#sybarites

Another #Mayfair afternoon drinking champagne with @johndavidgusman travelling through the 17th Century & remembering the magnificent #sybarites #eccentrics #lotuseaters #bluestockings #artisans & creators of #handbuilt #suits & #jewellery who haves lived & worked in this haven of gardensquares & #glassfronted retail arcades ⚜️ ... notice the majesty of the #collar built by Della @velveteccentric ... other than my prescription glasses & @velveteccentric collar all my accessories are ancient family heirlooms (at Mayfair)

Every #Mayfair Street has been walked on & home to the celebrated eccentrics of #Mayfair's 100acres since 1660 when #kingcharlesII announced his intention to transform #Cromwell #KillingFields into an opulent village celebrating everything the #Puritans loathed; namely the sacred triumvirate of The Arts Beauty & Fun! Development of Mayfair began in 1660 & by 1667 Mayfair's luxurious residences & glass fronted arcades was the talk of London as a playground for #Eccentrics #sybarites & artists. Plus ca change, plus c'est la même chose Standing outside @thewolseley the old #Wolseley motor car showroom on #Piccadilly with @daniellismore we look out on @royalacademyarts once #BurlingtonHouse built in 1665 for Lord Burlington who's wife hosted salons for artists. In 1660 women outnumbered men by 3 to 1. Mayfair was designed by the world's 1st woman architect & Restoration women created the salon social life. In 1710 2 of Mayfair's most celebrated #eccentrics The artist #architectural & landscaping maveric William Kent & the spectacular eccentric composer #handel both Eccentrics protégés of #Countess of #Burlington & #Cork #LadyDorothySavile who was the greatest saloniere of Mayfair in the early 1700's - it was known as The Burlington Salon Both Kent & Handel lived at Burlington House before they moved into their own houses on Arlington St & Brook St respectively. Handel wrote operas dedicated to his hosts Dorthy Savile & her husband Earl of Burlington. Kent added to Burlington House & designed the 1st #BurlingtonArcade in 1710 so Handel & LordSavile #EarlofBurlington & other eccentrics in their set could avoid walking through the stench of the oyster bar on Savile Street (now #SavileRow ) when they dashed out of Burlington House for tobacco a fine suits or boots. Dorothy liked the Dandizettes & #dandies of her Salon were exceptionally attired - attracting a village of bespoke #dressmakers #jewellers #suits & #boots. Though the original #BurlingtonArcade was replaced in 1810 it retains the glass fronted grandeur of Kent's original arcade of 1710 & always evokes the musical & artistic genius #Mayfair's vast array of beloved & venerated #Eccentrics (at The Wolseley)

Innoquii: “The Medic” Valentine’s Day modeling.

#ladyelizabethwilbraham #worldsfirstwoman #architect & one of the 5 #Exquisites of the #restoration responsible for eccentricity becoming a #Quintessential quality of the #Britishcharacter by 1660 when she returned from exile with the rest of the #Stuart court #Cromwell had purged Britain of its architects - architecture had been banned as #papist along with the rest of The #arts She transformed #Mayfair StJames's into a retail & residential home for #eccentrics & #sybarites & #StJames's church on #Piccadilly & #stpaulscathedral & so many great buildings though as a senior member of the aristocracy she credited them to her pupil & site manager #christopherwren She had spent her decade in exile studying under #pieterpost for 2 years & in the #palladio schools of architecture in #Italy in the 1650's & is now recognised as the architectural hand behind the engineering of her pupil #SirChristopherWren (at St James's Church, Piccadilly)

Doll Gone Gaga. Sybarite “The Queen B.” Artpop vinyl.