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More from: Stuart Husband

Style March 2021

THE SUMMER OF ’68: Gigi Rizzi

Originally published in Issue 51 of The Rake, Stuart Husband writes that Gigi Rizzi was the leader of a group of Italian gigolos who lived out a kind of Fellini fantasia on the Cote d’Azur in the late sixties. ‘It was ’68,’ he once wrote, ‘and I was dancing barefoot on tables, always out to win, never worrying about tomorrow.’ His charms were not lost on Brigitte Bardot…
Style March 2021

THE SHEER GAUL

He possessed — still possesses, in fact — an acerbity that makes Liam Gallagher look like Nick Drake. Originally published in Issue 43 of The Rake, Stuart Husband writes that Jacques Dutronc, the Mod dandy with a singular place in French rock history, oozes so much charm and savoir-faire that even when he’s mocking you, it feels all right …
Style March 2021

Pamela Harriman: Of Vice and Men

Could the man after whom this magazine was named have a female equivalent? Originally published in Issue 40 of The Rake, Stuart Husband writes that Pamela Harriman, a woman of aristocratic stock, blazed a trail through the international scene of her era, enticing powerful men like moths to a particularly feisty flame.
Icons February 2021

Single Minded: The Women of Warren Beatty

He couldn’t even commit to dinner, Shirley MacLaine once said of her brother, Warren Beatty. Thirteen thousand women — an estimate of the number of Beatty’s sexual conquests — might concur. Originally published in Issue 40 of The Rake, Stuart Husband writes that it’s a wonder he had time to become one of the most important figures in Hollywood, the man who bridged the gap between the old studio system and the freewheeling seventies.
Style January 2021

‘THE DREADFUL THINGS I LONGED TO SAY ... ’

Before the Beatles and the Stones there was Cole Porter: decadent and headstrong, witty and transgressive. Originally published in Issue 42 of The Rake, Stuart Husband writes that Porter rejected the convention of family to pursue the only thing he knew — music — and by the time he made way for rock‘n’roll, the leading lyricist of the Jazz Age had expressed himself a-plenty.
Style January 2021

WHEN MICHAEL AND TINA RULED THE WORLD

It was where Andy Warhol held court and John Lennon enjoyed his last supper. Bowie, Basquiat and Madonna were regulars. Originally published in Issue 53 of The Rake, Stuart Husband writes that in 1980s New York, the restaurant Mr Chow was where the glitterati went for a bite to eat. And the husband and wife behind it were Michael and Tina Chow, whose rise and fall through international society played like a Chinese opera…
Style January 2021

ART OF EXCESS: The Shah of Iran

In 1971, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi showcased what he called the ‘Great Civilisation’ of Iran with a three-day party amid the ancient ruins of Persepolis that cost $2.5 billion. It’s to be hoped the Shah enjoyed himself, for it was the high point of the oil-rich Pahlavi dynasty. Originally published in Issue 51 of The Rake, Stuart Husband writes that eight years later, with his country seized by Islamic revolution, the King of Kings was looking for alternative employment.
Style January 2021

THE KEEPER OF GREATNESS: Bao Dai

Bao Dai was the 13th and final emperor of Vietnam. He didn’t inspire devotion or much confidence: the American satirist S.J. Perelman, for example, described him as a ‘slippery-looking customer, rather on the pudgy side, and freshly dipped in Crisco’. But, Stuart Husband writes in Issue 58 of The Rake, a legacy can take time to be realised…
Style December 2020

BADMAN FOREVER

Randolph Scott was once synonymous with the classic ideal of American manhood: steely, forbearing, straight-shootin’. But off screen, his lifestyle as a sharp-dressin’ gentleman-financier set a template for Hollywood to follow.
Icons November 2020

Ettore Bugatti's Motoring Legacy

Ettore Bugatti liked to say that, ‘Nothing is too beautiful, nothing is too expensive’. Which probably explains why his famous creations — the racing cars that established his legend in the 20th century — were pure hedonism on wheels.
Style September 2020

NATURAL MYSTIC: Bob Marley

‘How many rivers do we have to cross,’ asked Robert Nesta Marley, ‘before we can talk to the boss?’ The king of reggae channelled a sense of righteous anger at colonial exploitation, and became an omnipotent symbol of peace and unity. And all before he was cut down in his prime…
Style August 2020

A GIFT FROM A GENEROUS GOD: Sammy Davis Jr.

Some people wanted Sammy Davis Jr. to fight; some wanted him to make peace. Such was the invidious position ‘Mr. Show Business’ found himself in as mid-century America wrestled with its race issues. ‘I didn’t ask to be a trailblazer,’ Davis Jr. said. ‘My passion was to entertain.’