Famed French fashion house Dior has created a bespoke, Art Deco-inspired dressing table service for guests of Claridge's, the landmark London hotel (above) whose devotees include Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Nicole Kidman, Kate Moss, Mick Jagger, Madonna and Victoria Beckham. Designed as the ultimate luxury amenity for glamorous occupants of the hotel's Viscount David Linley-designed suites, the service offers all the essentials necessary for a glamorous night out on the town. The Dior Dressing Table includes a carefully curated range of timeless accessories, including an elegant silk Claridge's dressing gown and slippers; a cashmere eye mask; a selection of classic Dior fragrances and beauty products; cocktails from a special 1930s menu; and era-appropriate books and music for entertainment.

[via JustLuxe]

No white after Labor Day? Don't tell that to this marshmallow pouf of a bag. Dior's Le Trente Medium Shopping bag is done in buttery leather with a softly gathered shape. It gets a bit of icy flash from a shiny double chain and leather handles with toggle detail. The bag has a drawstring top with a foldover cuff. It has a a signature CD charm, inside zip pocket and protective metal feet. For rule followers, it's also available in black. This bag sells for $1,950.

Dior has slowly but increasingly been sneaking out watch releases over the past few years. High style, without as many ephemeral qualities as you might think. Meaning the watches could easily be classics decades from now. Love them or leave them you have to admit they are interesting. Here are two new styles for the Christal watch line. Called the Christal 42mm Automatic (not very creative for a name), the watches are designed with what feels like a combo between modern sporty dive style watch and art deco.

The case is 42mm wide in steel. There are black sapphires on the bracelet in pyramid shapes, with two different style bracelets available. The dial is black lacquer with a continuation of the pyramid theme in the center. The version with diamonds has a "weave" patten done in the middle with diamonds. I like the design of the case and bracelet much better than the dial, as the latter feels cluttered. It has all the hours in Arabic numerals, and then markers in between them. It just feels confusing at the very least.

Inside the watch is a Swiss ETA 2824-2 automatic movement. It is visible though the sapphire crystal caseback window, with a black lacquer topped rotor. The diamond version has 1.47 carats, and a total of 190 stones tastefully applied. Available soon.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

The largest Dior counter in Europe will soon be found at Selfridges on Oxford Street in London. Hello Magazine reports that the Dior counter will have the widest palette of shades available worldwide (over 250). The counter, which will open on Octber 1, will include a "color creator atelier" that will let you shop in a variety of different ways, exploring the wide palette of Dior shades. And for perfume lovers there is the Fragrance Consultation area where, on November 15, Dior will offer a limited-edition 'expression' of J'adore: The Amphora, of which only 10 bottles of which will be produced, The Love Dior Palette shown above, designed by Dior's creative director for make-up, Tyen, to mark his 30-year anniversary with the brand, will be available exclusively at the counter from October 22 until December.

Here is a stunning piece of Dior men's jewelry and it is a one-of-a-kind watch at that. LVMH-owned Dior takes one of their standard watch designs and forgoes much of that unnecessary stuff, like most of the metal. Instead the watch seems to be held together mostly by diamonds, rubies and red tinted mineral glass. The movement is a manually-would tourbillon that you can see operating almost in silhouette through the tinted red glass.

Case is 42mm wide in White gold, with the thorough assortment of diamonds and rubies being carried over to most of the bracelet. The style of this high cost fashion watch is impressive with a rhyme and reason to the jewel layout. The dial skeletonization is uniquely done, and the views of the movement are quite pretty. I like the use of the large pyramid-cut ruby as the palette over the tourbillon. Price for this piece unique Dior watch was 1.3 million Swiss Francs. This Dior Christal Tourbillon Diamonds and Rubies watch has been nominated to be included in the awards for the 2009 Geneva Grand Prix d'Horlogerie.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

It looks like aging action hero Bruce Willis, 54, and his new supermodel wife Emma Heming, 32, are trying out to be the next Brad and Angelina. The pair just shot a sizzling cover feature for the new W magazine with a decidedly kinky S&M theme. (Click here for all the pix which fyi include a couple of rather risqué shots.) The couple, who got married married in the Turks and Caicos in March, are in amazing shape, which makes sense considering Heming is a lingerie model and they met at the Los Angeles gym of their trainer, Gunnar Peterson, in 2005. Photographed by Steven Klein, the saucy shoot is of course peppered with luxury clothing and accessories, including above a Dior leather jacket, Eres lingerie and half of a Giorgio Armani tuxedo. You can read the accompanying cover story here and learn about what went on behind the scenes at the shoot here.

Princess Maha al-Sudairi, the wife of Saudi Arabia's Interior Minister, is holed up in a Paris luxury hotel claiming diplomatic immunity after refusing to pay a $24 million tab she ran up at the city's ritziest boutiques. Al-Sudairi, whose husband Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz is a member of Saudi Arabia's royal family and is second-in-line to the throne, racked up the impressive debt on a year-long spree at the French capital's high-end clothing, jewelry and lingerie boutiques, the London Telegraph reports. In all some 30 businesses have been stiffed including Dior, jewelry shops Chaumet and Victoria Casal, lingerie emporium O Caprices De Lili, and the famed Hotel de Crillon.

The Princess is currently holed up in a $4,000-per-night suite at the ultra-luxe Four Seasons George V hotel (above), which is partly owned by her nephew, Prince Al Waleed bin Talal. After some of those owed money initiated legal proceedings, the plaintiffs' lawyer Jacky Benazerah obtained a court order for bailiffs to go to the George V and seize the Princess' belongings. However, the Princess has invoked diplomatic immunity and will likely refuse them entry, in which case the French interior ministry and senior police officials would have to be consulted to authorize a police escort, the BBC reports.

Jamila Boushaba, owner of Paris' O Caprices De Lili lingerie shop, located directly across from the George V, was left holding a $100,000 bill for lacy underthings. "She was a very good customer for eight years, but then simply stopped paying," Boushaba tells the Telegraph. "I made a delivery of lingerie to the George V, but payment never arrived. Every time we called, we were told the bill would be settled the next day. It never was. When we contacted the Saudi ambassador in Paris he said there was nothing he could do for us." An aide to the Saudi royal family was similarly unhelpful, sniffing, "I'm afraid we can't go around settling bills for the Princess's knickers."

Jacky Giami, proprietor of luxury clothing boutique Key Largo, said the Princess stripped his shelves of some $215,000 worth of casual wear. "We know the family well – they're in Paris a lot," Giami tells the Telegraph. "She's not the kind of customer where you ask for a deposit, or to ask to see a piece of identity." Every time the Princess and her entourage visited Giami's and others' shops a representative would offer staff an embossed card stating "Payment to Follow". And of course having all those exquisite clothes cleaned cost quite a bit as well; the Princess is also said to have run up a drycleaning bill of $50,000 - per week.

Heels often turn heads but not like this. French actress Marion Cotillard caused a stir with her unique Dior shoes at the Bike in Style challenge in New York City this week. The strappy shoes were designed by John Galliano and the heel is in the shape of a fertility goddess. Cotillard paired the shoes with an understated suit. The shoes first hit the runway last fall as part of John Galliano's Dior spring/summer 2009 'Tribal Chic' collection.

French actress Marion Cotillard stars in a new short film from Dior. The Lady Noir short was directed by Oliver Dahan who also directed Cotillard in her Oscar-winning turn in La Vie en Rose. In the short film, Cotillard is involved in a film noir plot that involves a chase across Paris (in six-inch Dior shoes no less) and also showcases the Lady Noire bag designed by John Galliano. The film is part of four shorts which will tell the story of "One lady, four cities, one iconic Lady Dior bag." A short trailer is above, the entire first film is here.

[via The London Times]

The Dior Two-Textured Leather Satchel is an unusual find!

If you think you know Christian Dior, you're probably surprised. With its unusual shape, gothic buckles, and innovative texture, this purse seems to come from a whole new Dior genre!

Perhaps its a 1980s Vivienne Westwood inspiration -- the 80s is definitely back. In any case, this 20"W X 11"H X 4"D purse is crafted from pebble leather and croc-textured leather, giving it a truly unique look. The adjustable buckle strap, grommet and buckle details, and bold black shape make it truly anomalous.

That, along with the durable nylon lining and soft leather exterior make this a perfect bag for a night of rock and roll and unexpected excitement. The phrase "buckle up" comes to mind ...

The Dior Two-Textured Leather Satchel is available from Saks Fifth Avenue for $2,950.

Despite the fact that this watch is patently too hard to read, it is very pretty. If you spend enough time staring at the dial you will eventually see where the hands are pointing, but the design obfuscates the time telling function to a large degree. A large part of that has to do with the fact that the dial of the watch is always moving, just doing so at a slow rate. The Dior Christal Mysterieuse is named as such for the special Quinting manufacture movement that has three rotating plates. One for the hours, minutes, and day. With this constant altering look of the dial, it appears the same only once a month. This way you can never really have any frames of reference to read the hands.

Aside from this novel complication, the Dior Christal uses an geometric art deco themed design that looks beautiful. Inset in the steel case are black sapphire plates used to create the bezel design. Various shades of mother of pearl are used on the dial, placed inside of sapphire plates (6 ring plates total, 3 of which are mobile) on the face. I really like how Dior chose a classic 44mm wide diver watch style case as a base for the Christal Mysterieuse as it helps ground this item as art on top of a timepiece. The movement itself is a quartz. The case is water resistant to 50 meters, and is attached to an alligator strap. Sized with men in mind, the right woman will also be able to pull this look off. Price will be about 20,000 Euros when the watch is released in the fall.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

The Rendezvous Cannage Envelope Bag by Dior is a traditional flap over bag style with a the contemporary updating of metallic suede goatskin. Quilted cannage pattern embroidery gives it some additional personality, while pretty polished silver in the form of a linked chain strap (with a leather handle for comfort) and a pretty logo-etched adornment on the front add a classic chic vibe. Lined in "lustrous" satin, the interior is divided into two large compartments with a zippered pocket in between -- lots of room for all your essentials. $1,1450

I thought Armani Prive's Paris show was extravagant but that was before I beheld the flounces, ruffles and crinolines of John Galliano's latest collection for Dior. The eccentric designer took his fashion cue from the paintings of Vermeer and other Dutch masters offering up a collection that included bib-like lace collars, puffy sleeves you could hide a small dog in and cinched-in waistlines set against belled out skirts.The spring-summer collection was meant to be "More Dior than Dior" taking Christian Dior's original neat suits from the 1940s and riffing on them as only Galliano can.

The collection flies so completely in the face of what the IHT's Suzy Menkes calls "austerity chic" that it's hard not to be charmed. As she puts it " in straitened circumstances, was it mad? Yes, but it was magic." While elaborate couture shows are becoming more of a rarity, this collection and the one from Armani show the type of flamboyant showmanship that may not be in step with the times but is still a wonder to behold.

Pampering hits a new level at the Plaza Athénée in Paris. The hotel now boasts l'Institut Dior, the first hotel spa created by Christian Dior Parfums. The spa is located downstairs from the grand Plaza lobby, and is an extravagant retreat with a relaxation lounge and five treatment rooms including the double VIP room shown above. The spa offers a wide variety of face and body treatments such as the lavish 120-minute l'Or de Vie treatment which uses Dior's pricey L'Or skin care line and costs $670.

[via Time]

Shown above are the latest watches from Dior. On the left we have the newest design from John Galliano for Dior, the Christal Midnight Blue rubber watch. The watch has a 33mm stainless steel case and a blue mother of pearl dial set with 36 diamonds. The bezel is set with 90 diamonds and the bracelet is stainless steel set pyramid-cut, scratch proof blue sapphire crystal. The watch is a limited edition of 500 and sells for £3,150.

On the right is the latest La D creation from Victoire de Castellane, artistic director of fine jewelry at the Dior house. This watch has an 18K rose gold case with a mother of pearl dial and an 18k rose gold in-set spiral of 55 pink diamonds. The bezel features 76 diamonds and the band is a black satin strap. This watch is a limited edition of 15 and sells for £14,900.