The Luxe Chronicles

Luxury Travel: You Call Yourself a Five Star Hotel?!

"You call yourself a 5-star?!"

I was recently in Paris on business and stayed at the Renaissance Paris Vendome Hotel on rue du Mont Thabor. It is a luxury boutique hotel that is part of the Marriott Group. Like so many boutique hotels, the decor is sleek, the location is great and it has all kinds of small details that give it character and charm such as a cosy library filled with beautiful art and fashion books and a lovely spa. Alas, I will not be staying there again. Ever.

Bye, Bye Dubai? But What About Isla Moda??

Dubai to me has always seemed a little bit like the Paris Hilton of the Middle East - beneath the glittery make-up and sexy packaging, there is precious little to justify the hype. So it's not a complete surprise to learn that it is on the verge of being swept away like a sand castle in high tide as a result of its massive debt load (rumors to that effect have been circulating in financial circles for at least a year now). Understandably, Western markets are not reacting very well.

Travel: A Nous Deux Paris

I've been invited to participate in a competition organized by the Paris/Ile-de-France Regional Tourism Board. The task is to describe my version of an ideal weekend in my beloved Paris. As many of my regular readers know, I once had the privilege of calling Paris my home. What you may not know however is that my connection to the city is deeply personal because it happens to be where my husband and I began our married life together. Paris for me therefore remains a city of anticipation, new beginnings and countless pleasures. If I were to describe a perfect weekend en amoureux, it would go something like this:

L'Oreal and the Perils of Celebrity Product Endorsements: Was She Really Worth It?

Oops! One would think that before French cosmetics giant l'Oreal signed Girls Aloud singer and "X" Factor judge Cheryl Cole to front their Elvive Full Restore shampoo and conditioner range, they would have considered the fact that her luscious locks may in fact be attributable to artificial hair extensions and therefore impervious to the effects of the company's products. As a result, they have many U.K. consumers crying foul and rightfully so.

Knit One, Pearl Two: Wool & the Gang Make Knitting Cool Again

My arts and crafts skills are virtually non-existent. At the risk of sounding clichéd, I cannot sew a button on properly let alone knit anything remotely fit to be worn. This is why when the very nice people at Net-A-Porter sent me a lovely Wool and the Gang knitting kit to try out recently, it prompted my husband to suggest that the online fashion emporium was obviously experiencing serious issues with their database ("You should call them to let them know you received another blogger's package by mistake. Ha ha!"). The gauntlet lay at my feet. I had no choice but to pick up my knitting needles and show him.

On Politics & Fashion: Here We Go Again!

I do not like Sarah Palin. Her views, her values, her policies are pure anathema to me and her candidacy on the GOP ticket during the last U.S. presidential election was positively contemptible. The one thing I dislike even more than Sarah Palin however is having to defend her. In fact, I absolutely loath it. Unfortunately, the kerfuffle over her Newsweek cover and a recent New York Times interview with the stylist responsible for her wardrobe upgrade during the election campaign have sucked me in again malgré moi.

Luxury: A Little Number-Crunching Never Hurts

A little number-crunching never hurts, especially in lean economic times. Forbes recently published its ranking of the 100 biggest stars in Hollywood in terms of the money they actually generated for the movies in which they starred (as opposed to mere box office results). The exercise yielded some rather surprising results confirming that big name celebrities (Tom Cruise and Leonardo di Caprio among them) do not necessarily ensure the financial success of a studio's movie.

Words of Wisdom Courtesy of Alber Elbaz.

“Success is like a bottle of perfume. Smell it. Don’t sniff it and don’t drink it.” -Alber Elbaz. We would all do well to take this message to heart.

Sincerely,

The Luxe Chronicles

Book Review: "David Hicks: A Life of Design" by Ashley Hicks

So few design books are worth reading attentively (if at all). We purchase them primarily for the images of beautiful interiors that inspire us to dream. Every so often however, someone comes along and breaks that rule. I'm happy to say that Ashley Hicks, son of David Hicks and designer in his own right, has done precisely that. David Hicks: A Life of Design (Rizzoli, 2009) is a poignant and loving tribute to his late father's life-long commitment to elegant design and pursuit of beauty.

Fashion: A Breath of Fresh Air

There are so very few instances where truth is spoken in fashion that when a brave soul steps forward and does so, we need to sit up and take notice. The fashion industry may be hurting but to attribute all its current woes to the financial crisis and ensuing recession would be hypocritical. Much of the pain is the result of self-inflicted wounds. I encourage you to read a brief account of a recent talk by the Washington Post’s fashion writer Robin Givhan at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. Thank you Ms. Givhan for saying out loud and publicly that which has been painfully obvious to many followers of fashion for years.

Sincerely,

The Luxe Chronicles