Luxist

Every year, the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is crazier than the last. This year, at the Lexington Avenue Armory in New York City, we saw an array of outfits that were by equal turns beautiful and baffling. We love how Victoria's Secret always manages to dress the Angels in elaborate designs that sit just next to their bodies -- giant wings and capes that cover nothing ... you'll see what we mean in the gallery.

Pictured here is the most expensive item of the evening, the diamond-clad three million dollar bra, being caressed by Marisa Miller, who had the privilege of wearing it. Honestly, it's a bit of a yawn, but we'd feel cheated if they hadn't BeDiamonded something. What's really fun is the crazy pictures in the gallery. It's only once a year that models get to dress up like harlots from the future and it's like, a big honor. So check it out.

These outfits speak for themselves, but that didn't stop us. Why did we include some of the most awkward pictures? Because we're jealous. Enjoy.

Another hotel and condo complex is in foreclosure. The Ritz-Carlton hotel in Denver, Colorado is in foreclosure and condo units will be liquidated in a trustee sale next month according to Globe St. Goldman Sachs was the lender on the project which had sold only one of the 25 residential units.

The project's 25 residential condominiums and two ground-floor commercial condominiums will be sold as one property in a sealed-bid auction next month. The hotel and the condominium are located in what was once an Embassy Suites hotel. The condominium units are on floors 15-19 of the 38-story building with apartments above. The condos share a private owners' lobby with direct elevators, an owners' lounge and board room, and a dedicated concierge. The Globe St. article says that the location across from the Greyhound Bus station and the lack of balconies made the units a hard sell. They were once priced at as much as $800,000 to $4 million but more recently were priced from $500,000 to $3 million.

The Denver Business Journal reports that Chicago lender Transwestern Mezzanine Realty Partners III's lawsuit against individual owners of downtown Denver's Ritz-Carlton Hotel will go to trial next July. Transwestern is suing Ritz owners Steve Roitman and Jim Cobb of Denver-based energy and real estate company BWAB Inc. and hotel developer Charlie Biederman for $9 million in defaulted debt on the hotel. According to the article The Ritz's Forza athletic club building and condominium component have been in foreclosure since June for nonpayment of the $28.8 million balance due on a $95 million mortgage loan.

The Kooba Mila Clutch is spangly and sexy.

This python-embossed leather clutch, with its demure, delicate wristlet and gold ring, is the perfect thing to spice up a little black dress -- or a little green dress, a little gold dress, a little purple dress, and so on. The stripy colors are fresh and playful, and give the bag an 80s feel, but not overwhelmingly, like say, Zubaz (warning, may burn your eyes).

We also love the stroke-me texture, the black leather whipstitching at the edges and especially the long shape, which ensures you will actually be able to put things into this bag. This would be an easy go-to for grabbing off your shelf to glam up an outfit -- even your work clothes.

The Kooba Mila Clutch is available from Neiman Marcus for $325.00.

The holidays are all about glitz and glamour -- even for those who glam it up year round, Christmas and New Years are a time for stepping it up a notch. Consider these Mirror Mosaic Strappy Sandals by Thakoon to be your over-the-top statement splurge this season. Dazzling slip-on style in silver mirrored leather with brick-effect paneling, black suede trim, cutout effect, and angled peep toe opening. The heel measures a sky-high 4.5 inches and the price checks in at an equally high $1,150.

Like 'em? Then you should also check out these Mirror Mosaic Ankle Boots.

Ten artists found a way to make vacant commercial space incredibly exciting. I wandered by 25 Central Park West on a walk in my neighborhood a few days ago and saw artists inside. They were hard at work cleaning, preparing and hanging their pieces. Tapping on the window was one of my smartest moves this week. By doing so, I learned of a new exhibition, which opened Wednesday night. The show, 10 from 25: Emerging Artists using Photography, is set to run through December 13, 2009. It includes flat art and video, bringing to life an empty space in a part of Manhattan generally forgotten by the art community.

The artists, including Bess Greenberg, who gave me a tour of the space as she and the other artists prepared for opening night, have created an integrated show that doesn't sacrifice the message of each of the participants. So, in addition to a group exhibition, visitors are treated to 10 individual efforts, in which one can appreciate a specific style without having to cope with the intrusion of other pieces on his experience.

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Building the perfect stationery set can be a real challenge. To build the ideal collection, you want to find pieces that both reflect your personality and pull from a wealth of design sources. Fortunately FitzGerald Coleman has come to the rescue this holiday season, and done all of the work for you. Introducing curated desk sets, each three-tiered secretary box is expertly filled with elite paper goods from brands like Herman Yu, Pancake & Franks, Paper & Cup, Snow & Graham, TokyoMilk, and John Derian.

Choose your personality: the Romantic, Minimalist, Innovator, Traditionalist, Connoisseur, Humorist, or Modernist, and find a box packed to the brim with luxurious paper goods tailored directly toward your own style. If you love gorgeous die cuts and pop outs, go for the Innovator. If Victoriana is more your style, choose the Traditionalist. If you like to make people laugh, the Humorist is the box for you. In addition to standard stationery, you'll find wrapped cards for every holiday and occasion of the year, all on delicately printed handmade paper. Click through the images to see some of the intricate designs. The boxes are even topped off with a matching pen from Montreal company Pierre Belvédère.

At $145, including shipping, fine paper is the luxury that anyone can afford this holiday season. It's a perfect gift full of wonderful surprises for anyone on your list. Head to FitzGerald Coleman to find your own paper personality.

Today's estate is an idyllic retreat in the Turks and Caicos Islands. This home is on 2.5 acres with an additional .68 acre available. It is located less than two miles from the Grace Bay Beach area which offers access to restaurants, golf, casinos, resorts, shops and more. This home is gated and has its own private road and waterway access.

The property includes a spectacular main house with a glass bottom pool, commercial restaurant quality kitchen facilities, three master bedrooms with en-suite baths, library, sitting room, living room, screening room, secret stairway, cigar/wine room, servants' quarters and an elevator. There are two additional guest homes with private reflection pools. The estate is being sold fully furnished, including art, goods, and equipment. The property can stay as a private estate or be developed a resort.

The asking price is $15.75 million for the main estate property and $1 million for the additional .68 acre. It is listed with Grace Lappin of Avalon Partners.

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Asymmetric diamond layouts are in. Harry Winston showed us this here on the Talk To Me, Harry Winston Snowflake watch, and not Montblanc gives us a taste of what this design aesthetic can produce. coming in January, Montblanc will reveal the new Star Pluie d'Etoiles watch for women. I do quite like the look. The case and dial work together harmoniously, as the watch wouldn't be what it is without both.

The case is 36mm wide and in 18k white gold. The out bezel is lined with baguette cut diamonds, while the inner side of the bezel is done in what looks to be round cut diamonds. The diamonds are top Wesselton, and there are 298 of them on the watch. The dial itself is in black Tahitian mother-of-peal, with a nicely engraved Montblanc star "falling" with the diamonds. Movement is a Swiss ETA automatic, and you know it is a Montblanc by the logo on the side of the case, as well as the characteristic "12" in their standard font. It is all on an alligator strap. A nice wintry ladies' watch this season.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

While I was running around Amsterdam on Museumnacht (an annual event where museums across the city stay open into the wee hours), I found something for which I didn't know I was looking: the world's most expensive cocktail shaker.

The Boston Shaker, as it's called, is located in the gift shop of the House of Bols, a flavored liqueur company whose on-site museum/training facility is worth visiting -- they won the the Dutch Design Award for Best Exhibition & Experience in 2007 and you get to play "guess what flavor you're smelling." It's just across the street from the Van Gogh museum.

The Boston Shaker was created as a collaboration between The House of Bols and their neighbor, Coster Diamonds. It comes packaged as above, in a unique leather case designed and made by French family business Établissements Bernard RDB. The shaker itself is silver, 18 karat gold, and is encrusted with 480 brilliant-cut diamonds weighing 19.05 carats.

The price tag on this one-of-a-kind blinged-up barware is €35,000.00 or approximately $52,164.00.

This trip was paid for by the Netherlands Board of Tourism, but the ideas and opinions expressed in the article above are 100% my own.

We've seen a lot of futuristic superyacht designs that look extremely cool and avant garde, and have no chance at all of ever being built. The 315-ft. Project Orca (above) by UK-based designer Michael Leach is an exception; it's currently under construction at the famed Blohm + Voss shipyard, scheduled for delivery in spring 2010. Leach's 220-ft. Anna for Feadship, one of their largest ever, won a World Superyacht Award for best displacement motor yacht. The Orca features a futuristic exoskeletal curving superstructure, aggressive lines and innovative glazing. Its enormous entertaining and private spaces will feature bespoke furniture from British firm Silverlining, with each piece handmade by a single craftsman and stamped with their signature silver hallmark. Metrica will handle the interior execution, and Cougar Marine will provide two custom limousine tenders stored on the yacht's sports deck.