Kennel clubbiness
The Leash, one of several ultra-elite clubs that still exist in Midtown Manhattan, and so private it doesn’t have a website, was founded in the 1920s “to promote interest in the thoroughbred dog and to study and apply principles of scientific breeding.” Much like an English hunting resort for trans-Atlantic wealth, the old Goodwood Estate, which still caters to its clique of “like minded people”—and is home to a Ralph Lauren clothing boutique for humans and hounds, the “first European club shop”—the Leash was and remains a haven for society’s uppermost crust of like-minded gentlemen (and, in time, ladies).
Goodwood Estate,* traditional home to the Dukes of Richmond converted into a luxury resort for climbers using dogs to mark their social standing, features "The Kennels" which now house humans.
Ralph Lauren's "first European club shop."
Cinderella dreams?
* Goodwood celebrates hunting hounds and lap dogs alike. A recent Pekingese fête honored the famous "Goodwood Line" of imperial court dogs said to have originated on the premises. New evidence shows the line is a hoax and its founders never even mated.