The Rake

There is a certain audacity involved in playing Harry Kane. Not just technically — though Will Antenbring is candid about having spent weeks practising penalties he could never quite execute with Kane’s precision — but psychologically. Kane, the England striker and captain portrayed by Antenbring in the BBC’s adaptation of James Graham’s football-themed play Dear England, is not merely famous, he is a figure freighted with national expectation.

There are few things that sit more readily in an Englishman’s sense of nostalgia than a barbecue on one of our rare perfect summer days. The scent of smouldering charcoal, sausages and burgers splitting at the seams, and charred corn. The above is, however, evidence of the mistake we have been making for a long time. To the British, barbecue is a menu, not a method, and for many of us the aforementioned items are basically all we’re aware of.

Readers of The Rake know better than to consider watches a mere styling accoutrement, and the dress watch serves a unique function. The most compelling examples express a particular philosophy: the watch should suit the wearer’s wrist, not dominate it. Blancpain’s latest additions to their Villeret collection – "The Thinnest Argument" – are a masterclass in the pursuit of refinement, reflecting a broader appreciation for classical proportions that resonates with contemporary collectors.

Two days before The Rake's team and Matt Holyoak congregated to photograph Stanley Tucci in the penthouse at Claridge’s, Tucci attended the Met Gala for the first time in 20 years, and by a distance he was the best-dressed at the event. He was in perfect black tie with a British-racing-green smoking jacket — perhaps a subconscious reminder of where his heart lies these days.

The romance of Rome endures every lick of heat or frost, but with the Med a mere 15 miles from the city’s perimeter, the call of the sea is sometimes too strong to resist. Especially when the clothes are this appealing.

Bartenders are family. We all have our favourites, the ones we look forward to greeting when we enter our regular bar or club — the ones who always look pleased to see us even when they’re buried in the evening rush. They become family because they often know us better than some of our biological kin. They know what we like, what we do, how we relax and, sometimes most importantly, what we don’t like.

There are, broadly speaking, two ways of measuring (get it?) greatness in tailoring. The first is obvious: the aesthetic, or line, cut, drape, and how a tailor’s ‘rock of eye’ is able to shape 2D cloth into 3D structure. The second is rarer, and altogether more telling: whose trust you have earned. In these terms, royal warrants are not merely decorative crests but a form of peer review, both contemporary and historical. A monarch, after all, has no shortage of choice.

There’s much debate in the world of old Land Rovers about which ones had the best diesel engine. Some swear by the ‘Td5’, which was used from 1997 to 2007; some prefer the 200 and 300 ‘Tdi’ units that came before it; and a few oddballs, me included, will always choose the ancient and agricultural 2.5 ‘N/A’ (for ‘normally aspirated) diesel — no turbos, no electronics, virtually no power, plenty of noise and smoke, but very little to go wrong.

We are honoured to announce the appointment of Nick Sargent asThe Rake's new CEO, bringing abundant industry knowledge from senior posts at GQ, The Art Newspaper and other leading publications to help amplify the magazine's taste-driven, distinctive storytelling. "I am delighted to be joining The Rake.

Of all the legends of pop music, the Beach Boys are the most confusing. For many of us, they’re the all-American, surf-and-sun harmony hitmakers of California Girls and I Get Around, a cheesy throwback beloved of television adverts and wedding DJs. But for the serious music snob, they are pop music’s greatest achievement and the vessel of its most revered genius, a singularly inspired musical savant who sacrificed his sanity in pursuit of pure and sacred art.