the vintage lady: carat

authentic vintage jewellery could generally be considered to be so if it is older than 20 years, although styles of the 1930's to 1960's are most popular and largely recognized as vintage. much hype surrounds vintage jewellery in the fashion world, so there are a lot of modern pieces widely available attempting to imitate vintage style jewellery. 

Renee Zellweger: vintage Cartier

vintage style jewellery typically features oval shapes, filigree patterning, diamond and princess cut crystals, pearls, cameos and gemstones.

vintage style jewellery has become so popular largely due to certain trend setting celebrities who habitually wear it. among those top trend setting celebrities are keira knightly, kate middleton and dita von teese.

Kate Middleton

kate middleton has quickly become a popular trend setter for vintage jewellery as her style is quite unique, standing out, compared to the likes of most other celebs around her age. kate middleton's style is always lady like, elegant, dignified, timeless and graceful, as most women would like to be perceived, which is why she has become a fashion icon.

Keira Knightly: vintage Bulgari

keira knightly tends to draw on fashions from the 1920's to 1960's, finding much inspiration from her earlier era movies. her style is typically lady like and elegant also but a bit more relaxed than kate middleton, often opting for loose fitting, glowing garments.

Dita von Teese

dita von teese's style is very much defined by classic vintage retro styles and burleque glamour. while dita von teese may be a lesser known celeb, she is originally famous for burlesque dancing and currently more so for her fashion sense which is built on top of that.

fash'on... BAM!

furry's finest

for the greater part of today, we've discussed about whether pets should or should not be dressed up and if their coats should be coloured. the ownership of a pet is a lifetime commitment. a pet is not a toy that you can put the switch button to off. in 2010 alone, overall spending of the states in the pet industry grew by 6.2 percent from $45.53 billion in 2009 to $48.35 billion in 2010. in canada, the average dog owner claims to spend over $1800 annually on each dog while the average cat owner spends around $1400 on each cat. this covers food, treats, vet, meds, litter, grooming, toys and other paraphernalia.

if you have more cash to part with, here are some of the finest accessories that you can buy for your pets.

Swarovski-studded Bathtub

in 2011, luxury goods designer lori gardner introduced extremely dazzling bathtub studded with 44,928 rose pink swarovski crystals. to continue this collection she created a mini-version of the tube adapted for your little poo. swarovski-studded dog bathtub allows your pet splashing in the lap of luxury. It comes with rose pink swarovski crystals placed by hand which probably took countless hours. the price is about $4000.

collar by Jeune Cheri

fancy a new pet collar? this one by jeune cheri retails at $280,000.

Hello Kitty doghouse

looking for unusual or unexpected luxury doghouse? this luxury doghouse was created in 2007 for a sales event at a department store in tokyo in collaboration with a maker of high-end pet goods. the doghouse is large enough for a chihuahua or terrier and is decorated with 7600 crystal beads and has a pillow in the shape of hello kitty’s face. this hello kitty doghouse will be available for you if you have over $30,000 to spare.

Tiara by Riwin Jirapolsek

it seems the world’s designers don’t feel financial crisis. in 2009, young thai jewellery designer riwin jirapolsek shocked the world by creating $4.2 million diamond tiara for his 15 year-old dog. it was shown to the audience during bangkok dog fashion show last week. the expensive pet tiara was created from titanium and decorated by more than 100 carats of diamonds and 153 carats of emeralds. to make such expensive dog tiara he used precious stones given to him by his mother. it took him two months to finish. the designer has no plans to sell this luxury tiara, he created it specially for kanune, his maltese pet.

the Amour Amour dog collar

finally, if you have $3.2 million, you can also buy the amour amour dog collar. it weighs in at 52 carats and is encrusted with 1,600 diamonds.

fash'on... BAM!

five bags to lust after

ever since i started blogging, the only bags i've acquired are eyebags (see what blogging has done to my sense of humour?)... haha... all right, lame jokes aside, i love bags too. i have a bag for every aspect of my life: a haversack for work, a sports bag for dragonboat, a gym bag, a bag for climbing. with bags, i don't need them luxurious and expensive but these are five bags that we can all lust after.

1) mouawad's 1001 nights diamond purse - $3.8 million

officially certified by guinness world record, the heart-shaped purse is handcrafted from 18kt gold and has 4,517 diamonds with a total weight of 381.92 carats. it was made by ten artisans who worked on it for a total of 8,800 hours.

2) hermes birkin by ginza tanaka - $1.9 million

this was sold in 2008 for around $1.9 million. it is made of platinum and has over 2,000 diamonds. it is also versatile, so that in addition to being a handbag, the diamond strap can be used as a necklace or bracelet by removing it from the bag. the bag also has an 8-carat pear shaped shimmering diamond that can be used separately.

3) chanel 'diamond forever' classic handbag - $261,000

this handbag boasts 334 diamonds for a total of 3.56 carats, in 18-carat white gold. the shoulder straps are also made from white gold. worldwide, there are only thirteen available with five of them being in the usa.

4) lana marks cleopatra bag - $250,000

lana marks produces one cleopatra clutch for retail each year. helen mirren wore the $250,000 lana marks cleopatra clutch at the 2007 academy awards. lana only allows one star per year to carry her handmade diamond studded designs down the crimson carpet.

5) hermes matte crocodile birkin bag - $120,000

named after british singer / actress jane birkin. the clasp of this tote boasts 10 carats of white diamonds and the bag is made of crocodile skin.

happy lusting (i mean lunching!) fash'on... BAM!