The Luxe Chronicles

Ab Fab For Alexis Bittar? Well Why Not Sweetie?!

I love that rather than enlisting a celebrity to front her ad campaign, New York-based accessories designer Alexis Bittar has chosen the beloved Ab Fab characters "Edie" and "Patsy" in all their obnoxious, politically incorrect, drunken fabulousness to do the job. I love the statement it makes about the Alexis Bittar brand even more: Humour. Most brands have too little of it. Kudos to you for taking the risk Ms. Bittar!

Sincerely,

The Luxe Chronicles

Top Ten Reasons Why Madonna Remains The Undisputed Queen Of Pop!

If the untimely demise of Michael Jackson cemented his title as the King of Pop, then Madonna's Super Bowl extravaganza this past weekend cemented her title as the Queen of Pop. At 53, and in just under 13 minutes, she managed to wipe away any doubts as to her ability to reign supreme over the fickle, sexist and ageist industry that is pop music. Here are the top ten reasons why she deserves our respect.

Fashion: Lessons From The Master.

As a consumer, I'm frankly tired of the hype surrounding young designers. No sooner is the paint dry on their studio walls that they're being proclaimed industry darlings and inking deals with Target. Sometimes, it's hard to escape the impression that a number of them are more interested in the money than the craft. Others are being pushed to walk before they can crawl by an industry that has become increasingly brutal and relentless.

Well Said Indeed Olympia Le Tan!

Paris-based accessories designer Olympia Le Tan has been designing whimsical handbags in the shape of classic novels, milk cartons and other unusual shapes favored by discerning Parisians for years. Hand beaded by Ms. Le Tan herself, a single bag can require up to thirty hours of meticulous stitching and fetch upwards of £1000 GBP. The outspoken Ms. Le Tan was recently asked about her bags' hefty pricetags to which she rightly retorted:

Luxury: The Haute Couture Family Has Lost A Master.

Even those with nothing more than a passing interest in the world of haute couture will most likely be familiar with the House of Lesage so inextricably interwoven is the work of the legendary embroiderer with those of the great couture masters. And with good reason. The House of Lesage has been providing exquisite embroideries for couture creations since the birth of haute couture itself starting with Charles Frederick Worth. It is with great sorrow therefore that the world of fashion learned of the death of François Lesage at age 82 late last week.

Fashion: Tom Ford And The Perils Of Hero Worship.

"In nature, nothing is gained, nothing is lost, everything changes." So uttered 18th century chemist Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier, father of modern chemistry. Of course, de Lavoisier was talking about matter but he might as well have been talking about fashion where everything old will be new again if you just wait long enough. The quote came to mind as I sifted through the images of Tom Ford's Spring 2012 collection unveiled late last week on Vogue.com.

Giving New Meaning To The Expression "Accessory to a Crime".

No one could ever credibly pretend that stiletto heels are innocent (isn't that precisely why we love them?). But, the use by Colombian druglords of faux Manolo Blahnik shoes to smuggle drugs into Europe, introduces a new level of naughtiness to this shoe style most of us had never contemplated. It also gives new meaning to the term "accessory to a crime".

Sincerely,

The Luxe Chronicles

Au Revoir Loulou ...

I was re-reading passages from Alicia Drake's The Beautiful Fall this weekend after I learned of the passing of Loulou de la Falaise. The dynamic that united Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Bergé, Betty Catroux and de la Falaise was a heddy mix of sex, drugs, money and fashion. They were young, they were beautiful and they were free at a time when France was just beginning to emerge from a deeply traditional and patriarchal period. Together, they not only changed the face of fashion but redefined cool. Even today, decades later, their influence is still being felt. Au revoir Loulou et merci.

Sincerely,

The Luxe Chronicles

Social Media Purchases: What Price Convenience?

Few things in life are free and nowhere is this more true than on the Internet. Search engines, social media platforms and countless "free" sites all exact a form of payment from end users although most end users remain alarmingly unaware of just what price they're paying. Take for instance the "convenience" of making purchases via Facebook.

On Politics & Fashion: With "Friends" Like Mary Portas ...

Luckily for Europe, Winston Churchill did not have to compete on appearance.

Politics has always been and always will be dog-eat-dog and so it's assumed that anyone who willingly enters the political arena is either graced with a thick skin from the start, or necessarily develops one along the way. Still, the offensive comments made recently by Mary "Queen of Frocks" Portas about the physical appearance of British female MPs hit a nerve with me. In an interview published in "Heat" magazine, Portas referred to the women of David Cameron's cabinet as "an ugly bunch".