Legend: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins

During the swinging 1960s in London, there were Ronald “Ronnie” and Reginald “Reggie” Kray, career criminal twin brothers who ran an organized crime outfit called “The Firm,” engaging in racketeering, robbery, arson, protection services and murder. They also ran nightclubs, enabling the handsomely tailored and well-groomed brothers to rub elbows with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and political elites. As career criminals go, the Krays were celebrities in their day. They were ultimately convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 1969. Ronnie died in 1995 and Reggie died in 2000.

Legend, a film on their rise and fall, written and directed by Brian Helgeland, stars the fantastic Tom Hardy doing double duty in the roles of both twins. It’s scheduled for release on October 2nd. I’m totally on board.

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A Truman Shaving Set from Harry’s

Let’s face it: no one is going to reinvent the way we shave. At least on any real scale in our lifetime. Most of us use a cartridge razor with (hopefully) good blades and a soothing shave cream that keeps the whole operation running smoothly. The only real shaving disruption over the past few years has to do with changes in the cost and the delivery system.

When Mike Dubin, founder of Dollar Shave Club, released and starred in what is possibly the most hilarious and virally successful video in product launch history, the revolution began. We were no longer hostages in a dysfunctional model that entailed ugly and over-produced razors, $20 for five cartridges, or wasteful plastic disposables.

Since Dollar Shave Club launched in March of 2012, there have been other contestants in the direct-to-consumer shaving game. Even behemoth Gillette has succumbed to the threat by offering a subscription model with their razors that look like props from Robocop (the 1987 one). But perhaps the most stylish and streamlined player to date is Harry’s.

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A Killer Deal on 007’s Conduit Cut from Anthony Sinclair

When bespoke tailor Anthony Sinclair set up shop on Conduit Street in Mayfair, London, he created a signature cut of a suit characterized by a natural shoulder, a roped sleeve head, a suppressed waist and a slightly flared skirt. The design became known as the Conduit Cut.

Terence Young, the director of Dr. No (1962), was a client of Sinclair and introduced the tailor to the man who would become the template for James Bond. Sinclair continued to make all of Sean Connery’s suits throughout his original six-film tenure as 007.

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My New Custom ‘Chief’ from Heritage Bicycles

The basic design of the bicycle was perfected a long time ago. With the exception of advances in gear shifting, braking and niche flourishes that benefit professional racers, any design changes over the last half century or so have been derivative and largely unnecessary, especially when it comes to aesthetics.

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Rubber on My Soles

I have been – and remain – an advocate of putting plastic taps under the toes and the heels of shoes in order to preserve the soles and extend the overall life of the shoes. I’ve been doing it for years, and it has worked very well.

Every time I bring a new pair of shoes to the cobbler to get “tapped,” he points at the leather sole and asks if I want rubber, which is a thin protective layer of rubber adhered to the leather sole. When I tell him I want taps, he asks again: “You sure you don’t want rubber?”

His obsession with rubber instead of taps under the toes made me wonder: Was rubber really the right way to go?

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