Hello my friends,
Just this once, I lent my pen this week to Jom, our dandy, recently arrived at Victoire — if you follow my adventures, he is the one who got the famous multi-socket… — Have a good read!
I AM A NEW MAN, by Jom Roniger.
I am surprised that it is still there, a distinguishing feature of respect for others. Saint-Simon without whom Proust wouldn’t be, Madame de La Fayette, jewel of Lyon silk factories, Chateaubriand on his rock facing Saint-Malo winds, flavours of days gone and of ones to come.
Until the age of five or six, I wore one all the time. I felt different or defenceless without it. In my mismatched collection, two had been worn by my father. I had a dozen: blue ones, red ones, one yellow and one green, a gift from my grandmother. The elastic model was quick to put on. “It’s quite handy!”, I thought.
Away from this column and these memories, boors and villains, move along!
In my teenage years, I tried on the knotted scarf which finally became a habit. It was my end of 19th century artist style, like Baudelaire, Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, Verlaine and Rimbaud, blaming my feminine as well as my masculine side. I was both the duchess of La Vallière in Versailles, the mistress of king Louis XIV who is still visible on his horse at the centre of the place des Victoires, and Orson Welles in Hollywood!
Time passed. Very thin or extra-large, why start only today to wear one? For years, I thought it destabilised the harmony between the torso and legs. What’s happening to me all of a sudden? What took place in my head these last ten days to bring such a change in my habits?
I wasn’t wearing any and now I love them. This one is made of wool. I never experienced all these sensations. It keeps me warm this winter. It feels good. It is amazing. It’s Guenola, who’s in charge of the Palais-Royal Victoire shop for men who dared. She took it out of a drawer and knotted it around my neck.
I am a new man today, but with what? With this tie! An unsuitable tie can ruin a gentleman’s reputation, yet the tie is the absolute originality in a man’s wardrobe and the final touch.
That’s said! Boors and villains, move along!
Have a nice weekend,
Jom
