16.11.10

luxury goods (the empire's new clothes)



It's two weeks to the day since I teetered up Bond Street in a new pair of cheap heels, to the press day for Nine West. It was absolutely wonderful and I've been beating myself up in small, metaphorical doses every since, for taking so long to post. And this isn't even the post I want to do: that will come next.






For one thing, it was an absolute RIOT of colour. And now I must fly out the door for another event that I'm really looking forward to, and it's taken me all morning just to go thru these photos. I am such a pack rat, and that goes for images: I can hoard my stash, like candy after Halloween. It's a real problem. So I decided to break it up into two posts.

This is the beige range, and the photos shown here are a combination of shots at the Nine West party, and window shots on the way, on Bond and New Bond Streets. And in the time I was posting, the news broke that William is finally going to make an honest woman of Kate. Yes, you've read it correctly: Kate Middleton, party planners' daughter, is going to be a bona fide princess. What more fitting for a Cinderella story than a post on shoes, huh.







I'll have to save my thoughts on the wonderful brand that is Nine West for the proper post, but what went through my mind that day, having worked my way past the most expensive shops first - Burberry, Mulberry, and Louis Vuitton, all shown here - was the huge disconnect. I guess it's always been thus - there are princes and princesses, and then there are the rest of us peasants - but it's all feeling a bit Emperor's New Clothes to me right now. Especially when I see a brand like Nine West create such a jet-set champagne-blonde glamour slightly retro almost Charlies' Angels 70s buzz for such good prices.





Take, for example, the Mulberry Bayswater in ostrich, which I happened to snap that same morning. It's available on net-a-porter, right now, for £3000. Yes you read that correctly: that's $4,800.70 on today's exchange, or 3,526.76 Euros, or 31,877.60 China Yuan Renmindi. And that's not including the jewel on the handle, that's extra. Not to mention some poor Ostrich walking around with a big bag-shaped hole in its abdomen.

While the Nine West bag shown here isn't available yet - it's the spring collection - a lovely 'Plain Jane Leopard Saatchel' is currently on sale for $69.99.

I'm not judging, mind you. Just here to report the facts, ma'am.

4 comments:

Miki said...

Oh, Jill, you totally fooled me with picture number three! It took me a few seconds to realize that the silver thing on the right was not the heel of the shoe! I was like, "what the hell?!" Then I went, "Ah, stupid! That's a glass!" Haha. But even more stupid is the fact that if that had actually been a heel; after seeing it in blogs and store windows for a while, I'd have probably ended up liking them ...

the style crusader said...

gorgeous photos. love all the shots of you in the windows of the fancy shops. the nine west items look quite good... i actually really like the sunglasses! look forward to seeing the follow up post. xx

Li said...

i can't get over the shades of amber to cream ... aside from back, this color range is probably my fave, of course, i have to threw in some grey, taupe, all ranges of browns ...

btw: jill, the foto of your leg casted over the glass w/ sunlight reflected flipped-way - i love it,

xx

Shini said...

Haraharrrrr ostrich with bagshaped hole hahahrarhahrrrr...