Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Leave It To My Friends...

Cartier LOVE bracelet $2,000
 Upon seeing Vogues Holiday Gift Guide, I thought to myself, "What would I put on that list if it were mine?". I asked a few of my favorite stylish friends as well, and after the cliched "world peace" and "feeding the hungry", I got to the decadent meat of the matter at hand! Here are my friends ridiculously stylish Christmas Dreams! (Disclaimer, I did ask my friends to consider being extremely selfish, and pretend money was not an issue!).

Let's start off with Me! I know everyone here is expecting me to say the albino crocodile Birkin with pave diamond padlock, but I am gonna go with a set of 8 Cartier Love bracelets! I love the idea of stacking a bunch on my right arm, so I figure 7 is a nice round number... And obviously the 8th would be for the person giving the gift! So, the person who loves me enough to give me this dream gift is gonna be able to spend a cool $20,000 for all 8 of them. Ah, The gift of "Love".

Cierra Salzano (Model at San Diego Model Management)- HEAD Ski's
Head Ski's $899
In typical California girl style, Cierra Salzano is wishing for an active, sporty Christmas! Her Christmas would be spent on the slopes, with a new set of Head brand ski's. I went all out for her and priced the best set, with all the accoutrement's! Her's was so simple, I threw in all the vital pieces... After all, she didn't ask for an Hermes ski set... At $900 for the ski's themselves, and $600 for a good pair of Head brand boots, Cierra's request should be easy to achieve.

Louis Vuitton Trunk $22,000
Jose Covarrubias (Booker and Scout, Wilhelmina Models)- Full set of Louis Vuitton Monogram luggage. Including a steamer trunk!
For Jose's gift I included a duffel, a classic hard sided suitcase, a rolling case, 2 carry ons (one hard sided, and the other a soft shell...), a passport holder and cosmetic case in the scenario. The price of the vintage steamer trunk doubled Jose's Wish price to $40,375! To be fair he travels a lot for work, so this gift would actually be considered quite practical.


Necker Island $371,000 for a Week
Elgin Wright (Stylist, Saks Fifth Ave Studio Services Consultant,  Fashion Blogger, )- 10 day vacation on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands.
Necker Island is privately owned by Virgin Air owner Richard Branson. It is fully staffed with basic service, trainer, yoga instructor, chefs, guides, and a helicopter pilot. "There is nothing more indulgent than luxury travel, and sharing it with close friends, creating a perfect memory in every moment... Oh, and who doesn't love a do everything butler?" I had better be included in that group of friends!

Chanel White J12 Watch $5,000
Katie O'Connell (Director of E-commerce at Elie Tahari)- Chanel J12 in white enamel.
Katie is a classic girl, with an incredible sense of style, that mixes her fondness for street culture with designer goods from Chloe, Alexander Wang, and Isabelle Marant. Well with this post she wants to introduce some Chanel into her wardrobe, with the classic masculine watch! The white heat tempered ceramic watch is practically indestructible, and always looks great on! In fact one of the biggest trends in fashion for the last decade is a large mariner style watch on a petite frame, and who better to supply that watch than Chanel... The size Katie is looking at starts right near $5,000... Dream Big!

Hermes Birkin Starting $6,00
Silvia Hermanny (Personal Shopper, Stylist, Owner of Fashion House by Silvia Hermanny )- Canary Yellow Hermes Birkin.
A classic bag in an exciting color would be this San Diego based fashionsta's dream! The Birkin's classic nature is offset by the fabulous Canary yellow! The bright yellow is a brave choice, but Silvia is nothing if not brave!  The Birkin starting price is now right around $6,000, and with the bright color, and depending on hardware, the cost will go up from there! I would typically be asking for the same thing, probably the classic Hermes Orange color, but Silvia came with her answer first!

Chanel Bike $17,000
Jeffrey Parish (Owner Junc Boutique, Clothing Designer)- Chanel Bicycle, to ride to private cooking lessons in Provence.
The collectors edition Chanel Bicycle was all over fashion weeks, a couple seasons ago. Agnyss Dean rode it to shows in Paris, and Jeffrey put it on his X-mas wish list as well! Specifically for transportation for the cooking classes at Hotel Le Pigonnet. Having eaten at the Parish compound more than once, I don't think the classes are necessary, for Jeffrey, the experience alone would be the reason to traipse around the French countryside! The bicycle runs a mild $17,000, with the classes running $2000 for a week long visit!

Hermes Cuff $1,000 Each
Brigette O'Donovan (Public Relations Expert atBaby Bird Communications)- Hermes, Collier De Chien Cuffs.
Hermes is a popular dream gift this season. Brigette, a local favorite of mine, is wishing for the classic black and gold Hermes cuff. I personally think she deserves 2! The cuff adds a touch of tough chic to a cocktail dress, and still manages to class up jeans and a sweater. The cuffs start at around $1,000, and end up close to $70,000 for the gold one (a secret holiday wish of mine...) But as Brigette just wants the leather piece, we'll say $1,000! For the look at right, we'd better go with $2,000!



Heidsiek Diamante Bleu $250,000
Jose Rivera (Lead MU Artist at Sephora Pro)- Heidsiek Diamante Bleu Vintage 1907.
Well, a VERY impressive choice! This is the highest price ever to be put on a bottle of bubbly! With good reason, they were sunk at the beginning of WW1 and sat at the bottom of the Gulf of Finland! Sold at auction, after being discovered on board the shipwreck of the Swedish freighter Jonkoping in 1998, the bottles tend to sell upward of $200,000, with the highest going for $275,000! Of course they normally sell as historic novelty items, I certainly wouldn't turn down a glass when Jose offers, after all, they were preserved in the frigid waters!

Billy Kirk Satchel $325
Tyrone Spencer (Menswear Bloggist, Style Consultant)- Billy Kirk NO.95 Satchel
Tyrone says of his choice "I don't ask for much really, just something that has a bit of substance. The weight and meaning behind this hand-stitched shoulder satchel only comes with something 100% handmade and stitched together, each one taking several hours to complete. Think about it: It's few and far between that you come across this kind of artisan craftsmanship, with built in heirloom quality out of the gate." I totlly agree, and am so looking into other pieces from these guys! Check out the entire collection at BILLYKIRK.com

Cavalli Dress $10,000
Mimi Abrahams (Personal Stylist)- Gulf Stream 6, Vacation in a Moroccan Riad, and Cavalli Gown.
Ms. Abrahams is definitely not your typical young mother, she is a diva all the way! Mimi is wishing for a flight to Morocco, to stay at a Gorgeous Riad (a classic Moroccan palace!), and hosting a star studded party at the palace! With a lot of specifics! Flying to the north African country in her private G6, and departing the plane wearing her Cavalli gown! With a guest list including Valentino Garavani, Karl Lagerfeld, and Anna Wintour, this Christmas list is the most fashionable (read expensive!) and definitely would blow the Vogue list out of the water! At 8 hrs, for the flight, at $14,500 per hour, a flight to Morocco is $116,000, double that for Mimi to get home. Renting the Riad would be about 16,00 for a week... The party is set to be extravagant, so figure another $70,000 for that event, and the Cavalli dress? Well, add another $10,000...So with all added up, Mimi gets the grand total of $328,000... God, I am set to have some great vacations this year, with some really great people!

 This was a really fun post! Thanks to everyone who helped with it! You guys are some of the most fabulous people I could know! Happy holidays, no matter what you're doing!