calling attention to style

CALLING ATTENTION TO STYLE



Luxury is being defined in new ways and that definition evolves constantly with ever-shifting demographics, socio-economics and the geopolitical climate. The definition of luxury is not only objective, but also subjective depending on the attitude of the buyer.
Statement accessories grab the limelight this season. Outsized or detail-heavy bags, bold sunglasses and bug-eyed, wide belts cinch the waist while shoes play to colourful, quirky extremes.

In terms of luxury goods, India is a booming market today…
A Versace watch, a Chanel bag, Cartier sunglasses…. The essential accoutrements to living lavishly…

In the early 1990’s, Bvlgari gave to the fashion market Bvlgari Perfume and later diversified to silk scarves, leather bags and eyeware and now to watches and fine jewellery.
It was in the early 9o’s, when watches and jewellery were given their much earned respect by the Italian fashion industry as accessories, that Gianni Versace launched his first watch collection.


WATCHES
Luxury watches are masterpieces of traditional craftsmanship. A high-end watch can have 800 or more components — many of them handmade — and hand-assembled by trained watchmakers. A standard quartz watch, in comparison, is most likely machine-made and may have only 20 components inside.
How much should you expect to pay? Depends on the watch, of course. The luxury market bottoms out at around $1,000, but many watches easily cost 30 times that. Most luxury watchmakers are Swiss, but there are a handful from other countries, including Bulgari (Italy) and Cartier (France). Considering the brand will give you a sense of history and specialty. Breitling, for example, is favored by pilots for its aeronautic designs.
Luxury watches are typically mechanical or self-wound. Luxury watches come with all sorts of bells and whistles geared to appeal to gadget geeks and sporting types. Corum's Admirals' Cup Tide 44 ($26,000) measures the force of the tide and currents, based on the current moon phase. Jaeger's Reverso line (Reverso Classique, $4,500), which allows the watch face to be flipped, was originally engineered for protection during polo matches. Sportsmen may enjoy but know they are also hefty — both in terms of price and added bulk to the watch.
Rolex's Oyster Perpetual Day/Date in white gold will set you back about $22,950. But if you want a dial with diamonds, expect to pay $25,200.
Versace has introduced a line of the 25 white and 25 pink ceramic watches with mother- of- pearl and diamonds adornments. The emerging trends, they reveal, is ceramic watches with a clear separation of movements, both quartz and digital.

WALLETS
Colorful wallets dominated 2003. For fall/winter 2003, designers like Cynthia Steffe in New York mixed modernistic silver leather with classic salt and pepper tweeds for a clean linear look. At Celine in Paris, Michael Kors used the shiny material in the form of crocodile embossed leather for great looking shoes and bags.
SILVER
Silver instantly brings to life the look and is perfectly neutral. Be it Nine West’s sexy open-toed, high-heeled pumps and sandals, DKNY’s silver-toned bracelet watches, Kenneth Cole’s or Tommy Hilfiger’s silver sunglasses. Via Spiga’s skinny silver belt or Paradox’s silver toned clutch bag in snakeskin embossed vinyl. Silver it was.
BAGS
In the Victorian era, it was fashionable to use steel beads cut from metal rods to decorate handbags. These beads could be embroidered in beautiful and intricate patterns to make bags very individualist. Hardware details like zippers and buckles were used.
Animal skin bags were popular in the 1940's with alligator, lizard, and even turtle being the skin of choice for women who led the fine life..
However, bags this year take on a patent lustre with heavy embellishments like beads, sequins, chains, metal and stones on metallic leather and fabric bases.
A Mulberry leather Bethany bag is around £350 and a Mulberry Roxanne is £595 or over $1000. A Marc Jacobs luxury leather Tote bag costs even more at £795/$1150 or Hogan's leather-and-goat-fur bag ($845.
The demand for a Hermes Birkin bag has reached such heights that
similar crocodile-skin models were offered in the US for $80,000.
Invest in a classic, quilted Chanel or the latest Marc Jacob’s bag with quieter, duller hardware. Other options are Louis Vuittons’ monogrammed Speedy bag, Balenciaga's suede shopper, or Coach's patchwork hobo.



JEWELLERY
Vintage jewellery has made a dramatic comeback as top designers featured vintage jewelry from the early 1940s and 50s in their fall 2004 collections. The catwalks of New York featured the fall trend. The Perry Ellis collection showed jackets adorned with jewellery from the 50s and 60s.
Body jewellery whipped up a storm, giving it a sophisticated look by way of sparkly tattoos in 2002. Charm bracelets followed in 2003, making it a must-have accessory.
Italian fashion lends a new meaning to innovative elegance with bracelets getting adventurous as class meets fusion with pearls, metal and cloth being used on bamboo in 2006.
Tribal art, geometrics and animal motifs set in silver and platinum using embellishments like precious stones and rope dictate a strong return to the earthy primitive ages as most international brands take to it.
Sparkling, shimmering, glitzy details are getting bigger in rings as precious stones get their place of pride in platinum and silver with the rocks too getting larger. For the male, the ring has graduated from holding traditional significance as youngsters flaunt funky thumb rings in different styles and patterns. The haute couture fashion is of wearing these rings virtually in all fingers. Black metal thumb rings are price friendly and are chic look. Guys normally prefer going in for single color rings
Over the years men's fashion bracelet has made quite an impression. These accessories bracelets for men come up in distinct metal types like gold, silver, platinum, titanium, pearl, swaroskvi crystal and diamond. Elegant and subdued, these, alongwith men cuff bracelets look urbane.
Nose rings deserve a special mention as the hottest piece of jewellery. Simple gold and silver rings that go both with the young, chic and traditional look. Cartier’s necklace, composed of a precious pink sapphire of 20.35 carats, several sapphires, colourful diamonds and natural pearls was valued at 36.41 million yuan (US$4.4 million).
The Bulgari classic, the chunky coin necklace that made its debut over 25 years ago, is more of-the-moment than ever. Coin motifs were also spotted dripping off tops at Lanvin, dangling from belts at Chanel and decorating bikinis at Versace.

Brooches, pins and buttons are everywhere. not only on your coat or jacket but also on your bag, on your belt, on your hat. Agatha's dragonfly, Banana Republic's star burst, and Pono's jeweled butterfly are happening.

SHOES
By the mid 1950s pointed toe shoes called winkle pickers with stiletto heels up to 5 inches were a common sight. There is no doubt that the trademark of the fifties was the stiletto heeled shoe, first seen in 1952 at a Dior fashion show. Suede boots come in in rich brown, leather boots in metallic effect with chocolate, bronze, copper or pewter tones. Skin textures such as pony skin are also available. Flat boots, heeled boots, wedge boots are all out there.
Walk high or low this summer, go for pretty-bejewelled flats or towering wedges. Try a splashy print on the heel, a bit of sparkle on the strap or even bold hardware to add zing to every possible accessory. Punk inspired hardware, slingbacks with the use of more metallics dominate 2003. From easy-to-wear boots that take their influence from the riding school, to sparkling sky-high sandals and shoes, footwear brought in a lot of character to ’04.
Colors got brighter (peacock-embroidered at Prada) and heels got higher (gravity-defying at Gucci). But the most modern take on this classic shoe shape is the subtle luxury of exotic skins. If you are an uptown lady, go for alligator. Versace’s glamorous ostrich stiletto pump and Roberto Cavallis’ stunning lizard heels are noteworthy skins to try.
The most expensive pair of shoes this year are Manolo Blahnik's alligator boots, which retail at $14.000 (£ 9.500)
Women love to shop. According to a survey women spend up to three years of their lives shopping and spend an average of £31,680 each on shoes and £15,840 on belts, hats, jewellery and bags.

PERFUMES/COLOGNES
A classic creator of perfumes with formulations abundant in flowers, Givenchy now conceives a world first with its Vintage Fragrances. Its perfumes for women have been exalted by a flower whose 2005 harvest is remarkable for its outstanding scent.
When it comes to accessorizing wardrobe, designer scents for guys occupy a supreme position. Perfumes for men speak about his attitude and defines a fashion statement for him. The market is flooded with a variety of cologne man perfumes.
Cologne perfumes have a higher concentration of alcohol. The terms 'perfume' and 'cologne' are often considered to be synonymous. But in reality they are different and the basic differentiation lies in the ratio of alcohol water base. When compared to colognes, perfumes are on a higher side in terms of essential oils. Also their fragrance retains for a long time and is more effective and prominent.
Prestigious fragrances are more of a status symbol indicative of richness and royalty.
Cartier’s “Le Baiser du Dragon is a fusion of powerful elements including notes of bitter almond, gardenia, cedar, musk, and patchouli with the bottle being an architectural masterpiece; a tasteful blend of exotic Chinese culture and modern Art Deco form. At $83,170.00, it is the world's most expensive perfume. The fragrance, created by renowned British perfumer Arthur Burnham, is held in a 4 inch bottle made in platinum, 24 carat gold, diamonds and rubies. Encasing the bottle in a very special box constructed by Rolls Royce coach builders, locked with a gold and jewel studded key,is called Parfum VI. Only 173 have been made so far.
Created for Jean Patou by Henri Alméras, the cost of the raw materials going into Joy was considered to be ridiculously expensive, involving 10600 flowers and 28 dozen roses — 10 percent Bulgarian Rose and Jasmine. As a result, Joy retained for about three times what most perfumes cost. It remains outrageously costly today.

SUNGLASSES
Titanium is a big hit among sportsmen and is an epitome of style and comfort. Even if you try crushing, molding or bending it, it will take back its original form. When it comes to styling old designs like Aviator and double brow-bar are back again in fashion but with a makeover to suit the contemporary times. Today eyewear of different shapes and sizes are hitting the optical shops with Armani, Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger, Fendi and Bausch and Lomb ruling.
Bvlgari’s Swarowski crystals shimmer from the frames, provided as wraparound or in a more contemporary style
The 360º designed by Christian Roth and Eric Domège is a favourite with Madonna. Its mask does not hide the face but defends it, offering the highest protection from uv rays in a design that shields. Big and glamorous, the strength and lightness of the titanium frame make this creation more modern than retro, future-facing, not vintage.


BELTS
Casual Belts are wider than dressy belts and usually come up in pleasant light colors while formal belts have a very shiny finish.
Three hot shades among men are black, brown and tan. Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger are the brands famous in types of colored Canvas belts. Leather belts are hot and happening and go well with your funky designer apparels.
Belts differ in their price range because of the material type used in its making. Calfskin finds place on shiny dressy belts. For the highly fashion conscious and bold men, there is an exotic variety of Ostrich leather belt which are unique of its kind. While the Lizard skin belt, is considered a privilege only of the rich.

HATS
Hats added the final touch to a woman or girl's outfit particularly in the early fifties.
In the mid fifties glorious hat styles covered less in plumage and more in floral blooms appeared. Some designs consisted solely of bomb like shapes covered with flower petals, almost like a more full blown version of the swimming cap above. Later hats consisted of folds of tulle, organza, nets or swirls of georgette.
Generally hats began to lose favour in the early sixties as they were unsuitable for the new hairstyles. Summer 2005 brought in romantic cloche hats, big 'ladylike' hats that remind us of the late sixties and the seventies, sportive hats and hats with feathers...using fabrics like leather, jute and fur matching either one of the looks - bohemian, nautical, safari.
Beaver fur because it makes a hat lighter and thinner, yet holds its shape. Apparently $1,000 is a fair price to pay for a quality lid.
Actress Alicia Witt modelled the most expensive hat ever made, the $2,700,000 Champrau d'Amour, by celebrity couture hat designer Louis Mariette, at Christies in London. The hat is covered entirely in dazzling diamonds and inspired by entwined ivy and bluebells.

TIES
The best ties are made in Italy, mainly in a city north of Milan, called Como. Zegna, Armani, Ferragamo, Burberry, Krizia, Gucci, Raffaello Excellence reeked of reliability while ties that have more character are the ones by Versace, Cavalli and Fornasetti .
You have plain or polka knitted claret ties from New& Lingwood.
The six fold ties by Segni & Disegni are pure silk jaquard woven ties. Completely handmade by folding the fabric six times.

The Sterling Silver English made cufflinks are a result of the specialist, rare and highly skilled handwork of Vitreous Enamelling also known as hard enamel. Scarves in wool, cashmere, wool and silk and twill silk by Roberto Cavialli are priced beteen $50 - $200.

Cashmina and Pashmina shawls are being used in shawls, scarves and mufflers.designer scarves, stoles and warm mufflers.
Fur trimmings abounded and adorned collars and cuffs as well as being made into brooches. Stoles were worn on every occasion; they too could be of fur, but were just as likely to be of lace or a silky fabric.


CUFFLINKS
Originally, cuff links were created as a Renaissance fashion piece.
In stones, enamels, crystals, silver and wood, pearls, gold, metal and silk knot cufflinks,
One of the most expensive pairs of cuff links, sold at auction for $440,000.00 in 1987 and was a gift from Wallis Simpson to Edward, the soon-to-be- King of England. The platinum cuff links were set with diamond baguettes forming the letters E and W. Tiffany cufflinks will most likely set you back more than $200.
GLOVES
Gloves were worn everywhere in the 1950s and completed a woman's grooming. Without gloves she was not properly accessorised. Clean gloves were also the hallmark of a lady and white or cream were the most favoured gloves. Banana Republic's ivory gloves with shearling trim ($78; bananarepublic.com) are refined but festive and will make you feel like Holly Golightly. Louis Vuitton’s long leather gloves made from the softest supple calf-leather, the ultra long glove screams
L-U-X-U-R-Y!

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