Great Photos Thread

[uppercase]

There are many wonderful photos of great dressers here on LL scattered throughout the site. And also illustrations from AA/Esky.

I've often thought that a compilation of these photos should be made, in one central location, for easy access.

So, I propose doing so now by gathering the photos, already here on LL and arranging them, in individual threads, a separate thread assigned for each man.

Like this:

Great Photos/ Cary Grant
Great Photos/ Gianni Agnelli
Great Photos/ Gary Cooper
Great Photos/ Prince Charles
Great Photos/Fred Astaire
Great Photos/ Vittorio de Sica
Etc. Etc.


As for AA/Esky illustrations, threads could be arranged by clothing item.

Like this:

AA/Esky Illustrations/ Suits
AA/Esky Illustrations/ Sports Wear
AA/Esky Illustrations/ Overcoats
AA/Esky Illustrations/Formal Wear


Finally, there are always some nice photos of LL members. We could also have another thread for a compilation of members' photos which you particularly like, in one thread.

Like this:

LL Members’ Photos

This compilation is too much work for one person to undertake, so I suggest that, as members come across relevant photos now and then when browsing the LL, we can cross-post them to the ‘Photos’ threads to be located in the ‘Features and Articles Forum’. Just copy and paste the photo into relevant thread.

We can quickly gather and compile an excellent central pictorial reference source if we work together, taking what is already here on LL, and elsewhere, and cross-posting them to the ‘Photos’ thread.

Perhaps we can make the ‘Photos’ thread a ‘Sticky’

So please, take the time as you browse through LL and if you come across a nice photo, check to see if it's in the Great Photos threads and, if not, cross post it.

If you and the moderators are agreeable, let's get started.

I've started a few threads to get us going.

[storeynicholas]

These threads are a tremendous idea - pictures tell us much more than just words.
NJS

[luk-cha]

UC this is a great thread i have quite a lot i might be able to add to this, but will need to wait till i get home at the weekend before i can add to some!

[NJS]

On comments on Saratoga c. 1915:

The Third World (especially much of Africa), is poverty-stricken and disease-ridden to a degree which shames the rest of the modern world. Never has there been such wealth, prosperity and opportunity as there is now in the 'West' but the downside is that, in pari passu, we are surrounded by all the seven sins in unprecedented degrees and super-abundance which leads to the most disgusting extravagance and waste; whilst nearly every minute a child's breath fails for want of food or water or from drinking foul water. There is no comparison between hungry urchins in Saratoga 1915 and skeletal babies dying slowly on their mothers' withered breasts in modern Africa. I am sorry to say this but it is true. It is all very well exploring space and examining the behaviour of sub-atomic particles at the cost of the size of some nations' national debt but, the current state of the world suggests that it is all on a par with fiddling while Rome burns - or playing golf as the banks go bust.
NJS

[bond_and_beyond]

On comments on Saratoga c. 1915:

The Third World (especially much of Africa), is poverty-stricken and disease-ridden to a degree which shames the rest of the modern world. Never has there been such wealth, prosperity and opportunity as there is now in the 'West' but the downside is that, in pari passu, we are surrounded by all the seven sins in unprecedented degrees and super-abundance which leads to the most disgusting extravagance and waste; whilst nearly every minute a child's breath fails for want of food or water or from drinking foul water. There is no comparison between hungry urchins in Saratoga 1915 and skeletal babies dying slowly on their mothers' withered breasts in modern Africa. I am sorry to say this but it is true. It is all very well exploring space and examining the behaviour of sub-atomic particles at the cost of the size of some nations' national debt but, the current state of the world suggests that it is all on a par with fiddling while Rome burns - or playing golf as the banks go bust.
NJS

But remember that never has the average person on Earth been better off. Certainly there is no period in the (at least recent) history of mankind which has been more prosperous, peaceful or equal than the period we are currently enjoying? Just look at the average age people can expect to live to (global average, but also in the developing world) and that most important of metrics, child mortality which is from what I understand at its lowest ever. The rising standard of living throughout Asia and South / Latin America over the past 30 years is astonishing. And even in Africa, that most troubled of continents, many countries are certainly moving forward with rapid economic growth and increasing standards of living.

I have some good sources/links to back the above up, but that will have to be for another day, having just returned from a 14 hour work day I need my bed

BB

[NJS]

On comments on Saratoga c. 1915:

The Third World (especially much of Africa), is poverty-stricken and disease-ridden to a degree which shames the rest of the modern world. Never has there been such wealth, prosperity and opportunity as there is now in the 'West' but the downside is that, in pari passu, we are surrounded by all the seven sins in unprecedented degrees and super-abundance which leads to the most disgusting extravagance and waste; whilst nearly every minute a child's breath fails for want of food or water or from drinking foul water. There is no comparison between hungry urchins in Saratoga 1915 and skeletal babies dying slowly on their mothers' withered breasts in modern Africa. I am sorry to say this but it is true. It is all very well exploring space and examining the behaviour of sub-atomic particles at the cost of the size of some nations' national debt but, the current state of the world suggests that it is all on a par with fiddling while Rome burns - or playing golf as the banks go bust.
NJS

But remember that never has the average person on Earth been better off. Certainly there is no period in the (at least recent) history of mankind which has been more prosperous, peaceful or equal than the period we are currently enjoying? Just look at the average age people can expect to live to (global average, but also in the developing world) and that most important of metrics, child mortality which is from what I understand at its lowest ever. The rising standard of living throughout Asia and South / Latin America over the past 30 years is astonishing. And even in Africa, that most troubled of continents, many countries are certainly moving forward with rapid economic growth and increasing standards of living.

I have some good sources/links to back the above up, but that will have to be for another day, having just returned from a 14 hour work day I need my bed

BB

Good night to you! And Good morning too when you will read this! The 'average person on Earth' may be defined by whom and using what yardstick? Moreover, the apparent 'prosperity' is increasingly built upon the adoption of the failed West's unsustainable credit bubble; as for 'peaceful', I wonder whether the civilian populations of: Iraq; Afghanistan; Libya; Egypt; the Lebanon; Syria; Israel; Palestine (and countless others) would wholly agree with that - or, indeed, whether the families of the US and British servicemen killed in the futile attempt to bring to book those responsible for the War of Terror would agree either!! As for 'equal' you leave me speechless: we are never 'equal' with each other; for reasons too numerous to mention: ignorance; poverty, and dishonesty all drive wedges between people who, otherwise, might start on a level playing field. Saratoga must, actually, have presented a very level playing field when it was first founded (provide that you were white and not too obviously 'Latin' or 'Hispanic' - if you were black - forget it).

People living to even 'riper' old ages also bears a burden: never has the percentage of those suffering from a form of senility been higher in the UK. It is at about 1% of the total population. The cost is to their estates in care fees and, for those who cannot pay, to state funding, to keep them just sitting there: over-staying guests, at a stale feast. I don't have figures for global child mortality rates and I doubt whether anyone seriously does either. But there are plenty of examples of dying children - look at UNICEF accounts of them, if you don't believe me.

I repeat the beginning of this: the apparent rise in the standard of living of those places which, with reckless disregard of recent history, follow the 'lead' of the 'West', is built on extended credit - and time will tell whether the Asian and South American temperaments are better able to cope with keeping up debt repayments than: North Americans, Britons, Spaniards, Greeks, and Italians have proved themselves to be; especially considering much higher interest rates payable in e.g. Brazil.

The last thing that the world's press put about concerning Africa (pushed into our unwilling faces), was that, if you live in a condo, with an electrifed fence and armed guards; awake in the night and hear someone in the bathroom, you don't check to see whether it might be your wife/girlfriend - you fetch the gun (that you borrowed from your Dad,) from under your pillow and blast away with four shots through the locked door and then (discovering your tragic mistake), you drag the body out and throw it down the stairs, cover it with towels, call security and blubber like a proper bubba in court about the pressures of living in the country and the terrible security threat posed by ... er ... um ...

I am sure that you do have links to statistics to prove your points - but I rely upon my senses.

Moreover, a second bank crash is about to hit the UK; mark my words. At least one bank is defaulting upon its immediate liabilities and shielding behind a stonewall of silence and (I expect, shortly), 'administrative error', to explain away secretly sequestrating customers' funds, presumably to shore up otherwise inadequate resources to meet its liabilities.

NJS

[bond_and_beyond]

Many thanks for your thoughts NJS, I find this discussion very interesting.

Good night to you! And Good morning too when you will read this! The 'average person on Earth' may be defined by whom and using what yardstick? Moreover, the apparent 'prosperity' is increasingly built upon the adoption of the failed West's unsustainable credit bubble; as for 'peaceful', I wonder whether the civilian populations of: Iraq; Afghanistan; Libya; Egypt; the Lebanon; Syria; Israel; Palestine (and countless others) would wholly agree with that - or, indeed, whether the families of the US and British servicemen killed in the futile attempt to bring to book those responsible for the War of Terror would agree either!! As for 'equal' you leave me speechless: we are never 'equal' with each other; for reasons too numerous to mention: ignorance; poverty, and dishonesty all drive wedges between people who, otherwise, might start on a level playing field. Saratoga must, actually, have presented a very level playing field when it was first founded (provide that you were white and not too obviously 'Latin' or 'Hispanic' (if you were black - forget it).

People living to even 'riper' old ages also bears a burden: never has the percentage of those suffering from a form of senility been higher in the UK. It is at about 1% of the total population.

I must admit that I find this argument a bit bizarre. Yes people live longer, which I would assume to generally be a good thing, and that creates new challenges. However that does not compare to living conditions of the past that gave a life expetancy miles away from what we see today.

The ripeness may be smelled in their incontinence pads. The cost is to their estates in care fees and, for those who cannot pay, to state funding, to keep them churning out their effluxions. I don't have figures for global mortality rates and I doubt whether you do either. But there are plenty of examples of dying children - look at UNICEF accounts of them, if you don't believe me.

Figures for child mortality rates are readily available from, guess who, UNICEF. I quote from their 2012 Child Mortality Report (available here: http://www.unicef.org/videoaudio/PDFs/U ... b_0904.pdf):

"Since 1990 the global under-five mortality
rate has dropped 41 percent—from 87
(85, 89) deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990
to 51 (51, 55) in 2011. Eastern Asia, Northern
Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean,
South-eastern Asia and Western Asia have
reduced their under-five mortality rate by
more than 50 percent."

Isn't this an amazing improvement? Yes there are still challenges, but things are getting better year by year.

I repeat the beginning of this: the apparent rise in the standard of living of those places which, with reckless disregard of recent history, follow the 'lead' of the 'West', is built on extended credit - and time will tell whether the Asian and South American temperaments are better able to cope with keeping up debt repayments than: North Americans, Britons, Spaniards, Greeks, and Italians have proved themselves to be; especially considering much higher interest rates payable in e.g. Brazil. The last thing that the world's press put about concerning Africa (pushed into our unwilling faces), was that, if you live in a condo, with an electrifed fence and armed guards; awake in the night and hear someone in the bathroom, you don't check to see whether it might be your wife/girlfriend - you fetch the gun (that you borrowed from your Dad,) from under your pillow and blast away with four shots through the locked door and then (discovering your tragic mistake), you drag the body out and throw it down the stairs, cover it with towels, call security and blubber like a proper bubba in court about the pressures of living in the country and the terrible security threat posed by ... er ... um ...

But how has this gotten worse? Yes there are challenges to the economic system (to a large extent created by, in particular the West's, "borrow and spend" attitude), but again the amount of people lifted out of poverty over the last thirty years is astonishing (particularly in China). How this all will end is anyone's guess, but that there is less poverty now than thirty years ago I think is very clear based on all available data.

I am sure that you do have links to statistics to prove your points - but I rely upon my senses.

Well, I'm not sure that I do I prefer hard data! In my view too much of the discussion regarding the economy, politics and the environment relies on sensibilities rather than facts.

Moreover, a second bank crash is about to hit the UK; mark my words. At least one bank is defaulting upon its immediate liabilities and shielding behind a stonewall of silence and (I expect, shortly), 'administrative error', to explain away secretly sequestrating customers' funds, presumably to shore up otherwise inadequate resources to meet its liabilities.

NJS

Yes, but again the consequences for the "every man" is nothing near that which affected Europe and the US after the crash of 1929 and the accompanying Great Depression. Those times were, I think almost anyone would agree, much harder on the average citizen that what we have seen following the 2008 crash.

BB

[NJS]

Many thanks for your thoughts NJS, I find this discussion very interesting.


People living to even 'riper' old ages also bears a burden: never has the percentage of those suffering from a form of senility been higher in the UK. It is at about 1% of the total population.

1. I must admit that I find this argument a bit bizarre. Yes people live longer, which I would assume to generally be a good thing, and that creates new challenges. However that does not compare to living conditions of the past that gave a life expetancy miles away from what we see today.


2. Figures for child mortality rates are readily available from, guess who, UNICEF. I quote from their 2012 Child Mortality Report (available here: http://www.unicef.org/videoaudio/PDFs/U ... b_0904.pdf):

"Since 1990 the global under-five mortality
rate has dropped 41 percent—from 87
(85, 89) deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990
to 51 (51, 55) in 2011. Eastern Asia, Northern
Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean,
South-eastern Asia and Western Asia have
reduced their under-five mortality rate by
more than 50 percent."

Isn't this an amazing improvement? Yes there are still challenges, but things are getting better year by year.

I repeat the beginning of this: the apparent rise in the standard of living of those places which, with reckless disregard of recent history, follow the 'lead' of the 'West', is built on extended credit - and time will tell whether the Asian and South American temperaments are better able to cope with keeping up debt repayments than: North Americans, Britons, Spaniards, Greeks, and Italians have proved themselves to be; especially considering much higher interest rates payable in e.g. Brazil. The last thing that the world's press put about concerning Africa (pushed into our unwilling faces), was that, if you live in a condo, with an electrifed fence and armed guards; awake in the night and hear someone in the bathroom, you don't check to see whether it might be your wife/girlfriend - you fetch the gun (that you borrowed from your Dad,) from under your pillow and blast away with four shots through the locked door and then (discovering your tragic mistake), you drag the body out and throw it down the stairs, cover it with towels, call security and blubber like a proper bubba in court about the pressures of living in the country and the terrible security threat posed by ... er ... um ...

3. But how has this gotten worse? Yes there are challenges to the economic system (to a large extent created by, in particular the West's, "borrow and spend" attitude), but again the amount of people lifted out of poverty over the last thirty years is astonishing (particularly in China). How this all will end is anyone's guess, but that there is less poverty now than thirty years ago I think is very clear based on all available data.

I am sure that you do have links to statistics to prove your points - but I rely upon my senses.

4. Well, I'm not sure that I do I prefer hard data! In my view too much of the discussion regarding the economy, politics and the environment relies on sensibilities rather than facts.

Moreover, a second bank crash is about to hit the UK; mark my words. At least one bank is defaulting upon its immediate liabilities and shielding behind a stonewall of silence and (I expect, shortly), 'administrative error', to explain away secretly sequestrating customers' funds, presumably to shore up otherwise inadequate resources to meet its liabilities.

NJS

5. Yes, but again the consequences for the "every man" is nothing near that which affected Europe and the US after the crash of 1929 and the accompanying Great Depression. Those times were, I think almost anyone would agree, much harder on the average citizen that what we have seen following the 2008 crash.

BB[/quote]


Yes well, there is nothing as bracing as an exchange of frank views!

I have had to number your points, as dealing with multiple quotes is beyond me.

1. This is just a difference of a point of view. As a matter of natural necessity, we don't need to live longer than it takes for our children to reach maturity. I have seen many examples of people who would, I am sure, have taken their own lives had they not been robbed of the choice by brain damage of one kind or another and got to the stage of stuttering on in pointless, joyless existences and foul degradation. The general conspiracy of coercion towards 'healthy living' gives the impression that it is possible to live forever; when it is not - and long, crippled sunsets are miserable affairs.

2. Fair enough. I asked for that! The figures represent some improvement -but improvement on utter disaster.

3. ''How is it worse?'' I am quite sure that, in Brazil, a bursting credit bubble is (or was) completely avoidable. Mortgages for land purchase and hire purchase for new cars have recently become more widely available here. When we arrived, six years ago, most of the cars in this town were old bangers. It all suddenly changed because of the sudden availability of longer credit and now those with jobs have new cars. There is a similar situation in relation to land mortgages. Land prices in Europe soared owing to the availability of mortgages, based on two salaries, and all conspired to send the price of land up to levels (and at rates of increase) which were unreal and unsustainable. Defaults on loans then resulted in forced sales at bankruptcy rates of return and the loans were not wholly repaid. The banks effectively went bankrupt. In Brazil, six years ago, land prices were at about one twentieth of British prices for similar property and people (often extended families) bought property on short-term credit, using maybe six salaries to make total payment in say three to five years. As a result of the availability of longer-term mortgages, prices are increasing and, indeed, Rio de Janeiro now has prime property, which competes price-wise with similar property in central London or Manhattan. Probably, to some extent, the same ultimate outcome will unfold here against a background of heavy credit. However, in Brazil's favour are certain special factors: first, the country is generally prospering, owing to its many natural resources and its products; secondly, Brazil has more sense than to engage in wars, and thirdly, Brazilians seem to be handling the extended credit along the same lines that they handled short-term debt - in the extended family unit (grandparents, parents, parents' siblings and children) - so that they have a better chance of seeing the payments through than a nuclear family unit in Britain (Mum, Dad, two kids and a dog).

4. I did not mean 'sensibilities': I meant using my physical senses and what I have perceived in the world. I always suspect statistics as they can be manipulated to prove nearly anything.

5. I just do not know. However, it is clear enough that boomtime for the Great American Dream followed close on the heels of WWII: the 1950s and 1960s, through to the 1990s saw the USA on top of the world, in economic terms and in terms of military power. Now it's at the point where (unpopular) public spending cuts face (irresponsible) 'spend our way through' policies.

I think that those responsible were more held to account in 1929 than those responsible in 2008. Arguably, outside a communist state, the banks should have been left to go to the wall in 2008, as any failed commercial enterprise would go. The fact that the taxpayers (in the UK) footed the bill has given a short reprieve but I am far from convinced that the rot in the system has been gouged out and many of the same tired old faces are still in charge; when they should have been tried for various criminal activities.

NJS

[uppercase]

Check out Voxsartoria over at Tumblr who has posted a great photo of Cary Grant plus others of Grace Kelly and Monroe.
I don't know how to forward those photos to LL. So go look.
Outstanding.