Today in Chelsea, 85 top vintage dealers gathered at Metropolitan Pavilion for a textile show and sale. The room was full of sparkling jewels, fur coats, and gowns fit for princesses. Menswear wasn't ignored either; vintage boots, suits, and cufflinks were abundant.
Above is a display of items from Exquisite Costume, a vintage clothier with a shop in Soho. At right is a closer look at that fabulous boa; one of the most exciting pieces we saw.
Our pick of the show was a boutique called Grape in the Shade. Previously featured in Travel and Leisure, Grape in the Shade is a vintage shop in Connecticut with a reputation for having whimsical, classical wares. Owner Joanna Lombardi, whose taste is exceptional, was an absolute treat. Their website will be up and running soon. For now, you can contact the shop (we recommend them for hats and jewelry) at 860-868-9119.
Also spotted at the Manhattan Vintage show was Mad Fashionista Elisa DeCarlo, an eccentric seller of fine plus-sized vintage clothes.
The next three shows are already scheduled, so if you didn't make it this time, watch for the show again in February, April, and October of 2009. You can keep tabs here at ManhattanVintage.com.
These days when a famous hotel needs a redesign, they often make a cottage industry of selling off the old design. The Royal Monceau in Paris is selling off furniture, mirrors, minibars, curtains, bar stools, dishes and more in a multi-day auction that ends today. The grand hotel has played host to many famous faces since its opening in 1928 including everyone from Ernest Hemingway to Britney Spears. The sale is expected to bring in around one million euros with some of the top pieces for sale including an 18th century commode and a Louis XIV-style marble table. Next week, on June 26th, VIPs are invited to a "demolition party" to help smash whatever is left over.
The four-star hotel will reopen in Fall 2009 after a thorough redesign by Philippe Starck that will give the hotel a style referred to as "Art Deco revisited which is expected to give the hotel more oomph to attract a younger crowd.
She's getting rid of 430 items total, including clothing and accessories from designer names like Dior, Balmain, Balenciaga, and textiles from as far back as 1700. Also included in the sale will be several outfits and evening dresses worn to various events, and perhaps most noteworthy of all the wedding dress she wore at her wedding to Mick Jagger back in 1990. The goodies will be auctioned off at Sotheby's in London on June 10th, with all proceeds going to benefit the homeless through the Emmaus charity.
Whenever a celebrity tries to sell something expensive on eBay there's always speculation as to motives, but here's a case where it's pretty obvious what the deal is: music producer Scott Storch is short on cash. He's selling his yacht, called "Tiffany," on eBay for well under its $20 million value (per Rolling Stone magazine) because apparently he can't afford to keep it anymore. As of right now it's going for just under $1,000,000. What a deal.
UPDATE: Bidding has ended at $1,000,101, that's a fair amount of cash but not enough to meet the reserve, looks like Storch is going to have to try again.
If you're looking to buy beautiful pieces of fine art you don't always have to battle it out in the auction world. TEFAF, or "The European Fine Art Fair," is scheduled to start this week and will run from March 7th - 16th. Last year the fair sold more than $500 million in fine art, and this year they hope to not only meet but exceed that number.
TEFAF is geared towards the "highest caliber of collector," and they are actually looking to avoid big crowds because they "threaten the fair's reputation of quality and exclusivity." Among many valuable items that will be available for sale is the 1890 "The Child with an Orange" by Van Gogh for $30 million.
Donna Karan is doing a little spring cleaning, which means a huge warehouse sale of all kinds of things she's been hoarding over the years. The sale will take place on March 13th and 14th in New York City at the Stephen Weiss Studio, and profits from the 2,000+ items will support different charities through Donna Karan's Urban Zen program.
In addition to all kinds of shoes, handbags, jewelry, and couture gowns Karan has decided to sell a black and white gown worn by Barbara Streisand, several vintage pieces she found inspiring, and a few creations from her first collection. She was quoted as saying things were "out of control" and that she plans to clear some things out on a yearly basis from now on.
Well, it's supposedly his bling. We have Haitham Wihaib's word (an ex Saddam Hussein employee) that the items he's putting up for sale (including a custom-made gold and diamond Rolex, Dior sunglasses, and a Cartier pen with which Saddam was rumored to sign death warrants) used to belong to the famous Iraqi tyrant. Overall Wihaib hopes to raise £350,000 from the sale, to be put towards Iraqi schools.
Personally I don't care what the reason, I wouldn't buy that creep's stuff for any amount of money.
I've covered liquidation sales at the Plaza in New York and the Stardust in Las Vegas but now the famous, or more accurately, infamous Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C. is holding a liquidation sale. The hotel which is getting a posh makeover and plans to re-open in 2009 is selling off beds, silverware, artwork and other items. There are deals to be had on columns, televisions but few items bear the word Watergate and there is nothing there that is connected to the Nixon-era when the Watergate hotel became synonymous with scandal. The sale is this weekend and costs $10 to get in.
Care to go designer handbag shopping at the local museum?
Wait...what?
Not just any local museum will do, but if you're in the vicinity of the Museum of Contemporary Art in L.A. you can totally go do that. Or you will be able to, once their exhibit honoring Japanese artist Takashi Murakami opens at the end of October. From October 29th to February 11th the museum will have high-end Louis Vuitton handbags and other pricey leather goods available for sale.
The explanation? Some say that in general with museums lately "the lines between commerce and pure art are increasingly blurred." Yeah, that's pretty blurry.
I really don't understand the appeal of selling big name items online -- isn't eBay largely for bargain hunters? But obviously there are plenty of people who don't share my views, as demonstrated by how well this 2005 Lamborghini Murcielago, rumored to be owned by rapper 50 cent, is doing. The auction ends soon and as of writing this post there are 15 bidders and it's currently at $310,000. 50 isn't actually mentioned in the auction, but based on this YouTube video it sure looks like he's the mysterious "celebrity owner."
Care for a little 70 year old champagne from Adolf Hitler's own stash that may or may not be poisoned? Sign me up!
Not really, I'm kidding.
But in all seriousness going up for auction this month on the 17th is a bottle of 1937 Moet et Chandon that was apparently taken by a soldier from the Reich Chancellery in Berlin in 1945 after the Nazis were defeated. And the poisoned part? There was a rumor going around that some of the champagne bottles had been poisoned via injections through the cork.
I might not be interested, but I can still understand why other people would be -- it is a piece of history. Just make sure you store it so there's no chance you're going to pop it open and drink it accidentally this New Years!
Looking to buy a car? And not just any car, but a Porsche Cayenne Limo? Well then eBay is the place for you!
...seriously?
I have heard of the occasional car shopper browsing and bidding religiously through the eBay auto section waiting for that "once in a lifetime bargain," but eBay didn't make it's way to the top of the internet charts by selling cars. So why on earth would somebody choose to it to sell their Porsche? I honestly can't even guess what a car like that is really worth, but I bet it's a good deal more than the current bid (as I write this post) of $55,000. No wonder the reserve hasn't been met.
So do you think any of these bidders bothered to actually go see the car in person? Or is somebody just willing to shell over $55,000 sight unseen? I bet they're just fooling around, knowing that without meeting the reserve the bids won't win.
RFR Holding, the company that owns the building at 1334 York Avenue, has just put it up for sale. We wouldn't necessarily be that concerned with commercial real estate, but this particular building happens to be home to the New York headquarters of Sotheby's and is easily one of the most prestigious auction rooms in the world. The asking price is $500 million.
In 2000, the building was bought by Sotheby's, which spent approximately $140 million dollars above and beyond the $11 million purchase price to have Architects Kohn Pedersen Fox expand the building into a 10-floor, 470,000-sq. ft. "ethereal box," with glass facades in "various degrees of transparency." Sotheby's sold the building to RFR in 2002 for $175 million, retaining the option of a lease of the space for at least 40 years. The lease arrangement, presumably, will not change when the next owners come in.
The oldest known bottle of whiskey in the world is up for auction. The label on the bottle reads "Glenavon Special Liqueur Whisky Bottled by the Distillers" and, as the Glenavon Distillery in Banffshire ceased to operate in 1858, that means that the whiskey is at least 148 years old, possibly as old as 155 years based on other production records. An Irish family had the 14-ounce bottle for generations and they are the ones who have now offered it for sale. The price is expected to go as high as $20,000.
The 5,000-bottle cellar of French president Jacques Chirc brought in over $1.2 million at auction this week. The wines were collected by Chirac while he was mayor of Paris. The bottles which came from the city hall's grand wine cellar earned 961,030 euros ($1,212,147) easily besting the estimate of 700,000 euros. The high ticket items were two bottles of 1986 Romanee Conti (which never fails to hit big numbers) that went to Britain's Antique Wine Company for 5,000 euros each. The sale was ordered by Socialist Mayor Bertrand Delanoe because he was made aware the the collection could bring in big bucks.
Jerry Hall, supermodel, actress, and ex-wife of Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger, 
Donna Karan is doing a little spring cleaning, which means 
RFR Holding, the company that owns 
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