The elaborate Vivienne Westwood wedding dress Sarah Jessica Parker sported in the "Sex and the City" movie didn't bring Carrie Bradshaw any luck but that hasn't stopped women from wanting it. Now, for two days only Gabriella Risatti, owner of Gabriella New York bridal salon in the Meatpacking District of New York City is making reproductions of the dress for $15,000 tomorrow and Thursday only. Risatti tells the NY Post that they will be taking measurements for those two days but only making 30 dresses.

The Christie's Paris sale of Impressionist and Modern paintings that belonged to French fashion designer Jeanne Lanvin came in far below estimate on Monday. The Washington Post reports that the sale raised euro7.67 million ($9.67 million) at the sale which included works by Pablo Picasso and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Christie's had originally valued the collection at euro20 million ($25.2 million). The top seller was Renoir's "Woman with a Parasol Sitting in the Garden," which went for euro1.16 million ($1.46 million) and has a top estimate of euro1.8 million ($2.27 million). A total of 23 of the 31 lots were sold. Another painting by Renoir, "The Tapestry in the Park (Presumed Portrait of Camille Monet)" went unsold as did works by Edgar Degas, Eugene Boudin and Camille Pissarro.Lanvin, died in 1946 at the age of 79, but was once of France's most influential designers of the 1920s and '30s and created the classic fragrance "Arpege." The paintings hung in her Paris apartment and a portion of the proceeds from the sale will go toward two arts charities run by the Polignac dynasty, the aristocratic family which Lanvin's daughter Marie-Blanche married into.

The Lanvin fashion label remains one of France's oldest fashion houses under the creative direction of Israeli-American designer Alber Elbaz. Recently Stella McCartney hired Frederick Lukoff, the business development director of Lanvin, to lead the British fashion brand, part of the Gucci Group. Lanvin has recently been it talks with potential investors to raise funds to expand.

Last month I wrote about the Millionaire Fair in Istanbul but it appears it didn't go over quite so well in Moscow this time. The Wall Street Journal's Wealth Report led me to the Guardian's report of the Moscow Millionaire Fair where yachts were going two for one and no one was buying. Socialite Ksenia Sobchak, the fair's master of ceremonies, applauded guests for showing ups saying that: "Everyone is a superhero for finding it in themselves to come here tonight, to try to bask in the luxury." The fair was the usual dazzling spectacle of exotic cars, jewels and free-flowing Champagne. Moscow still has more billionaires than any other city but many have seen their fortunes dramatically pruned over the last year. The end result seemed to be a rather grim spectacle of luxury where people weren't quite sure if they were celebrating what remains or mourning what once was.

Back in September my colleague Deirdre Woollard reported that the largest Giorgio Armani boutique in the world was opening in the designer's hometown of Milan. Now Armani has begun construction on a hotel there as well, located in an historic building designed by architect Enrico A. Griffini in 1937 that also houses an Armani store. "I feel a very special involvement in the project for the Armani Hotel Milano as it is located here, in my hometown," Armani tells Vogue UK.

"Every aspect of the hotel is a reflection of my aesthetic philosophy, and its position, above the Manzoni 31 concept store, will offer my guests the chance to experience a complete Armani lifestyle. I believe the hotel's design will perfectly fit the spirit of Milan as a capital of style, whilst offering a new experience of hospitality within its fashion district." The world's first Armani hotel is slated for Dubai, and plans are also underway for a London branch.

The Art Miami show has had its first casualty, a sad tale that anyone who has ever opened a package and found shards where art should be can identify with. The Palm Beach Post captures the reactions of artist Carole Feuerman on discovering that her resin sculpture "Survival of Serena" arrived in Miami in broken pieces. It is unknown how the sculpture was damaged but the plywood crate protecting it was too thin. The piece had been displayed in China at the National Museum of China in Beijing during the Olympics and then in Italy and was to serve as the welcome piece at Art Miami this week. The sculpture was valued at $350,000 but Feuerman says insurance will only pay $9,100. Art Miami officials decided to display the sculpture and crate in their shattered form. Feuerman is understandably distraught over the loss but says she will try to make another Serena.

Whether you are into spending your winter vacation on a beach or on the slopes, Ultimate Escapes has it covered. The destination club's membership includes the chance to experience more than 140 properties in over 50 locations around the world. The properties include beach cottages, larger homes, apartments and yachts.

There are three tiers of membership: Premiere entitles you to homes with an average value of $1 million, Signature membership offers homes valued at around $2 million and Elite membership includes stays in home with an average value of $3 million. Within each tier there are bronze, silver, gold, platinum and platinum plus levels of membership with escalate in price based on the amount of days. A Premier Silver membership costs $95,000 plus one year membership dues of $9,500.

No sooner was the election over than floods of Obama commemorative coins started to be advertised. Just in case you were thinking that these coins might be a smart investment, the Professional Numismatists Guild, a non-profit organization composed of the nation's top rare coin dealers, is advising consumers that the coins honoring President-elect Barack Obama are not now nor will be later an investment deal. They caution that the coins should be considered only as souvenirs. In other words, buy them because you like them, not because you think they might be worth something later.

"All of the items we've seen offered so far on television and online are merely political mementos that certainly may be enjoyable as a keepsake, but typically will have little or no re-sale value later in the mainstream numismatic market," said Gary Adkins of Edina, Minnesota, Professional Numismatists Guild President. He warns that some of the Obama coins are layered or plated with a very thin layer of gold and that there is usually very little bullion value on plated pieces. For more info on what not to buy when it comes to coin collecting, check out the PNG website.

Today's home is located in Beverly Park, a gated community in Beverly Hills that has some of the most extravagant homes in the Los Angeles area and is home to celebrities including Denzel Washington, Sylvester Stallone, Magic Johnson, Samuel L. Jackson and Rod Stewart. This castle-like home is 27,000 square feet and is on two acres. It has never been lived in but has been built with the most lavish tastes in mind. The home was designed by architect Richard Landry and has ten large bedrooms, fourteen bathrooms, and an incredible office. The most appealing feature to my eye is the circular library with a glass oculus that peers into the circular brick 2500- bottle wine cellar below. The home also has a large home theater, upstairs and downstairs bars, laundry rooms and kitchens and a grand ballroom. In the basement you will find a full marble spa with wet/dry massage rooms, indoor pool, and indoor Jacuzzi, and large gym with an outdoor patio. Outside there is a large outdoor pool with fountains, an infinity Jacuzzi, and a barbeque area with all the appliances installed. It first hit the market for $45 million but is now listed at $39.9 million.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

One of the most iconic Florida hotels, The Breakers in Palm Beach, is finding its own ways of dealing with the economic slump. Usually this time of year is boom time for the hotel but they have trimmed the staff by about 10% or 200 or so people. The resort has also taken the unique move of creating three new businesses, the Phillips Point Club on the top floor of the Phillips Point office building in West Palm Beach, Mix, a women's accessories store at The Breakers and The Breakers Palm Beach Realty, a brokerage catering to the luxury real estate market. Real estate in this tough economy? Spokeswoman Ann Margo Peart tells the Palm Beach Post that the business, which is located on the hotel grounds, will cater to guests who have made inquiries about high-end real estate in Palm Beach.

There's some good wine auction news out of Hong Kong. Bloomberg reports that a 12-bottle lot of much-prized 1961 Chateau Latour sold for a record price of HK$1.32 million ($170,320) at Christie's International first wine auction in Hong Kong in seven years on November 29. The amount was double the high-end of the pre-sale estimate of HK$650,000. They were bought by an Asian private collector. Two other lots of Latour 1961 were the second- and third-most expensive items at the auction. And the sale ratio was healthy on this one, out of 246 lots offered, 231 sold for a combined HK$31.5 million with many lots going above estimates. Wine seems to be fairing better than art at auctions recently, especially in Hong Kong. Around 90 percent of lots offered at Acker Merrall & Condit's Nov. 15 sale found buyers.

Cruise ship, the Nautica had a scare this week when the 30,000-ton luxury cruise ship outran pirates off the coast of Yemen. The Nautica, part of Oceania's cruise line, was in an area patrolled by international anti-piracy task forces when two small skiffs pulled aside and tried to intercept it. The ship sped up to its full speed of 23 knots or 27 mph. One of the small boats closed in and fired on the ship but it was able to pull away. While we've seen smaller passenger yachts targeted, the pirates haven't been known to go after the larger cruise ships before, keeping mainly to the bigger cargo vessels. The Nautica managed to escape without damage or injury to its 684 passengers and 400 crew.

The America's Cup, which is 45 years older than the modern Olympics, is of course the world's most famous sailing race. However the Louis Vuitton Cup, sponsored by the famed French luxury goods house for the past 25 years, is actually considered by many to be the more exciting regatta. While only two yachts compete in the America's Cup, several take part in the LV Cup which has been a rite of passage for yachtsmen looking to challenge the defending champion of the America's Cup since 1983.

A beautiful new book celebrates this great era in world-class sailing: The Louis Vuitton Cup: 25 Years of Yacht Racing in Pursuit of the America's Cup. Louis Vuitton's ties to the world of yachting go back much further of course. In addition to many traveling trunks and items designed for use on ocean voyages, from 1933 to 1938 Gaston-Louis Vuitton developed a unique model boat division, and in 1935 for example one could acquire from LV a scale model of Cornelius Vanderbilt's famous steam yacht the North Star (see the gallery).

The book, by yacht designer, professor of naval architecture at the University of Nantes, and marine author and artist Francois Chevalier, pays homage to the exceptional navigators and avid photographers who helped forge the reputation of the Louis Vuitton Cup, and offers an impassioned account of the competition's inception and vision, accompanied by gorgeous photographs both modern and vintage. The book also offers an in-depth look at seven landmark races in the regatta's history.



The Louis Vuitton Cup also shows how the America's Cup itself paralleled Vuitton's expansion from a company that began by making travel trunks to its current stature as an internationally renowned luxury brand. The book traces the trajectory of the Louis Vuitton Cup, recounting stories of the individual races and victories, from the first in Newport, Rhode Island in 1983 (won by the Australia II which went on to win the America's Cup, puting an end to 132 years if American dominance) to the last in Valencia, Spain in 2007, won by the Emirates Team New Zealand. It presents profiles of its greatest winners and pays tribute to the world's most talented yachtsmen and the photographers who, passionate about the sea, helped forge the regatta's reputation.

For years developers have been anticipating the needs of the retiring baby boomers by building massive 55-and-over community complexes. But they didn't bet on a slumping economy and a down real estate market that would leave aging Americans unable to stop working and sell their homes. Even those that are already in these communities are struggling to pay their homeowner's dues and condo fees because their retirement accounts are dwindling. The Wall Street Journal covers the growing trend that finds many developments considering opening their doors to younger buyers.

Not everyone is embracing these changes. Some people worry that the mixing of ages would change the nature of the developments bringing more traffic and noise as well as municipal expenses such as schools for younger children. Warm-weather retreats such as Arizona, California and Florida are most affected by this trend. Some are lowering the age requirement from 55 to 45 but still keeping the ban against young children in place. There are also potential legal questions in some cases in regards to zoning since some of these developments have been in zoned specifically for senior housing. Meanwhile prices in these communities, especially in Florida, are plummeting. In the Century Village retirement development in Deerfield Beach two-bedroom condos that would have sold for $120,000 a couple of years ago can now be found for as low as $40,000, a fact that is attracting younger buyers to try and move in.

The problem is that no one knows just how long the current economic situation will last. Some condo developments are trying to wait out the inevitable upswing which will bring baby boomers back to their doorsteps while some developments which had banked on immediate sales, are doing whatever they can to get sales now.

As part of World AIDS day today, W Hotels has announced that it will be the official hotel partner of (RED)WIRE, the new online music magazine by (RED). Applying the (RED) idea to music, (RED)WIRE helps to buy lifesaving medicine and other services for those living with HIV/AIDS in Africa by contributing a portion of the proceeds from memberships to the Global Fund, which works to help eliminate AIDS globally. Subscribers will pay for a subscription that will entitle them to exclusive tracks from artists including U2, John Legend, The Killers, Kid Rock and Coldplay. Half of the money goes directly to Africa and half goes to the artists and the music company.

All W Hotels in the United States will be giving guests access to a free, two week membership to (RED)WIRE during the month of December and will feature a (RED)WIRE package that includes a six month membership, Through December 2009, W Hotels" (RED)WIRE package will include in addition to accommodations, a limited edition USB drive featuring beautiful (PRODUCT)RED-inspired artwork from African artist Joseph Amedokpo, which connects guests to exclusive content on (RED)WIRE, a six month (RED)WIRE membership and a special bonus track from (RED)WIRE artist John Legend as well as two INSPI(RED) cocktails.

Hot young designer Jason Wu, who we mentioned recently on this blog, got a big boost into the national spotlight last week when Michelle Obama wore his #17 from his Spring 2009 collection for her interview with Barbara Walters. The $3,510 raw silk dress with hand-embroidered rosettes is part of a line of elegant evening gowns and ladylike dresses selling in the $1,000 to $6,000 range. The dress features hand-embroidered florets with French knots that took 100 hours of labor in a New York studio. Wu told the Wall Street Journal's Heard on the Runway that Mrs. Obama paid for the dress. It bears noting that Wu's fashionable and feminine Spring 2009 line features more than a couple of ball gowns which could be perfect for an Inauguration gala but apparently Wu isn't focusing on that, telling the WSJ that it's "a long shot."