London-born, New York-based menswear designer Duncan Quinn has come out with a shirt designed specifically for the ultimate gentleman's sport, croquet. Quinn, whose rakish take on Savile Row-style tailoring has won fans like Sean Combs, Entourage star Adrien Grenier, LeBron James and alt-rockers Green Day, was recently featured in The Classicist's Best of Men's Style special. The croquet shirts are made of beautiful 100% piqué cotton and come in a variety of arresting colors with contrasting details and Quinn's signature fleur-de-lys emblem embroidered on the chest. Priced at $105, they are now available at Quinn's stores in New York, Dallas and Los Angeles, as well as via his website; special versions will also be on offer at his forthcoming Limited Editions pop-up shop in Miami's design district, featuring its own indoor croquet pitch.

[via JustLuxe]

The real estate market in Aspen, CO has recovered somewhat and its priciest zip code is now the most expensive neighborhood in the U.S., according to a new ranking by Forbes. Back in February we reported on the dire straits of Aspen real estate, when Sotheby's International Realty shuttered its Aspen office in the wake of plummeting sales. Now Aspen's south end 81611 zip code, home to ultra-luxe ski lodges, is top of the field with an impressive $6.5 million median home sale price, the magazine reports. However the seasonal nature of the Aspen market gives it a yearly boost which might well mean its triumph is temporary; and indeed the big picture is still pretty glum. "In 2007, the market in our valley was $2 billion in sales," top Aspen broker Steve Walker tells Forbes, "this year it'll be between $500 million and $1 billion. In volume and dollars, it's been a 50% drop."

We predict that Beverly Hills, which is currently in 3rd place, will quickly eclipse Aspen especially since a mansion was just sold there for $31.5 million, the most expensive property sold in California so far this year, while a second recently changed hands for $22 million. The former, a 27,000-sq.-ft. Norman-style estate on 2 acres with 10 bedrooms, 14 baths and seven fireplaces, had originally been listed at $45 million and was on the market for almost nine months. Aspen's neighboring Snowmass Village has also experienced a resurgence. Other neighborhoods that have clocked recent gains include the Hollywood Hills and Chappaqua, NY, while the second most expensive zip belongs to Alpine, NJ, a luxurious New York suburb home to Wall Street execs and rap moguls like Sean Combs and Damon Dash.

Want to live in the country's priciest zip? There are several choice Aspen properties available including this $60 million estate, this $58 million spread and this cozy $43.8 million ski lodge. Here's the new list of the top five most expensive zip codes in the U.S. as determined by median prices (which are quite high overall right now at the top end):

1. Aspen, CO, 81611: $6.5 million
2. Alpine, NJ, 07620: $4.7 million
3. Beverly Hills, CA, 90210: $4.04 million
4. Snowmass Village, CO, 81654: $3.99 million
5. Newport, CA, 92661: $3.9 million

While he eagerly threw away $750,000 on an unsolicited James Bond movie audition last month, Sean "Diddy" Combs he has refused to cough up the $50,000 ticket price to President-Elect Barack Obama's inauguration in Washington on January 20.

The rap mogul has flatly refused to pay his way even though stars like Halle Berry and Sharon Stone have opened their wallets. "It's hilarious," an insider tells Vogue UK. "Sean Combs is trying to get four tickets. He's acting like it's a party at Bungalow 8 [a nightclub in New York], like they should just let him in. He's too cheap to pay and thinks he can just show up."

Ciroc Vodka and Sean "Diddy" Combs have made an interesting offer to the city of New York. The company, which already has massive billboards installed in Times Square, has offered $1 million to a charity on behalf of the city in exchange for a New Year's Eve ball takeover. The vodka brand wants to change the historic crystal ball to blue to match the blue sphere on the Ciroc vodka bottle. Quite a stunt but I'd be surprised if city took the cash. It seems to be an opportunity like that should be worth at least $10 million.What the press release doesn't reveal is that Combs is already booked to host a party in Miami on New Year's Eve at the Fontainebleau.

Earlier this month, nouveau James Bond Daniel Craig floated the idea that his successor in the famous role need not be white. "I think the role could easily be played by a black actor, because the character created by Ian Fleming in the '50s has undergone a great deal of evolution and continues to be updated," Craig said at a Quantum of Solace press conference. "After Barack Obama's victory I think we might have reached the moment for a colored 007."

Rap mogul, designer and aspiring actor Sean "Diddy" Combs (above) apparently not only agrees, but has determined the Bond role should go to him. Combs just spent $750,000 of his own money shooting a sort of audition / calling card which he sent to Bond producers in an effort to convince them. The video, full of Bond-like action sequences, was shot in the South of France. "This is my audition tape for the next James Bond," Combs tells the London Daily Mirror. "There is a black President and it's time for there to be a black Bond."

Sean "Diddy" Combs' relentless (and so far fairly fruitless) pursuit of an acting career has apparently taken a toll on his finances. In the latest installment of his video blog, the rap mogul complains that the gas price explosion has forced him to forego the use of his private jet on his now frequent trips to Los Angeles to meet with movie people. "Gas prices are too f-ing high!" he complains in the clip. "If I'm flying back and forth to L.A. twice a month, that's like $200,000 - $250,000 round trip. F-k that!"

As a result, Diddy says, he's gone back to flying commercial, and throws in an appeal to his "Saudi Arabian brothers" to "please send me some oil for my jet." He then insists, "This is really happening!", filming himself boarding an American Airlines flight, adding, "and I'm in coach!" We're pretty sure Diddy, who makes $35 million a year, is joking about that last bit.

Forbes has just released its annual list of the world's highest-paid rappers, and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson has catapulted to the #1 spot with $150 million in earnings over the past 12 months - more than double that of rival Jay-Z at No. 2.

When Forbes inaugurated the Hip-Hop's Cash Kings list last year, Jay-Z was firmly at the top. But 50 raked in over $100 million after taxes on a single deal earlier this year, the mag notes, when his stake in Glacéau (parent co. of VitaminWater) was bought by Coca-Cola as part of a $4.1 billion takeover.

This isn't to say that Jay-Z's doing badly; he recently signed a 10-year deal with concert promoter Live Nation worth $150 million. Meanwhile, Sean "Diddy" Combs and Kanye West clocked in at Nos. 3 and 4 with $35 million and $30 million respectively.

Leonardo DiCaprio's gorgeous Israeli model girlfriend Bar Refaeli appears in the ad campaign for Sean Combs' modestly-named new fragrance, "I Am King." The pix (above) portray Puffy (or Diddy or whatever he's calling himself this week) tooling around in Saint-Tropez and Monaco on helicopters, yachts and so forth with Refaeli (left) and another model in typical mega-mogul fashion. New York magazine reports the new cologne will launch exclusively at Macy's in December with a global launch set for February, and a women's fragrance ("I Am Queen") to follow in 2009; global sales are expected to total $100 million in the first year alone.

Endorsement deals are a great way for celebrities to make extra money. Increasingly they also seem to be getting the endorsers in trouble because deals usually come with a certain level of brand loyalty. The latest in the hot seat is P. Diddy who has a deal with Ciroc vodka. Several sources have reported that Diddy has been seen drinking the pricey 1800 tequila which my colleague Jared Paul Stern mentioned the other day. Usually this wouldn't be a huge issue but P. Diddy has received $100 million to be the brand builder for Ciroc. Eurweb reports that he has issued a press release saying that he's given up "champagne and tequila" and that his PR folks say that the reports of his tequila swilling are false. The NY Post reported just a couple of weeks ago that he was seen drinking Malibu rum and pineapple cocktails, which he also denied.

Don't call Sean "Diddy" Combs a celebrity endorser. He prefers the term "luxury brand builder" and his latest endeavor involves some high-end vodka. He has just signed a multiyear deal to develop Diageo PLC's superpremium Ciroc vodka. And he isn't just putting his name behind the bottle. Combs plans to be very involved in all aspects of the development, focusing on attracting the "movers and shakers" of the vodka drinking world. "They're looking for something that tastes like their lifestyle," he said. "It's that trendsetter, that hipster, someone who's looking for luxury and looking for something better." If all goes well, Comb's 50-50 share of the profits could ultimately net him more than $100 million.

Kimberly Stewart, daughter of rocker Rod, thought she was being a wee bit cheeky when she pinched the keys to P. Diddy's favorite ride, a Maybach limousine, for a brief jaunt to Cannes with a friend during a recent bash. Sean wasn't hip to the joke, however, and quickly sent his flunkies on a wild goose chase for the vehicle.

Rash? We think not -- at a cost of $715,000, we'd be hauling Kim's ass to the nearest precinct. Diddy did get his ride back the next morning, though Kim's people have failed to come up with any kind of statement for the media.

[Source: Now Magazine]

When Sean "Diddy"Combs teamed up with Estée Lauder to create the men's cologne Unforgiven, he did it Diddy-style, with suggestive advertising that turned off a lot of retailers. The controversy didn't hurt sales and now he's back with Unforgivable Multi Platinum, a limited edition version of the original.

Comparing his new scent to a fine wine, he says this luxury version is a better grade of "juice". At $65 for 2.5 ounces, it sells for $10 more than the original version.

A blend of bergamot and iris, the scent is a bit more understated than you might expect from the flamboyant rapper. Always the ladies man, Combs is working on Unforgivable Woman, expected in stores this fall

It was announced today that Sean "Diddy" Combs is discontinuing his pricey women's line "Sean by Sean Combs." Meanwhile, he has announced that he will manufacture, with G-III Apparel,  a new line "Sean John Women's" which is aimed at a younger woman with shallower pockets. It seems to me that Diddy has always tried to straddle two worlds, the luxury and the more mainstream.  This seems to have worked for his menswear but selling to women is a totally different game.