It's around this part of December when the realisation that Christmas is just around the corner begins to set in. One finds oneself humming along to Chris Rea's gravelly jingle every time one is behind the wheel of a car. Depending on how far you are into your Christmas shopping, it can be lamentably easy to swing from humbug to smug, or whether you join in with the local carol singers or picture them being mowed down by frothing reindeers hauling a runaway sleigh. Christmas shopping is an artform, at least in the way that Andy Warhol used to produce art... best done by other people on your behalf, which is the cue for a well-orchestrated and shameless plug of this year's Favourbrook gift guide, where you'll find highly curated lists by none other than yours truly, aiming to please even the most diverse set of friends and family.
But let's park Christmas shopping at the foot of the gaudily festooned Nordic tree for one moment and talk this month's Register, which jumps from Tinseltown to Borough Market. We've rounded up the low down on how to make this year's holiday period not only bearable but positively enjoyable, even if you are spending it with your extended families! Enjoy!
Getting dressed up for Christmas shouldn't really be a thing since we should all be getting dressed up all of the time! But, naturally, the holiday season brings out the best of our wardrobes as we make that special effort to appreciate our friends and loved ones. Besides a bloody mask, this year's non-negotiable seasonal garment is of course the velvet jacket, boasting equal parts formality, fun and sophistication. We have created a number of different styles and different tones this season, some with silk lapels and some without. The beauty of the velvet jacket, besides that soft rich pile and flattering silhouette, is the versatility with which one can style it, so whether casual or formal, you know you have a jacket that can step up to the plate.
The best Christmas markets in London
Christmas markets serve many a purpose, not least among them providing much needed homes for oversized stuffed toys that would otherwise live in the squalid and cramped dimensions of a shipping container. Bleeding hearts aside, we live Christmas markets for the sheer volume of nice things to drink, eat and make one merry. London is blessed with an abundance of such events throughout December, the best of which has been neatly and festively surmised in this article by the well-heeled bunch over at Conde Nast Traveller.
The Rat who was thrown out of the Pack
As sure as jingle bells rock, swing and ring, your ears will feast upon the mellifluous tones of the Rat Pack this holiday. Messrs Frank, Dean, and Sammy are festive earworms par excellence, but rather than eulogise on our favourite tracks, we've decided to write about one former Rat who was cast out of the Pack. With style in spades, and politically connected up to the gills, the story of the oft-forgotten English actor Peter Lawford is quite remarkable. It's not all tinsel (in fact the majority of it is rather tragic) but it just wouldn't be Christmas without a cautionary tale now would it?!
Gentlemen if you are reading this and are presuming that this story is not directed at you but rather your fairer half then STOP! Do not scroll a single byte more! We have curated our seasonal gift guide exactly for the likes of yourself and your male brethren who we know (being one myself) can get somewhat flummoxed around this time of year when the pressing of time forces one into a hasty purchase for your other half. Think of our gift guide then as an insurance policy, a backstop for ill decisions, a stop loss on a trade gone bad. We have devised six categories perfectly suited for every type of lady, from the countryside goddess to the cleopatra of the city so you have no excuses chaps!
Know your enemy: the science of the Hangover
An oldie but a goodie from the brains at the Smithsonian magazine, who really get to work on dissecting the hangover. No bro science here, just good old research papers and fact-based conclusions to help you understand why, after drinking your weight in eggnog, you might feel a little peeky. Predictably, the 'hair of the dog' treatment doesn't get much love, unlike the bulk purchase of NSAIDs. The article, while extensive, doesn't touch upon the metaphysical hangover as Kingsley Amis coined it, but that is an existential journey one has to make all on their own (plus sofa and instagram).
Enjoy!
