Shocking, isn't it? Most of us (myself included) thought this day would never come, but ... we actually like this purse hook. In fact, we love it.

When you have a luxury handbag, you don't want it on the floor -- it's dangerous and usually dirty -- but you don't want to cheapen its glamour by hanging it from something that looks like it came from the dollar store. Pavina finally has the solution with its line of Handbag Holders, available for $45 - $68 from marlobrands.com.

Above is the Pavina Olivine, a perfectly lovely, $45 purse hook that finally does a little justice to our beautiful handbags. It's more like elegant jewelry than the plastic junk we've seen (and scorned) before. It's no wonder that Pavina already has quite a celebrity following, including Angelina Jolie, Nicole Richie, Alyson Hannigan and Gwen Stefani, among others.

The Handbag Holders are made to support up to 25 pounds, and have padding on their flip sides to prevent damaging any restaurant tablecloths or hardwood bars (see gallery). Each design is lead-free and handset with Swarovski crystals and semi precious stones.

We had to see it ourselves -- and try it out in several New York City restaurants -- to believe it. These Handbag Holders really are classic looking, unobtrusive, and while most people didn't even notice them, when they did, we got compliments. And our purses have never been safer.

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]

Persol Eyewear has long been associated with Hollywood's leading men. A pair of Steve McQueen's Persol sunglasses, which he wore in "The Thomas Crown Affair," were sold for $60,000 in 2006. They've also been spotted on Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig, George Clooney, Adrien Brody and Brad Pitt, but lately, women are getting in on the Persol action, too.

Julia Roberts (pictured), Angelina Jolie, Hilary Swank, Beyonce, Heidi Klum and Elle Macpherson have all recently donned Persol shades, and we can tell you exactly which ones. Julia is wearing #2873, and so can you -- the ladies' styles are in the $300 - $400 range.

Check out the gallery for the models spotted on our favorite celebs -- maybe you'll see the perfect pair for yourself. The sunglasses are available from ILORI, just tell them the style number (included).

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.

While many high-end boutiques are experiencing a severe downturn, L.A.'s "luxury erotic emporium" Coco de Mer is busier than ever, with an increasing quotient of sex-starved celebs. The Melrose Avenue shop sells a wide range of goods including lingerie, books, oils, housewares and luxurious sex toys and accessories, including a $10,000 14kt gold and diamond vibrator. Angelina Jolie was spotted shopping there just the other day (though we don't know what she splurged on). Other celebs including Madonna, Kate Moss, Salma Hayek and Sienna Miller have also been by to pick up something saucy for, ahem, entertaining at home.

The shop is owned by Justine and Sam Roddick, daughters of Body Shop founder Anita Roddick, who opened the original Coco de Mer in London in 2001. The shop's clever, opulent design features a "Confessional" room attached to the dressing room providing a private view of your partner trying on lingerie. All of their products are made in consideration of the environment and human rights, and their policy is to invest in the work of local talent as well as small Fair Trade projects or cottage industries. The Roddicks are "committed to enabling individuals to use sex as an instrument to transform their own existence."

The multicolored masterpiece of a necklace you see here is on shown on the lovely neck of Amy Adams. This was one of the many pieces of "statement jewelry" we saw last night at the 2009 Oscars.

Any famous person can get a jeweler to loan them some ice for the 81st Annual Academy Awards, but nominated stars like Amy Adams walk away with pieces that look more like they came from a museum.

The Oscars is no night to hide your wealth, even during a recession. It's not like "toning down" the looks of the celebrities would make Americans feel better about their financial situations. In fact, jewelry like this is what America wants to see the most -- it's totally unaffordable, even during an economic boom; it's Hollywood fantasy.

Jeweler Fred Leighton had a great showing this year, with spectacular 19th and turn-of-the century items on everyone from Alicia Keys to Tina Fey, and even Heath Ledger's mother and sister. Chopard was the jeweler of champions; outfitting both Kate Winslet and Penelope Cruz (winners of Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress).

Check out more of the most outstanding pieces here in our gallery. This is the kind of jewelry you can't fake.

Those who travel a lot know how easy it is to accidentally leave something behind. It must be exponentially more difficult for always-travelling Angelina Jolie to keep track of things. Small wonder then that the star left behind a pair of Asprey earrings. According to the Daily Mirror, Jolie wore the diamond earrings with her Armani Prive dress at the Bafta awards but left them in her suite at the Dorchester hotel before taking off. The Mirror reports that she realized that she had forgotten the earrings before leaving the country and called the hotel which found them and sent them on to Los Angeles. Better to leave the diamonds behind than one of the children.

When Oscar-nominated actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt need to move their brood of six children to a new location they don't mess around. The pair is notorious for renting some of the best real estate in the world and their trip to Long Island is no exception. The pair is said to be renting the Sassafras estate in Llyod Neck while Jolie films the spy thriller, "Salt."

Sassafras is a 48-acre waterfront estate that was once on the market for $60 million. The estate includes a Tudor-style mansion, two helipads, and a private dock. The main house has 22,000 square feet that includes eight bedrooms. There is also a six-bedroom guest house and an 11-bedroom staff house. Newsday has a couple more pictures of the impressive estate.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie didn't win any little statues at the Golden Globes Sunday night, but they definitely defended their title as the world's most stylish couple. While Angelina eschewed glitz in an elegant and simple frock from Atelier Versace, Brad continued his trend of wearing Tom Ford's finest when the occasion calls for black tie. He wore a black wool Windsor model peak lapel tuxedo, white pique front evening shirt, diamond and white gold shirt studs and cufflinks, black grosgrain bowtie, silk pocket square, black patent leather shoes and a pair of aviator shades all from Ford's menswear collection - and, for those of you who followed the cummerbund debate in this week's Classicist column, Brad (correctly, in our opinion) wore one of those as well, made of black grosgrain silk to match his bowtie.

Brad Pitt made the scene in head-to-toe Tom Ford once again at the premiere of his latest movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (based on a story by F. Scott Fitzgerald) in L.A. the other night, accompanied by wife Angelina Jolie (right).

Pitt wore a single-breasted, peak lapel Windsor tuxedo, a black silk grosgrain waistcoat, white pique front evening shirt, black silk grosgrain bowtie, white gold and diamond shirt studs and cufflinks, white silk pocket square and black patent leather shoes, all from Ford's luxe menswear collection.

Meanwhile, Motorbiker.org reports that Angelina has picked out a present for Brad's 45th birthday on Dec. 18th - a brand new $12,000 Ducati Monster 1100S Titanium motorcycle, which is not available to mere mortals yet.

On Nov. 19, Christie's in London will auction off a stunning collection of photographs including some provocative shots of the world's most beautiful women. From a purely aesthetic standpoint the highlight of these is this 2000 portrait of Brazilian bombshell Gisele Bundchen by Mark Seliger, estimated at $9,000 to $12,000 - a relative bargain compared to Martin Schoeller's 2003 Angelina Jolie with Blood, est. at $23,000 - $39,000.

Also included in the sale: Albert Watson's 1993 nude Kate Moss, Marrakech, est. at $23,000 - $31,000; David LaChapelle's 1999 Britney Spears, Baby, est. $23,000 - $31,000; Michel Comte's 1996 James King, New York City, est. $6,000 - $9,000; and Gavin Bond's 2007 snap of Victoria's Secret stunner Adriana Lima, est. $5,000 - $8,000.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Evermay, a 12,000-square-foot Georgian-style mansion, on 3.58 acres in the Georgetown area of Washington D.C. has gone on the market for $49 million. The home was built in 1801 and has eight bedrooms. The property includes a gatekeeper's house, three-room staff house, terraced gardens with six fountains and parking for 100 cars. The current record sale in the area is $25 million.
--At least two of the prefabricated houses on display at New York's Museum of Modern Art are available for purchase. MoMA commissioned five full-size homes for Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling The Philadelphia architecture firm KieranTimberlake is seeking a minimum of $1.75 million for the Cellophane House, a four-story, two-bedroom aluminum and polycarbonate home with two walls of solar panels for the 1,800-square-foot structure. Architects Jeremy Edmiston and Douglas Gauthier have listed their 1,000-square-foot Burst house for $475,000. The listing is here.
--Former Viacom Chief Executive Tom Freston has taken his townhouse on Manhattan's Upper East Side off the market. Freston was asking $35 million for the home which once belonged to Andy Warhol.

From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel are house hunting together in NYC and recently toured a condo duplex loft at the Lion's Head building in Chelsea.
--The $70 million Pierre Hotel penthouse triplex listing has officially been on the market for four years.
--A new apartment record may have been set for the Financial District. Platinum Properties has just signed a $7.82 million contract for the penthouse at the Setai at 40 Broad St.,
--Hockey star Eric Lindros has put his condo in One Morton Square on the market for $6.3 million. The listing is here.
--Law and Order star S. Epatha Merkerson has been spotted checking out units in the Kalahari building on 116th Street.

From the LA Times Hot Properties:
--Actress Julianna Margulies has listed her home in Santa Monica, it's our estate of the day later today.
--British model Jasmine Lennard has leased a 1930s Hollywood traditional just above the Sunset Strip for $16,000 a month. Lennard appeared on the British reality show "Make Me a Supermodel."
--Renée Taylor and Joe Bologna have listed their Beverly Hills home which is in teardown condition for $5 million. The listing is here. Check out a gallery of other celebrity teardowns here.
--Movie producer Richard Suckle has put his Hancock Park home on the market for $3.295 million. The virtual tour is here.
--Model and actress Simona Fusco has listed her Bel Air area home for $3.995 million. The listing is here.

From the Real Estalker:
--Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver front man Scott Weiland and his wife Mary Forsberg have put their Sherman Oaks, California home on the market for $2.25 million. The listing is here.
--Baseball player Derek Lowe has listed his Manhattan Beach home for $5.7 million. We will discuss this one as Monday's estate of the day.
--Football player Tony Gonzalez has also listed his home in Manhattan Beach for $3.999 million, this will also be part of Monday's estate of the day.
--Reality TV star Audrina Patridge has picked up a new home in the Hollywood Hills which was listed at $1.29 million.
--via People, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie will decamp from the south of France to Berlin with their brood and move into Palais Parkschloss on Wannsee Lake while Pitt films a movie.
--Billy Baldwin and Chynna Phillips have listed their Bedford Corners, New York home. It was our estate of the day on Friday.

From Newsday's Real LI:
Property that once belonged to inventor Elmer Sperry, who founded the Sperry Corporation is on the market in the village of Bellport, New York. The nearly five-acre property has a thre-bedroom cottage and 300 feet of beach. The property was sold by the Sperry family in 2007 for $5.5 million and is now back on the market for $5.7 million. The listing is here.
--The Westhampton Beach home of Asian art dealer Michael Weisbrod, which originally went on the market last year for $9 million, is now being handled as a bankruptcy sale.

From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--Video artist Douglas Gordon (he does photography and sculpture, too) sold his 2,000-square-foot loft at 225 Lafayette Street to Italian photographer Elisa Sighicelli, who paid $3 million, according to city records.
--Lawyer Eleanor P. Vale has listed her apartment in the Hampshire House for $10.9 million to raise money to help her children in this bad economy. She bought in 2005 for $1.515 million. The listing is here.
--Cosmetics queen Laura Mercier sold her 5,500-square-foot, eight-room loft at 205 West 19th Street for $8.5 million back in April but the sale just cleared public records recently.Her buyers are Ana and Henry Pincus, the son of ailing venture capital titan Lionel Pincus.

From the AP:
--Jessica Lange and Sam Shepard's estate in Stillwater, Minnesota has sold for $1.825 million. It was our estate of the day last month and was listed for $1.95 million.

Free-spending Russian billionaire and Luxist mascot Roman Abramovich has soared to No. 8 on this year's Vanity Fair 100, aka the magazine's annual "New Establishment" list of the world's most powerful and influential people. That's a big jump for the oligarch, who only ranked 20th on last year's list.

Aside from his impressive art and real estate acquisitions, VF notes that Abramovich is also getting more involved in Russian politics. Although he resigned a regional governorship in July, Abramovich plans to run for an even higher profile political post next month.

Elsewhere on the just-released list, Abramovich's pal Vladimir Putin has captured this year's No. 1 spot, while power couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are ranked at an eye-opening No. 9, ahead of Michael Bloomberg and Steven Spielberg. Check out the complete list here.

ninemillion.org, in partnership with Nike and Microsoft, is the UN Refugee Agency's attempt to better the education of the nine million child refugees in the world by 2010. It was through this organization that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt made their significant donation to children in Iraq in June, and Nike's upcoming Human Race -- a world-wide 10K involving a million runners on August 31 -- will donate up to $1.5 million in proceeds from registration fees and donations. There's still time to sign up!

In addition to its fundraising efforts, ninemillion.org serves as a virtual bulletin board, where kids in refugee camps in Uganda or Thailand post their stories and visitors to the website can see their pictures.

No one seems to know whether they are buying or leasing but various sources agree that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are settling into a chateau on the French Riviera. This is no surprise, the couple has been looking at various spots in the region for at least a year. Now they have reportedly settled into Chateau Miraval, a $70 million estate in the tiny village of Brignol in the Var. The large estate includes a castle with 35 bedrooms, perfect for all the children and the entourage as well as 20 fountains, aqueducts, a lake, a swimming pool, and a thriving vineyard. It's also surrounded by a large forest and has a three mile driveway offering this couple the most valued feature of all, privacy.