché when Chancellor of the Exchequer, even Edmund Hilary used them to reach first base camp in 1951 when climbing the Everest (the original North Face!!).
Mathieu P. lives in Paris but moans all day about his missed Switzerland where pastures are greener and people are nicer (well no doubt compared to Paris). He is the pickest freak ever, he starts off by hating everything and everyone before considering, eventually, sometimes, that some things or some people could be slightly be more worthwhile. In any case, things being SO much better in his homeland, he wanted the ball point pen "825" made by the Swiss company Caran d'Ache to make it into Picky Freaks, but I was only midly inspired, however important I think cheap, basic, staples can be.
Mathieu works for Paradis magazine (soon on PF) as art director, he promised a logo for Picky Freaks..

Filson's Wool luggage

Just released for Fall 09.

1001 Rules for My Unborn Son

A very amusing blog.

Quoddy boots

Getting ready for Fall with another picky pick by Thomas: Quoddy boots.
Here's the Quoddy 100% Picky story:

In 1909 Harry Smith Shorey started making his own shoes in Downeast Maine. Today, the tradition continues in Perry , on the shores of Passamaquoddy Bay, smack dab on the 45th parallel; half-way to the North Pole and as far east as you can travel in the continental U.S.

The Passamaquoddy tribe of eastern Maine have an ages old heritage of craftsmanship, from their moccasins to their birch bark canoes and containers to their famous woven baskets, all done without man-made materials or adhesives. Craftsmanship combined with a high level of artistry are what made these products special and allowed them to perform so well in the sometimes harsh conditions encountered in the big woods and ever changing ocean of Maine.

Harry was a big believer in the performance and quality of handsewn moccasin construction. It is legendary for its comfort, durability, and ability to conform to one’s foot over time for a true custom fit. Quoddy continues this long tradition of handsewn craftsmanship today.

(Courtesy of Quoddy inc)

Nat Sherman

The Nat Sherman shop on Fifth Avenue in NYC is quite something. They offer you a smoke as soon as you've entered the premises which feels like the ultimate act of rebelion nowadays, or like entering Gatsby's library. Their beautiful specialty cigarettes could almost make me regret that I do not smoke.

"The past does not repeat itself but it sure does rhyme" (Mark Twain)

(photo: Blasts by Naoya Hatakeyama)

niwraD

Sea-sourced toothpaste.
Are we headed back to where we came from?

Daniel's homegrown tomatoes

Including the world-famous "Solange cocktail tomatoes" specie, grown & sold exclusively on the Golfe du Morbihan.

Advertising

As a kid I loved watching advertising films, maybe more so than classic children movies. Some commercials from the 1980s have left me a strong impression. These films mesmerized me, like a window into a glamorous adulthood. I remember very vividly two in particular:
-the 1980 (I was 4!) Nestlé Dessert chocolat ad where images alternated between a couple shown in Chinese shadows and chocolate melting over a brioche with a rapid raspy music like a cooking whisk on a drum (as shown above)
-the 1982 Heineken film featuring Robert Palmer's music, where the women looked just so self-assured and strong. I think this film became quite culte although it's almost impossible to find it online..(see link)
I realize now how sensual these were for the time..

Il Bussetto coin case

Il Bussetto is specialized in handmade fine leather items such as these elegant coin cases, completely void of any visible seam and dyed using organic substances such as chestnut and mimosa.

Picky support

A Picky Freaks friend shows support by sending me regularly what she calls "presque Picky" ("almost Picky") postcards and notes. She is quite the educated eye, her interest is very flatering.
(Photo: Bernard Plossu)

Delphi Lodge & Fishery

I recently had a very picky freaks/James Ivory/sartoria(rea)listic experience in Ireland, precisely in Delphi, a small and reclusive mountainous region and North frontier of Connemara.
A typical large and classic mansion-lodge owned and run but some fly-fishing celebrity (who was busy fishing in the Bahamas during our stay), it opens year long a few bedrooms to fly-fishing enthousiasts. The landscape around is breathtaking. We arrived on a very grey day to witness three men, dressed head to toe in the proper fly-fishing attire (see below in Picky Freaks), struggling against rain and wind and strong currents on the river in front of the lodge's lawn, the "gullie" bravely driving the boat back in the current again & again until the salmon would accept to bite (apparently the salmon bites the bait because of some defense mechanism and not to eat the bait as salmon refrains from eating when swiming upcurrent in fresh waters-so I was told that evening by a Bavarian gentleman).
The house has a wet room for outdoors clothing (and toweling the dogs..) and tables to weight, clean and wrap your daily catch.
I didn't fish but I did take part in the evening drinks (7:30 pm by the fireplace) and dinner (8:30 around the large dinning room table) at which I was served the largest lobster I had ever seen.

Paul Outerbridge

Simrane

Simrane, located rue Jacob in Paris, sells all kinds of linen products made from Indian printed cotton. The quality and variety of prints are surprising, the shop stacks them from floor to ceiling, it's hard to pick among all the "pareos" (sarongs) and tableclothes, dresses, bed covers. The clientele seems very faithful to the shop, which has been there for ages, at least for as long as I can remember. I have a pareo who's just travelled on it's 20th summer journey!

Korres Yogurt Gel

Korres -the first homeopathic pharmacy of Athens- makes wonderful natural products based on Greek flora. The cooling after sun yogurt gel is divine in texture and in smell.