Bao Dai in his early years arriving at the opening of the French Colonial Exhibition in Paris, 1931 playing ping-pong in France, 1932. He was believed to have single-handedly bagged a large percentage of his country’s tigers. Last May, Phillips aucti

I recommend that all of you play me at poker — in fact, any game with a stake. If you hear I’m involved, buy in, as I am completely rubbish and greatly admire the patience and technical skill required to succeed in such pursuits. I once won at the ra

by nick scott photography shu tomioka All clothes property of Mark Large Mark Large’s wardrobe space, it’s fair to say, has adopted an expansionist policy that makes the efforts of Lord Wellesley, the British governor-general of Bengal from the late

“Christie’s has been selected as the global auction house for the collection of David and Peggy Rockefeller. This vast collection will be offered for sale in May 2018 at our flagship auction rooms in Rockefeller Center in the heart of New York City.

by charlie thomas photography david goldman fashion direction jo grzeszczuk Why settle for one profession when you can excel at three? That’s what Nathaniel Martello-White has done. He began his career as an actor, but has since become a successful p

I’ve chosen to adapt this recipe to a vegetarian chili, to help increase our vegetable intake and reduce the consumption of red meat. An overconsumption of red meat has been proven to increase our risk of bowel cancer. It is also much harder to diges

by wei koh As we scan the horizon for a deeper understanding of America, what it was, what it is and what it can be, we are often met by a miasmic haze of confusion. The America I grew up admiring, the America of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther Kin

by wei koh Scott Schuman, the individual who created the modern genre of street-style photography, describes going to his first Pitti Uomo, more than a decade ago, with the idea of democratising style and demonstrating that elegance could be exhibite

by charlie thomas “The world’s finest underwear.” It is quite a claim, and is one of two phrases with which the Swiss brand Zimmerli proudly adorns each of its garments’ packaging. Minimally designed, the packaging is a fine example of attention to d

As the works Bentley (affectionately named ‘Old Mother Gun’) crossed the finish line of the 1929 Le Mans 24 Heures, the winners (unknowingly) ushered in the end of an era. The Bentley Boys era, the rise of the stock market and global political stabil

by christian barker “He would construct those intricately rhyming narratives inside his formidable brain.” When the Coogi brand was founded in 1969, its trippy indigenous-influenced knitwear was designed to give wealthy American tourists the chance t

by joycelyn shu This is going to come across as disingenuous, but the burger is undisputedly the US of A’s greatest contribution to culinaria. Few subjects elicit greater diversity of impassioned opinion and inspire more heated debate; fewer foods st

by ed cripps Dame Diana Rigg is the doyenne of amused gravitas, a tough, imperiously stylish, post-imperial stateswoman of stage and screen. Like Julie Christie, the subject of The Rake’s previous Cherchez La Femme column, she had a traditional Engli

I have a friend. Probably the only really close friend I met in college. And though we speak at most once a year, and see each other every half-decade, we’ve always picked up effortlessly where we left off. He’s a guy I always admired and was a littl

by aleks cvetkovic photography sidney teo fashion stylist marie lee The blazer has long been a divisive garment. In 1825, the Lady Margaret Boat Club, the rowing club of St. John’s College, Cambridge, caused something of a stir in the university’s un

Derby Day by William Powell Frith, 1856-8 Baroness Rosencrantz and Mrs. Frank Mackey at Black Ascot, 1910, when racegoers mourned King Edward VII King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother) at Ascot in 1938 the Ascot scene in My Fair

The magazine you hold in your hands is 10 years old today. And the fact it exists at all is something of a minor miracle. The Rake is, on the surface, a magazine about clothes. But actually it is about far more. If you’ll bear with me and join me on

by wei koh Sitting imperiously at 12 o’clock, burning as brightly as Prometheus’s torch, cleverer than a Border Collie with spectacles, casting aside all martini-induced temporal miasma and capable of speaking 26 different languages, is the day of th

by wei koh photography jamie ferguson Sartoria Dalcuore has risen to the top of every sartorial devotee’s wish list in recent years. And that is thanks to the tireless devotion of Damiano Annunziato, the son-inlaw of Luigi Dalcuore, who, since taking

By the time you’re reading this, The Rake will have embarked on the next chapter of its e-commerce evolution: watches. Why watches? Well, to begin with, everyone at The Rake, yours truly in particular, adores them. Amusingly, I was speaking to my fri

Since the financial crash of 2008, our fascination with the super-richest of the banking class — and their perceived crimes — has expanded like a trader’s algorithm. Fortunately, like the mobsters of The Sopranos or the advertising pioneers of Mad Me

by ludoas told to nick scott There are now packs of Goldendoodles, Yorkiepoos, Cockapoos, Schnoodles and Puggles roaming the developed world’s parks and greens. Indeed, my owner spoke the other day of a Bullshihtzer she had met at a Malibu beach part

by tom chamberlin Edward Sexton is a legend of his own making. From a tailoring point of view there are few people able to claim the sort of influence he has on the way suits are perceived. In 1969, Sexton revolutionised the sartorial arts. He re-pur

by ben st. george Making fine, handcrafted shoes is hard. It’s a craft that can take decades to master. It is a trade that is steeped in tradition, in refinement, and in the search for perfection over a form that has barely changed in the last centur

When I’m asked why it is that the Swiss are so damnably good at making watches but so hopeless at communicating about them, I explain that it has to do with the fundamental difference between the Catholic and Protestant religions. O.K., close your ey

It was a live shark. Or a dead one. A live octopus. Or perhaps just a whole red snapper. Either way, details aside, it was never meant for the purpose of pleasuring a naked and bound groupie. Or there was the time when Jimmy Page — said to always tra

by charlie thomas, benedict browne & anna prendergast As cities go, New York is the girl at school who was good at everything, liked by everyone and irresistible to everyone who crossed her path. And I don’t even hate her for it. Her relentless energ