VictoriaBeckham

Forbes Names the Top Earning Celeb Couples - Jay-Z Way Behind

Filed under: Wealth

For the second year in a row, Jay-Z and Beyonce (right) have topped a different kind of chart; the Hollywod's Top-Earning Couples list from Forbes. Last year, the mono-household-named celebs earned a combined $162 million, but this year, they earned just $122 million. It's a recession after all.

Or is that really the reason? According to Forbes, when the couple won last year, "about half" came from "each star," whereas this year, Beyonce brought home $87 million (well over half of $162 million), compared with just $35 million from Jay-Z. Far be it from us to call $35 million under-earning, and far be it from Beyonce as well -- the couple famously never discusses their relationship with the press.

Other top earning couples include Harrison Ford and Callista Flockhart, who made bank ($65 million) with Indiana Jones and Brothers & Sisters, respectively, Brangelina, who pulled in $55 million from their film endeavors while raising six kids (and gave a whole lot of it to charity, for example, $333,000 to SOS Children's Villages -- thanks guys), and Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, who made $48 million. All out-earned Britain's first couple, David and Victoria Beckham, who made just $46 million.

Come on, Posh and Becks. Jay-Z made almost that much on his own.

Gallery: Beyonce and Jay-Z through the years

[via Forbes]

Tags: angelina jolie, AngelinaJolie, Beyonce, beyonce knowles, BeyonceKnowles, brad pitt, BradPitt, brangelina, callista flockhart, CallistaFlockhart, david beckham, DavidBeckham, Forbes, harrison ford, HarrisonFord, jada pinkett smith, JadaPinkettSmith, jay-z, victoria beckham, VictoriaBeckham, will smith, WillSmith

Victoria Beckham's Posh Dress Designs

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Celebrity Design

Awhile back we mentioned the fact that Victoria Beckham was getting into the designer dress business in an unexpectedly low-key way, and so it only seems fitting now to show off some of what she came up with. She clearly favors pencil skirts and below the knee lengths, although in the collection below she does have a couple mini-skirts and even a pretty wool cape for chilly evenings. But her style is hardly forgiving of less than perfect figures, and since most of her designs seem to be based on the same basic shape I think you'll either look great in all of her styles of none of them.

Gallery: Victoria Beckham Designer Dress

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Tags: beckham, dress, dresses, posh, posh spice, PoshSpice, victoria beckham, VictoriaBeckham

Can A Handbag Be An Investment?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Handbags

Retail therapy has changed a lot in the past year. The splurge has been replaced by the investment with the bag of the moment being released by the bag to last a lifetime. But is a handbag really a good investment? Lesley M. M. Blume of The Big Money crunches the numbers when it comes purchasing with an eye toward selling later. When it comes to jewelry, unless you are talking about highly collectible pieces or rare stones that possess certain qualities of color and size, you probably aren't going to be able to sell for what you purchased for in a retail store.

And what about the Holy Grail of investment purses, the Hermes Birkin bag? We've seen Birkins make big numbers at auctions and they are hot sellers at consignment stores. Victoria Beckham reportedly owns more than 100 of the hard-to-obtain bags. And the recent book "Bringing Home The Birkin" tells the story of a man who made a living obtaining the hard-to-get bags and then selling them to customers interesting in jumping the famous waiting list.

Blume says that if you bought a bag, one of the more modest models, for around $7,000 in 2007 you could likely resell it at a resale boutique for around $8,300 but you would then have to pay a cut to the shop leaving you with about $6,000. The article doesn't mention that you could sell the way "Bringing Home the Birkin" author Michael Tonello did and put your bag on up for sale online. Tonello used eBay which charges a smaller percentage. You could also try Portero.com but they take a whopping 30 percent of your haul so you'd have to mark up accordingly.

Other bags sell well in some places especially if the bag is vintage and rare but usually nothing beats a Birkin. Calling the bag an investment may be a bit of a stretch since you'd still be better off socking that money away somewhere where it would earn modest and stable interest but the article does make a good point for value. In the long run, whether you are looking with an eye toward resale or not, it is perhaps better to buy one more expensive and high quality item than several of lesser value. This viewpoint provides a bit of retooling the shopping strategy. The quick retail fix, the "must-have-it-now" era has been replaced by mulling, considering, evaluating and then finally purchasing.

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Tags: bag, birkin, handbag, investment, victoria beckham, VictoriaBeckham

Beckhams' Bid to Buy Milanese Castle Quashed

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Sports

If a new report out of Italy can be believed - and something may well have been lost in translation - David and Victoria Beckham have failed in a bid to buy part of Milan's famed Castello Sforzesco (above), a 15th century castle that now houses artworks by Michelangelo and Da Vinci. Apparently the mega-rich Beckhams have been house shopping in Milan as he expects to sign a soccer contract there. Victoria is said to have set her eye on the centrally located, historically significant and imposing edifice, but was firmly denied by the Milan City Council. There were also rumors that Victoria wanted to buy a whole floor of the Armani hotel which is being built in the city, though that scheme has also come to naught. Hey, anything's possible with those two.

Tags: Castello Sforzesco, CastelloSforzesco, castle, celebrity, David Beckham, DavidBeckham, Italy, Milan, soccer, Victoria Beckham, VictoriaBeckham

Celebs Losing $100K a Week on Their Dubai Mansions

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Real Estate Developments, Wealth

One side effect of the implosion of Dubai's economy which my colleague Deidre Woollard reported on last month is the plummeting value of trophy properties owned by certain superstars. Celebs including David and Victoria Beckham (above), Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and Michael Jackson are losing £80,000 or over $100,000 a week as the luxury real estate they purchased in the over-inflated Emirate plunges in value, the London Daily Mirror reports. Posh properties that were worth £3.2 million (or about $4.4 million) in October now on the market for £1.6 million (or about $2.2 million), i.e. only half as much.

"The Dubai market has fallen off a cliff," Jack Whisker of luxury agents Dream Property Dubai tells the paper. "The credit crunch hit us suddenly because all the foreign investors lost confidence. It has hit the higher-value properties the hardest." In January Deidre reported that the Beckhams, who have a luxury villa on the Palm Jumeirah complex, were considering purchasing a second property in the Burj Dubai tower, so they could be doubly exposed. Brad and Angelina reportedly own one of the artificial islands in the out-there development known as The World.

Gallery: Dubai

Tags: Angelina Jolie, AngelinaJolie, Brad Pitt, BradPitt, Burj Dubai, BurjDubai, David Beckham, DavidBeckham, Dubai, Palm Jumeirah, PalmJumeirah, pamela anderson, PamelaAnderson, UAE, Victoria Beckham, VictoriaBeckham

Beckhams Borrow Clooney's Lake Como Villa

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Sports

George Clooney is quite a pal. According to Hello magazine, the movie star just lent his lavish $6 million villa on Italy's famed Lake Como (above) to soccer superstar David Beckham and his wife Victoria. Beckham, whose taste for the finer things in life has been often noted here, is being fought over by two soccer teams, the LA Galaxy and Italy's AC Milan. The Beckhams will take some relaxing time out at the villa while waiting to see the if LA Galaxy will release him from his contract and allow a transfer to AC Milan, the magazine reports. "George has really taken David under his wing since the transfer trouble started," they note.

The luxurious villa, which has played host to many of Clooney's superstar pals, is just half an hour away from the Beckhams' base in Milan. Clooney, 47, and Beckham, 33, became friends after being introduced by Giorgio Armani, (whose underwear ads the Beckhams star in), at the Met Ball in New York last May. Luxe Lake Como, where scenes from the last two James Bond movies were shot, has long been a favorite retreat for Italy's rich and famous and the international jetset. As we mentioned last month, the contents of late designer Gianni Versace's villa there are being auctioned off by Sotheby's in March.

Tags: Celebrity, David Beckham, DavidBeckham, George Clooney, GeorgeClooney, Gianni Versace, GianniVersace, Giorgio Armani, GiorgioArmani, Italy, James Bond, JamesBond, Lake Como, LakeComo, Milan, Soccer, Victoria Beckham, VictoriaBeckham

Victoria Beckham Gets Her Underwear Shot

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

David Beckham's huge semi-nude advertisements for Emporio Armani underwear caused whole crowds to swoon. Now his wife is getting in on the act. Victoria Beckham will pose in just her Emporio Armani Women's underwear for the brand's Spring/Summer 2009 campaign being shot by photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. In a press release Armani said of Mrs. Beckham, "Victoria is a style icon, a dynamic lady whose influence and recognition will add great excitement to the continued international growth of our Emporio Armani women's underwear business." She is certainly stylish, but I'd have preferred a woman with a little more curve to create the same kind of ooh-la-la reaction that David Beckham's ads got.

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Tags: ad campaigns, AdCampaigns, armani, endorsements, fashion, victoria beckham, VictoriaBeckham

David Beckham's Customized Bentley for Sale

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

David Beckham's ultra-luxe customized 2002 Bentley Arnage T (above) is up for sale in the UK. The soccer star outfitted the top-of-the-line $290,000 car with $120,000 worth of options and extras, bringing the total original cost to $410,000. The 450 h.p. twin turbo V12, which has only 25,000 miles on it, is being offered for $170,000, the UK Auto Trader reports. Beckham drove the Bentley to Buckingham Palace in 2003 when the Queen of England decorated him with an OBE, and it is said to be one of only two Arnages pictured on the walls of Bentley's head office in Crewe; the other belongs to the Queen herself.

Among the many extras Beckham had installed are a custom cream leather interior, a refrigerator and TV screens in the rear compartment, "Le Mans"-style wing vents, and a matching cream leather child seat embroidered with his son's name, Brooklyn. He also had his wife's name, Victoria (aka Posh), embroidered into the rear center leather console. Nowadays, Beckham, who is living in Los Angeles and playing for the L.A. Galaxy, drives a customized $500,000+ Rolls-Royce Drophead Coupe, as we reported last month.

Tags: Bentley, David Beckham, DavidBeckham, Queen of England, QueenOfEngland, Rolls-Royce, Victoria Beckham, VictoriaBeckham

Victoria Beckham Plans Quiet Dress Debut

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Celebrity Shopping

The Beckhams have a knack for getting themselves into the spotlight, so it seems a little out of character that Victoria Beckham's
debut as fashion designer will be happening in a very quiet and private way. Instead of showing off her new upscale dress designs via the catwalk at New York Fashion Week she will instead be showing them by appointment only over a period of several days.

Why she's going with such a quiet launch isn't clear, although if the dresses are successful I'm sure we'll all get to see them soon enough. Expect price tags for the collection to be upwards of $1200.

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Tags: apparel, beckham, design, fashion, posh, posh spice, PoshSpice, victoria beckham, VictoriaBeckham

Marc Jacobs to Open at Elysian Chicago

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Real Estate Developments

Louis Vuitton designer Marc Jacobs will open a boutique for his signature collection at the lavish Elysian Hotel development in Chicago (right) early in 2009. Jacobs' quirky, so-hip-it-hurts clothing is revered by celebs like Victoria Beckham, who starred in his ad campaign.

Jacobs has inked a ten-year lease on the 2,700-sq.-ft. space, which will be located in the development's Beaux Arts-style retail courtyard. The designer already has a boutique for his bridge line, Marc by Marc Jacobs, in the Windy City.

The 60-story edifice designed by architect Lucien Lagrange, is being billed as "a throwback to the grand hotels of the 1920's with the modern conveniences of today." It features 188 guest suites starting at $600,000, 51 private residences which start at $3 million, and a restaurant by famed chef Charlie Trotter.

Gallery: Elysian Chicago & Marc Jacobs

Jacobs and Vuitton collaborator Takashi Murakami

Tags: Boutiques, Chicago, Elysian, Elysian Chicago, ElysianChicago, Hotels, Louis Vuitton, LouisVuitton, Marc Jacobs, MarcJacobs, Victoria Beckham, VictoriaBeckham

David Beckham Buys Victoria A Vineyard

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Celebrity Shopping

David and Victoria Beckham are notoriously generous with each other on their birthdays, splashing out on jewels, watches, cars and lavish vacations. Now The Sun reports that David Beckham bought Victoria her own winery in Napa and the pair will be making their own wine. Last month, the paparazzi spotted the pair along with celebrity pals, Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Seal, Heidi Klum, Kate Beckinsale and Len Wiseman, touring a winery. It was assumed they were just going wine tasting but apparently while winetasting, David presented Victoria with a bottle with her name on it. The couple isn't planning to go into the wine business, they will just be making their vintage for family and friends.

Gallery: Celebrity Wine Projects

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Tags: david beckham, napa valley, NapaValley, victoria beckham, VictoriaBeckham, wine

David Beckham Buys Victoria A Book For Christmas

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Celebrity Shopping

A few weeks ago, we learned that Victoria Beckham had bought her kids a Neiman Marcus treehouse for Christmas, now The Sun reports that David Beckham has bought his wife a book for Christmas. Now a book may not sound like much of a present, especially for Victoria, who, although she has authored a couple of books, famously claimed in 2005 never to have read one, but this is no ordinary book. David bought Victoria Una Grande Storia Italiana - Valentino Garavani, a fabulous new book from Taschen which celebrates the designer. The book comes in a silk-covered clamshell box that is tinted in Valentino red. Inside, the 738-page book includes drawings, magazine shoots, advertisements, portraits of Valentino, and documentary photographs. The text includes Vanity Fair writer Matt Tyrnauer's interviews with twenty of Valentino's collaborators and friends and a tribute to Valentino by fashion writer Suzy Menkes. The Collector's Edition is limited to 2,000 individually numbered copies, each signed by Valentino and sells for $1,000. At least if Victoria doesn't read it she can check out the pretty pictures.

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Tags: book, christmas presents, ChristmasPresents, david beckham, holidash, valentino, victoria beckham, VictoriaBeckham

Just How Much Does Victoria Beckham Spend on Handbags?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Handbags, Celebrity Shopping

England's The Daily Mail has a fun piece on just how much some top celebs are spending on handbags. There aren't any Americans on the list but one recent transplant to the U.S., our favorite free-spending Spice Girl tops the list. According to the piece Victoria Beckham has been spotted this year toting around an astounding £23,625 in purses. And that's just seven bags, I am pretty certain Posh Spice has a lot more bags than that in her closet. The number shown at right, a little purple Hermes clutch to match the purple and silver dress she wore to the Marc Jacobs show in September cost a cool £3,000.

By comparison, Kate Moss came in with just £11,390 in pricey bags. I'd love to see a list of American celebs with a bag addiction. Who would top the list? Now that Lindsay Lohan is reportedly broke I would guess that either Paris Hilton or perhaps one of the Olsen twins with their endless parade of giant Balenciega bags might top that list.

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Tags: handbags, hermes, purses, victoria beckham, VictoriaBeckham

David Beckham Strips for Armani

by Sandy Maple (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Celebrity Shopping

As his football career seems to be winding down, LA Galaxy soccer star David Beckham is lining up sponsorship deals that will ensure he and wife Victoria continue to live the lifestyle to which they have become accustomed. His latest endorsement deal is for Armani's Emporio SS08 range of men's underwear. Beckham will be paid $20 million for the three-year deal and has already shot the first billboard campaign. I, for one, am looking forward to the results of that photo shoot, which will appear on billboards and magazines in January.

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Tags: armani underwear, ArmaniUnderwear, david beckham, DavidBeckham, emporio ss08, EmporioSs08, la galaxy, LaGalaxy, victoria beckham, VictoriaBeckham

Reality TV Trifecta, Estates of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

I couldn't resist the chance to feature three reality television show houses that were all in today's real estate round-up. All three were part of the subgenre of reality television in which the semi-famous or formerly famous seek a bit more fame through having their lives filmed. For those interested in real estate snooping it's often a chance to eavesdrop on some pretty interesting homes. Today's batch brings us Hulk Hogan's house in Miami, the home of Danny Bonaduce and the home that Miss Victoria Beckham recently pranced through during her reality TV special. Plenty of pics after the jump.

Tags: beverly hills, danny bonaduce, estate of the day, hulk hogan, miami beach, posh spice, victoria beckham, VictoriaBeckham

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