foxhunting

New Tailored Clothing from Thomas Pink for Fall

LVMH-owned London shirtmakers and haberdashers Thomas Pink are expanding their tailoring offerings this fall with a natty new collection of wool and tweed jackets, coats and accessories. The collection takes inspiration from great British sporting events where the country's rich heritage remains in full force. Vintage motoring, bicycling and horse racing all contribute influences to a collection full of color, detail and verve. The move is fitting as the firm's name comes from an 18th century London tailor known for making sought-after foxhunting jackets. They're offering classic covert cloth wool coats with velvet collars in navy and brown windowpane; Harris tweed jackets in salt and pepper and a green and pink windowpane; a corduroy sportcoat with contrast stitching (above); a green tweed shawl collar sweater; and tweed driving caps to match. Of course there's also a wide variety of Pink's signature shirts, silk ties and pocket squares in a variety of styles and fabrics.

Gallery: Thomas Pink Autumn / Winter 2010

Tags: foxhunting, horse racing, London, LVMH, mens style, shirts, sporting, Thomas Pink, ties, tweed

The Classicist: America's Finest Equestrian Architecture

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Estates, Sports, The Classicist, Wealth

Kathryn Masson, author of the book on Hunt Country Style which we wrote about back in 2008, has returned with another brilliant exposition on equestrian style for our enjoyment. Stables: Beautiful Paddocks, Horse Barns, and Tack Rooms takes us on an alluring journey through America's horse country. Collaborating once again with Hunt Country photographer Paul Rocheleau, Masson visits some of the most notable stables and equestrian centers from coast to coast. Ranging from private to historic to state-of-the-art, from homes for retired racehorses to lodgings for polo ponies, thoroughbreds and world champions, 25 distinctive examples of equestrian architecture and interiors are profiled, showcasing their design, construction, and landscaping.

Each of the featured buildings evokes its distinctive regional heritage, from an enormous 1830s English-style barn near the Saratoga Springs Racetrack, to the Mediterranean aesthetic of one of the world's leading Arabian breeding farms, Om El Arab International in California's Santa Ynez Valley. Also highlighted are the world-famous racing stable Newstead Farm in Upperville, Virginia, home of Kentucky Derby winner Genuine Risk, and the quintessential Western working ranch Centennial Ranch in Ridgeway, Colorado. Three historic Vanderbilt family stables are featured: The Breakers in Newport, Sandy Point Stables in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, and the newly restored project of Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, Sagamore Farm in Glyndon, Maryland.

Avid equestrienne and professor Dr. Perky Beisel explores the history of the American stable and the long tradition of horsemanship in this United States in an informative preface. "For some Americans, horse ownership and participation in horse sports became a lifestyle and, for others, a way to join the upper class," She notes. "Families who reaped the benefits of 19th-century expansion in industries such as railroads and manufacturing had seemingly unlimited wealth with which to satisfy their desires. While some became notable art collectors, yachtsmen, or horticulturalists, others became active participants in horse sports. In so doing, not only did they create a new upper class, but they also transformed the physical landscape of equestrian recreation and leisure."

Gallery: Great American Stables

U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation Center, Gladstone, NJ

Tags: architecture, book, California, coffee table book, coffee table books, Colorado, equestrian, foxhunting, horseracing, horses, hunt country, Kathryn Masson, Kentucky Derby, luxury book, Maryland, polo, Rhode Island, Saratoga Springs, stables, The Breakers, upper class, Vanderbilt, Virginia

Continue reading “The Classicist: America's Finest Equestrian Architecture”

$1.8 Million Munnings Stars in Sporting Art Sale

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

A foxhunting portrait painted by British master Sir Alfred James Munnings in 1925 could fetch up to $1.8 million at Christie's Sporting & Wildlife Art sale in New York on Dec. 3. Titled F.H. Prince and the Pau Foxhounds, the painting (above), depicts American financier Frederick Henry Prince riding to hounds at Pau, his estate in the foothills of the Pyrénées. Prince had a stable of over sixty horses at the château, where King Henri IV of France was born in 1553. There are several other Munnings works in the sale as well.

Tags: Christies, Equestrian, Foxhunting, Horses, Sir Alfred Munnings, SirAlfredMunnings, Sporting art, SportingArt

The Classicist: On Equestrian Style

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Sports, Books, The Classicist

Followers of my sporadic style posts here have probably noticed certain threads running throughout; anglophilia, certainly, but also an affinity for all things equestrian-related: the polo matches staged by the likes of Veuve Clicquot and Mercedes-Benz; the Royal Ascot Races; riding boots by John Lobb of London; leathergoods by Swaine Adeney Brigg; and even classic sporting art. All these elements and more come together beautifully in Vicky Moon's new book Equestrian Style: Home Design, Couture, and Collections from the Eclectic to the Elegant, due out this week from Clarkson Potter.

It's a magnificent, much-needed extension of the horsey lifestyle portrayed in Hunt Country Style, the book I wrote about back in April. Moon divides her volume into different facts of the equestrian experience: In the Field, On the Farm, At the Track, In the Ring, On the Move, and Down the Road, focusing on all facets of horsiness and everything that goes along with it. The emphasis is on authenticity, not affectation; she barely mentions Ralph Lauren for instance except in the context of the actual polo team he fields.

Gallery: Equestrian Style

Racing tropy from Bonhams Sporting Sale.

Tags: Bonhams, equestrian, Equestrian Style, EquestrianStyle, foxhunting, Hermes, horseracing, horses, Hunt Country, HuntCountry, John Lobb, JohnLobb, polo, Ralph Lauren, RalphLauren, sporting art, SportingArt, Tattersalls, Vicky Moon, VickyMoon

Continue reading “The Classicist: On Equestrian Style”

Hunt Country Style

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Books

Life in the aristocratic Piedmont region of rural Virginia from Middleburg to Charlottesville, known as "Hunt Country," is of course mainly centered around equestrian pursuits. However, the preservation both of open land and historic architecture are of equal importance. Foxhunting has been popular in the area since the late 1740s, when the young George Washington rode to hounds, later establishing his own pack at Mount Vernon.

In a beautiful new book called Hunt Country Style, Kathryn Masson escorts us through some of the prettiest purlieus, including the seat of the Orange County Hunt, with which Jackie Kennedy often rode. While these days (as in any other desirable locale) there's been an influx of new money, for the most part the emphasis is still more on tradition than ostentation.

Click on the gallery below to take a tour of Hunt Country. Tally-ho!

Gallery: Hunt Country Style