Sometimes it's a little sad for us to only give away only one of something so today we've got ten bottles of Calvin Klein's latest perfume, ckfree for Men for ten readers. To launch the fragrance Calvin Klein has created the "Live Free" Map tool. The tool is an interactive experience which shows you the best places in the world to "live free" and lets consumers share their most 'free' locations around the world, using Google Map software. What defines free? It's not a matter of cost, it's about experiences that make the heart and mind feel lighter. The list includes best beaches, sporting stadiums, casinos, road trip destinations and more.

The scent is designed to be a journey as well. It has top notes of absinthe, jackfruit and juniper berry with a masculine heart of suede, coffee absolute and tobacco leaves grounded in a base of oakwood, patchouli and Texan cedarwood. We are giving away 10 1.7 ounce bottles of ckfree valued at $47 each. To enter leave a comment about your favorite 'free' place (you can also add this place to the ckfree 'Live Free' map application).

Some other important details:
* To enter, leave a confirmed comment below.
* The comment must be left and confirmed before November 20, 2009 at 5:00PM Eastern Time.
* You may only enter once.
* Ten winners will be selected in a random drawing.
* Ten winner will receive a 1.7 ounce bottle of ckfree for Men valued at $47.
* Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia.

See complete contest rules here.

There was once a time when the resort/cruise collections were made for the rarefied woman who could afford to escape the winter by heading to the tropics (she needed swimwear and a caftan, did she not?). Not anymore. While still a David to the Goliath fall and spring collections, resort is catching the attention of more and more people.

Like air travel and cell phones, is resort bound for the masses?

Collections are just now beginning to hit stores and, for a season that's ostensibly all about lounging around on the beach or the deck of a boat, there's a lot of fashion news to digest: optical motifs, exotic locales like Marrakesh, sheer, leathers for day, aquatic, scuba, old-world charm, draping and, of course, nautical.

The media is doing their part. Fashion magazines are pointing out 'It items' like the floral ribbon-laced sandal from Prada, a bright green croc tote from Roberto Cavalli and pretty much everything in Chanel's stunning parade of black and white caftans and graphics (above).

Fashion insiders have long contended resort/cruise is either an evolution of fall or a preview of spring. That's not necessarily the case today, says style and beauty expert Mary Alice Stephenson. Stephenson explained to me this week that fashion has become like fast food and designers are compelled to feed the hungry. In other words, a resort collection must stand on its own.

"People want whatever's new," she says. "And designers like to keep customers surprised with their unique point of view. Shoppers are putting more thought into their splurges. So designers have to seduce the buyer with making the pieces usable in every aspect of their lives."

Others tell me resort/cruise is the one time designers get to cut loose and get creative. Saleability is less of an issue for a season that lasts, at most, two months. Of course, some designers go overboard. Calvin Klein designer Francisco Costa caught hell from my former employer Women's Wear Daily for his lineup of transparent dresses: "A long-standing argument against such [formal runway] presentations for resort is that inevitably some designers will crossover to the too-editorial side." Too-editorial means that those dress will have nothing whatsoever with how you and I dress in reality.

Still, as buyers we are demanding uniqueness, a slice of our favorite label. We want pieces to seamlessly integrate into our wardrobes. We want reality. And we want season-less items to wear far into next year.

We want it all, don't we?

Visionaire is famous for its unique editions and the latest takes advantage of the summer sun in fascinating way. The Visionaire 56 SOLAR uses the latest in printing technology to create a book that is two different experiences. Viewed indoors under normal light an all white book contains black and white photographs. Take it outside and the case is alive with color and the photos inside change colors too. Calvin Klein is the designer supporting this issue and contributing artists include Yoko Ono, Mario Sorrenti, Alex Katz and Peter Lindbergh. There are 3,000 copies which sell for $250 each. You can get a sneak preview of the color change in action on the Visionaire website.

[via Vogue UK]

Fashion designer Calvin Klein has won approval for his ambitious teardown project in the Hamptons. Dragon's Head is a massive rambling home of somewhat dubious distinction in Southampton. It was built by Henry Francis du Pont in 1924 but has been majorly remodeled in not the most tasteful of manners. Newsday reports that the village Architectural Review Board which was asked to check out the home and see if there was anything historical in it worth preserving has decided it doesn't have jurisdiction over the home's interior. The path is now cleared for Klein, who spent around $30 million on the home five years ago, to begin the process of demolition. He is erecting a new modern home of stucco and steel in place of Dragon's Head.

Some have expressed happiness to see the home disappear. Du Pont's original home had been given a ludicrously lavish makeover by financier Barry Turpin. He took a classic Hamptons home and turned it into one of those American castles that some of the rich sometimes amuse themselves by constructing. It now has turrets, towers and all sorts of flourishes which make it stick out like a sore thumb in the area. Klein's more low-slung and understated beach home will likely be a better fit. And yet, on Newday's poll many voted for the option saying that Dragon's Head is beautiful and should be preserved.

They say jewelry is a bad investment but it depends on what you buy. Calvin Klein, who bought jewels belonging to the Duchess of Windsor for Kelly Klein made quite a return on his investment. The collection of natural pearls the couple put up for sale brought in $4.82 million, far above the $3.1 million high estimate. I hope whoever bought it wears it, wearing pearls helps them keep their luster.

The jewels were part of the Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels auction in New York Tuesday in which 366 lots went for a total for $48.827 million. Other expensive pieces included a pair of Harry Winston diamond pendant-earrings that sold for $3.961 million and a pear-shaped 32.16 carat Harry Winston diamond ring which went for $3.289 million. The Jewels for the Jungle auction also did well bringing in a total of $1.181 million for the World Wide Fund for Nature.

Europastar leads us to the new watches created for CK Jeans. Meant to invoke the aesthetic of Calvin Klein Jeans the watches are made of brushed stainless steel with denim canvas and tanned leathers. The watches have jeanswear-inspired buckles, straps, and stitching details. Each watchstrap is lined with tanned suede. Like many other CK products they are unisex and have a sort of American classic appeal.

A good tote bag is a summer essential. Why? People seem to carry around a lot more in the summer. Perhaps it is the long days and gorgeous weather, though it might be the spirit of summer vacation lingering from your school days, but once June comes around everyone has hats, books, three pairs of sunglasses, a bottle of water and sometimes an extra pair of sandals that they need to have with them at all times. After all, you never know when the opportunity to hit the beach might up.

The Coach Motif Tote is a fun, straw bag covered with bright appliques and accented with white patent and silver metallic leather. It coordinates perfectly with Coach's Mattie Wedge sandals. What's not to like? $358

From the LA Times Hot Property:
 --Another case of famous sells to famous.Kevin Costner has sold his Hollywood Hills home there to Ryan Seacrest for $11.5 million.
--Conductor Zubin Mehta and his wife have sold their Malibu getaway for $15 million. The home sold the first day it went on the market.
--Film producer Charles Roven has sold his Beverly Hills-area home for around its $9.5-million asking price.
--Lou Diamond Phillips has sold his home in Monteria Estates, a gated community in Chatsworth, for $2.1 million.


From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--Nice discount! One of New York's $50 million listing has been reduced to $39 million. Real-estate developer and former WorldCom director Francesco Galesi is eager to sell. Does Galesi overestimate the value of his properties? He originally listed a Southampton mansion for $45 million and ended selling (to Calvin Klein) for $28.9 million.
--Calvin Klein's daughter Marci is buying a SoHo condo for around $10 million. Klein is a senior producer and chief talent booker at Saturday Night Live.
-- Iris Cantor, the widow of Cantor Fitzgerald founder B. Gerald "Bernie" Cantor is in a bidding war for a penthouse with a  $14 million asking price which is being built at 110 Central Park South.
--Bear Stearns CEO James Cayne becomes the latest deep-pocketed person to buy an apartment at the plaza. He is spending $25 million for a 5,000 square foot space that will be available for occupancy next year.
--Thomas Siebel, founder of Siebel Systems, is buying the entire 79th floor of the Time Warner Center's south tower for $29 million. He is also buying half of a lower floor for around $16 million.

From the NY Times Big Deal:
--Everyone's talking about the Time Warner Center, it's officially sold out with a total sales of over $1 billion. The building might be the best place in New York to meet a billionaire.The very monied who will live there include J. Joe Ricketts who founded Ameritrade (floor 78);  as mentioned by Braden Keil of the NY Post, Thomas Siebel (floor 79) and Time Warner Center developer Steven Ross (floor 80);  as well as John W. Kluge, No. 52 on the Forbes list of billionaires and Jon L. Stryker No. 428 on the Forbes list with $1.8 billion and David Martinez who spent  $54.7 million. on two floors of raw space.
--Joseph M. Jacobs, a hedge fund manager who once planned to build the biggest house in Greenwich, Conn., has now spent $13.6 million on a three-bedroom apartment at 1 Central Park West, the Trump International Hotel and Tower. He also owns a home in the Conyers Farms section of Greenwich that he planned to live in while building their  now-scrapped 39,000 square foot mega manse.

The fragrance industry just hosted their 34th annual FiFi Awards, the industry's biggest event. The FiFis recognize the best scents, best packaging and best ad campaigns in the industry. Top honors for women's and men's luxe fragrances went to euphoria by Calvin Klein and Armani Code by Giorgio Armani, respectively. The other 2006 winners included:

• Best Women’s Direct Sell : So in Love by Victoria’s Secret Beauty
• Best Men’s Direct Sell: Today. Tomorrow. Always for Men by Avon
• Best Women’s Popular Appeal: Spirit by Antonio Banderas for Women
• Best Men’s Popular Appeal: Stetson Black
• Best Packaging Women's and Men's: Armani Privé by Giorgio Armani
• Best Televised National Advertising Campaign: Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker

The Senior Corporate Vice President of Estée Lauder, Evelyn H. Lauder, was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award for bringing "extraordinary ingenuity, dedication and inner resources [to her company and] to the fragrance industry as a whole."