• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • We would like to welcome House of Huntington as an official Affiliate Vendor. Shop past season Drake's, Nigel Cabourn, Private White V.C. and other menswear luxury brands at exceptional prices below retail. Please visit the Houise of Huntington thread and welcome them to the forum.

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

The Other Ed Morel – Everyone’s Favorite Playboy

Full Canvas

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2006
Messages
1,031
Reaction score
3
Have you ever wondered what Style Forum's own Ed Morel does with the profits from his legendary bargain priced high-end merchandise sold to fortunate Style Forum members? Well, despite his claims to use the profits for the acquisition of Ferragamo Tramezza shoes, the papparazzi image below shows otherwise.

Thanks to his keen ability to turn a consistently healthy profit while keeping Style Forum buyers not only deliriously happy and clamoring for more, Mr. Morel has been able to acquire the Ferrari Testarossa 500 TRC once driven his very own forum avatar at Sebring in 1958. It is said that Mr. Morel only uses the car outside of New York City when climatic conditions are safe on certain spring and autumn days.

Rubirosas500TRC.jpg


With apologies to Style Forum's Mr. Morel and his avatar (below left), I present to you the other Ed Morel . . . everyone's favorite playboy. Hopefully, this friendly essay will engender lighthearted and good-natured remarks absent the contentious nature of of some recent Style Forum character threads. Although I did not use any of their erroneous information, some of the text is lifted from the dreaded Wikipedia for the sake of expediency.

RubirosaDiptych001.jpg


The Other Ed Morel was born in the Dominican Republic in 1909 and died in Paris, France in 1965. Although he was an aspiring Fangio and raced sports cars world-wide, a decent polo player, quite a good boxer, and sometimes Dominican diplomat, his real fame was established through public comparisons to Cassanova, and Don Juan. His list of female conquests was composed of the world's wealthiest women. He was a jet setter before jets were in regular use.

He was born humbly into very middle-class circumstances. His father was a general in the army of the Dominican Republic. He grew up in Paris, France, after his father was appointed the chargÃ
00a9.png
d'affaires at the Dominican consulate in 1920. He returned to the Dominican Republic at 17 to study law but did not complete his schooling. He then began to promote boxing matches before enlisting in the military.

Essentially, the other Morel was a gigolo of the highest order. He first married Flor de Oro Trujillo, daughter of Dominican dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina. Trujillo twice put assisination orders out on the other Morel. Each time, the other Morel charmed his was back into Trujillo's good graces and the orders were rescinded. The other Morel and Flor were sent to Berlin on a diplomatic post . Soon, Trujillo granted his daughter a divorce when it became obvious that the other Morel had been unfaithful. Now unable to return to the Dominican Republic, the other Morel supported himself by selling Dominican visas to Jews seeking to flee Europe. The other Morel soon got back into his former father-in-law's good graces, and continued to receive government posts until Trujillo's assassination.

He socialized with Egypt's last king, Farouk. He was pals with Frank Sinatra, Stewart Garnger, Teddy Kennedy, David Niven, and Oleg Cassini. While he was the Dominican ambassador to England, he ran around with King George VI (Bertie). He was Dominican ambassador to Belgium, Holland, Cuba, Italy, and to France during World War II. The Germans imprisoned him with other Allied diplomats. Nevertheless, he received preferential treatment from the Hitler regime because Herr und Mrs. Goebbels lusted after his wife Darrieux. He was accidentally shot by the French resistance and survived. While he was Dominican ambassador to Argentina, he hobnobbed with Nazi sympathizers Juan and Evita Peron.

His suave manner and rugged good looks came with a prodigious male appendage and sexual prowess, both subjects of much gossip. Truman Capote described his male organ as "an 11-inch cafe au lait sinker as thick as a man's wrist". To this day, large pepper grinders are commonly referred to as "morels". Ironically, he was sterile due to childhood mumps! Another contemporary playboy, Prince Ali Khan, shared his secrets for sexual endurance with the other Morel shortly before Prince Khan died from a nasty accident in his Lancia sports car. The other Morel used to say that if he ever died in a car crash, he wished it would not be in a Lancia like Prince Ali Khan, but in a Ferrari.

He was linked romantically to Jayne Mansfield, Tina Onassis, Joan Crasford, Dolores Del Rio, Ava Gardner, Marilyn Monroe, Veronica Lake, Kim Novak, and Eva Peron. He dallied with his ex-wife Flor during his marriage to Doris Duke, and with Zsa Zsa Gabor during his marriage to Barbara Hutton. He was named a co-respondent in at least two divorces, the husbands charging adultery.

He married Danielle Darrieux on 18 September 1942. Duke (whom he married on 1 September 1947), and Hutton (whom he divorced just 53 days after their 30 December 1953 wedding) made him wealthy. Duke gave him $500,000, a stable of polo ponies, several sports cars, a converted B-25 bomber, and a 17th Century house in Paris in the divorce settlement. Hutton bought him a coffee plantation in the Dominican Republic, another B-25, and paid him a reported $3.5 million in their settlement. His last marriage was at age 47 in 1956 to then-19-year-old French actress Odile Rodin.

He was still married to Odile when he got the aforementioned wish. He was on the way home from an all-night party to celebrate a polo match victory. He took a short-cut through the Bois du Boulogne. In the misty light of early morning on the park road, he hit a parked car and and caromed into a tree. He died in a Ferrari 250, not a Lancia.

Rubirosa-PlayboysSadEnding.jpg


The Other Ed Morel is, of course, Porfirio Rubirosa, diplomat, sometimes racing driver, bon vivant, and world-class stud. He was one of the early types to be famous for simply being well known. He showed up with this Ferrari Mondial (0438MD) at Goleta airport near Santa Barbara over Labor Day weekend in 1954. He had Zsa Zsa Gabor ("I'm a wonderful housekeeper; I've kept the house after every marriage.") in tow and created quite a sensation everywhere except on the racetrack. Below is an image of Porfirio behind the wheel of the Mondial at Goleta. It was acquired from the Lynch Archive. The other image of Zsa Zsa and Porfirio was taken at the Biltmore Hotel in Santa Barbara.

Rubirosa-GoletaZsaZsa.jpg


Some members already know that I have a fairly large archival collection of motorsports photographs. There are more than 300,000 images in total and only about 70,000 are scanned at this time. Approximately 11,000 of the images were taken by me. The remainder were acquired one at a time or as entire album collections from true professional photographers. At best, I am a dilettante with the camera. The scanning labor of love continues when time allows. I made my first racing photos at Laguna Seca in May of 1965.

__________________________
 

LabelKing

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
May 24, 2002
Messages
25,421
Reaction score
268
In a vintage Vanity Fair, a reader offered one of those "letters to the editor" in regarding an article on Rubirosa--and which extended to his phallic girth. Apparently, this reader wanted to clarify that Rubirosa's legendary endowment was rather average for a Dominican man, and there are larger ones to be had. However, the French must make do with their average sized mills.

Barbara Hutton is an interesting item. She married Raymond Doan and bought him a Laotian Royal Title, whereupon receiving the rather modest looking Royal Decoration from the Laotian court, she subsequently had it restruck in gold.
 

Lucky Strike

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2006
Messages
3,408
Reaction score
31
Originally Posted by Full Canvas
Some members already know that I have a fairly large archival collection of motorsports photographs. There are more than 300,000 images in total and only about 70,000 are scanned at this time. Approximately 11,000 of the images were taken by me. The remainder were acquired one at a time or as entire album collections from true professional photographers. At best, I am a dilettante with the camera. The scanning labor of love continues when time allows. I made my first racing photos at Laguna Seca in May of 1965.
This demands a classic motorsports Appreciation thread! Pleasepleaseplease
smile.gif
 

skalogre

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2006
Messages
6,348
Reaction score
157
Humble request: Spa-Francochamps & Monaco photographs - preferably mid-late 1960's F1?
smile.gif


P.s. I agree with Lucky Strike!
 

j

(stands for Jerk)
Admin
Spamminator Moderator
Joined
Feb 17, 2002
Messages
14,663
Reaction score
105
Originally Posted by Lucky Strike
This demands a classic motorsports Appreciation thread! Pleasepleaseplease
smile.gif

+507!
 

Full Canvas

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2006
Messages
1,031
Reaction score
3
Originally Posted by Lucky Strike
This demands a classic motorsports Appreciation thread! Pleasepleaseplease
smile.gif


We recently acquired another lender and I simply don’t have the time to make any regular contributions. So, from time to time, I shall assemble some interesting images and begin the Historic Motorsport Thread. Much of my summer will involve scanning more and more images while we are in Cargese.


Originally Posted by skalogre
Humble request: Spa-Francochamps & Monaco photographs - preferably mid-late 1960's F1?

smile.gif

P.s. I agree with Lucky Strike!



Here are some images from the late 1960s. I doubt these images are commonly available.

Spa – 1967 Colin Chapman barking an order as Jim Clark sits in the Lotus 33 with the 2.0 litre Climax V8. That is the famous Eau Rouge turn in the distance.
Watkins Glen – 1969 An interesting portrait of Lotus teammates Jochen Rindt and Graham Hill in the pits.

Diptych-Spa67Glen69.jpg


Monaco – 1967 Ferrari was near financial ruin. Il Commendatore had nixed the sale to Ford; the Agnelli family was distant and quiet. So, Mauro Foghieri had to push Lorenzo Bandini's 312 because the mechanics were on a Cinzano break! The Owen Racing Organization's BRM transporter is just off to the left in the image.
Monaco – 1967 Pit Lane in front of the grandstands. The Cooper T81 cars are center with Mike Spence’s H16-engined BRM P83 is to the right.

Diptych-Monaco67FogBan312CooperBRM.jpg


Monaco – 1967 The Honda V12 in the back of the RA300.
Monaco – 1967 Derek Bell in the supporting Formula 3 race. He’s driving the Brabham BT21 with a four cylinder Cosworth.

Diptych-Monaco67-RA300BellBT21.jpg


Wigram – 1968 In the off season, Formula 1 drivers still needed to earn money because they were not so well paid yet. So, it was off to Australia and New Zealand for the Tasman series. The cars were built to a different formula. Here, the 2.5 litre cars of Chris Amon (Ferrari Dino 166 F2 V6 stroked) and Jim Clark (Lotus 49 Cosworth V8 destroked) are going at it in Australia.

Australia-1968WigramAmonClark.jpg


Originally Posted by Lucky Strike
This demands a classic motorsports Appreciation thread! Pleasepleaseplease
smile.gif

Originally Posted by j
+507!

Did you know that Elvis Presley drove a 1957 BMW 507? Here’s a nice example of someone else’s 507 at Lake Como in 2004.

Italy-2004ComoVdE57BMW507.jpg
 

skalogre

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2006
Messages
6,348
Reaction score
157
Damn, Full Canvas, those are great snaps
thumbs-up.gif
Thank you!!! *Runs off to load GPL* P.s. never seen a BMW 507 before - looks delicately pretty, almost enough to be mistaken for an Alfa
smile.gif
 

texas_jack

Distinguished Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2006
Messages
9,507
Reaction score
397
Originally Posted by edmorel
FC, thanks for the wonderful post on one of my "role models" (said tongue in cheek lest anyone think I'm so shallow)

LK, I am Dominican and I can attest to what you say in your post
smile.gif


icon_gu_b_slayer[1].gif
 

Joffrey

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Jun 18, 2006
Messages
12,309
Reaction score
1,555
Full Canvas - great photos. would be greater if you snuck in a foto or two of Nina Rindt
devil.gif
 

chorse123

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Nov 5, 2004
Messages
10,427
Reaction score
80
Originally Posted by LabelKing
In a vintage Vanity Fair, a reader offered one of those "letters to the editor" in regarding an article on Rubirosa--and which extended to his phallic girth.

This is discussed, of all odd places, in todays New York Times Book Review in discussion of an autobiography by Ron Jeremy.
 

Full Canvas

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2006
Messages
1,031
Reaction score
3
Originally Posted by Jodum5
Full Canvas - great photos. would be greater if you snuck in a foto or two of Nina Rindt
devil.gif


Rindt was somewhat of a playboy himself when he first arrived on the scene. He was towing Formula 3 Brabham behind his Jaguar XKE. He was extremely close friends with Jackie Stewart. In fact, Stewart always said that racing was just not the same after Jochen died in a crash while practicing for the Italian GP at Monza in 1970.

Below is an image of Colin Chapman, Jochen Rindt, and Jochen's lovely wife, Nina, from the the podium at Clermont Ferrand (France) in 1970. Rindt won the race in the Gold Leaf Lotus 72C.

France-1970ClerFerrandChapJochNina.jpg


____________________________
 

Joffrey

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Jun 18, 2006
Messages
12,309
Reaction score
1,555
I've heard stories that Rindt had confided in Ecclestone (his manager at the time) that he was retiring after the 70 season. A big shame.
 

RJman

Posse Member
Dubiously Honored
Spamminator Moderator
Joined
Dec 10, 2004
Messages
19,159
Reaction score
2,086
Ummm... how did Capote have any knowledge of Rubi's... pepper mill?
 

Full Canvas

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2006
Messages
1,031
Reaction score
3
Originally Posted by RJman
Ummm... how did Capote have any knowledge of Rubi's... pepper mill?

Investigative journalism at its "best"? Whose wrist anyway?

________________
 

Featured Sponsor

How important is full vs half canvas to you for heavier sport jackets?

  • Definitely full canvas only

    Votes: 55 36.2%
  • Half canvas is fine

    Votes: 59 38.8%
  • Really don't care

    Votes: 17 11.2%
  • Depends on fabric

    Votes: 26 17.1%
  • Depends on price

    Votes: 26 17.1%

Forum statistics

Threads
505,158
Messages
10,578,885
Members
223,881
Latest member
Abhidshek yadav
Top