UK

Bentley, founded in the UK in 1919, is as British as they come, but it took a designer from Boston to come up with the coolest concept for the marque that we've seen in recent memory. Marc Senger's Bentley Dynamo concept is inspired by the famed 1929 4.5 liter Blower Bentley racecar. An alluring modern take on the original, the Bentley Dynamo features a 4.3 liter supercharged "blown" four-cylinder engine making for massive power. Back in the day the Blower Bentley – a vintage example of which just sold for $1 million at the UK's Historics at Brooklands auction as we recently reported – produced 175 hp and got about 2.3 mpg. With a wheelbase of 110" and killer neo-retro looks, Senger's Dynamo is a fitting legacy to the Blower, which Ian Fleming, who owned one, chose as James Bond's original vehicle (it's featured in three of the 007 novels, Casino Royale, Live and Let Die and Moonraker). Ralph Lauren owns one of the most famous Blower Bentleys still around today, painted with the number 8 like Senger's rendering.

Lingerie leviathan Victoria's Secret has announced that it will open its first UK store in 2012. The boudoir-esque boutique will be located in London on the "prestigious corner of New Bond Street and Brook Street," the lingerie company's owner Limited Brands tells Vogue UK. The company had previously been looking at locations on nearby Regent Street, but decided the 16,500-sq.-ft. New Bond Street location was better sized. It's the first major US import for the area since Abercrombie & Fitch opened a store a few streets away in 2007, which has since become incredibly popular with the city's younger set. A UK location is especially fitting considering the top Victoria's Secret Angel at the moment is British beauty Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (above), who's said to be a cousin of the Queen of England. Huntington-Whitely has also just been tapped to replace Megan Fox in the next Transformers movie.

The English summer season is in full swing with the year's most important and stylish sporting events on the horizon, maintaining the British traditions of horse racing, tennis, rowing, polo and sailing with elegance and ardor. Lord's Test Cricket has passed, but the Royal Ascot races, the Wimbledon tennis championships, Cartier International Polo, the Henley Royal Regatta and the yacht races at Cowes round out a full season's worth of sporting occasions that are as much fun to watch as to participate in. Herewith The Classicist's guide to the best in class (with a tip of the Panama to the London Telegraph); all you need is a pitcher of Pimm's:

Royal Ascot – June 15-19, Ascot Racecourse, Berkshire

Since it was founded by Queen Anne in 1711, the annual Royal Ascot races have become the highlight of the English social season. Ostensibly a five-day sporting event, it's also evolved into something of an immense fashion show, marked by the arrival of the Royal Family in ceremonial horse-drawn carriages every day. It has become the style for ladies to sport increasingly outrageous hats, and lately the traditional rules about "formal day dress" in the coveted Royal Enclosure have been rather loosely interpreted.

A chic black 1999 Mercedes-Benz SLK230 convertible (above), which was owned by both Kylie Minogue and her sister Dannii is to be sold by Bonhams as part of the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed sale in the UK on July 2, with part of the proceeds to be donated to charity. The celebrated Australian sisters have been the car's only two owners, and it's in fabulous condition having covered just 19,000 miles from new. The pre-sale estimate is a steal at just £8,000 – £12,000. Kylie, recently declared by researchers to be "the most powerful celebrity in Britain", releases her 11th studio album, Aphrodite, in July. Dannii is a judge on hugely successful shows The X Factor and Australia's Got Talent. "We are delighted to have been appointed by the Minogue family to offer the Mercedes-Benz," says James Knight, head of Bonhams Motoring Department. "It has all the right ingredients - good colour, low mileage and a fantastic provenance. Kylie and Dannii have a tremendous and far-reaching fan base and I can see it appealing to many people who want the same experience that they both shared."

In previous columns we've been known to wax nostalgic about the golden age of luxury travel, and the vintage luggage that embodies the glamour and decadence of a bygone era when journeying to a foreign land involved adventure, romance and style. Such exquisitely crafted pieces, like the mysterious bespoke Hermès crocodile suitcases made for Out of Africa author Karen Blixen which we wrote about last week, evoke a time when the journey was as important as the destination and every conceivable creature comfort was taken along for the ride. Not everyone is ready to consign such a stylish mode of sojourning to the past, however. Hence we take pleasure in introducing Norton MacCullough & Locke, a new London firm committed to producing the finest custom-made trunks, jewelry boxes and homeware in the essence of 1920s bespoke British luxury, founded by veterans of Hermès, Claridge's and Patek Philippe.

Norton MacCullough & Locke creates individual, hand-crafted pieces in their workshops in England, with the aim of preserving traditional leatherworking techniques and bespoke craftsmanship. Their beautiful pieces feature details such as gold plated locks and hardware, Alcantara linings, precisely fitted removable trays, and engraved mirrors on the inside lids of dressing cases. Designed and made with the finest materials available, the firm's specialist leather, metal and woodworking artisans employ traditional techniques and hand-finishings, ensuring that each piece is unrivalled in its exclusivity, aesthetics and attention to detail. In other words, the sort of luggage suitable to traveling by private jet.

By designing and creating products that are specific to the individual client's aesthetic sensibilities and lifestyle requirements, each Norton MacCullough & Locke piece is truly unique to its owner. Each bespoke order is developed through a series of personal consultations with the client; from concept and design through to personalization and material selection. The firm is continuously developing its extensive range of precious metals, exotic woods and leathers. While bespoke commissions are limited only by the imagination, some of the items they create include jewelry boxes, trunks, hat boxes, suitcases, humidors, watch cases, travel desks, attaché cases, games sets and drinks cases.

A powder blue 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II (above), owned by Greek industrialist Theodore Cozzika and American silent film star Pearl White, is among the opulent offerings in Bonhams' Rolls-Royce, Bentley Motor Cars & Automobilia sale at Rockingham Castle, in Leicestershire, UK on June 19. Used to ferry the couple between their villa in the South of France and their residence in Cairo, the car's chassis cards states that it was built "for use on Continent and Egypt at very high speeds with fairly heavy luggage". Talk about traveling in style. Estimated at £250,000 – £300,000 (or about $360,000 – $430,000), it recently underwent a complete nut and bolt restoration by marque experts Taylor's of Chichester to concours standards. Also featured in the stunning sale is a 1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Sedanca de Ville that was paraded for the Queen of England at Windsor Castle on both her Silver Jubilee in 1977 and her Golden Jubilee in 2003, estimated at £100,000 – £130,000.

A one-owner 1962 'barn find' Aston Martin DB4 used as a 'test mule' by James Bond special effects designers is going up for auction at Bonhams' Aston Martin car sale at the Aston Martin Works Service in Newport Pagnell, UK on May 22. The DB4 was built for press tycoon Max Aitken (1st Baron Beaverbrook) and was later purchased a special effects designer at Pinewood Studios where many Bond films were made. During filming on Goldfinger, the test car was fitted for the various gadgets – ejector seat, machine guns, etc – that would feature on the silver DB5 driven by Sean Connery as Bond in the film. In 1974 the car was consigned to a garage where it has remained ever since; It's estimated to fetch £40,000–£50,000. Also on offer is a 1976 Aston Martin V8 Coupé used during the filming of the 007 epic The Living Daylights and driven by Timothy Dalton, estimated at £40,000–£60,000.

Just last month we noted that Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed had denied reports that the luxe landmark London department store was for sale. Now however in a stunning reversal Al-Fayed has sold the business to Qatar's royal family for more than £1.5 billion, or about $2.2 billion, and announced his retirement, the London Times reports. Harrods, the largest and one of the most luxurious stores in the world, holds royal warrants from the likes of the Queen, the Queen Mother and the Prince of Wales.

The bid from the Qatar Holding company was accepted because they would "maintain the traditions of Harrods", Ken Costa, chairman of Lazard International, the investment bank advising the family trust on the deal, told the paper. "After 25 years as chairman of Harrods, Mohamed al-Fayed has decided to retire and to spend more time with his children and grandchildren," Costa notes, adding, Fayed "wished to ensure that the legacy and traditions that he has built up in Harrods would be continued". Last year Harrods won a Readers' Choice Luxist award for Best Department Store.

[Thanks, Lana]

At John Lobb, one of Britain's oldest and last remaining bespoke shoemakers, little has changed since the firm was founded in 1849. Preferring to do everything by hand, the storied London firm declines to use machines to make its painstaking production process any easier. Bootmaker to British royalty since the 1860s and fashioner of what is arguably the world's finest men's footwear, Lobb received its first Royal Warrant from the Prince of Wales in 1863. Aside from sovereigns and heads of state, Lobbs have long been the favored footwear of fops including Cole Porter, Cecil Beaton, Hugh Grant and Daniel Day-Lewis. In this video produced by London's Guardian newspaper, Lobb Chairman and Managing Director John Hunter Lobb, great-grandson of the firm's founder, gives a guided tour behind the scenes, unlocking the door to "a lost world of craftsmanship." You'll never want to wear ready-made shoes again.

What do Pablo Picasso, Duke Ellington, Marlene Dietrich, Francis Bacon, Truman Capote, Helmut Newton and Jasper Johns have in common? All are featured in a brilliant new book of portraits by the late, great master of photography Irving Penn, who sought to capture the true persona behind the facade of famous figures. Published by the National Portrait Gallery in London in conjunction with an exhibition running at the museum through June 6, Irving Penn: Portraits features images brought together from major international collections for the exhibit. It includes a selection of superb reproductions from the exhibition's 120 silver and platinum prints, ranging from Penn's portraits for Vogue magazine in the 1940s to some of his last work prior to his death last year.

On June 4–6 Polo in the Park, a three day celebration of international polo, will return to the grounds of London's famed Hurlingham Club. Last Year, the inaugural Polo in the Park played host to 25,000 spectators as polo returned for the first time in 70 years to its historic home at Hurlingham. Model and polo player Jodie Kidd (above) helped found the event, which also includes lavish entertainments such as a Veuve Clicquot Champagne Garden. This year teams from New York, Moscow, Barbados, Geneva, Milan, Durban and Sydney will compete against each other according to new rules adapted especially for the event. The new format of "high-octane polo" aims to "introduce the adrenaline fueled sport of polo to a new city audience, but also of making the sport faster and more exciting for TV and event spectators."

Simon Jordan takes his supercars seriously. He is the director of Cortese, an independent Ferrari and Maserati showroom located in Bath, UK on the Priston Mill Estate, where you can pick up an F430, Testarossa or GranSport as well as classic and racing models. It also houses his vast collection of Ferrari and Maserati memorabilia, including a library of books, pictures and models dating back to 1947. For Jordan, thoroughbred automobiles are a way of life. Hence he has also created Caracalla Bagaglio, a line of Italian leather goods designed to complement the world's greatest cars. The line takes its name from the Terme di Caracalla race circuit in Rome, where Ferrari won its first race in 1947, and its main range is the Commemorative Motorsport Collection featuring leather bags and holdalls dedicated to pivotal moments in racing history.

Skilled artisans hand make each bag in Tuscany from the finest leather in a process of craftsmanship passed down over generations. Each piece relates to the history of famous race car marques, drivers and racing numbers, and are endorsed by racing legends such as Sir Stirling Moss, Niki Lauda and Emerson Fittipaldi. Each piece closely matches the color (interior or exterior) and racing livery of the car it's designed to celebrate. The Moss No. 7 bag (priced at £295) for example, commemorates Sir Stirling Moss's victory at Goodwood in 1961 driving the legendary Ferrari 250 SWB bearing the number 7, Moss' favorite. Finished in dark blue leather to match the original paintwork it features Moss' official signature embossed into the white center panel, and Moss himself owns one of the bags.

April showers bring may flowers but they can also get you rather wet in the process. Classic British clothing brand Burberry has just launched a brand new capsule collection called April Showers under their Burberry Brit label. The collection, for both men and women, includes fitted trench coats, polo shirts and dresses, padded jackets, "stowaway" windbreakers and accessories. The iconic Burberry house check is used in innovative ways on everything from umbrellas to wellington boots, and handbags to iPod cases. Splashes of bold primary colors abound, while trench coats get an extra set of buttons and eye-catching linings. The collection will be available in select Burberry stores and on www.burberry.com starting now. Check out the video to get a feel for April Showers.

The latest design from bespoke cabinetmaker (and nephew of the Queen of England) Viscount David Linley is a line of elegant accessories featuring an inlaid Union Jack motif. Consisting of a humidor, jewelry box, tea caddy, cufflink box, and large and small picture frames, the exquisite and extremely British pieces pieces are finished in walnut with the flag artfully rendered in a marquetry of burr oak, burr walnut and ripple sycamore. Like Linley himself, the Union Jack boasts a royal lineage; the flag originated in 1606 after King James I of England was crowned, uniting the kingdoms of England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland. The humidor, for about $2,000, is lined with Spanish cedar wood and has a built-in humidifier and hydrometer to preserve cigars. The jewelry box, for about $1,800, is lockable and lined in red faux suede with a compartmentalized, removable tray. The tea caddy, for about $1,000, is available in a limited edition of 25 pieces, and comes complete with a supply of Fortnum & Mason Royal Blend loose leaf tea. The cufflink box, for about $650, is lined in beige faux suede. The picture frames come in a large and small size for about $440 and $400.

[via JustLuxe]

In recent months we've written about the resurgence of luxury expeditions to Africa and the New Safari Style. Now newly-minted British design firm Frosdick of London is launching its first line of bespoke, vintage-inspired safari-style boots called the "Out of Africa" collection. Taking design cues from the British Colonial "great white hunter's" classic attire, the boots are made entirely by hand in Northamptonshire, UK, using only the finest leather from Italian tanneries combined with pure cotton 20-ounce canvas woven in Scotland's Dundee. The boots, available for both men and women, are lined with the softest calf leather for comfort and durability and trimmed with elegant, Italian solid brass buckle fastenings. The canvas uppers can also be finished in genuine Burchell's zebra skin and ostrich leather, both ethically sourced in Africa.

In addition the firm is offering a range of made-to-order ladies' bags finished in exotic Kudu and Springbok hides. The authentic skins feature the natural markings that only a life in the wilds of Africa can bestow. One of the longest-horned antelopes, greater Kudu can have impressive spiral horns measuring six feet long. Each bag is lined with brightly colored pure linen and features a useful choice of straps and finest quality Italian brass fittings. The bespoke products will be available starting this summer with prices expected to begin at about $6,000 for boots and $4,000 for bags. Other items can be custom made and are limited only by your imagination. Contact davfro@btinternet.com for more info.