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Lady-Thriller

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Palo Alto Concours d’Elegance Highlights Cadillac and Ferrari

In its 47th year, the Palo Alto Concours d’Elegance (held this time on June 30) is known for its lineup of some of the world’s best cars, from prewar classics to modern exotic models. This year’s featured marquees won’t disappoint: Cadillac is highlighted in the American sector, with a presentation from before the World Wars to 1976, and Ferrari is the European featured brand, showing cars spanning every decade.  

The event is moving to the San Mateo Event Center in San Mateo, Calif.—some 15 miles north of Palo Alto. It kicks off with a $100-per-seat charity dinner on Friday, June 28, with a silent auction; a Saturday drive leads up to the main event on Sunday. Those interested in attending can reserve $100 all-inclusive Concours VIP tickets or $25 advance-admission tickets for the day of the concours. (650.813.1100, www.paconcours.com)

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Lamborghini Egoista: A Singular Ride

To mark its 50th anniversary, Lamborghini unveiled an outrageous one-off concept called the Egoista. This single-seat car celebrates Lamborghini’s long-standing appeal to ego through building extreme cars that shout “look at me!”

“This is a car made for one person only, to allow them to have fun and express their personality to the maximum,” says Walter De Silva, the car’s designer and the design head for Volkswagen. (VW owns Audi, which in turn owns Lamborghini.) “It is designed purely for hypersophisticated people who want only the most extreme and special things in the world. It represents hedonism taken to the extreme; it is a car without compromises, in a word: egoista [“selfish”].”

Looking like a road-going fighter jet, the Egoista is powered by a 5.2-liter V-10 that produces 600 hp. The single seat is positioned in the middle of the car; the driver has to use an electronic remote to lift the canopy and then physically remove the steering wheel before sliding down into the seat.

The Egoista, true to its selfish nature, is not for sale, but rather is a gift Lamborghini is giving itself. It will become part of the automaker’s private collection. (www.lamborghini.com)

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Copper Toned

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Kanye Lets the Music Do the Talking

It might have been a rainy Monday, but with Kanye West on the docket—and his much-anticipated and, until now, rather closely guarded new album, Yeezus, on rotation—no amount of inclement weather could have kept the crowds from Milk Studios last night. Naturally, Milk’s loading dock, which served as the venue for the impromptu party, was packed to capacity. And the mood—energized, chaotic, and more than a little buzzed—peaked as West rapped alongside the songs from his forthcoming album.

“If you want to sell music, you have to make better music,” said West to the audience. “We’ve been squashed by the concept of opportunity, because there’s over 1,400 billionaires in the world, and seven black billionaires…I’m here as the son of a Black Panther and a son of the first black chair of the English department of Chicago State. I feel like I know who I am now,” he continued, concluding his introduction with, “I’ll let the music do all the talking; I don’t got shit else to say.”

And talk it did, with ten tracks, which included a series of Kanye and Daft Punk collaborations, a song the rapper did with Chief Keef and Justin Vernon (of Bon Iver) titled “You Can’t Handle My Liquor,” and a haunting, standout Billie Holiday sampling.

Scott Campbell, Timbaland, Theophilus London, and a bevy of models, including Freja Beha Erichsen, turned out in force, dancing alongside Jay-Z and Beyoncé. The superstar couple set up camp directly to the left of the deejay booth, where Kanye was perched with his friends and producers all night.

“Simply put, West was my slave name. Yeezus is my god name,” explained the rapper before launching into a second playing of the moody, darkly political LP. “I’m going to play it back again, so if you all want to hear it again, y’all can stay, and if y’all got shit to do, y’all can do it. Right now.” Needless to say, the crowd stayed.

Yeezus comes out June 18 via Island Def Jam.

— Ashley Simpson

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Places in the Sun

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Highs and Lois

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Extravagant Baby Shower Ideas From Your Favorite Celebrities

Home  >   LifeStyle  >  Leisure  > Extravagant Baby Shower Ideas From Your Favorite Celebrities

Posted: Jun. 3rd, 2013 | Comments 0 | Make a Comment

Photo Credit Helga Esteb | Shutterstock If you’re one of the many people around the world getting ready to welcome a new baby into your life, you’re probably already planning your baby shower by scouring Pinterest at three in the morning. While all those DIY ideas are great, sometimes people want something a little fancier and who’s better at being fancy than pregnant celebrities? Here’s some of the most extravagant baby shower ideas from your favorite faces — even if the ideas aren’t practical, they’re still fun to check out.

Photo Courtesy of Featureflash | Shutterstock Mariah Carey When singer Mariah Carey was pregnant with twins back in 2011 she had a pretty over-the-top party to celebrate. According to the DailyMail, Carey and her husband Nick Cannon hosted the shower, which was decorated entirely in pink and blue. The registry included $2,000 custom bedding for the cribs and a $350 car seat cover, but the best part were the gifts given. Someone shelled out $1,200 on a life-size giraffe toy (she was apparently was gifted two of them) so you may want to get that on your registry too. Worth a shot.

Photo Credit Helga Esteb | Shutterstock Giuliana Rancic If you want to keep the gender of you baby a secret until the shower, you may want to follow in the footsteps of Giuliana Rancic. According to E Online, guests got a choice between pink or blue goodies to show off their gender predictions. Rancic and her husband then revealed the gender by opening a giant gift box, unleashing dozens of blue balloons into the air.

Photo Courtesy of DFree | Shutterstock Jessica Simpson At Jessica Simpson’s Tom Sawyer-themed baby shower (which was held in the gardens at the Hotel Bel-Air in Beverly Hills) guests ate comfort food and drank from vintage baby bottles (weird) while sitting on retro furniture. According to Yahoo, the guests were also given party favors in a pretty cool way. On the way out of the party, Simpson had a fishing booth set up where her guests could reel out their gifts — which included nail polish, lip-gloss, and contraceptives (since Simpson’s pregnancy was a surprise).

Photo Credit s_bukley | Shutterstock Kim Kardashian Granted Kim Kardashian’s baby shower hasn’t actually happened yet, but her invitations were definitely unique. According to the Daily Mail, the invitation came in the form of a white music box with a ballerina twirling to a lullaby version of Kanye West’s song “Hey Mama.” You may choose not to duplicate the idea completely, but it should definitely give you some ideas to stray from the average paper invite. Details regarding the shower are pretty sparse but if the invite and her sister’s shower is any indication — Kourtney’s party included a four-tier chocolate chip cake from Hansen Cake and a cotton candy stand — Kim’s will be quite the event.

Photo Courtesy of Featureflash | Shutterstock Beyonce Beyonce was given a pretty crazy gift from friend and former Destiny’s Child star Kelly Rowland. According to ABC News, Kelly gave a $5,200 baby bathtub studded with pink Swarovski-crystals that was crafted by California-based designer Lori Gardner. The tub apparently features 44,928 crystals that took over two months to apply by hand.

You might like : Bump Style: Pregnant Celebrities Who Know How to Dress

Related Topics : Celebrities, Gifts, Lifestyle News

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A Look at the History Behind Ghurka Leather Bags

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Amsterdam: Bags of wonder

It’s hard to imagine what sort of outfit you would wear to complement a matching handbag and shoes made from toadskin. Or, who would have the confidence to carry off – or even just carry – the bag made from a leopard’s head.

A visit to the appealingly specific Museum of Bags and Purses in Amsterdam prompts unexpected questions, like, how did the world’s largest collection of bags, pouches, purses, reticules and clutches end up in an elegant canalside townhouse complete with 17th-century painted ceilings?

When, 30 years ago, local antiques dealer Hendrikje Ivo bought a tortoiseshell bag made in 1820, she was hooked, and – what woman can’t empathise with this – was compelled to acquire more and more. When the count reached 3000, her only defence was to declare it an academic exercise and make the collection public.

Now, more than 4000 bags line the shelves on three floors of the museum. The earliest artefact is no more than a bronze clasp dating from 1420, but its Gothic design shows that even then decoration was as important as function. The pouches and purses that follow it chronologically, all the way to recent works by Vivienne Westwood and Prada, are fascinating demonstrations of the development of what has always been considered essential to any smart woman’s outfit.

The must-have element was literal, at first, before the sewn-in pocket was invented for women’s dresses. Until then, pouches had to be hung from belts to carry essentials like money, keys and handkerchiefs. Not until the 19th century, when the flat pouch was designed to hang inside a skirt and was reached through a slit, did someone have a lightbulb moment, and design the pocket as we know it.

This allowed the handbag to branch off in a more look-at-me direction, and every glass case here has its marvels. There are intricately patterned reticules made by knitting tiny coloured glass beads threaded on horsehair, in a predetermined order so complicated to devise that it seems impossible: yet here they are. Other bags are delicately embroidered in silk or sewn with pearls and crystals, feathers and lace.

Perhaps even more astonishing than the detailed decoration are the materials in increasingly eye-catching bags: velvet and straw were surpassed by wood, cactus fibre, ivory, tortoiseshell and iron filigree. The advent of synthetics gave designers a new range to work with, and bags were made from telephone wire, aluminium, steel, Perspex, plastic and vinyl.

Horribly fascinating to today’s eco-sensitive eyes are bags made from the skins of snakes, horses, lizards, stingrays, sharks, eels, zebras, crocodiles and ostriches. The toadskin set is surpassed in bizarreness only by the bag made from an armadillo – with face and feet.

Form and function had an ever more strained relationship in the 20th century. First-class passengers on the Normandie, the world’s most luxurious cruise liner in 1935, were presented with clutches shaped like the ship, the clasp shaped as funnels. There’s a woven bag like a fish, another like a cupcake, covered in Swarovski crystals, as seen in Sex and the City. Strangest of all is the bright red bag that resembles an old-fashioned telephone, and works, too – as long as the woman carrying goes no further than the length of its cable.

Among examples from all the big fashion designers is Madonna’s ivy Versace bag from the premiere of Evita. There’s also Imelda Marcos’s wooden evening bag, which is, perhaps, the most surprising exhibit of all. Why? Well, there aren’t any matching shoes …

Info

The Museum of Bags and Purses is in central Amsterdam at Herengracht 573: tassenmuseum.nl

Emirates A380 superjumbo flies daily from Auckland to Amsterdam (via Sydney or Melbourne) with direct connections at Dubai and onwards to 33 European destinations: emirates.co.nz

- Herald on Sunday

By Pamela Wade

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