#harry selfridge

[farewell-to-lorien]

remember that the full quote from Harry Selfridge is ‘the customer is always right, in matters of taste,’ which means that if they wanna buy an ugly hat, let them—they're still buying it. like a lot of sayings, it's been cut in half to cater to the absolute worst kind of people.

Nate Ming, Tweet dated February 8, 2022

[toughtalkers]

1931: The Queen of Time is located above the main entrance of Selfridges department store on Oxford Street in London. This iconic sculpture is the work of Gilbert Bayes.

Selfridges is a renowned high-end department store chain founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge in 1909 featuring revolutionary story-driven window displays. 

The 11-foot statue is made of bronze with stunning blue enamel (faience) detailing on her robes. She stands on the prow of a "Ship of Commerce," holding a golden globe with a small figure of Victory in one hand and a leafed branch in the other.

On the clock the twin dials above her are part of what is officially known as the Selfridges Clock. It features five bells that ring Westminster Quarters, with the hour bell weighing 3 tons.

Major silent film stars and international celebrities frequented Selfridges during the 1920s including Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin and Mabel Normand. Later other visitors included Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters, Stevie Wonder and Kim Kardashian.

[emperornorton47]

[hitchell-mope]

Wow. Papa wolf much?

[lookforastar]

Mr. Selfridge - in which everyone is excited Mae’s back

[english-ingenue]

Harry Gambles - Mr Selfridge: Music from the Television Series

(a.k.a. the Bond Music from the end of S3 lol)

[funkymbtifiction]

Mr. Selfridge: Harry Selfridge [ENFJ]

OFFICIAL TYPING by Charity / the Mod

Functional Order: Fe-Ni-Se-Ti

Judging Functional Axis:

Extroverted Feeling (Fe) / Introverted Thinking (Ti)

Harry’s entire business approach toward the store revolves around making his employees and customers feel as if they are part of “his family.” He chooses social appropriateness over ruthless business ventures. He constantly seeks ways to participate, and ingratiate himself into higher society, while making no apologies for who he is. Harry is very good at finding ways to encourage, uplift, and inspire his employees; one perfect example of his strong, efficient, utterly honed Fe is when he senses a lower employee is depressed over his impending birthday and worries he may not have a “purpose” at the store anymore. Harry presents him with a problem that only he can handle, thus he manipulates the situation in a positive way, to get the same result, without embarrassing the man’s mental state or ego by bringing up his insecurities (he gives him purpose, without letting him know he’s aware of his negative mood). His son says he wishes he had his father’s ability to “always know the right thing to say.” Harry can sometimes be too accommodating, and inclined to act on his emotions – his numerous affairs have hurt his wife deeply. Harry has rationality for some of his beliefs and ideas, but when it comes right down to it, he likes to be able to trust his department heads to problem-solve. He tends to write off the rational element of his work through Fe-speeches (“I know if you put your heads together, you can come up with something wonderful!”) rather than problem-solve himself. His lack of a tendency to analyze people and their motives means he’s sometimes blindsided by what they truly want from him (inferior Ti).

Perceiving Functional Axis:

Introverted Intuition (Ni) / Extroverted Sensing (Se)

His vision for the store drove him to make a success of it, and he kept working toward that single goal during his younger, less prosperous years in America. Harry has an instinctive knack for reading other people, and anticipating shifts in the business world. He prides himself on having his department store be ahead of the crowd, and a trend-setter, known for bringing in the next big thing. Harry likes to think forward, but he’s also not good at brainstorming for his own store… he tends to want others to come up with good ideas, and trusts them to do so in their departments, since his focus is so singular (the STORE IS his vision!). He keeps mistresses and cannot resist a pretty face; he has expensive taste in cars, furniture, and merchandise. Harry enjoys the sensory elements of his store, and tries to make everything as attractive to his customers as possible. He is not afraid to leap on opportunities as they arise and has a good nose for business. Harry takes many risks; some pay off and others don’t. His desire for inclusion and to participate in the war effort means he leaves without warning, placing his store in danger (and his lack of forward thinking as he looped led to a scandal that almost took him down).

Hogwarts House: Slytherin

House Traits: cunning, resourcefulness, and ambition.

When others snub him for his American roots, Harry turns around and shows them wrong through smart business sense, risk taking, and a solid work ethic. He is able to motivate others to do their best, maintaining a sense of strength and power through his sharp business decisions, but he is in it to make a profit, he’s not above using occasional underhanded tactics to get his way, and he’s incredibly ambitious – wanting to make as much money and amass as much power and influence as he can, to do good.

Enneagram: 3w2 so/sx

Tritype: 371 The Systems Builder [3w2 7w6 1w2]

Harry let nothing stand in his way of success; he’s all about putting on a bold, innovative new edge, bringing people to his store to experience the finest luxuries and pleasures money can buy. He has a strong work ethic, and expects similar long hours and dedication from his employees, rewarding them with bonuses and promotions when they do their job well. Harry wants acceptance in certain social circles, and strives to get it, not allowing his American roots to stand in his way. He does not always self-analyze, nor realize that his persona does not reflect his true self at times. His 2 wing makes him generous, want to help others, and crave love in addition to admiration and success. He has a group mentality, working toward the betterment of all his employees and not just his family name.

[batmaniskawaii]

Lady & Lord Loxley backstory

They obviously met during a show in which Mae was singing. She must have been more or less 20 and Lord Loxley about 35-40. Lord Loxley felt under her spell “from the first time he set his eyes on her” (as he said in season 2) and so waited outside the stage door hoping to meet her.

I think they shared a great complicity, although Mae was only interested in his money, power and title. Indeed, they have a lot in common : they are very smart, ambitious and sassy. “It’s this mutual understanding between two predators that sort of know how the world works” said Aidan Mcardle.

I think they started seeing each other very quickly. I can only imagine that they had a lot of (good) sex. They were like a pair of spiders that have come together and it’s all about the game and who’s on top. They really had a lot of fun.

It’s obvious that Lord Loxley felt hard, hopelessly and deeply in love with her and that he took a very long time to accept it. (I even think he’s never really dare to fully admit to himself his only and biggest weakness). He obviously never told her and held it in behind his coldness.

Mae sure was seeing other men and I guess her lover realized it and couldn’t bear it : he of course wanted to be the one and only. Therefore, he proposed.

I think their first years of marriage were good : Mae was enjoying her new life, whereas her husband was falling even more in love with her day by day and, I’m pretty sure, really thought he could capture her heart.

It’s obvious things changed once she realized things were not what she thought. She realized she had less freedom due to Lord Loxley controling nature. He was possessive, over-protective and very jealous. He was controling every aspect of her, he owned her. She felt trapped and miserable and was starved of freedom. In this game of control and manipulation, she never thought she would lose. The only way she found to feel a bit freer was to find lovers.

When Lord Loxley realized she was cheating on him, he was sure horribly hurt, and hid his sadness behind anger. He became colder and colder, even more possessive, … exactly the way we saw him in season 2. And so she returned his behavior by being herself cold and by going on cheating on her, breaking her husband’s heart without even knowing it. The more she hurt him, the more he became horrible living.

I think that one day, something terrible occured. I don’t know what, but something that made him understand how miserable Mae was and that she would never love him. I say “horrible” because Lord Loxley decided after that, that he would leave the woman he was in love with alone and go to the country. I mean, maybe she tried to kill herself and he got scared to lose her so he did everything for her to feel better ?

What really burns my toast is that they never had children, in a time heirs were really important. I suspect they never managed to conceive. Miscarriages probably were most likely one of the main cause of the tension between them.