Arnold Zwicky's Blog

(Hunky men in skimpy underwear, but otherwise not alarming. And it will take you to some surprising places.)

Today’s Daily Jocks guy, for Marcuse underwear, with the ad copy (lightly edited):

(#1) Marco Brown, the pool boy with a white thong in his heart

Sporty & sexy, the premium Egoist collection from Marcuse will give everyone around you wild thoughts. Available in 2 colors [white and navy] and 3 styles, jockstrap, [bikini] brief & thong.

The first of the Three Marcos. On to the others…

(On the underwear from the Australian firm, see my 9/8/15 posting “Marxuse”, about Marcuse swimwear and underwear and the Marxist Herbert Marcuse.)

(#2) Marco Red, a lean and hungry man in the Navy

(#3) Marco Blond, a tall blond man in one white brief

The Three Marcos, or as they are known in their native Italian and Spanish (they are all bilingual), respectively I Tre Marchi and Los Tres Marcoses.

Outside of their modeling careers, after dark, they become the fabulous Three Marcusites, originally billed as The Three Marquesas (It. Le Tre Marchese, Sp. Las Tres Marquesas) — before they settled on their signature drag, black gowns with marcasite and silver jewelry.

The gowns. Marcusite Brown, the most traditionally minded of the three, has chosen this wonderful classic ball gown in black:

(#4)

The more daring Marcusite Red has gone for this slinky sleeveless off-the-shoulder, slit-skirt number:

(#5)

And the boyishly playful Marcusite Blonde has opted for an outrageous creation with a mermaid-theme bosom

(#6)

I’m sorry to say that there are as yet no videos, or even photographs, of the Marcusites in action — they’re justly famous for their over-the-top versions of traditional murder ballads and their offshoots, like “Frankie and Johnny”  (“He was my man, but he done me wrong”), the Rodgers and Hart “To Keep My Love Alive”, and the Beatles song “Rocky Raccoon” — since they perform only for small select audiences in private.

Linguistic digression.

It. marchese ‘marquis’ pl. marchesi; marchesa ‘marchioness’ pl. marchese

Sp. marqués ‘marquis’ pl. marqueses; marquesa ‘marchioness’ pl. marquesas

Then on the English, from NOAD:

noun marchioness: [a] the wife or widow of a marquess. [b] a woman holding the rank of marquess in her own right. ORIGIN late 16th century: from medieval Latin marchionissa, feminine of marchio(n-) ‘ruler of a border territory’, from marcha ‘march’ (see march²).

noun march², pl.noun (Marches):  [a] a frontier or border area between two countries or territories, especially between England and Wales or (formerly) England and Scotland: the Welsh Marches. [b] (the Marches) a region of east central Italy, between the Apennines and the Adriatic Sea; capital, Ancona. Italian name [pl.] [Le] Marche. dated

Gemological digression. From Wikipedia:

The mineral marcasite, sometimes called white iron pyrite, is iron sulfide (FeS₂) with orthorhombic crystal structure. It is physically and crystallographically distinct from pyrite, which is iron sulfide with cubic crystal structure.

… In marcasite jewellery, pyrite used as a gemstone is termed “marcasite” – that is, marcasite jewellery is made from pyrite, not from the mineral marcasite. … Marcasite in the scientific sense is not used as a gem due to its brittleness.

On the name, from NOAD:

ORIGIN late Middle English: from medieval Latin marcasita, from Arabic marqašīṯa, from Persian.

More on the jewelry, from Wikipedia:

Marcasite jewelry is jewelry made from pyrite (fool’s gold), not, as the name suggests, from marcasite. Pyrite is similar to marcasite, but more stable and less brittle. It is frequently made by setting small pieces of pyrite into silver. Cheaper costume jewelry is made by glueing pieces of pyrite rather than setting. A similar-looking type of jewelry can be made from small pieces of cut steel.

… Marcasite jewelry has been made since the time of the Ancient Greeks. It was particularly popular in the eighteenth century, the Victorian era and with Art Nouveau jewelry designers.

When Prince Albert died in 1861 Queen Victoria entered a period of mourning, requiring her entire court to wear black and avoid opulent jewelry. Marcasite became popular as an understated alternative for the nobility.

Memory of my teenage years: my mother was fond of marcasite jewelry, so my parents’ costume jewelry shop carried a good bit of it. Such a contrast to the gaudy rhinestones. I admired it as jewelry, but liked it even more for its chemistry.

The jewelry. The Marcusites have chosen marcasite and silver jewelry to suit their gowns. For Marcusite Bown, just a heavy intricate ring:

(#7)

For Marcusite Red, this necklace with matching earrings:

(#8)

And for Marcusite Blonde, an especially bold ring and a bracelet (one worn on each wrist), leaving her remarkable cleavage unencumbered by jewelry,

(#9)

(#10)

But the food. Enough of fashion and music, let’s talk food. The mention of the (Le) Marche region of Italy led me immediately to thoughts of Ada Boni’s Italian Regional Cooking —

(#11)

and its chapter on Umbria and the Marches. (On Boni, see my 10/4/13 posting “Marcella Hazan”, with its section on her.)

The regions within Italy:

(#12)

This map converted into a quick food guide:

(#13)

From Boni’s book, on Umbria and the Marches, a page with a touristic photo of the Marches and some regional food:

(#14)

From the text, a bit about the wines of the region, which I mention here because Verdicchio is an occasional theme on this blog:

(#15)

On chicken Verdicchio at Felicia’s in North Boston (ok, over 50 years ago; don’t look for it now):

on 12/10/11, “Chicken verdicchio”

on 1/8/18, “Another visit to Felicia’s”

Think sautéed chicken breast, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, garlic, capers, lemon juice, and, of course, Verdicchio, on thin pasta, garnished with chopped flat Italian parsley, lemon slices, and some grated parmesan. I am salivating.

This entry was posted on August 27, 2018 at 8:14 pm and is filed under Clothing, Gender and sexuality, Italian, Language and food, Language and geography, Music, Spanish, Underwear. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.