Everything
Le Noued Papillon‘s La Belle Dame pocket squares are specimens of Miskatonic magnificence.
The word “Miskatonic” is derived from the fictional Miskatonic University, invented by H.P. Lovecraft, an early 20th Century weird fiction writer. Most well known for his creation, the alien overlord Cthulhu, Lovecraft concocted tales of humanity encountering strange tentacled creatures from the void with appearances so disturbing that they threatened the sanity of all those who were unfortunate enough to glimpse the unthinkable. A pleasant fellow I’m sure, but one whose nihlistic ideas nevertheless resonated with me as a young and ideological susceptible teenage dumbass.
Now admittedly it takes a very unusual sort of person to be attracted to a piece of design like Le Noued Papillon‘s La Belle Dame pocket squares. The undercurrent of defilement suggested by the cephalopod’s appendages coupled with the sirens’s aroused expressions are likely to inspire strange sensations in one’s nether regions or intense aesthetic contemplation. In either case I highly recommend the attention of a psychiatrist. Indeed such is the intensity of its design that Le Noued Papillon recommends that it should be worn “hidden so that its magic is a private pleasure” — and a very private pleasure it is.
Such pleasure can be heightened by appreciating the craftsmanship involved in the piece’s fabrication. The three sirens and the cephalopod are laboriously worked onto the silk using a printed silk process in England which involves 11 layers of dye being screened onto Italian twill silk before it has set. The result is an exquisitely meticulous print responsible for the graceful, sensuous beauty of the sirens’s ethereal forms and the pulsating virility of the octopi’s organs. With edges hand-rolled by English artisans, and being generously sized at 40cmx40cm (which is larger than my room) the Belle Dames are an exceptional example of quality, design and craftsmanship in harmony.
Though its antiquated nouveau-art aesthetic, inspired by the works of Australian artist Norman Lindsay, might make it most obviously suited for a black tie event it is also appropriate (as far as erotic tentacle motifs go) to wear it casually stuffed in the breast pocket of a suit or sports jacket. There’s something devilishly pleasurable about wearing it this way; hiding the obscene in plain sight and receiving compliments from kindly elderly women.
Available in three colours and in very limited quantities, the La Belle Dame pocket squares, are likely to be adored by someone who enjoys their privacy and diligently deletes their internet browsing history. If ownership of only one is enough is to drive me mad, possession of them all will probably inspire me to attempt to raise Cthulhu from his watery house of R’iyeh. You know when something is aligned with your tastes (and the stars) it must be either very right or very wrong.
William wears:
Pocketsquare- Le Noued Papillon, Sydney
Floral Jacquard Tie-vintage thrift
Deconstructed Navy Jacket- M.J. Bale
Spread Collar White Shirt- Herringbone, Sydney
Arabesque Floral Scarf- M.J.Bale
(Photos by: Tanjim Islam)
