In a stunning upset, the USA Croquet Team recently defeated Great Britain to capture the Solomon Trophy for the first time in the event’s 18-year history. With a close score of 11-9 the Solomon Trophy Test Match held at the Mission Hills Country Club in Palm Springs was a real nailbiter. The Test Match is played as the best out of 21 matches, with each match consisting of the best-of-three games. Twelve single matches and nine double matches are played, and the team that wins eleven of them emerges triumphant. Until now the Yanks have been soundly thrashed every year.
The competition began in 1985 when the USA played Great Britain in England. Since then the two countries’ top croquet players have competed for the prestigious prize, alternating play between England and the U.S. The Solomon Trophy will now remain in the States until the next Test Match is contested in England in 2011. Starring for the Yanks was the gloriously muttonchopped Jerry Stark, winner of five national titles and an inductee into the American Croquet Hall of Fame. Well played, fellows. Stop in next time you’re in town Mr. Stark and we’ll be glad to fit you for a DQ croquet shirt.
DQ’s new Miami digs were rockin’ on Friday night when Birmingham’s The Twang, who opened Glastonbury in front of 500,000 people, played a one-off show for the DQ faithful in the amazing space dedicated to gentlemanly pursuits. The glamorous gig put the finishing touch on the limited edition pop-up pad which features a killer collection of vintage Ducatis, including a 450 Desmo from the 70’s, a 350 Desmo, built in 1969 and a 1985 F1 prototype. Select models are for sale, should you wish to pick up a bike as stylish as your DQ suit.
Also on hand are a 1962 Maserati, full-size croquet pitch, bespoke lounge with Dormeuil fabrics, Ruby motorcycle helmet installation, Hendrick’s Gin cocktails and more. Things got off to an auspicious start when world-famous shoe designer Christian Louboutin, who has his own op-up shop down the block, was our first customer, coming in to buy an outfit for his own opening before we’d even officially cut the ribbon. The Miami shop will be open until Dec. 12th, then once a month for dinners and tastings and otherwise by appointment. Check out some of the great press we’ve gotten here and here.
4040 NE 2nd Ave., The Moore Building, #102, Miami FL 33137. Email miami@duncanquinn.com to be added to the mailing list for updates and event details.
On December 1 DQ will open a 6,000-sq.-ft. Limited Edition pop-up store in Miami’s Design District to coincide with Design Miami. More than 20,000 collectors flock to the District for the fair, known as the pre-eminent forum for the presentation of limited edition and collectible design. You can bet they’ve never seen anything as dashing DQ’s damned stylish monument to gentlemanly pursuits however. Hell, no one has.
The pop-up shop will feature the full line of DQ ready-to-wear starring our killer new fall collection and gangster chic ties, as well as limited edition croquet shirts and t-shirts exclusive to the venue. Hendrick’s Gin cocktails will flow like water, women will swoon, and hijinks will ensue on the full-size indoor croquet pitch. We’ve got a rendering above to tide you over ‘till the big day, when we’ll reveal further details. Meanwhile book your flight and look sharp about it.
4040 NE 2nd Ave., The Moore Building, #102, Miami FL 33137. Email miami@duncanquinn.com to be added to the mailing list for updates and event details.
The $500 million renovation of the Empire State Building may be a much-needed bit of architectural resuscitation, but what’s the point from a layman’s perspective if you can’t get a goddamn drink there? Luckily Mark Grossich, the man behind Grand Central’s swank Campbell Apartment and a fellow who appreciates the fact that a historic setting makes a cocktail taste better, has the matter in hand. He’s turning a 3,500-sq.-ft. former post office on the iconic building’s ground floor into the Empire Room, a suitably Art Deco-rated bar / lounge slated to open at the end of November.
Design firm Goodman Charlton has cooked up an elegant scheme employing plush mohair, intricate cut velvets, macassar ebony, silver leaf, embossed leather, marble and polished stainless steel in tones of rich brandy, deep cognac, icy silver, and golden cream for the interior (rendering above), meant to evoke a more glamorous era of supper clubs and gentlemanly drinking establishments. The cocktails themselves will hew to Grossich’s signature mix of new and old classics, in keeping with the “A Toast to Another Time” ethos of the Campbell Apartment and his other joints like The Carnegie Club and The World Bar. We’ll see you there.
www.samblake.com
When Troy Parsons, a dashing Australian now living in New York, decided to get married back home in Perth, he came to DQ to be fitted for his wedding suit. These photos were taken at the ceremony held in the beautiful Victoria Gardens in East Perth, which was followed by an organic vegan feast. Troy looked smashing in his grey single-breasted two-button lightweight wool suit with a ticket pocket, white cotton shirt and pink pindot tie.
“I never properly said ‘thank you,’” Troy wrote to us upon his return. “Thank you for a wonderful suit, wonderful accessories, helping me out, and patiently taking time to make sure I was happy, and looking dapper. I am totally chuffed with the suit and the service, and am always raving about you guys. In fact, on the day, the only other guy that came close to looking as nice, did in fact have a Savile Row suit.” Well we do aim to please.
It was quite a sight: 30,000 well-turned out spectators thronging the famed Guards Polo Club in Windsor to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Cartier International Polo and one of the world’s most coveted sporting trophies. Inside the VIPs-only Cartier enclosure, Prince Charles, an avid polo player himself, presided over the 600 chosen to sample chef Anton Mossiman’s clubby cuisine washed down with jeroboams of champagne.
Prince Chuck was of course rooting for jolly old England, but to no avail as the Brits lost to Argentina 12 - 5. After the actual event the marquee was turned over to club kings Chinawhite who transformed it into an after-party DJ’d by Jade Jagger which drew the inevitable cries of “Chavs!” from the older toffs, who promptly beetled off holding their (toffee) noses.
A cluster of models, Anna Friel fairly popping out of her dress, the ubiquitous Jay Kay and an obviously on-the-make Leo DiCaprio altered the atmosphere from the plummy heights of the Prince and debonair Cartier director Arnaud Bamberger’s court-holding earlier in the day. When all’s said and done however it was well worth celebrating the luxury house’s commitment to an insanely expensive but incredibly stylish pastime which could easily have gotten the bespoke boot in such dicey economic climes.
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Check out the stylish scene at the Duncan Quinn Pimm’s Party the other night. Sartorial splendor mixed with perfect cocktails. And check out those stylish mugs - the cups we mean. Pimm’s No. 1 pewter originals…. Wish you were there.
