preen

Many were motionless, while others perched on rocks preening their feathers.

Maybe it’s happiest tucked into a cast-iron skillet, going golden and jammy while the showier types preen in their baskets.

He was preening for the press, warming to another of his vicious, incoherent jeremiads when his Canadian host suggested he join the others in a bit of work.

That last is a sly point that’s been an enduring comic take of Hitler’s artistic preening.

It might be a bank holiday in the UK, but for the designers, publicists and PAs, it'll be an extraordinarily busy day as they preen and prepare their stars to walk the grand staircase.