"BACHELOR" AESTHETIC IS FEARLESS SELF-LOVE
+ "TOWEL" REPORT/GUIDE (BEST BACHELOR TOWELS); + THE "LESBIAN BACHELOR"
Dear Snoops,
Empires have been built on the backs of bachelors, or the idolatry/romanticization of the bachelor - Playboy, as an example, which we must mention immediately was very obsessed with furniture for decades, and had a hand in developing a décor style they referred to as “masculine elegance”. (See here.)
We are extremely pleased to report that despite its nomenclature, the “BACHELOR AESTHETIC” is in fact available to all of us. Masculine energy, as it has been confirmed by culture throughout history, is not the property of “men”, most thankfully – and ipso facto, BACHELOR décor is also not the property of men OR bachelors. WE ARE NOT BEHOLDEN TO “MAN”. We shall, in this light, also discuss the SAPPHIC BACHELOR a.k.a. the LESBIAN BACHELOR.
Here, in summary, is the essence of bachelor aesthetic, philosophically:
THE “BACHELOR AESTHETIC” REPRESENTS NOT A WELCOMING, BUT A PROUD SOLITUDE.
THE “BACHELOR AESTHETIC” IS THE RECOGNITION THAT WE ALL KNOW MORE ABOUT DÉCOR THAN WE GIVE OURSELVES CREDIT.
THE “BACHELOR AESTHETIC” IS THE FINE BALANCE OF CONSIDERED DÉCOR AND LIVING WITH IMPUNITY.
DEFINING THE “BACHELOR AESTHETIC” and its appeals
According to a 1996 study, the psychological state of the BACHELOR is: staunch independence and self-reliance; emotional detachment; interpersonal passivity; and idiosyncratic thinking. The décor results are notably barren (emotionally and sometimes literally) and focused on “EPHEMERAL PLEASURE”, with ideally some quirk.
THE APPEAL:
It’s a cold and lonely world; consider what it might be like to embrace this
And, despite the connotations, “BACHELOR” does not necessarily mean sleazy and depraved. We turn, as an example, to a very put-together, visiting-parents-appropriate Parisian pad. We are unaware if this was designed FOR a bachelor, but it embodies certain principles:
Ok, in summary:
A kitchen that fundamentally takes the form of a bar. A bar can handle such a furniture arrangement as this, i.e. any guest would necessarily be positioned as “audience”
A sofa that is NOT intended for any kind of lounging, i.e. armless and rigid. This suggests the décor serves mainly “entertaining”, and that our Occupant is mainly “out” (of the house) - the bachelor thrives on mingling.
Steel is simply a very bachelor material (we shan’t explain) AND in such commanding volume, also provides us with an element of “quirk”
As warm as the tone of this décor might be, it is far easier to imagine it in the throes of some stranger-ladden house party than it is to imagine it with a couple cozying up to rewatch [insert whatever film or television feels both relevant and pathetic to you]. Conclusion: BACHELOR.
FOUNDATIONAL TEXT: “THE POWER LOOK AT HOME: DECORATING FOR MEN” (1980)
This one is by Pr*nce Egon von Fürstenberg, whose ex-wife is far more famous - she is Diane. He wrote this having clearly been kicked out of the house, though they would only divorce in 1983.
Evidence that this book is of lasting quality and intrigue:
von Fürstenberg also wrote “THE POWER LOOK” (1978), a text on personal style. This is available online for under $6. “THE POWER LOOK AT HOME” is also available for sale online, but respectable copies will cost you c. $300-400 (THE MARKET SPEAKS!)
Don’t take our word for it. The book was recently made into Instagr*m fodder by none other than HANYA YANAGIHARA, a.k.a. the editrix of T MAGAZ*NE and, honesty, a likely friend of Diane. See here:
In it, P.E.v.Fü. seeks to exemplify his many bachelor friends as a kind of liberated class, who seemingly had a flare for décor, despite it being more of a “woman’s thing” (paraphrase; and of course, we disagree with the framing). Pretension and sex are both present:
He would like you to know he knows the difference between a fauteuil armchair and a bergère armchair (WHO CARES)
He would like you to understand learning décor as like sex: first encounters involve “a lot of groping and very little action”
Aside from feeling unsurprised by the divorce, to continue on in the book does reveal i) some nice décor (some below) and ii) one core attribute of BACHELORDOM:
→ SHOWMANSHIP
P.E.v.Fü. defines showmanship as “instinct at its best”; and in fact he means this as it relates to THEATRICAL TECHNIQUES. It boils down, in the décor world, to “using boldness to your advantage”. (As a distraction strategy; as creating gravitational pull within a too-vacant room; etc.)
Additionally, it relates heavily to FEARLESS PERSONAL EXPRESSION, and the act of “taking a good idea and being unafraid to run with it”.
Some examples that are quite stereotypically “bachelor”: → FULL MIRRORED CEILING; → UNABASHED LEATHER BED AND PILLOWS (plus an extra interior of our own research, with both)
Among his friends’ various iterations, there is one very common LIGHT SOURCE, which is the f*cking INESCAPABLE “TIZIO” by Richard Sapper (WE ARE QUITE HAPPY NOT TO ESCAPE, IT TO BE FAIR):
Here is an example of a RARE DOUBLE TIZIO in the office of MAX GORDON circa 1983 (via MAX RADFORD):
The TIZIO holds in it great personality: it’s expressive but also kind of scientific. It is favored by Evil Business Men in films, as we discussed here, in those cases often present in the office space of someone with an ulterior motive.
In the bachelor pad context, however, motives are clear – the lamp is simply SEXY.
ASIDE: “BACHELOR TOWEL” REPORT
The unmasked man, believed VÉRONIQUE VIAL, existed only before 10 A.M., and so she photographed them then. And, important to this unmasked man, it would seem, is the towel and/or being in some state of undress.
The TOWEL is both WARDROBE (as KIEFER above) and signature BATHROOM DÉCOR. Crucial to the true BACHELOR TOWEL is, well, they don’t easily show stains yet also appear APPEALING and not SCUMMY. Our selections, which could make an appearance in practically any domestic context:
“A WOMAN’S TOUCH”: THE SAPPHIC BACHELOR
N.B. Our understanding the LESBIAN/SAPPHIC BACHELOR really began with this very good and brainy number in Polyester Zine.
Issue 3 of “DYKE QUARTERLY”, 1976, features a request by Liza Cowan for submissions of examples of Lesbian décor. What she sought was :
"A room whose vibes were intolerable for men and ecstatic for women.
A room whose vibes made straight women come out.”
Both which sound great but, to be honest, A TALL ORDER. (She apparently received nearly no responses.)
The feminist politics of the time also suggested that housework was patriarchal, classist bullsh*t, so she was also likely seeking a mess, a dump, a dive.
Ever-changing feminist/gender politics aside, we ALSO think housework is patriarchal, classist bullsh*t (while simultaneously very much enjoying it), and ergo, we shall make an example of THIS:
The unkempt loft speaks to the opposite of “domesticity” and yet also expresses the very core of it: to make a home from anywhere, even - in this case - a warehouse. To satisfy the former, it retains some inhospitality (i.e. one chair; cold concrete floor); to satisfy the latter, it is an assertion of total independence (i.e. an ability to nest anywhere).
We might also look to SUSAN SONTAG, a bisexual who at the time of this photo (1998-ish) was NOT a bachelor, and yet, again we’ll point to residual bachelor energy here:
We’re sparse, we’re deliberately a bit chilly (emotionally), a man’s presence (in a photograph) is literally masked. If the male-leaning bachelor is surprised at his own abilities in décor; the female-leaning bachelor relishes in their lack of ability.
Yet, NOT ALL SAPPHIC BACHELORS OPT FOR COLD AND SPARSE.
As a final example, “queer-pas-gay” bachelor BELL HOOKS (R.I.P.) at home in New York. She seems to have reinterpreted all of that cr*p, and come up with something totally different – at once extremely warm yet also kind of a proto-”Airbnb”, a strange swirl of comfort-welcoming and artefact-free temporary-ness. If anyone knew she was just passing through this life, it was probably bell:
Ultimately, the “BACHELOR” in all cases is about a home that dares to undo some of what “DOMESTIC” has come to mean. There is an acknowledged lack of dimensionality and time; when so many homes today are designed to fake “having been here for ages”, the BACHELOR PAD serves the desires and pleasures of NOW.
We want to think about this bell hooks place more, though. There is SOMETHING in this red-nothingness. FOR FUTURE ANALYSIS.
Until next time.
Love and good luck,
Oooh I think you might like Carine Roitfeld’s garçonniere in the current French AD. Meanwhile I’m off for a Tizio for my ‘office with bed’ style studio. Laughed out loud while reading, thank you!
Cool to see pics of Susan Sontag, bell hooks and Parker’s pads!!!! I learned something new here today.