Knowing who and what are the luxury brand names worth owning

I personally have a thing against logo even if it only says V (Vertu) or T (Tom Ford). Even more annoying when the brand is not even known—the whole point of luxury is not to be available to anyone and everyone. Oh wait, I forget I am supposed to tell you to learn about not just designers but luxury designers.

The first thing is to recognize each genre has its ultimate brands. And when you own pieces of luxury you must own from all different designers for the style you posses so you or your life doesn’t end up resembling a designer showroom or an ad. For example, Ralph Lauren is a great designer and the things made by him not only give the aesthetic of ultimate luxury—it resembles it too, but if you know anything about anything you’d know although everything he makes is of great quality he designs the best ties. Or when it comes to alcohol—anyone who drinks Champagne is probably going to order Dom Perignon or Cristal because of is marketed prestige, but I bet you didn’t know that Krug is considered the Rolls-Royce of Champagne?

If you want to know the ultimate thing to own you need to do a little searching. Look for things under genre (shoes, silver, fabric, etc) instead of under designer brand. Once you know which genre it falls under look for one with history and prestige, usually it will always be the ones that are most pricy. You can start your search by looking at magazines aimed for groups who own country homes, or goes on vacation during the week, or always on the go. You can also look for magazines online by searching under luxuries to own. And most important, go to museums or showrooms and seek out collectors items by designers. Once you know the brand you also have to know what are the signature pieces by these designers.

It is easy to fall under marketing trickery think Channel’s pearl necklace is the best when knowing its history would tell you all their semi-precious is man-made; or Luis Vitton makes the best fur-coat when truly they are luggage maker. Don’t get me wrong, its nothing wrong with having logo posted all over your neck, all I am saying is there are things to own by these designers that are specialized and known for, and those items are considered luxury. Luxury is having a piece of item that has been meticulously made by a specialized person for years without fault.

The thing to realize is you don’t buy luxury for others but for yourself. And when if you do, buy it with none to least amount of logo branding. You don’t need big Patek Phillip logo to show its prestige. A person that knows the item will know who it is made of and the cost of it. Whenever I hear people rubbing a logo on the face I’m always tempted to say, ‘I hear you are being accepted into an exclusive club cause they need someone to snub.’

Knowing what we want from what we need

We go out shopping and we almost never seem to recognize what we want versus what we need. It is as absurd to buy a sterling teapot set when you never drink tea or to own designer croc-skin shoes when everything in your closet is made by H&M; it is obnoxious to buy a stole made of Marten fur when your friends can’t tell what sable looks like; and it is ridiculous spend your whole paycheck on owning one item of luxury when you have to eat noodles for the next two weeks.

NEED:

You must not misunderstand me. It is nothing wrong with wanting to have the ultimate luxury but when it comes to shopping for needs you’re not follow your heart but your head. I always follow my 7 days rules:

1^st Go through your wardrobe, closet, armoire and make a list of what you need;

2^nd Set a budget of how much you can afford, so when you are looking for your luxury you can only look at things inside your price range;

3^rd go shopping during early hours of stores opening when it is clearly empty and sales people are full of energy to help. Or even go few days before hand and have the items you want on hold until sale day;

4^th never shop with your friends. There might be resentment about how you may look better in a dress or how you purchased the last bowl, or even how you bought the same curtains. You have trouble deciding on the style and color no need for a human being’s unhappy eyes;

5^th ignore advertisements. Most retailers put up advertisement of sales they want to get rid of quickly. Only look for the things you came in for;

6^th always get a salesperson to help you. It will save you time and energy for the next item you might be looking for. And think of it this way, meeting a new person might make you a new friend (mmmh, employee discounts!);

7^th always learn of the return policies. If you are unsatisfied or change your mind make sure you can at least get store credit. It makes no sense to keep it even if it was 90% off if you are never going to have a use for it.

WANT:

This is the funny part where I can relate to everyone else the most. I really want things that are pretty and have very little use in my everyday life. Each item needs to be a piece of art in its own, from the box where tea is stored to the spoon used for sugar to the cup it is poured in—mind you I almost never make tea. However I do believe that when I am home I must have the best of luxuries because home is one place comfort should rain. So how do I shop for my wants? I think of the four seasons:

1^st summer: I find that perfect piece of furniture or a fur coat or a watch. It gets me so excited that I can’t wait to purchase it. But I realize how it is out of my budget and how I have things that are similar. So I promise myself to wait for it to go on sale.

2^nd autumn: I realize how these pieces are numbered and very few in supply and are not going to go on sale or can be acquired by other means. I try to bargain to see if possibly I can get some sort of discount from the retailer or designer.

3^rd winter: with no luck I am told I can only get it at full price. So I look into my collection and figure out the items I can part with—so I can sell them to get some money.

4^th spring: now with money in cash form I go back to the retailers willing to pay the MSRP however before I do I haggle with the salesperson a little more. When they realize you are serious with money, how very few people will pay these absurd amount, and have a sales quota to fill they might just give you a discount. Or might suggest to have the item mailed so you don’t have to pay tax.

At the end of the day the road to learning the difference between needs and wants is by evaluating your surroundings, affiliation, social status, and economical status. Always be true to your heart because the first time you saw that piece of watch or shoe you knew you’d love it forever, and that's what you'll do. You don't know what it does to you with a clue nor do you know what it would be like to have thing on you…don’t worry about what people think, its hard to get the big picture when they have such a small screen. For their insignificant comments we will not call them stupid, we’ll just say they’re possessed by a retarded ghost.

Fashion vs. style

Fashion vs. style. Are you a slave to what you see in magazines and on the rack at expensive stores? Or do you know what you want to wear, seek it out at the lowest price, and mix and match what works for you and creates the look you want to project.

Do you wear logos? Not your logo. Someone else's logo. Why? Do you want to advertise somebody else's product? Or is it your intention to show that you really know how to be in fashion by having Versace written all over your body.

You actually paid for that logo shirt. They should be paying you. I have noticed recently that sometimes people forget the difference between fashion and style. Yes, most designers produce fashionable products, yet did you notice that, with few exceptions, year after year they make same product just mixing up a few details, different colors. Sometimes its not what you have on or person next to you has on but how you are wearing it, with what are you wearing it, and what attitude do you have in your face. That is when style comes into play.

Fashion costs money. Yet anyone can be fashionable by borrowing some ideas and putting them to practice. But the main question is can you be stylish? Style is not expensive but it requires total freedom—freedom from internal and external self-importance. An undamaged ego.

Of course there's nothing wrong with having well crafted, hand made designer things. You work hard and deserve to treat yourself. But it does not look good when people walk down the street in Coach shoes, a Louis Vuitton bag hanging from the elbow, neck wrapped in a Burberry scarf, head covered with Dior. At best, it looks foolish. And it always looks as if you're trying too hard.

You can spend $20 on an outfit and look phenomenal. And you know how there's always some girl who looks like they just rolled out of bed but somehow her hair looks fabulous and her skin is glowing? That takes confidence... and confidence is always sexy, stylish, and fashionable.

A monotonous person will always be boring. Excitement exists only in fascination and titillation. A fashion-unconscious person will always be senseless. Fashion exists only for the mannequins choose what they wear by label alone.

How to Shop

I have finally decided to clean out my storage room and I had someone come help me. As we were cleaning we realized each item I owned had a designer name printed on it and some things that I have never used still had MSRP (Manufactured Suggested Retail Price) Tag still on them. My helper asked “did you really pay $135 for a pair of socks, or $300 for underwear…how can you afford them?” I smiled back with an unwillingness to share my secret—but then when I saw (out of all people) my sister ready to fork $1000 for a Georg Jensen fork I realized how very few people really know how to shop or where to shop.

So after years of experimenting as a fashion stylist and working as a personal shopper, I will reveal few of my shopping secrets in the next few weeks as these articles follows. When it comes to brand names I will teach you how to be smart like a Chinese, dress like a gay-man, bargain like an Indian, oh and to save money like a Jew! Next time you need a gift for birthday, surprise attack, or wedding remember this article is here to the rescue!

Before we go any further, let recognize few keys to shopping: Knowing the difference between style and fashion; Knowing what we want from what we need; Knowing who and what are the brand names worth owning; Knowing why certain brand cost more than other—recognizing a budget; and Knowing where to shop.

Assuming that you know the first four (if not look out for future articles), we will discuss ‘where to shop?’

One way to do is go to the designers flagship shops on Madison avenue and inquire within when is there preview sale/private sales/discontinued sale/seasonal sales/sample sale will take place? Some salesmen may give you the answers without hesitation, others may not and if they don’t—ask for the corporate office and their showrooms contact info. Once you have that info sign up for their in-house sales events.

2^nd way to do it is signing up on website which will send you invitation to sales event. Few of my favorites: theluxuryspot.com, exclusifny.com, mediabistro.com

3^rd way to do it is to go to shops that carry the designer items once they choose to not put them on sale in store and clear the space for new items. Then you can check out these shops: Gabbys, Hidden Treasures, Daffy’s, and Century 21.

4^th way to do it is to go online. Once you know which items you want. Request the sales-person to write the name and style number, and you can search it online for cheaper prices.

5^th way to do it is and the BEST way to do it is to keep reading these articles as I reveal more secrets. What you waiting for, go seek out your secret and splurge!!!

Brooklyn Has Fashion

Living and working as a Visual-merchandiser for designer like Etro, Moschino, Helmut Lang, Theory, Nautica among others, I have come to adore New York City. There is nothing more or less that makes NYC unique but the fashion-statements people put out. For example, if you walk down midtown, you’ll find the best dressed people you always wanted to imitate, only to realize they are the servants of Gucci or Dior retail shops; if you walk down financial district, you’ll find alluring ensembles, only to realize their Kiton suits know nothing about simplicity; if you walk down uptown, you’ll find people who resembles the homeless man you always give quarters to, only to realize his Berluti shoes cost more than your mortgage; but, if you by chance walked into Brooklyn, you’re in for a surprise!

In Manhattan, mannequins decide what people wear and I am fine with that. But whenever I get stuck with the hipsters of Brooklyn, I want to scream ‘I've seen people like you, but I had to pay admission!’ Don’t get me wrong; great designers do come out of Brooklyn (eg. Jason Miller, Dior) and these hipsters do wear apparels by famous design houses but the way they translate these fashion is offbeat.

The offbeat ness is so unusual, there is a website dedicated to these Brooklyn-hipsters. If you are anyway interested in fashion you might want to look at it (http://www.latfh.com) —if they don’t make you laugh, they will help you vomit. What about their faces and bodies you ask? They are like a bunch of elephants sporting pink leopard suits that makes me want to make out with a toilet. I guess they do serve a purpose, to be a fashionista—we all know how hard it can be to vomit at times and they are here to help us retain that thin, beautiful hanger image.

But where would these hangers be without their fashion-week, Brooklyn Fashion Week? They are filled with indie-designers that are talented in their own individual rights, however as a whole fashion-collection in makes no sense. Fashion needs to tell a story, it needs to express an idea but these indie-designers express a style instead. Yes, style remains and fashion passes, but if it is always the same where is the fun in that? And if you are one of those people who believes style is fashion. Well, then I admit that Brooklyn is better at fashion than anyone, now all they needs is style.