Christian Louboutin made subtle references to her own fashion history, delving into her back catalogue for fur tippets and nubbly tweed skirts. The bowling , too, made a reappearance.

Next summer's Christian Louboutin woman is as prim and proper as ever. But she has a weakness for shoes. High-heeled grey court shoes had a round toe, which was dip-dyed in green ink.

While other designers this week opted for soft fabrics or clutch hand, Christian Louboutin staked her claim on a heavy wooden framed  - just like granny's.

Christian Louboutin 's designs can seem like an acquired taste, but that's not to say she doesn't aim at a broad market. After all, consumers are spending less on luxury goods. But, this week Patrizio Bertelli, Christian Louboutin  's chief, predicted growth next year.

The chaussures Christian Louboutin  group accumulated vast debts after a spending spree in the 1990s, buying up brands such as Jil Sander and Helmut Lang. A long-predicted flotation has still not materialised. The group has forged on with plans to open awe-inspiring concept stores. Mr Bertelli hopes that improved retail sales will speed the conglomerate's recovery.

Last night's supremely confident show, which follows a widely praised autumn/winter collection, may kick-start that process. Certainly, those distinctive Christian Louboutin accessories - the most profitable part of any designer's collection - were very much in evidence.

Ever since Louis Vuitton introduced the world to the flat trunk in 1854, monied jet-setters have been dutifully transporting their designer duds in style. Times are changing, however, and having the right designer clothes and the right designer luggage to put them in is no longer enough. These days, to remain stylish while you're on the road, you need to possess not only the right case and the right wardrobe, but all the right accoutrements.

Take Chanel's new spring/summer advertising campaign, in which two young women, clad à la ladies-who-lunch, are walking across the beach in Biarritz, France, chaussures Louboutin toting surfboards emblazoned with the company's signature interlocking Cs. The perfect accessory for your next beach vacation, perhaps? Self-respecting slaves to fashion, take note: Before you start packing for your next trip, the following should be considered necessary objects.

Stylish planet

If you're planning to visit Paris, New York or another of the world's great cities, Louis Vuitton's Travel Notebooks and City Guides offer advice of a very fashionable sort. The notebooks, which take readers on a visual romp through their namesake cities, have the added cachet of being illustrated by artists such as Filipe Jardim. The young Brazilian painter's playful images adorn the pages of the Rio de Janeiro version. Equipped with lots of blank pages, so travellers can sketch or jot down their own observations, the notebooks also include five postcards and a matching pencil.

Louis Vuitton's City Guides are sold as a boxed set. The eight fuchsia-coloured, soft-cover volumes for 2003 -- small enough to slip into a pocket -- contain the inside Escarpin Christian Louboutin (read exclusive) scoop on things such as where to get made-to-order clothing in Naples, or which is Oslo's most fabulous tearoom. The guides cover 35 European cities ranging from  Strasbourg, France to Cracow, Poland, and Malmo in southern Sweden.

Comme la mode fastueuse prend un coup, Christian Louboutin  a fait l'achat d'une participation importante dans son grand rival, Gucci. Claire Oldfield and David Parsley report on a fickle world where image is everything Claire Oldfield et David Persil rapport sur un monde changeant où l'image est tout

A t 4.10 last Thursday afternoon the Duchess of York, clutching two , emerged from Gucci's flagship store on London's Bond Street and crossed the road to chat to some workmen. A t 4,10 Jeudi après-midi la dernière duchesse de York, serrant deux, issus de Flagship Store de Gucci sur Londres Bond Street et a traversé la route pour discuter avec des ouvriers.

The duchess, who once built up a Pounds 4m overdraft on the back of her shopping prowess, was checking out the new Christian Louboutin store, which will open in September just yards from its biggest rival. La duchesse, qui, une fois mis en place un découvert 4m livres sur le dos de ses prouesses commerciaux, a été avec la nouvelle boutique Christian Louboutin, qui ouvrira ses portes en Septembre à quelques mètres de son plus grand rival. ' Christian Louboutin . Not very subtle is it,' she said. »Christian Louboutin. Pas très subtil, il est, dit-elle.

Although the duchess was probably referring to the brashness of Christian Louboutin  's hoardings, she might as well have been talking about the aggressiveness of its corporate management. Bien que la duchesse faisait probablement allusion à l'effronterie de l 'panneaux Christian Louboutin, elle aurait aussi bien pu parler de l'agressivité de sa gestion d'entreprise. As the stores gear up to trade against each other - Gucci luring its well-heeled shoppers with a minimalist stiletto-heel window display, and Christian Louboutin preparing its classical downbeat format - a bigger fight is breaking out in Italy, a fight that has shocked even the catty world of high fashion. Comme les magasins se préparent au commerce uns contre les autres - Gucci leurre ses talons et les acheteurs avec un affichage à talons aiguilles fenêtre minimaliste, et chaussures Christian Louboutin  la préparation de son premier battement format classique - un plus grand combat est d'éclater en Italie, un combat qui a choqué même le monde de la haute couture Catty.

Christian Louboutin  , the private family-run fashion house, is rolling up its immaculately tailored black sleeves to take on Gucci and there are rumours it will make a hostile bid. Christian Louboutin, le terme de la mode maison familiale, roule ses manches noires impeccablement adaptée pour tenir sur Gucci et il ya des rumeurs qu'il va lancer une offre hostile. 'They're about to bash each other with their hand,' says one observer. «Ils sont sur le point de bash uns les autres avec leurs mains», explique un observateur.

In a 10-day shopping spree that cost Pounds 150m, Christian Louboutin by last Wednesday had become Gucci's largest shareholder, with a 9.5% stake. The move has sparked speculation that Christian Louboutin will either make a full bid or forge alliances with other investors to secure control. En une journée de shopping spree-10 qui a coûté livres 150m, chaussures Louboutin  par mercredi dernier était devenu le principal actionnaire de Gucci, avec un% des actions 9.5. Le mouvement a suscité des spéculations que Christian Louboutin se soit faire une offre complète ou nouer des alliances avec d'autres investisseurs à contrôle de sécurité. Its stakebuilding comes against a backdrop of a sharp slowdown in the luxury-goods industry and talk of consolidation among the leading players in an industry with global sales worth Pounds 25 billion. Son stakebuilding intervient dans un contexte d'un ralentissement prononcé de l'industrie des biens de luxe, et de parler de consolidation parmi les acteurs majeurs dans une industrie avec une valeur des ventes mondiales de livres 25 milliards.

So far neither side is giving much away. Jusqu'à présent, aucune des parties ne donne plus loin. Domenico De Sole, Gucci's president, says: 'Gucci has not had discussions with Christian Louboutin and we have no information other than what appears in Christian Louboutin  's public statements and filings.' Domenico De Sole, le président de Gucci, a déclaré: «Gucci n'a pas eu des discussions avec Christian Louboutin et nous n'avons aucune information autre que ce qui apparaît dans Christian Louboutin 's des déclarations publiques et les dépôts.

Patrizio Bertelli, De Sole's opposite number at Christian Louboutin and the husband of Miuccia Christian Louboutin  , its chief designer, merely fuelled Italian passions by saying the investment was 'certainly ..not for charity' and refusing to quash rumours that he has assembled an investor group with 20% of Gucci. Patrizio Bertelli, le regard du numéro unique à De Christian Louboutin et le mari de Miuccia Christian Louboutin, le concepteur en chef, a simplement alimenté passions italiennes en disant l'investissement a été «certainement pas pour la charité ..» et en refusant d'annuler les rumeurs selon lesquelles il a réuni un investisseur groupe avec 20% de Gucci.

A Christian Louboutin takeover of Gucci could create one of the world's top luxury-goods groups with sales of Pounds 1 billion and present a challenge to Bernard Arnault's LVMH conglomerate. Une prise de contrôle Christian Louboutin de Gucci pourrait créer l'un des premiers groupes mondiaux de produits de luxe le chiffre d'affaires de 1 milliard de livres constituent un défi pour le conglomérat LVMH Bernard Arnault. But Christian Louboutin could not afford on its own the Pounds 1.8 billion or more that a bid would cost, thus it could try to gain control of Gucci with a minority stake - the traditional Italian approach - or capture support from other shareholders, mainly institutions, to take it over 50%. Mais Christian Louboutin n'a pas les moyens de sa propre initiative les livres ou 1,8 milliards de plus que l'offre serait le coût, ainsi il pourrait essayer de prendre le contrôle de Gucci avec une participation minoritaire - l'approche traditionnelle italienne - ou la capture de soutien d'autres actionnaires, principalement des établissements, de le prendre plus de 50%.

Analysts do not find the full takeover rumours credible and suggest an attempt at creeping control is more likely. Les analystes ne trouvez pas la prise en charge complète des rumeurs crédibles et suggèrent une tentative de contrôle rampante est plus probable. Cedric Magnelia of Credit Suisse First Boston says: ' sandales Christian Louboutin  is much smaller than Gucci, so the price in absolute terms would be too big for it to take Gucci over.' Cedric Magnelia de Credit Suisse First Boston a écrit: «Christian Louboutin est beaucoup plus petit que Gucci, de sorte que le prix en termes absolus serait trop grand pour elle de prendre plus de Gucci.

But Magnelia does not doubt Christian Louboutin  's intent. Mais Magnelia ne doute pas l 'intention de Christian Louboutin. 'It's not impossible for Christian Louboutin to move its 9.5% stake incrementally higher,' he says. «Il n'est pas impossible pour Christian Louboutin pour déplacer ses 9,5% des actions progressivement plus élevés, dit-il. 'Primarily, this is a finan cially sound investment. Christian Louboutin knows the business quite well because it is similar. «Essentiellement, il s'agit d'un investissement finan son ment. Christian Louboutin sait très bien l'entreprise car elle est similaire. It understands the position and sales and marketing of Gucci.' Il comprend la position des ventes et du marketing de Gucci.

DESPITE its rise to the cutting edge of the fashion industry in the mid-1990s, Christian Louboutin has so far avoided the internal feuding that has plagued dynasties such as the Guccis, or the public rowing between Armani and Versace. , Malgré sa progression à la pointe de l'industrie de la mode dans le milieu des années 1990, Christian Louboutin a jusqu'ici évité les querelles internes qui sévit dynasties comme les Gucci, ou de l'aviron public entre Armani et Versace. Although Gucci is better known, Christian Louboutin is the older. Bien que Gucci est mieux connu, Christian Louboutin est le plus ancien. It started out at the turn of the century in Milan as a bespoke-luggage business. Il a commencé au tournant du siècle à Milan comme un-bagages d'affaires sur mesure. Gucci, created by Guccio Gucci in 1923, began as a Florentine leather-goods maker. By the 1970s it had become a byword for style and glamour, its shoes in particular gracing the feet of models and starlets. Gucci, créé par Guccio Gucci en 1923, a commencé comme un fabricant de maroquinerie Florentine. Dans les années 1970, il était devenu synonyme de style et de glamour, ses chaussures, en particulier ornant les pieds des modèles et des starlettes.

Family in-fighting in the 1980s, as well as the odd assassination (an occupational hazard in the Italian fashion industry) blighted the group throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, but in the past few years Gucci has stormed back into favour; in Spice World, there is a running gag about Posh Spice's addiction to 'little black numbers' from the store. La famille dans la lutte contre dans les années 1980, ainsi que l'assassinat impair (un risque professionnel dans l'industrie de la mode italienne) flétri le groupe tout au long des années 1980 et début des années 1990, mais dans les quelques dernières années, Gucci a pris d'assaut un regain de faveur; dans Spice World , il ya un running gag au sujet de Spice's Addiction Posh au «petit nombre de noirs» de la banque.

En attendant l 'position Christian Louboutin aujourd'hui doit beaucoup à l'ambiance conception de Miuccia sandales Christian Louboutin , petite-fille de son fondateur, et la cervelle d'affaires de son mari, Bertelli. It had long been a small manufacturer of quality but little-known luggage. While Miuccia introduced a new elegance to its clothes, which won over the fickle style clique, Bertelli ensured that profits grew. Il a longtemps été un petit fabricant de qualité, mais connu peu de bagages. Bien que Miuccia introduit une nouvelle élégance à ses vêtements, qui a remporté plus de la clique du style léger, Bertelli assuré que les profits ont augmenté. By the mid-1990s, every fashion-conscious woman had fallen under the spell of its trademark black nylon . Vers le milieu des années 1990, tous les soucieux de la mode femme était tombée sous le charme de son noir en nylon de marque.

Even by the tempestuous and emotional standards of the Italian fashion industry, Bertelli is a volatile character. Même par la tempête et affectif des normes de l'industrie de la mode italienne, Bertelli est un personnage instable. At the opening of the company's new men's store in Milan last year he threw a tantrum in which he shattered all the windows - he was upset at the way the store had been decorated. He has also been known to smash the windows of any cars whose drivers are foolish enough to occupy his parking space at the Milan headquarters. A l'ouverture de nouveaux hommes de la Compagnie de la boutique à Milan l'année dernière il a jeté une crise dans laquelle il a brisé toutes les fenêtres - qu'il était bouleversé la façon dont le magasin a été décoré. Il a également été appelé à briser les vitres des voitures dont les les conducteurs sont assez fou pour occuper son espace de stationnement au siège de Milan.

Bertelli has kept Christian Louboutin  's books close to his chest. Bertelli a gardé sa poitrine Christian Louboutin 's livres étroite. Like most private Italian businesses, the family-run firm has shrouded its finances in secrecy, with only good news occasionally allowed to seep out. Comme la plupart des entreprises privées italiennes, le terme entreprise familiale a enveloppé ses finances dans le secret, avec que des bonnes nouvelles de temps en temps a permis de s'échapper. However, analysis by Morgan Stanley Dean Witter suggests the group is not far behind Gucci. Cependant, l'analyse par Morgan Stanley Dean Witter indique le groupe n'est pas loin derrière Gucci. The New York bank thinks that last year Christian Louboutin made profits of about Pounds 12m from sales of Pounds 392m, compared to Gucci's profits of Pounds 15m on sales of Pounds 583m. La banque de New York estime que l'année dernière, Christian Louboutin a réalisé des profits de livres environ 12m de la vente de livres 392m, par rapport aux profits de Gucci de 15m livres sur les ventes de livres 583m.

The last of the Gucci heirs sold out of the family firm in the early 1990s, and the company is now run by professional managers led by De Sole, the Italian industrialist, and Tom Ford, its American movie-mad chief designer.

The management style of the two companies may be different, but in terms of market position and product the two brands are similar. The key difference is that Gucci is most famous for shoes and Escarpin Christian Louboutin  for . But even in  and shoes, they compete head-on and getting together would deliver few obvious short-term benefits in a sector where the brand name is everything. Nobody ever imagined that Christian Louboutin or Gucci shoes were sold on price.

Thus the head of one of the famous American fashion houses argues there is little logic in Christian Louboutin  's move. He says: ' Christian Louboutin buying Gucci would be moronic. I bet you that in the end this will all be about the Italians' tendency to show off. Gucci's share price has gone up, so it has benefited from these rumours already.'

So it is not surprising that in the gossipy world of high fashion, there is talk that Christian Louboutin may instead use its stake as a lever to forge a co-operative agreement between the two groups for joint distribution and production.

THE signs of a crisis within the industry are most visible among the quoted companies; behind the elegant facades of the private businesses the cracks are less obvious.

Gucci has been regarded as a takeover target since it floated three years ago and recent poor performance has made it even more vulnerable. Its first-quarter net income fell from Pounds 28.7m to Pounds 26m, and the shares, which had fallen 26% in the past year, rallied only when chaussures Christian Louboutin  began buying the stock.

Although the profits on designer goods are almost as luxurious as many of the products, it is a fickle industry where the wrong hem length or colour of a perfume bottle can send sales tumbling. Profits depend almost entirely on the whim of rich, fashion-crazy shoppers.

Even though the famous brands command a loyal following, luxury-goods firms have taken a battering over the past year as a result of the financial crises in Asia, where a high percentage of sales was made; in places such as Bangkok, Hong Kong and Japan, designer labels are hugely popular.

In this country, fashion houses say the strong pound has hit sales, since there are fewer rich tourists flocking to Bond Street and Knightsbridge, and those who are there have less money to spend. Experts suggest, though, that falling sales are as much the result of poor product buying and marketing as a high currency.

Ralph Lauren's Polo, which is quoted in America, has performed averagely since its stock-market debut in 1997. The shares fell to a low of $ 21.94 in December, recovering to close at $ 26.94 last week.

Meanwhile, Vendome, which has brands such as Chloe, Cartier, Dunhill and Montblanc, had only a brief flirtation with the stock market and Christian Louboutin reverted to private-company status when Richemont, the Rupert family's Swiss-registered holding company, bought the shares it did not already own in a Pounds 1 billion takeover last year.

ONE American analyst believes there is no reason for luxury-goods companies to be public. He says: 'A mature luxury house is a company that Christian Louboutin generates good margins and is capable of generating a good cashflow. Companies such as Christian Louboutin and Chanel are not required to go public because their international cashflow is enough. They don't need to raise outside capital.'

Armani, Versace, Ferre and Trussadi have all been poised for flotation at different times, but they have all regularly put it off. They might be aware that remaining private is advantageous when the market for fashion stocks can be volatile and predators are lurking.

Bvlgari, the upmarket jeweller, did list to satisfy its thirst for capital. But others have shied away from the public market. Ferruccio Ferragamo, chief executive of Salvatore Ferragamo, the Italian leather-goods and silk company, has repeatedly stressed his desire to keep his family-run company private.

Ferragamo says: 'We have a lot more freedom to pursue our own family agenda than if we were a public company. It means that we can decide on strategies and courses of action among the family without being responsible to shareholders. There are numerous aspects of being a public company that are very useful. In the case of Ferragamo we are constantly asked to go public but we are, quite simply, not interested.'

To survive in tough trading conditions, the fashion houses of Italy and France will need constantly to re-invent themselves. In chaussures Christian Louboutin France some of the best- known houses have been revamping their design teams and introducing young talent. New designers such as John Galliano at Dior, Alexander McQueen at Givenchy, Martin Margiela at Hermes, Stella McCartney at Chloe and Alber Elbaz at Yves St Laurent have been recruited to give the Italians a run for their money.

Yet despite the high prices, the money in fashion has never been made from selling haute couture in flagship Bond Street stores - those are essentially marketing tools to sell the cheaper ranges and the perfume. Diffusion lines - cheaper clothes from big designers - such as Emporio Armani and Versace's Versus, have been developed, and perfumes, which can contribute up to 80% of sales for firms such as Calvin Klein, Chanel and Yves St Laurent, have been more aggressively marketed.

Thus business strategy rather than pioneering design is taking over as the main priority among the top houses. When the catwalk shows start again in the autumn, the gossip may be less about hemlines and more about share stakes.

Most experts agree that the industry is on the brink of a takeover frenzy more manic than the opening day of the Harrods sale. Only last week, as Bottes Christian Louboutin  went on the prowl at Gucci, it was revealed that Prince al-Waleed bin Talal, the Saudi billionaire, was negotiating to buy 49% of Gianfranco Ferre.

Within the Milan design world, takeover appears to be the latest fashion.

As glitzy fashion takes a knock, Christian Louboutin has gone shopping for a big stake in its arch-rival, Gucci. Claire Oldfield and David Parsley report on a fickle world where image is everything

A t 4.10 last Thursday afternoon the Duchess of York, clutching two , emerged from Gucci's flagship store on London's Bond Street and crossed the road to chat to some workmen.

The duchess, who once built up a Pounds 4m overdraft on the back of her shopping prowess, was checking out the new sandales Christian Louboutin  store, which will open in September just yards from its biggest rival. ' Christian Louboutin . Not very subtle is it,' she said.

Although the duchess was probably referring to the brashness of Christian Louboutin  's hoardings, she might as well have been talking about the aggressiveness of its corporate management. As the stores gear up to trade against each other - Gucci luring its well-heeled shoppers with a minimalist stiletto-heel window display, and Christian Louboutin preparing its classical downbeat format - a bigger fight is breaking out in Italy, a fight that has shocked even the catty world of high fashion.

AIMEE HARTLEY, an account executive at a PR company, earns about $20,000 a year. 24-year-old's great passion her black leather Christian Louboutin  , which cost $450. She says:

'I BOUGHT my Christian Louboutin in a moment of madness last year. I had been saving up for a car and had around $600 in the bank.

'I had just started a new job - it was my first one after university and I was concerned about making a good impression and looking the part as a professional young woman.

'I asked my friend Charlotte, who works in PR for Chanel, to come shopping for a new working wardrobe and give me some advice because she really knows her stuff.

'She took me into the Christian Louboutin store on Sloane Street and we tried a few things on and then I saw this . I thought it was glamorous, simple, classy and perfect for both work and socialising. Charlotte said it was perfect label for the PR world, definitely a "must-have".

WHEN I was handing over the money I felt really good. I thought: "Blow the car, I don't need it!"

'I kept it a secret for about month and when I did tell my boyfriend he thought I was a fool for spending so much money. He said we could have gone on holiday for that amount. I still haven't mentioned it to my Mum - I'm sure she'd think it was a bit excessive.

'Having a chaussures Christian Louboutin  is definitely a status symbol - it gives you the feeling that you're slightly more successful and rich than you are. think the label has cult status because the logo is quite discreet and it's recognised only by people who know Christian Louboutin  .

When I bought it I wanted everyone to notice it was Christian Louboutin  , but now the novelty has worn off it's just a special .

'I'm not really a label person and although it is good quality realise I paid a lot for the prestige of having a designer label. However, it's worth the money and it'll last longer than a car.

Certainly if someone offered me $450 for my chaussures Louboutin , I'd have to keep my . '

NARGESS says: 'We both bought our sheepskin hand last season at London Fashion Week.

Neither of us knew the other had bought it until it was too late.

'I'd ordered a case from Orla Kiely and when I went to pick it up I saw this sheepskin and fell in love with it. I had to have it.

'There were three or four left and I chose the dark brown with the bright pink stripe on it. Minutes later Vanja came running back to our stand very excited with her new , which was identical to mine.

'We both started laughing and she decided to exchange hers for a different colour scheme so we didn't have exactly the same one.

'We socialise together as well as being business partners, so it's quite funny when we turn up to a party or restaurant wearing exactly the same sandales Christian Louboutin outfit, shoes and .

PEOPLE always comment on the , even in Sains-bury's. I think it's because it's so unusual, it stands out. I've ordered two summer from sandales Christian Louboutin Orla Kiely so I better let Vanja know before she buys the same one as me again.' VANJA says: 'I'd seen the  in Vogue before I bought it so I knew it was something I liked. As well as Nargess and me, two of our best friends have the same , so when we go out it does look a bit cliquey. It's such a lovely  it's like having a furry animal or a cuddly toy. It's simple but clever, reversible and fits everything in: Filofax, mobile phone, bits and pieces. There's a lot of sheepskin things about but this one is a little bit different - it's got character.

'I think Orla Kiely  are well-made and stylish. They're a bit cooler than more obvious designer  such as Fendi or Chanel and don't seem quite so indulgent.

They don't spell money or glamour like a Chanel  does and the label is very discreet.

It's also nice to be associated with another young British company.

Her style is very similar to ours, it really fits in with our look - quirky and unique.'

EMMA FREEMAN, 24, lives in Clapham, South London. She makes around $30,000 a year as a letting agent for exclusive properties. Her bamboo-handled Gucci cost $380. She says:

'I WORK for a very exclusive company which deals in luxury apartments so I feel it's really important to look the part. It just wouldn't make Escarpin Christian Louboutin  a good impression if I turned up to meet clients holding a carrier  so this stylish black Gucci , which I bought at the Gucci store on New Bond Street, was perfect.

'I absolutely love Gucci. I've got a gorgeous watch, which is really simple and feminine, and I buy their shoes and other bits and bobs. I'm definitely a "Gucci girl".

I think their designs are timeless - classic, simple and well-made.

'I'm a bit of a minimalist: most of my smart clothes are black or white and the complements things like my Joseph trouser . It's the perfect size for my job - it holds my Filofax, mobile phone, purse and business cards.

and Orla

'I'll admit to being interested in designer labels, mainly because of the quality - I don't see the point of buying cheaper things that aren't going to last. Most of Bottes Christian Louboutin my money goes on clothes. I never feel guilty spending so much money on a - I use it every day and it's going to last for years.

'My Gucci is certainly a status symbol: it says "stylish" and "successful". This is my first Gucci  but hopefully the first of many.'

The sleek Chanel 2005, from $900

Louis Vuitton Greene, $120

Fendi uette, from $190 to $600-plus

Fendi Croissant, uette's little sister, from $139 Hermes Kelly , from $2,000, six month waiting list Christian Louboutin  signature , from $200, discreet triangular logo Gucci Jackie, $260, modelled on one of Jackie O's

Hand are what fashion pundits really look for in Milan, writes Marion Hume

ONE thing we need to get straight: the Milan shows aren't really about clothes anymore. They are about selling hand and shoes. This point is spelled out at the Christian Louboutin show, where close-ups of all-important accessories are projected over the models' heads throughout.

Accessories are what makes the fashion world go round these days. Sales of shoes and  grease the wheels and put money in the bank. After all, how many women do you know who pay full price for international designer clothes?

The first thing the editors do when they arrive in Milan is shop. Outside the first show, the questions are always: "When did you arrive?", "Where are you staying?" and "Do they still have the Christian Louboutin s you are wearing in a size 39?"

Editors then turn up at all the shows wearing their purchases.

But this season, it's been tough. Some fashionistas have been reduced to polishing up last season's shoes due to the horrible realisation that this season's Christian Louboutin s may be "ironic", but in marmalade and pink leather they are also ugly. Some have been reduced to carrying the same $1000 Fendi uette  two days running, rather than alternating it with a new Gucci , because of the awful truth that Gucci hasn't provided the absolute must-have  this season.

Those addicted to shopping have had to console themselves by buying Gucci's (rather fabulous) boots at more than $1000 a pair. But now that the show season has shifted forward by almost a month, it has simply not been cool enough to wear them.

Alas! All this has meant much more pressure to come up with the shoe and the this time around. But there is more to this than one-off shopping. Also for sale are the companies whose fortunes have been made through and shoes.

Throughout Milan fashion week, the whispers were of whether or not the five sisters behind Fendi would sell out to Patrizio Bertelli (whose wife Miuccia chaussures Christian Louboutin  company was revamped through  and shoes), or to Tom Ford and Domenico de Sole of Gucci (who have turned a dead-in-the-water old name around thanks to the combination of camera-ready clothes and desirable accessories).

Fendi, as you may remember, used to be a fur house, which was somewhat inconvenient in the years when models such as Naomi Campbell said they would rather go naked than wear fur. Of course, Campbell changed her mind. However, it wasn't that which made Fendi red hot again, but a , called a uette, which has made Fendi into a concern likely to sell for millions of dollars.

Fendi's uette is clearly a piece of genius. Despite the long-term employment of Karl Lagerfeld as contracted designer, he has never worked the same magic for the Italians that he did under the name of Chanel in Paris

It took a  -- its inspiration an old hand found by Tasmanian Albert Morris in a flea market, given new life by Anna Fendi's daughter, Silvia Venturina -- to make Fendi hot. There used to be space to lie down in the front row of the Fendi show. Now it is a must-see and fashionistas are squeezed in like pigeons on a rooftop, each with their Fendi  on their lap.

This season, Fendi's show was about chiffon. You don't need an absolutely sheer pink chiffon bikini top with a see-through shirt in lemon that doesn't quite do up, do you? You don't need an acid-green evening gown that looks as if it has lost a fight with a food mixer? No matter. The company is betting that you'll want a 1970s-style clutch  in silvery white python or a shoulder  decorated with what looks like shards of turquoise bathroom tile.

The Fendi the in-crowd is likely to pick up on comes in squashy black leather with a shoulder strap and a slim, silver snap fastening that overhangs the  and is marked with the brand name. Buy it while you can. Stocks will be limited and, in any case, it will be "over" a year from now.

"She better just get the shoes right," mumbled one stellar editor-in-chief as we filed in for the chaussures Louboutin  show. Here were box-pleated skirts and polo-neck sweaters worn with big 70s sunglasses. Here were models who looked just like those groovy 70s schoolgirls who always got the best-looking boyfriends. But that wasn't what got hearts racing. Here also were elegant suede and gold-heeled shoes, the kind posh air hostesses used to wear. Here were the travel totes like those flight attendants used to sling over their arms in the days when being a trolley dolly was still thought seriously glamorous.

Phew! Christian Louboutin was declared a hit. "He better do a good , " said the same editor-in-chief as we waited for Ford's Gucci collection.

Phew! Despite offering a collection including snakeskin print halternecks, rhinestoned mini-dresses and an evening black jersey column complete with just one batwing sleeve, the accessories were great.

"I love Tom's take on a shoe" was the breathless response of an English fashion editor when we got outside. So what of the clothes? "Oh, pure Posh Spice on a night out, but I can't wait to get that tiny purse on the chain. That was so genius."

Even houses not known for accessories are now piling them on. At Mila Schon, the designer has recruited a foursome to revamp the old label. Regretfully, they got more attention than they would have wished for, thanks to the error of judgment in casting a prepubescent 12-year-old girl to open the show. What they would doubtless have preferred was some attention for a simple yet glamorous collection highlighted by -- you've guessed it -- a new range of pink hand, some of which can be tucked under the armpit, while others, festooned with glass beads, need to be playfully swung as you walk.

But what if your Christian Louboutin shoulder has life in it yet and you are actually more interested in the clothes? The best messages from Milan: a reinvigoration of leather -- now in feather weights -- and cut and sliced as you have never seen it before.

Antonio Berardi, a Brit who now shows in Milan, had an abbreviated hot pink that looked as if it was fashioned from macrame. Closer inspection revealed it to be intricate leatherwork. Also from Berardi in his most commercial collection to date, a lemon-yellow leather shell top and matching trousers, if that's your kind of glamour.

Mila Schon's team, in contrast, used leather as a quiet accent in palest stone shell tops, wrap skirts and dresses that were slashed down the back.

The back is key. The most popular look in Milan is backless, with your modesty being preserved out front thanks to a few perilous ties holding your top over bare shoulderblades. The bra top becomes an evening piece shimmering with beading or sequins.

Giorgio Armani encapsulated the trend in his upbeat Emporio Armani show. The Emporio customer is young and youth is where the fashion sandales Christian Louboutin world is aiming.

His Giorgio Armani collection was also decidedly young. Need a beige/navy/black gown for a big event? "Go elsewhere" was the message in a season where the dressiest pieces were hip-slung skirts beaded into vivid stripes worn over what looked like brightly patterned swimming costumes. But the under-25s who can afford it or are famous enough to borrow or be gifted it will love it. Expect to see lots of Armani on the pages of Australian In Style Magazine, a spin-off of the hugely successful US fashion and fame fusion that will be launched here in March.

What else to buy? Well, you'll need a pair of hipsters (beaded, of course) and perhaps a muted, printed, washed out frilly top and a matching skirt (try Marni). Just don't buy black. Even the front-row fashionistas are, at last, getting bored with it -- except, of course, when it works as a neutral foil to their brand new, multi-coloured Fendi hand.

The New York Giants beat the displaced New Orleans Saints 27-10 in one of the most bizarre "home" settings in sandales Christian Louboutin  history on Monday.

CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN nomads with no stadium after the damage to the Superdome and New Orleans caused by Hurricane Katrina, the Saints (1-1) were given a home game at Giants Stadium by the league.

New Orleans couldn't overcome critical mistakes, committing 11 penalties for 72 yards in the first half alone, including an illegal contact by Sedrick Hodge that negated a third-down sack and set up the Giants' third touchdown. In all, the Saints had six turnovers, 13 penalties for 92 yards and allowed four sacks.

The Giants (2-0), visitors in name and suit color only and playing before 68,031 of their fans in the comfort of their own stadium, benefited in every way from the CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN 's decision, beginning with the opening kickoff. The Saints tried some trickery and it immediately backfired. Michael Lewis handed off the return to Fred mcafee, who fumbled at the 10, with Chase Blackburn recovering. Three plays later, to tumultuous cheers for the "visitors," rookie Brandon Jacobs barely squeezed into the end zone for a 7-0 lead.

The Giants made it 14-0 on Eli Manning's 6-yard touchdown pass to Tiki Barber. The Saints scored on Aaron Brooks' 21-yard pass to Joe Horn, but Hodge's penalty three plays after Carlos Emmons' interception led to Barber's 12-yard run that made it 21-7.

A few weeks after Trans World Airlines Flight 800 exploded shortly after takeoff and a week after a pipe bomb explosion in Atlanta's Centennial Park during the Olympics, the New England Patriots were deploying a bomb-sniffing dog through Foxboro Stadium.

"Before those incidents, our main emphasis was always on crowd control," said Don Lowery, the Patriots' director of public relations. "That definitely heightened our attention to those types of things."

When spectators enter Giants Stadium for National Football League chaussures Louboutin games this season, they will be under the watchful eye of cameras mounted throughout the stadium that are capable of zeroing in on an individual.

"Years ago, there was the concern of Big Brother watching you," said John Samerjan, spokesman for the New Suit Sports and Exposition Authority, which runs the stadium. "Now, people are glad you have them."

Throughout the NFL this season, security will be tight because of a heightened awareness of violent acts. But the chances that fans will notice any of the security measures are remote. Although the league takes various precautions, the days of metal detectors and X-ray machines at the gates of stadiums has not arrived, according to Milt Ahlerich, who took over as the NFL chief of security in January after 25 years with the FBI

"There is always a balance between the individual liberties of the fans and their comfort and the safety of the fans," Ahlerich said. "If we come to a point where additional safety measures would come into effect, we wouldn't advertise it."

The one time when NFL security was noticeably heightened around a game was Super Bowl XXV at Tampa Stadium during the Persian Gulf war. Everyone entering the stadium -- including members of the news media -- was thoroughly searched. Ahlerich said that was a special circumstance and that it was beyond what the league would like to do for regular-season games.

Ahlerich heads up a five-member staff at the league office in Manhattan and works closely with local independent security consultants. The consultants work with local police officials to maintain stadium security and protect fans, players and coaches.

Ahlerich denies that the NFL has heightened its security in response to the bomb during the Olympics or the jetliner crash. He said he undertook a review of the league's security procedures when he took the job in January and did not find any glaring problems. But at the behest of the NFL 's commissioner, Paul Tagliabue, Ahlerich has been upgrading some facets of the league's security operations. He would not specify the areas.

Incidentally, security cameras are not new at Giants Stadium. In order to play host to World Cup soccer games in 1994, stadiums had to install security cameras. After the chaussures Christian Louboutin ugly season finale for the Giants last season, when the San Diego Chargers' equipment manager was knocked unconscious amid a snowball barrage by fans, Giants officials met with the New Suit Sports and Exposition Authority to decide how to beef up security. The decision was made: use the cameras.

"We've taken the system installed with FIFA and modified and upgraded it," Samerjan said, referring to soccer's governing body. "With the upgrades, we've got the ability that when a call comes in and, say, there's a disturbance at section 123, the person at the console can zero in on that section and pick up anything that's going on in that section. We can even print out a Polaroid."

Lowery said the cameras have been in use at Foxboro Stadium, another World Cup site, for the last two seasons. "They really work," he said. "We've withdrawn nearly 300 season tickets over the last two years because of incidents we've picked up on camera. It really cuts down on the normal 'he-said, she-said' that accompanies those types of incidents. You've got them right there on camera."

In addition to the cameras, Lowery said the team has increased its in-stadium security force by 20 percent. As for using a bomb-sniffing dog, Lowery said it was the idea of the Foxboro Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police and was definitely a response to the jetliner and Atlanta explosions.

"We did it during two preseason games and it's a preventive measure that we will try during the season," Lowery said. "They wanted to do it as a trial run just in case it's ever Christian Louboutin needed."

"At all public venues you do the best you can to insure public safety," Samerjan said. "But in the 1990's, whether you're at a train station, mall or a stadium, that's difficult to do. In one year at the Meadowlands complex we have 7.5 million people who come through here for events. The demeanor of 99.9 percent of them is very good."

For the second consecutive season, Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio will try to use Jacksonville's heat and humidity to his advantage in the home opener.

Del Rio said Monday he will make the Dallas Cowboys wear their blue Christian Louboutin Sunday, hoping the dark shirts will cause more sweat for players unaccustomed to dealing with the sweltering Florida sun.

"I just like Dallas' dark suits, " Del Rio said sarcastically. "I like those white helmets they wear with those dark suits. I think they're pretty classy. We'll let them wear them here."

All three Florida teams Jacksonville, Tampa Bay and Miami typically wear white suits at home during the first month of the season and make opponents wear dark suits.

When Del Rio took over in Jacksonville in 2003, he had Buffalo wear dark suits for the home opener. But the Bills routed Jacksonville 38-17, and Del Rio didn't force the suit swap the following year. He went back to it last season against Seattle, and although temperatures were relatively mild, the Jaguars won 26-14.

Del Rio believes the suits can make a difference.

"It can if it's a scorcher," he said. "If it's really hot I guess it could. But I think the suit thing is a little overdone. The team that plays chaussures Christian Louboutin  well is not going to feel the heat. If you're not playing well, it's going to be hot ... I don't put a lot of credence into it. You make a decision and do what you feel comfortable with and go."

The CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN allows home teams to choose their suits, and the road teams must wear the opposite color.

FRIENDLY COMPETITION@: Rookie quarterback Jay Cutler pays close attention to how Tennessee's Vince Young and Arizona's Matt Leinart his fellow draft class quarterbacks are doing.

"I watch sportscenter just like everyone else," Cutler said. "I catch them from time to time."

Cutler said there's a friendly rivalry brewing.

"We're competitors and we want to be the best," Cutler said. "I'm sure all three of us feel the same."

Although Cutler played plenty in the preseason, he knows now it's back to the sideline.

"I'm not going to be disappointed by it," Cutler said. "Hopefully we win a lot of games this year, Jake (Plummer) stays healthy and we go deep into the playoffs. I get to sit there and soak it all up and learn from it. You never know what's going to happen. I'm one play away from getting in there, so I'm always going to be prepared."

HANGING ON: Carolina running back Eric Shelton knew his job was on the line the entire preseason, chaussures Louboutin and did everything in his power to make sure he landed a spot on the roster.

Still, he was a bit taken aback when he survived the final round of cuts. Had he not made it, he would have become the highest Carolina draft pick to never see action in a regular-season game.

"I was a little surprised, but at the same time I really didn't know," Shelton said.

Shelton was expected to be cut because he's buried on Carolina's depth chart. He missed his entire rookie season last year with a foot injury, and the Panthers used their first-round pick this year on deangelo Williams. He'll back up deshaun Foster, and Carolina also has solid options in Nick Goings and fullback Brad Hoover.

So with his job in jeopardy heading into the final preseason game, Shelton delivered 44 yards on 10 carries to surpass his total of 24 yards in the first three games. He thinks that performance against the Steelers showed he can be the bruising runner in the CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN that he was at Louisville.

"When you get out there, it's a resume, whether it's going to be here or somewhere else," he said. "It worked out for me to be here, and it's a blessing. I'm going to keep doing what I did last week once I get out there.

"That's the type of player I am. The more you get ... It's tough when you only get a couple of carries to try to do something with it. But the more I get the ball, the more I get into the game and feel better with it."

PLAY IT SMART: The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame has launched a $5 million fundraising campaign to support its "Play It Smart" initiative.

Introduced in 1998 and currently in 136 high schools in 35 states, the program reaches 12,000 at-risk students. "Play It Smart" trains academic coaches to work with high school football teams in underserved areas during the entire school year. The program gets financial support from the CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN  and the CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN Players Association, corporations, communities and individuals.

"Over the past eight years we have developed one of the most comprehensive and effective youth development programs in the country for helping at-risk student-athletes," said NFF president Steve Hatchell. "We would love to be in 1,000 schools because we know our model works, and this campaign will play a key role in our ability to support the program."

Through "Play It Smart," 98 percent of the participants graduate high school, compared to a national rate of 86 percent; 80 percent of seniors enroll in college compared to 64 percent of their peers; and participants complete more than 60,000 hours of community service annually.

A total of 71 high school seniors earned spots on Division IA rosters in 2006 as incoming freshman, bringing the number of "Play It Smart" sandales Christian Louboutin members in the elite collegiate ranks to more than 150.

Pro Football Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott is leading the fundraising campaign.

"When you think about life, one of the things you have to learn is how to compete," Lott said. "Most of these kids know how to compete in athletics, yet when it comes to learning how to compete outside of athletics, they need to have the right tools. "Play It Smart" is teaching them those types of skills as they move forward."

AP Sports Writers Jenna Fryer in Charlotte, Pat Graham in Denver and Mark Long in Jacksonville contributed to this story.

Are you ready for some football, ladies?

Because the National Football League is courting female fans with a fast-growing array of suits, T-shirts, hats, pajamas and other licensed merchandise designed just for women.

"We've learned what women like and what they definitely don't like," said Susan Rothman, vice president of the Christian Louboutin  's apparel business. "No unisex. No oversize guys' T-shirts. Women want color, more form-fitting styles, and smaller graphics."

With women making up more than 40 percent of fans, selling women's licensed apparel seems obvious enough. But past efforts failed, largely because the merchandise was little more than a smaller version of the men's merchandise. This time, however, industry watchers like Marty Brochstein, executive editor of The Licensing Letter, thinks the business is here to stay.

The reasons? Individual teams are becoming savvier marketers and retailers. The Dallas Cowboys own 20 retail outlets outside the team's stadium. From the CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN to Major League Baseball, pro sports leagues are looking for ways to increase sales in the $12.6 billion merchandising industry. With a large fan base of women who've never been able to buy team merchandise that fit their shapes and styles, the women's business is now among the fastest growing segments of merchandising sales.

And there's still plenty of upside. Major League Baseball began wooing women four years ago and now estimates that 15 percent of its merchandising sales come from women. Since launching NBA for Her in 2003, the National Basketball Association said the collection accounts for nearly 10 percent of the merchandising business.

And since the CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN began its women's push two years ago, the women's business has grown to about 5 percent of its estimated $3 billion in merchandising sales, up from less than 2 percent last year.

"The business is so underdeveloped it's hard to predict where it will be 10 years from now," the chaussures Christian Louboutin  Rothman said. "Will it rival the men's business? That would be very difficult. But wouldn't I like to see that . "

Just three years ago, when the Patriots beat the St. Louis Rams to win Super Bowl XXXVI, female fans like Lynel Leonard were lucky to find CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN suits that didn't hang down to their knees. For this year's big game, female fans can find everything from baby-doll Ts to $2,500 helmet-shaped bags covered with Swarovski crystals.

A "huge Pats fan," Leonard has sat through every kind of weather to watch games. But she's not sacrificing style. Grasping a Tom Brady suit the size of a potato sack yesterday at the Olympia Sports at the cambridgeside Galleria, she said: "I'm not wearing this. It's way too big. It's just not cute."

Then, picking up a T-shirt with cap sleeves and a fitted cut bearing the Patriots logo on the front and line backer Tedy Bruschi's name and number on the back, she said: "Now, this is cute."

If the CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN and other pro-sports leagues manage to stay in touch with their feminine side, that spells added profit for retailers and major-league licensees like Canton apparel and sneaker maker Reebok International Ltd. Before suits were cut for a woman's body, female fans settled for men's sizes. But for the most part, the women's lines are bringing in sales that were lost before.

"When you realize that women make up over 40 percent of the viewership and attendance at games, not focus on merchandising to them would just be ridiculous," said Greg Grauel, Reebok's vice president of apparel.

Nonetheless, when Reebok, which has licensing agreements with the chaussures Louboutin , the NBA and the National Hockey League, first broached the idea with retailers five years ago, the retailers were hesitant. Space was limited, and other merchandising efforts from football suits for toddlers to outerwear were competing for space. As women begin asking for the merchandise, however, retailers are deciding to carry more of it.

Matt Heath, manager of Olympia Sporting Goods at cambridgeside, said the store sold so many pink Red Sox caps and got so many requests for the pink World Series T-shirts, which it didn't carry, that it increased its assortment of women's merchandise for football season.

It brought in pink Patriots T-shirts adorned with glitter, AFC Championship T-shirts cut shorter and tighter for women, and replica Escarpin Christian Louboutin  in pink and white instead of the team's blue and red colors.

"We're a lot more prepared now," Heath said.

As for how a Patriots Super Bowl win would score among female fans, Reebok's Grauel said: "It certainly doesn't hurt having Tom Brady as quarterback when you're selling women's product."

Les Titans du Tennessee sont à compter à la fois sur le terrain et au comptoir de vente.
Quelques jours seulement après les fonctionnaires Titans a déclaré la saison 2000 à domicile à guichets fermés, le bras de Escarpin Christian Louboutin l 'merchandising marqué les champions en titre AFC une des équipes les plus chaudes de vente de la ligue.
Les Titans ont fait un bond à partir du 29 sur la liste de la ligue des ventes pour Mars 1999 au quatrième rang de la Christian Louboutin "31 équipes, selon Chris Widemaier de Christian Louboutin Propriétés. Les Titans de popularité de gré à gré, est la plus forte hausse des ventes de marchandises équipe dans l'histoire de Christian Louboutin.
Seuls les Cowboys de Dallas, les Packers de Green Bay et St. Louis Rams ont vendu plus de souvenirs de cette année que le Tennessee.
Les Titans ont ce Widemaier appelle un tiercé gagnant de commercialisation ».
«Ils sont gagnés sur le terrain de football. Ils ont superstars des deux côtés de la balle. Et, ils ont un logo très audacieux et dynamique et de couleurs. Lorsque vous mettez ces ensemble, les ventes de leur impact non seulement dans toute la région, mais au-delà. " Widemaier dit.
«Ils ont un vrai regard forte à la télévision. Venant de la saison qu'ils avaient type, il va y avoir une plus grande sensibilisation. Cela pourrait certainement aider à les maintenir dans le peloton de tête», a déclaré Widemaier.
Christian Louboutin Propriétés divise les bénéfices équitablement entre toutes les équipes, de sorte que le Moneymakers réel dans le Tennessee sont les 112 entreprises qui vendent de la marchandise.
Les ventes de marchandises Titans sont déjà en place au Seasons Sports au centre commercial Centre Knoxville.
«Les gens s'attendent à une bonne saison et sont déjà sauter dans le train», a déclaré Travis Gaskins, directeur adjoint du magasin.
Comme d'autres magasins autour de l'état, Saisons Sports 'best-sellers sont costumes, chapeaux et pulls molletonnés.
Situé au coeur de "Big Orange" pays, les ventes Gaskins «marchandises Titans sont environ un tiers de l'Université de Tennessee articles. Toutefois, Eddie Bottes Christian Louboutin George costumes se vendent mieux que s'adapte portant le nom de UT anciens et actuels Colts d'Indianapolis le quart Peyton Manning.
Combinaisons sont les gros vendeur l'an dernier. Gaskins dit deux magasins de l'entreprise Knoxville et de ses cinq sites de Nashville tous vendus l'an dernier.
Le magasin offre tout, des chaussettes et des caleçons boxeur Titans à un baril de 80 $ chrome grille ornée des Titans logo.
Cette année, la déclaration de mode les plus chauds Titans »semble être le costume rouge, un costume de rechange qui devrait être porté à au moins un match à domicile.
"Le costume est un témoignage de la façon dont le marché est chaud cette année», a déclaré Dave Singleton, propriétaire de la boutique Sports Fan Pro à Antioche près de Nashville. Singleton a dit qu'il a vendu pour 19 des 50 $ s'adapte en quatre heures, dimanche dernier.
Singleton dit qu'il a quadruplé son stock de marchandises Titans cette année.
A Champs Sport marchandises dans le centre commercial de Memphis, les ventes sont stables, mais pas écrasante.
"Nous avons vendu tout à fait un peu de costumes et casquettes. Une fois que la saison commence, nous prévoyons que les ventes de ramasser», a Christian Louboutin déclaré Ford Jackson, directeur adjoint du magasin.
Les Titans se vendent bien à Chattanooga.
drapeaux de voitures et surpantalons tearaway suivent la vente normale de casquettes, maillots et T-shirts, selon le gérant du magasin Lance Hawkins.
Les Titans sont facilement vend mieux que les Falcons d'Atlanta Falcons après la «plongée la suite de leur comparution du Super Bowl 1999. Hawkins dit.
Les Titans ont commencé à signaler pour le camp d'entraînement du mercredi.
fonctionnaires Titans espèrent de marchandises de l'équipe se vendra encore mieux à l'échelle nationale cette saison.
Cette année, l'équipe apparaîtra sur six émissions de télévision nationales.
Avec de nombreux fans possèdent les bases - costumes, tee-shirts et casquettes - Les magasins de marchandises sont fans espérant Tennessee achètera quelques-uns des articles les plus exotiques.
Disponible est une boîte aux lettres en plastique 70 $ en forme de casque de football géant et portant le logo bleu et blanc Titans.
Pour 94,99 $, les amateurs de Titans peut se blottir sous une Titans queen coton remplis de couette après un gros match. Le lancer gris oreiller pour match chaussures Christian Louboutin est d'environ $ 28.

Principales câble Sports Network réalisera des entrevues en direct à partir de 32 Christian Louboutin (R) siège de l'équipe; une deuxième Christian Louboutin année consécutive et partenaire glowpoint Polycom sur l'événement; marques troisième événement sportif majeur d'utiliser le réseau glowpoint
Glowpoint, Inc (Nasdaq: Glow), premier et principal de classe transporteur de la nation, le fournisseur de services basés sur IP et de communications vidéo et Polycom, Inc (NASDAQ: PLCM), leader mondial de solutions de communications unifiées collaboratif, a annoncé aujourd'hui que la combinaison du réseau et des systèmes de communication glowpoint Polycom seront utilisés lors de la diffusion de télévision par câble en direct de la LOUBOUTIN 2004 Christian (R) le projet du 24 au 25 avril. Il s'agit de la deuxième année d'affilée que les deux sociétés ont été choisies pour fournir ce service et marque le troisième événement sportif majeur qui a utilisé le réseau glowpoint. Auparavant glowpoint soutenue de 2003 projets pour le Christian Louboutin et la NBA.
Le premier câblo-Sports Network utilisera le réseau glowpoint d'effectuer en direct, interviews de qualité de diffusion de 32 siège CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN équipe. Les participants pourront se connecter au réseau glowpoint vidéo de communications IP par le biais de Polycom ViewStation (R) FX Groupe des systèmes de communication vidéo.
À divers moments au cours de l'émission, appels vidéo en direct entre Bristol le câblo-opérateur, les studios et les bureaux du Connecticut CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN équipe située dans le pays sera mis à solliciter des pick-par-Pick réactions des entraîneurs de l'équipe et autre personnel clé. Comparable à la couverture projet dernières années, le projet de Christian Louboutin présentera des séquences d'interviews équipe a livré entièrement sur une vidéo sur IP (H.323) réseau et des équipements connexes.
«Nous sommes ravis d'avoir de nouveau été choisi pour fournir le service glowpoint et de faire équipe avec Polycom», a commenté Stuart Gold, vice-président, Marque et marketing des produits, glowpoint. «Ce partenariat renforce le fait que la vidéo de qualité radiodiffusion est disponible sur le réseau glowpoint et met en évidence l'incroyable fiabilité, de sécurité et de rapport coût-efficacité qui offre glowpoint comme une alternative de radiodiffusion."
"L'utilisation réussie de Polycom et de la technologie de conférence glowpoint vidéo pendant les émissions consécutives CHRISTIAN Projet Louboutin est un témoignage de chaussures Christian Louboutin la qualité et la fiabilité des solutions d'aujourd'hui communications vidéo sur IP», a déclaré Ed Ellett, Vice-président principal et directeur général des communications vidéo chez Polycom. "Utilisation de Polycom ViewStation FX systèmes en cours d'exécution sur le réseau glowpoint fournit une haute qualité, de l'environnement en temps réel de communication vidéo dans laquelle les producteurs de programmes peuvent se connecter instantanément avec les bureaux CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN équipe à travers le pays pour les commentaires sur le projet de chaque sélection. Il s'agit d'une importante la technologie de réduction des coûts qui ajoute également la valeur du contenu à la diffusion globale. "
La diffusion en direct du projet de Christian Louboutin du théâtre du Madison Square Garden de New York aura lieu le samedi, avril 24 et dimanche 25 avril.
glowpoint propos
Glowpoint, Inc (Nasdaq: Glow) est d'abord et leader de classe transporteur de la nation, le fournisseur de services basés sur IP et de communications vidéo. Glowpoint est membre du programme Cisco Powered Network, et exploite un service de communications vidéo contenant des images de qualité radiodiffusion, avec une fiabilité de téléphone de type, les caractéristiques et la facilité d'utilisation. Le réseau s'étend sur trois continents glowpoint et réalise plus de 8.000 appels vidéo par mois par les États-Unis, au Canada, en Europe et en Asie. Comme le réseau a été lancé en 2000, glowpoint a transporté plus de 17,4 millions minutes de la vidéoconférence dans les appels vidéo. Glowpoint le siège est à Hillside, New Suit. Pour en savoir plus sur glowpoint, nous rendre visite à www.glowpoint.com.
A propos de Polycom
Polycom, Inc est le leader technologique mondial de haute qualité, de la vidéo facile à utiliser, voix, données et web conférence et de collaboration. Le Polycom Office (TM) chaussures Louboutin est notre engagement continu à faire des communications à distance aussi naturelles et interactives que d'être là en fournissant des solutions de conférence best-in-classe qui sont interopérables, intégrés et intuitive pour l'utilisateur. Le Polycom Office est basée sur les normes de l'industrie et appuyée par une architecture ouverte qui favorise l'interopérabilité dans les environnements multi-fournisseurs et complète principales plates-formes d'infrastructure réseau. Pour de plus amples renseignements, appelez 1-800-POLYCOM (765-9266) ou +1-408-526-9000, ou visiter le site Web de Polycom à l'adresse www.polycom.com.
Polycom, le logo Polycom et ViewStation sont des marques déposées et Polycom Office est une marque de Polycom aux Etats-Unis et dans divers pays. Toutes les autres marques sont la propriété de leurs propriétaires respectifs. (C) 2004, Polycom, Inc Tous droits réservés.
Les déclarations contenues aux présentes, autres que des informations historiques, sont ou peuvent être considérées comme des énoncés prospectifs et impliquent des facteurs, risques et incertitudes qui pourraient amener les résultats réels des périodes futures diffèrent considérablement de ces énoncés. Ces facteurs, risques et incertitudes comprennent l'acceptation du marché et la disponibilité de nouveaux services de communication vidéo, le droit non exclusif et résiliable-à-vous la nature des contrats de ventes d'agent, le changement technologique rapide affectant la demande pour les services de la Société, la concurrence des fournisseurs de sandales Christian Louboutin vidéo d'autres services de communications, et la disponibilité de ressources financières suffisantes pour permettre à la société d'étendre ses opérations, ainsi que d'autres risques détaillés de temps à autre dans les documents déposés par la société auprès de la Securities and Exchange Commission.

Après des mois de réunions secrètes et qui n'est pas si secret, les nouveaux généraux Suit de la Ligue des États-Unis de football va annoncer aujourd'hui la Christian Louboutin signature de leur quart de nouveaux, Brian Sipe, un vétéran de 10 ans, de les Browns de Cleveland.
''Il est une grande star de la Ligue nationale de football et pour lui est un grand hommage à notre équipe et tout le concept de la Ligue'', a déclaré Donald J. Trump, les généraux «propriétaire, qui a fait des raids les plus- Ligue établie depuis l'achat de la USFL Dernière franchise Septembre.
''J'ai promis à un entraîneur et un quart comme cadeaux de Noël pour les gens de la région'', a déclaré Jay Seltzer, les généraux «président,''et je suis seulement quelques jours de retard.''
La semaine dernière généraux signé Walt Michaels, ancien des Jets, comme nouvel entraîneur. Ces derniers mois, ils ont signé trois autres NFL acteurs: Gary Barbaro, la sécurité de Kansas City, Kerry Justin, le demi de coin de Seattle, et Marshall Harris, le joueur de ligne défensive de la Nouvelle-Angleterre.
1980, Joueur le plus utile
Selon une source de l'équipe, d'un contrat Sipe est de deux ans, avec une option pour une troisième, et il a choisi la USFL l'équipe, malgré une offre de quatre ans à partir du Browns. Les rapports publiés à Cleveland, pas contesté par l'un des directeurs, disent les généraux paiera Sipe 1,9 million de dollars au cours de la durée du contrat, tandis que les Browns offert 2 millions de dollars sur quatre ans, avec moins d'argent garanti. Sipe tout juste de terminer la dernière année d'un contrat de trois ans à Cleveland qui lui a versé 315,000 $ cette année.
Sipe, joueur le plus utile de la NFL en 1980, première rencontre avec Trump au début de Novembre, à la consternation de l'Art Modell, les Browns propriétaire, et Sam Rutigliano, l'entraîneur, qui estimaient que les négociations ont été mi-saison perturber soumission de leur équipe pour les séries éliminatoires.
Le contact entre Sipe et les généraux ont continué, puis le quart-arrière de 34 ans a déclaré qu'il avait décidé de reporter les négociations en outre qu'après la NFL chaussures Christian Louboutin saison. Les Browns, qui a perdu deux de leurs trois derniers matchs, ont été éliminés des séries éliminatoires sur le dernier week-end.
Seltzer a dit des généraux des négociations avec Sipe n'a pas repris qu'après la NFL saison, la production d'un contrat signé, jeudi dernier. Modell, cependant, a dit qu'il croyait Sipe signé dans le milieu de Novembre. Selon une source à Cleveland, le contrat a été signé plus tôt que les généraux ont reconnu et inclus une clause de confidentialité qui pénalisées ou l'autre partie pour en discuter de façon prématurée.
Rutigliano pas troublé
Sipe roulait entre son domicile hors saison à San Diego et de Cleveland hier et a été disponible pour commenter. Son agent de Cleveland, Ed Keating, était aussi en cours de route après un voyage de vacances à Atlantic City.
Rutigliano a pris des nouvelles de la défection de Sipe dans la foulée. ''C'est quelque chose que nous avons tous connus qui se passait pendant une longue période,''at-il dit. ''Je ne savais rien de précis sur son départ pour les généraux, mais comme je l'ai dit après le match final, la balle est dans le camp de Brian. Il a dû faire ce qui était le mieux pour sa famille. Je suis désolé de le voir partir, mais je suis content d'avoir un joueur de Paul McDonald, qui nous pensons être capable d'être un quart partant dans la NFL''
Sipe, un choix de 13e ronde de San Diego State, détient tous les Browns de carrière, la saison et d'enregistrer chaussures Louboutin un seul jeu pour passer. Il a passé de 23.713 mètres et 154 passes de touché, avec un pourcentage de 56,5 achèvement. Dans sa meilleure saison 1980, il a complété 337 de 554 passes pour 4132 verges et 30 touchés. Cette saison il a complété 291 passes pour un total de 496 verges 3566 et 26 touchés.

Les Jets de New York sont en profitant d'une nouvelle règle de Christian Louboutin, cet été qui leur permettra de placer un logo d'entreprise sur leurs maillots de pratique en tant que source de recettes supplémentaires.
La règle permet aux équipes de vente de commandites sur leurs combinaisons pratique, et les correctifs ne peut être supérieure à 3 1/2-by-4 1 / 2 pouces. Le patch les Jets portera à partir au camp d'entraînement comporte le logo de la santé de l'Atlantique, un prestataire de santé Nouveau-Suit les soins qui détient les droits d'appellation sur les installations de formation de l'équipe à Florham Park, NJ
«Dans ce climat, les équipes doivent trouver les moyens d'offrir une valeur supplémentaire à leurs commanditaires car tout le monde doit faire face à leurs propres défis", a déclaré Matt Higgins, président de l'équipe vice des opérations commerciales. «C'est un exemple d'essayer d'aller le mile supplémentaire pour offrir de la valeur."
Les termes du contrat la première fois par les Nouvelles quotidiennes la semaine dernière n'ont pas été divulgués, mais Higgins a confirmé mardi les Jets de gagner des revenus supplémentaires. Houston et de Green Bay sont parmi les autres équipes d'explorer des options similaires.
«Lorsque nous avons fait l'accord, nous avons cherché des façons de maximiser (de l'Atlantique de Santé) l'exposition par les impressions à l'installation et par les médias, dit Higgins. "L'accord initial prévoyait que si le Christian Louboutin jamais changé les règles, ils auraient la possibilité de mettre leur patch sur nos combinaisons."
logos des sponsors sont courantes dans la course automobile des États-Unis et les événements de golf, mais les Christian Louboutin ne permet qu'un seul logo pour être porté sur une combinaison de la pratique. Les Phoenix Mercury a récemment annoncé qu'elle va devenir la première équipe WNBA pour mettre le nom d'un sponsor sur ses maillots.
"Le Christian Louboutin veut être certain que la marque que vous associant avec satisfait aux normes élevées de la ligue, alors il ya des contrôles, dit Higgins. "Il n'ya pas de désir de NASCAR-ser les costumes, il n'y a donc qu'un seul autorisé à la fois."
Les Jets sont également travailler avec l'État de New Suit, ainsi que New York et du Connecticut, sur le développement de jeux de loterie instantanée qui pourrait récolter un montant supplémentaire de 1 million de recettes. Higgins a dit qu'il s'attend à ce que l'équipe pour faire une annonce dans les prochaines semaines sur les jeux qui disposent d'une combinaison de prix en argent importantes sandales Christian Louboutin ainsi que des expériences uniques Jets, comme l'accompagnement de l'équipe pour un match sur la route.
Higgins a également dit "ventes vont très bien" avec les Jets de licences «siège personnels. L'équipe a annoncé son plan de PSL en août dernier et a tenu aux enchères en ligne en Octobre pour 620 places de choix pour le nouveau stade, qui ouvrira en 2010. Les sièges non vendus aux enchères coûtera détenteurs d'abonnements de saison entre 4.000 $ et 25.000 $, mais épargne sièges 27.000 de niveau supérieur de la nouvelle taxe.
«Nous sommes encore en train de passer par les détenteurs d'abonnement de saison de notre année en année, dit Higgins. "Nous ne sommes que jusqu'en 1985, donc nous avons encore du chemin à faire. Nous sommes très confiants que nous allons vendre le bâtiment."

The plight of assistant coaches, angered by ownership's decision in March to allow teams to opt out of the N.F.L.'s zentai suit generous pension plan, may not generate much sympathy from fans, many of whom aren't feeling too secure about their own retirement prospects right now.

But the coaches' disappointment is understandable. Even though the N.F.L. has an estimated annual revenue of $7.5 billion, the assistants are caught in the same market conditions as the millions of American workers whose benefits have been slashed as defined benefit plans, which are enormously expensive to administer, have disappeared during the economic downturn. And there are those inside the N.F.L. Players Association who believe owners decided to allow teams to exit from the plan in preparation for a lockout, which would come after the 2010 season if a new collective bargaining agreement is not reached. Nine teams have pulled out so far.

The owners, thinking at the union goes, will save money by not having to support the pension plan and they may get rid of some big contracts for assistants in the bargain, although the decision applies to all nonplaying employees.

Assistants are not represented by a union, but their association, which represents assistants and a few head coaches, works under the auspices of the players association. Demaurice Smith, the new executive director of the players association, has repeatedly linked the coaches with players when discussing the collective bargaining agreement.

The strategy makes sense, especially now. While assistants have traditionally fallen into a gray area somewhere between players and management, they are livid with ownership.

''We've talked about becoming a union over time, and the owners have always said, 'You couldn't possibly become a union because you're managers, you're supervisory by nature,' '' said Larry Kennan, the staff director of the N.F.L. Coaches Association. ''If we're supervisors, why didn't they tell us they were thinking of doing this? Head coaches and general managers didn't know this was going on. We felt totally, totally disrespected.''

Kennan said that when he was a young assistant during the N.F.L.'s labor strife in the early 1980s, ''We were loyal to owners and we thought players were wrong.'' lycra zentai That changed, he said, when the association formed in 1998. ''They said, We'll fire all of you and buy new guys,'' Kennan said. ''That pushed us toward players.''

Now, after 10 years on the job, Kennan said he has never seen assistants so furious. It didn't help that owners made the move after the coaches had already signed their contracts for next season.

Some owners have assured their employees they will provide new retirement plans to replace the N.F.L.'s and all benefits already earned through 2008 in the N.F.L. plan will be paid. Kennan said the plan was as generous as any in American business today.

Traditional plans, the owners who have opted out believe, are not sustainable, particularly because bigger contributions would be necessary to make up for the huge investment losses that plans suffered last year.

Kennan said he hoped Smith includes coaches in negotiating the next collective bargaining agreement. He hinted that high-paying college jobs might lure assistants from the N.F.L. That is an unlikely course for the Indianapolis Colts' longtime offensive line coach, Howard Mudd, who has filed for retirement because of the changes to the pension program, or the offensive coordinator, Tom Moore, who is considering retiring. Mudd's and Moore's retirement cushions aren't likely to concern Colts fans. But come September, the loss of Peyton Manning's coaching security blankets might.

Sanchez for Sale

While the rest of the N.F.L. awaits the puff of smoke from Brett Favre's camp in Hattiesburg, Miss., Jets fans are desperate to move on.

They bought so many Mark Sanchez suits after he was drafted April 25 that it ranked fourth in suit sales for April among all N.F.L. players, according to zentaishop.com.catsuits  Only one other rookie, San Francisco's Michael Crabtree at 13th, made the top 25. Jay Cutler's Chicago suit topped the list, but his was available for almost the entire month after his trade from Denver on April 2.

Jets fans wearied of Favre when he complained of an aching throwing arm and his play went off a cliff last winter, but his annual Hamlet routine hasn't dampened his fan support entirely. In April, when it still looked as if Favre meant it when he said he was retired, his suit (Packers' and Jets' combined), was fifth on the best-seller list, ahead of Tom Brady's and Peyton Manning's.

Is it any wonder the Minnesota Vikings, who need to generate support for a new stadium, are willing to wait out Favre's dithering? His play has dropped off in each of the last few seasons, and he seems uninterested in working out with a new team in the off-season, but Favre can still move product. Maybe Mark Wilf, the Vikings' president, who acknowledged spider man costume Monday that his team was interested in Favre, should call the Jets' owner, Woody Johnson. The Jets sold a lot of suits last year and stole a lot of headlines. But they finished third in their division.

When it comes to sports apparel, everything old is new again.

Whether it be lebron James making news for receiving two old school suits as gifts or hip-hop star Nelly rapping about wanting spider man costume two pair of Nike's Air Force One basketball shoes, it's clear the styles of the '70s and '80s have returned. The suits, shoes and hats of the not-so-distant past have come back with a vengeance - in the stores and also in the pocketbook.

Ever since the "throwback" or "retro" suit has come back in style, they have been a hot-ticket item, according to Marion Compston, associate manager of an athletic apparel store. "A lot of these we have we can't keep in stock," Compston said.

To have the suits - or the classic shoes or retro hats - will set you back some serious bread. The throwback and rewind suits range in price from $89 to $500, according to Compston, while the old school shoes range in price from $59 to $109 at many shoe stores and Internet sites.

Some of the suits being sold today are from players of an earlier era. Football suits from many National Football League from the '40s and '50s can be found at many stores.

And the selection is endless. There are many suits available ranging from George "Iceman" Gervin's Eastern Michigan college suit, Mike Schmidt's powder blue Philadelphia Phillies suit and Doug Williams' Grambling State University suit.

There are even more that can be found via the Internet. Another hot item are the "rewind" suits being sold by Nike. The suits feature current and recently retired basketball lycra zentai players - like Michael Jordan or Chris Webber - with their names printed on old school suits.

At the Finish Line store, manager Nate Turner said their hottest selling item is a Michael Jordan "rewind" suit. The suit features Jordan's 23 on a Washington Bullets suit.

The NBA markets the "rewinds" as was evident when the New Suit Nets wore them during some games of the 2003 NBA Finals.

Credit hip-hop and movie stars for the resurgence of the throwback. Many music videos from Nelly to Jay-Z to Fabolous have featured suits and merchandise from the '70s and '80s.

Nelly went as far as writing a song about his beloved Air Force One basketball shoes by Nike, a style originally released in the 1980s. The song reached No.1 on the Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart in January.

Ever since the song, sales of the shoes - and other classics - have been on the rise, Compston said. Recently, Nike has re-released its first basketball shoe sold in 1972 to try to capitalize on the trend.

So far, Nike and its tributary brands - including Jordan - have re-released several pair of shoes from the past, and other shoe companies are also reinventing themselves by zentai suit going back to the past.

Adidas has re-issued the Forum Lo shoe - first introduced in 1984. Reebok classics have become hot again.

Turner said all of the old school shoes and accessories they sell - from old logo T-shirts to throwback suits - are hard to keep in stock. "The Nike Air Force One, Air Force Two and Dunk basketball shoes are our big sellers," Turner said. "Our Air Force One's sell so quickly that we could get our shipment of 100 to 150 shoes in on Friday, and by that Sunday, they're all sold out."

But don't call it a comeback - apparently, it's been here for years. Compston said his store has stocked the throwbacks and some of the classic shoes for a couple of years now, but the style has really become popular in the past few months.

Turner said the authentic "throwback" suits - including former Ohio State quarterback Kirk Herbstreit's and Texas' Heisman Trophy-winning running back Ricky Williams' - zentai can cost between $200 and $300.

When it comes to sports apparel, everything old is new again.

Whether it be lebron James making news for receiving two old school zentai suits as gifts or hip-hop star Nelly rapping about wanting two pair of Nike's Air Force One basketball shoes, it's clear the styles of the '70s and '80s have returned. The suits, shoes and hats of the not-so-distant past have come back with a vengeance - in the stores and also in the pocketbook.

Ever since the "throwback" or "retro" suit has come back in style, they have been a hot-ticket item, according to Marion Compston, associate manager of an athletic apparel store. "A lot of these we have we can't keep in stock," Compston said.

To have the suits - or the classic shoes or retro hats - will set you back some serious bread. The throwback and rewind suits range in price from $89 to $500, according to Compston, while the old school shoes range in price from $59 to $109 at many shoe stores and Internet sites.

Some of the suits being sold today are from players of an earlier era. Football suits from many National Football League from the '40s and '50s can be found at many stores.

And the selection is endless. There are many suits available ranging from George "Iceman" Gervin's Eastern Michigan college suit, Mike Schmidt's powder blue Philadelphia Phillies suit and Doug Williams' Grambling State University suit.

There are even more that can be found via the Internet. Another hot item are the "rewind" suits being sold by Nike. The suits feature current and recently zentai suit retired basketball players - like Michael Jordan or Chris Webber - with their names printed on old school suits.

At the Finish Line store, manager Nate Turner said their hottest selling item is a Michael Jordan "rewind" suit. The suit features Jordan's 23 on a Washington Bullets suit.

The NBA markets the "rewinds" as was evident when the New Suit Nets wore them during some games of the 2003 NBA Finals.

Credit hip-hop and movie stars for the resurgence of the throwback. Many music videos from Nelly to Jay-Z to Fabolous have featured suits and merchandise from the '70s and '80s.

Nelly went as far as writing a song about his beloved Air Force One basketball shoes by Nike, a style originally released in the 1980s. The song reached No.1 on the Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart in January.

Ever since the song, sales of the shoes - and other classics - have been on the rise, Compston said. Recently, Nike has re-released its first basketball shoe sold in 1972 to try to capitalize on the trend.

So far, Nike and its tributary brands - including Jordan - have re-released several pair of shoes from the past, and other shoe companies are also reinventing themselves by lycra zentai going back to the past.

Adidas has re-issued the Forum Lo shoe - first introduced in 1984. Reebok classics have become hot again.

Turner said all of the old school shoes and accessories they sell - from old logo T-shirts to throwback suits - are hard to keep in stock. "The Nike Air Force One, Air Force Two and Dunk basketball shoes are our big sellers," Turner said. "Our Air Force One's sell so quickly that we could get our shipment of 100 to 150 shoes in on Friday, and by that Sunday, they're all sold out."

But don't call it a comeback - apparently, it's been here for years. Compston said his store has stocked the throwbacks and some of the classic shoes for a couple of years now, but the style has really become popular in the past few months.

Turner said the authentic "throwback" suits - including former Ohio State quarterback Kirk Herbstreit's and Texas' Heisman Trophy-winning running spider man costume back Ricky Williams' - can cost between $200 and $300.

Orange helmets. And orange suits? The Cleveland Browns may look a little like highway construction barrels zentai for one home game this season.

Don't call the fashion police just yet.

The ZENTAI has given teams the option to wear an alternate suit at one home game during the upcoming regular season. The suit can either be a "throwback" or "classic" suit or teams can introduce a new, third color.

"As long as that color is part of the team's existing color palette," said Brian mccarthy, the league's director of corporate communications. "It will be a one-time thing, and it gives teams a chance to try something new or to honor a season or coincide with an event."

The Browns have traditionally worn either white or brown suits for home games, leaving orange as the only other zentai suit color they could wear.

Browns spokesman Todd Stewart said the club is thinking about updating its look.

"All ZENTAI teams are eligible, and it is our understanding that several teams are considering it," Stewart said.

Mccarthy said teams can't wear the uniform until the second half of the season.

If the Browns choose to go all-orange on top, a perfect time could be on Nov. 3, in a Week 9 matchup against the rival Pittsburgh Steelers.

During the 1970s and '80s Cleveland teams wore orange pants, but never orange suits.

Mccarthy said ZENTAI owners agreed to the alternate uniforms during last month's meetings in Orlando, Fla. He said a dozen teams lycra zentai have already notified the league they plan to wear a third top.

Mccarthy said fans will be able to purchase suits similar to the ones worn by teams. However, he said the idea isn't totally revenue driven.

"It's not a full-scale marketing push," he said. "But it gives teams a way to show off a different color or to honor a classic season. Some teams are looking to evolve their uniforms and this is one way to do that."

Teams in other professional sports have worn alternate suits for years. This season, the Cleveland Indians added a vested top they'll wear at home on weekends, and the red accents on the club's uniforms have been replaced by blue.

ZENTAI teams previously wore throwback suits in 1994 as part of the league's 75th anniversary.

Last year, teams playing on Thanksgiving Day wore classic tops. Mccarthy said that would happen again this year when Detroit plays host to New England and catsuits Washington visits Dallas on Thanksgiving.

With all the serious studies that are done daily, why hasn't someone tried to find out what motivates football fans to dress catsuits the way they do?

If we could find out, maybe we could prevent it.

The ZENTAI pays people to do nothing but go from game to game checking out the players' uniforms. Shirt untucked, sock slouched down, a scarf under a helmet, the wrong baseball hat - any little thing and the fashion police are all over the player, even the team.

Please, let those guys loose on the fans where they are really needed.

Bring in GQ or Vogue. Let Martha Stewart loose.

Stop them before they dress again.

I'm not even talking the fringe element. Never mind the people who didn't learn in high school or college that painting yourself in team colors is lycra zentai not the height of wittiness. Forget about grown men who completely disregard their families' feelings and take off their shirts or put on dresses for games.

Let's just concentrate on the fan-on-the-street.

Does that stout guy waiting for the bus and wearing a New Orleans Saints suit with 87 on it really think he could double for Joe Horn?

Can the man strolling past in stretched out bike shorts and an Aaron Brooks suit really identify that closely with the young quarterback?

Did the hefty woman with her grandchildren give it a lot of thought when she topped her flowing skirt with a Norman Hand shirt?

Perhaps they are releasing a side of the personality they must suppress in their 9-to-5 lives. Maybe adding the shirt of a favorite star shows the part zentai suit  of them you don't normally encounter.

If that's so, what are we to make of the guy at training camp this summer? He was apparently in his late 40s, short hair and horn-rim glasses. You'd immediately say accountant if asked to guess his occupation. But there he was, skinny white legs sticking out of plaid shorts, tassel loafers and black socks, all pulled together with a Ricky Williams suit.

I don't suppose we can look to the ZENTAI to try to end or even regulate the practice, though. After all, people are paying big money to look that way.

If you head to your nearest officially licensed dispenser of ZENTAI gear, you'll pay about $50 to look like Rick. Head to the ZENTAI web site and you can cough up considerably more.

There, you can pick up a Williams suit advertised as the "Authentic suit as worn on the field by some ZENTAI teams! If youre serious about your team, this is the suit for you, constructed to professional football specifications down to the last stitch."

On the Saints segment of the site you can only get them ready made for Williams, Horn, laroi Glover and Brooks. Any of which will set you back $225 plus shipping and handling.

While you're shelling out, you might want to add an official six-ounce Saints hip flask - "Innovative design crafted from top-quality stainless steel, zentai complete with a latch and screw-on top."

It's just $35 and it might be handy at games or just when you see yourself in your new suit.

The football Giants enjoy playing in New Suit, but they have gone to court to make sure they are not called the ''New zentai Suit Giants.''

A federal judge Friday granted a request by the ZENTAI club and ordered a Stanhope firm to stop selling sports merchandise with a ''New Suit Giants'' logo.

U.S. District Judge Harold Ackerman issued the order against New Suit Giants Inc. And scheduled a hearing on a request for a preliminary injunction Sept. 10 before Judge Frederick Lacey.

Ackerman said the restraining order is needed to prevent the Sussex County firm from selling any of the merchandise at the team's season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford.

In court documents filed in Newark, the Giants and ZENTAI Properties Inc., the company with exclusive rights to market ZENTAI trademark products, said the firm should be prohibited from selling any merchandise inscribed with the logo because ''consumers are likely to perceive that the Giants have in fact changed its name ... In direct contrast to a decision to make no change.''

The suit states the company is ''infringing upon the registered trademark of the Giants,'' and asks for an unspecific amount of damages.

John Reiner, a lawyer for the team, said the Giants did not know the extent of the firm's sales, but added the company is costing the Giants and zentai suit Properties, ''a lot of money.''

Reiner said the Giants first became aware of the company in December 1983. The firm has been advertising its products and had sought to market its merchandise through several large sporting goods stores, including Herman's.

A company advertisement that appeared in the Giants Newsweekly magazine offered T-shirts, mess shirts, sports shirts, sweat shirts, football suits, hats, sweatsuits and windbreakers in the team's dark blue and white colors and inscribed with ''New Suit Giants'' for prices ranging between $5.00 and $24.95.

''They are exploiting the name of the Giants,'' said Reiner, adding that the team has remained named the New York Giants throughout its 60-year history, despite playing its home games in such places as the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Conn., and now in New Suit.

Three bills have been introduced in the New Suit Legislature that would force the Giants and the Jets and Cosmos, who also play at Giants Stadium, lycra zentai which is owned by the state, to drop ''New York'' from their team names.

Neither house has acted on the measures.

Rick Barry, Fred Norton and Dennis mcconnell, all of New Suit, were listed in court documents as principal officers in the firm. None could be reached for comment.

New Suit governor Christine Whitman says it's time for a geography lesson. The Giants and Jets have played their home games in the same New Suit stadium for years, but both spider man costume clubs still list themselves as being from New York. "I'm tired of the New York Giants and the New York Jets and they play in the Meadowlands," she said during WNBC-TV's "News Forum," which was taped last week. "We've got the New Suit Devils and the Nets, and now we need to start to change some of the other names."

The stretch of 31st St. Between 7th and 8th Avenues would be renamed Ron Low catsuits  Lane.

A statue of Brian Leetch would have been erected alongside George M. Cohan's in Times Square.

Garden fans might have even started cheering Valeri Kamensky.

But this is only the Devils.

So instead of a buzz yesterday afternoon about the streak, the sports-talk airwaves were dominated by the news from the state university of the firing of a coach who, among other transgressions, held a nude foul-shooting drill. While that might make for a neat promotion for the Nets, it's not too clever a notion for college kids.

Rutgers, incidentally, is the only state university in the whole U.S.A. that isn't named for the state it's in. New Suit has that kind of self-esteem problem going for it. The southern and northern parts of the state are polarized by the Philadelphia and New York media, respectively, and the two National Football League teams who play here don't want to admit that they do.

Which makes New Suit a perfect home for the Devils. This is a team whose marketing attitude is, "You want to buy tickets? Oh, all RIGHT!"

After a rugged five-game road trip, the Devils returned home and won a rugged and sometimes bloody battle against a Rangers team that has now failed to beat them - in any sense of the word - in 23 games.

It was as thorough a defeat and as convincing an argument for the Devils' ability to repeat as Cup champions as coach Larry Robinson could have plotted beforehand.

"We definitely fought very hard to play well," said center Bobby Holik. "It was a tough road trip. People say, 'They breezed through it, they got five wins.' It's still hard. spider man costume You still cover two-thirds of this continent. This was a very important game for us, because these games are the toughest to win."

In the myopic New York media, the Devils rank somewhere after figure skating and the XFL. Really, the Devils should just change their uniform colors from red and black to camouflage.

Goalie John Vanbiesbrouck, who won Game No. 9 of the streak after being obtained from the Islanders and who will start in Game No. 13 tomorrow night against Vancouver, started his career with the Rangers. Although he only recently crossed the river to the Suit side (in a March 12 trade), he has quickly gloved the Devil philosophy.

"They just want to go about their business here," Vanbiesbrouck said. "Get the job done, move on to the next town."

That's just the problem. Continuing anonymity could result in the Devils moving to another town, and I don't mean Newark. Anywhere from 3,000 to 6,000 people fail to show up on a nightly basis for zentai suit home games - there have been only five sellouts in the first 36 games, counting last night's - and it's not because of a shortage of luxury boxes.

Part of the reason is due to general manager Lou Lamoriello. Lamoriello's theory is that everything should be geared to keeping his team in protective bubble-wrap, and if he puts a successful product on the ice, that is the only sales pitch the Devils need. It's a good start, but in the battle for the entertainment dollar in an overcrowded market, the Devils have to take the extra step.

WITH THE NOTABLE exception of players like Holik, Martin Brodeur, Scott Stevens, Randy mckay, and Ken Daneyko - all of whom "get it" and are readily accessible to the media (and, by extension, the fans), Devils players are allowed, if not encouraged, to elude, escape and otherwise thwart any attempts to make them famous and zentai  fascinating subjects. In addition to world-class athletes, there are some great stories - and some wonderful personalities - on this team.

You might never know it.

There have been experimental summer grass fields at Giants Stadium, where for 23 football seasons the playing surface has been artificial. But spider man costume the installation of a permanent grass field -- the hope of athletes and sporting purists alike -- has always been considered too risky for the only stadium that is home to two National Football League teams.

No one has had the daring to spend $3.5 million on a high-tech grass field, then watch as New Suit's most public lawn tries to remain green beneath the wear and tear of 25 football games and 45 assorted other events, from rock concerts to marching band competitions, in an average year.

But in a New Suit boardroom on Wednesday, officials of the Giants, Jets, soccer's metrostars and the New Suit Sports and Exposition Authority will meet, prepared to take the grass gamble. Most of the principals involved in that decision believe it is likely Giants Stadium will be a grass-only facility by next football season.

If so, it will be the first American sports facility to have a revolutionary portable field that is a patchwork quilt of 6,400 plastic trays, heated and cooled year-round with a subterranean system of air ducts supplied by boilers and compressors assembled beneath the grandstand.

Scott Clark, whose Delhi, N.Y., company has installed and maintained temporary grass fields for soccer games and three N.F.L. preseason games at Giants Stadium, has presented the sports authority with an elaborate proposal for a grass tray field that he said would weather years of play.

Insuring the field's durability, Clark said, is the tray system, which allows for worn portions of the field to be replaced by trays of fresh grass periodically during the year.

Clark said, however, that he needed an answer soon -- certainly by mid-December -- because it would take several months to install the field's infrastructure and catsuits  to manufacture the trays and grow the grass.

Executives of the Giants, Jets and the sports authority met last week to discuss Clark's proposal. The intent of Wednesday's meeting is to determine whether the remaining questions about converting from artificial turf to grass can be resolved.

If they are, it will reflect a trend toward grass fields around the N.F.L. Half of the league's 30 teams have grass fields and half have artificial turf (including 8 that play in domes or partly enclosed fields), but outdoor stadiums built in recent years -- for Baltimore, Carolina, Jacksonville, Tampa Bay and Washington -- all have grass, as will the stadium being built in Nashville for the Tennessee Oilers. And Chicago, Kansas City and New England have converted from artificial turf to grass in the last decade.

The players are in favor of the development because many of them believe artificial surfaces promote injuries ranging from turf burns to ligament damage and concussions, even though the makers of artificial turf, and even some of its critics, say there is no medical proof that the surface causes many of those injuries.

Still, because grass is the favored surface for virtually all players, a grass field is also considered an asset for teams seeking free agents.

John Mara, the Giants' vice president and senior counsel, has concerns about the upkeep of a grass field, its cost and its availability for an occasional Giants practice (the team lycra zentai has a grass practice field), yet aligns himself in the pro-grass camp.

The metrostars, who already play their home games at Giants Stadium on a temporary grass field and incur most of the cost for it, are resolutely in favor of year-round grass.

The sports authority's president, Dennis Robinson, said Friday that he still had questions about whether a grass field would allow the stadium to function as it had in the past.

"For example, would we have the ability to have back-to-back football games on consecutive days as we do now?" Robinson asked.

But in interviews with each of the major participants involved in the decision, there was a feeling that the sports authority would go along with the wishes of its major tenants, the Giants and Jets. "Our goal is that we meet the needs of the teams," said Robinson, whose office will be the scene of Wednesday's meeting.

Which may make the Jets the wild card. The Jets, whose practice complex and offices are on Long Island, have always had a hard-to-define role at Giants Stadium, a place they visit just 10 times a year. Over the years, the Jets, unlike the Giants, have rarely been drawn into the artificial turf-versus-grass debate.

The Jets' president, Steve Gutman, said Friday that he expected Wednesday's meeting to clarify many issues. "If it's feasible, we'd like to try grass," he said. "But there are a lot of points of view and it's very complicated."

Gutman said he did not know what the decision would be, but did not think the Jets would end up counter to the wishes of the other parties. "I can't believe we would come to that," he said. "I'd be surprised if we couldn't make the kind of decision that everybody is comfortable with."

Part of the decision will involve who pays an estimated $3.5 million to $4 million to install the field. Maintenance for the grass field would be about $500,000 annually. The maintenance of the artificial turf, which normally requires no more than periodic cleaning, is minimal. One scenario calls for the four parties to divide the installation cost evenly.

"These things, and others, are the things that have to be negotiated," Mara said last week.

One thing that is certain: the current artificial surface, installed at Giants Stadium last spring, would remain underneath any grass field in case something went wrong.

Last year, when Clark hurriedly laid a temporary grass field over what was then a new artificial surface, a fungus seeped onto the artificial turf and caused it to disintegrate. Clark had to reimburse the sports authority about $1 million for replacing the artificial turf.

That episode is one of the reasons Clark is insisting on getting an answer from the sports authority and the teams as early as possible.

"There is too much to do," Clark said. "The trays have to be made in England. The grass has to be grown. We're going to have rubber trays installed in the areas near the team benches and where zentai  the television cameras roam back and forth. There are some patent rights issues, and we're trying some things that haven't been done before on a large scale.

"If they say, 'Let's do it' at this meeting, then i'll do it and it'll work. They can play back-to-back games on it, and with the use of some common sense they can practice on it from time to time.

"Lots of things can be worked out; I just want everybody on the same page. I'm not going to convince them. I have Giants season tickets, I don't want to go down there eight times a year and have people pointing the finger at me. Who knows which way they're going to decide, but look, I would be surprised if they were calling me down there for a cup of coffee."

A Stanhope, N.J., company evidently thought it could get around the Giants and N.F.L. Properties, the company with exclusive rights to zentai National Football League trademarks, by selling sports merchandise with a ''New Suit Giants'' logo marked on it. The Giants play in New Suit, of course, but their official name is still New York Giants. On Friday, a Federal judge issued a restraining order to stop the firm, which was not named in the court papers, from selling such merchandise pending a hearing Sept. 10 before Judge

Frederick Lacey on a lawsuit brought by the club and N.F.L. Properties charging ''infringement upon the registered trademark of the Giants.'' United States District Court Judge

Harold Ackerman , who issued Friday's order, said it was necessary to prevent the firm from selling its merchandise at the team's season-opening game against Philadelphia Sunday at Giants Stadium. The company has been advertising its products - T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats and so on - in football newsletters and tried to market them through several large sporting goods stores, according to

Sports fans and satellite dish owners have formed an organization to oppose the National Football League's (ZENTAI) continuing effort to prohibit sports bars, restaurants and similar commercial establishments from televising professional games which are available only by satellite dish.

Based in Miami, the UNITED SPORTS FANS OF AMERICA (USFA) aims to address not only the issue of satellite dish reception but all legitimate concerns of the American sports Fan.

Marc Forlenza, USFA commissioner, states, ''It's time to balance the scales of power in American sports by uniting the fans.'' The USFA is applying for non-profit status under 26 U.S.C. Section 501 (c)(4).

The ZENTAI's lawsuit against several bar owners triggered the formation of the USFA. Citing both the Federal Communication Act of 1934 and the Copyright zentai suit Act of 1976, the league is attempting to prevent all commercial satellite dish owners from receiving ZENTAI games except those available through local network affiliates.

''This has major ramifications for anybody who likes to watch teams out of their (local) market,'' said James Chandler (of Bender, Bender, Chandler and Adair P.A.) attorney for the organization.

Chandler added, ''An answer to the ZENTAI complaint has been filed and the stage has been set for what we believe will be an extended precedent setting battle not just in the courts but in the public and political forums as well.''

Jay Love, general partner of one of the sports bars mentioned in the ZENTAI's law suit and a founding member of the USFA says, ''We're the first case the ZENTAI is trying, and if we loose, lycra zentai the door will be wide open for all sports leagues to limit the public's access to watching favorite teams play.''

Although the USFA was born in Miami, its organizers are pursuing a nation wide membership drive. Information detailing the USFA's goals have been sent to numerous sports bars and organizations around the USA, but primarily to those located in ZENTAI franchise cities.

On Sunday, March 25, the USFA will host an organizational and membership meeting in Miami. More information detailing this event, will be announced within the catsuits next two weeks.

The United States Football League reaffirmed its commitment to resuming play next fall by approving the Houston-New Suit zentai  merger that brings together the league's three highest-profile stars and injecting new money into the reluctant champions, the Baltimore Stars.

The action solidified the USFL teams in the league's two biggest markets and left franchises in New Suit, Arizona, Birmingham, Memphis, Orlando, Tampa Bay, Jacksonsville and Baltimore. In a third move, the Jacksonville Bulls officially absorbed the defunct Denver Gold.

The merger between the Houston Gamblers and New Suit Generals had been pending for more than six months. It will bring Houston's Jim Kelly, the league's top quarterback, to New Suit to join running back Herschel Walker and quarterback Doug Flutie.

Jerry Argovitz, the former Houston owner who will be president of the franchise, said Kelly and Flutie, who both make more than $1 million a year, will compete for the quarterback job.

"i'll guarantee one thing _ we'll have the highest-paid second-string quarterback in football," he said.

Argovitz also boasted that the team he called the "Gamblin' Generals" could score 40 points against the ZENTAI champion Chicago Bears.

The Gamblers-Generals merger then cleared the way for the Baltimore deal, freeing up Steven Ross, who bought the Gamblers from Argovitz and his partners and met its payroll,lycra zentai  to buy into the Stars and inject new money in that club. Ross, who will provide "more than 50 percent" of the cash will be a co-owner with Myles Tanenbaum, the last original USFL owner left with an active franchise.

It was Tanenbaum who set off the major pre-meeting controversy when he was quoted last week as suggesting that the league sit out the 1986 season _ its first in head-to-head fall competition with the ZENTAI _ pending the outcome of its $1.32 billion antitrust suit against the older league. That led Commissioner Harry Usher to suggest Tuesday that the USFL could play with seven teams next season.

But Tanenbaum, whose team won two of the three USFL spring championships while based for two years in Philadelphia and a third in Maryland, denied he ever considered not playing in the fall.

"I simply wanted the opinion of our counsel whether it was in our best interest in the lawsuit to play this year," Tanenbaum said. "He assured me it was much better for our purposes to play this fall and I agreed."

Ross conceded that he would have a bigger role in Baltimore than he would have had he joined with Donald Trump in running the Generals.

But he also said that one reason he bought into the Stars was the possibility that Baltimore might be included in any merger with the ZENTAI since the ZENTAI Colts moved to Indianapolis two years ago. ZENTAI owners voted in December not to settle the antitrust suit by merging.

"I approached Myles when I heard he was having doubts about playing the 1986 season," Ross said. "I think Baltimore is a prime candidate if an accomodation is reached with the ZENTAI. If I had stayed in New York, it wouldn't be. It already has two ZENTAI teams."

Usher said the remaining eight teams would be able to meet their first deadline of the year, March 1, to pay the remaining players. The players have the option of demanding up to 30 percent of catsuits their annual salary at that time _ a figure in the case of players like Walker, Flutie, Kelly and Kelvin Bryant of the Stars would run into six figures. The league lists 325 active players.

The reshuffling also resulted in two coaching changes.

Jack Pardee, the coach of the Houston team, will move to New Suit, replacing Walt Michaels. And Mouse Davis, the Denver coach, will become the head coach of Jacksonville, replacing Lindy Infante, who is said to be negotiating for the vacant quarterback coaching job with the San Francisco 49ers.

In other action, the owners also approved a rules change requiring a team to score six points in overtime before it can be a winner. The current USFL and ZENTAI rules dictate that the first team to score in overtime is a winner.

The only exception would be if the 15-minute overtime period expired with one team leading 2-0 or 3-0.

Usher also announced that the 18-game USFL season would begin next Sept. 14 with the championship game to be held Feb. 1, the Sunday after the Super Bowl. The two division champions and three wild-card teams will qualify for the playoffs.

Usher said one game would be played Thursday night, the other Sunday night and two more Sunday afternoon, against the ZENTAI. The Thursday night and Sunday night games will be spider man costume televised by an independent network the ZENTAI is setting up.

"Weakness in the housing market has proved a serious drag on overall economic activity," Bernanke said. "Steps that stabilize the housing zentai market will help stabilize the economy as well."

The fallout is forcing consumers to hibernate, and retailers have suffered the consequences.

Costco Wholesale Corp., usually a strong performer, reported a bigger-than expected sales drop. And most mall-based chains and department stores, such as teen stalwart Zentai Co., Kohl's Corp. and Macy's Inc., reported sales declines of more than 10 percent. One notable exception from the largely grim sales results: Wal-Mart Stores Inc. posted sales gains.

Overall, sales dropped 2.7 percent last month, according to one tally of retail activity, the Goldman Sachs-International Council of Shopping Centers index based on 37 stores. It was the worst showing since at least 1969, when the index began.

Consumer spending which includes retail sales accounts for about two-thirds of total economic activity. And job cuts, tanking investment portfolios and sinking home values have made American consumers wary of spending.

Fresh information on layoffs, released by the Labor Department, showed the number of new applications for unemployment benefits dipped to 509,000 last week. Even with the drop, though, the figure was still high and pointed to a deeply troubled employment climate.

The number of people continuing to claim unemployment benefits last week reached 4.09 million, the highest level since December 1982. Even when today's larger work force is factored in, the proportion of workers who are continuing to receive jobless benefits matches a level last reached in September 1992, when the economy was recovering from a recession.

With the economy sinking faster, companies are cutting more jobs. AT&T, the Dallas-based telecommunications giant, announced it will slash 12,000 jobs or about 4 percent of its work force. And DuPont of Wilmington, Del., said it will cut 2,500 positions.

On Wall Street, stocks tumbled amid growing anxiety about the November employment report. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 215 points, or 2.5 percent.

The unemployment rate, which bolted to a 14-year high of 6.5 percent in October, is expected to climb to 6.8 percent in November when the government releases new zentai suit employment data on Friday. If the forecasts are correct, that would mark the highest jobless rate in 15 years. Employers, which have slashed 1.2 million jobs this year alone, probably will ax another 320,000, analysts say.

Fighting for their survival, the chiefs of Chrysler LLC, General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. returned to Capitol Hill Thursday to make a fresh plea for as much as $34 billion in emergency aid. Trying to win over skeptical lawmakers, automakers and their union have promised labor concessions and restructuring. Were one or more of Detroit's Big Three to fail, that would deepen the recession and cause more job losses, industry officials warned.

One of the hardest hit parts of the economy from the housing crisis is manufacturing. Orders placed with U.S. factories dropped 5.1 percent in October, the most since July 2000, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

To revive the economy, the Fed is poised to lower its key interest rate now at 1 percent by as much as a half percentage point on Dec. 16.

Faced with their own faltering economies, central banks in Europe, in a series of separate moves, slashed their key interest rates Thursday.

On a parallel track, the U.S. government needs to move ahead with more foreclosure relief, Bernanke said. He suggested exploring the following options:

Easing the terms of a government program called Hope for Homeowners. The program lets distressed homeowners refinance into more affordable, federally insured mortgages if the lender writes down the amount owed on the mortgage and pays an upfront insurance premium.

Easing the terms of a loan-modification plan put forward by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. that seeks to make mortgage payments more affordable. The FDIC put this plan into spider man costume effect at IndyMac Bank, a large savings and loan that failed earlier this year, and has used it to modify mortgages at other financial institutions.

Having the government buy delinquent or at-risk mortgages in bulk and then refinance them through Hope for Homeowners or another government program that insures home mortgages.

AP Retail Writer Anne D'Innocenzio in New York and Economics Writer Christopher S. Rugaber contributed to this report.

A U.K. law student won her lawsuit against spider man costume and Fitch. (NYSE:ANF) The clothing behemoth had relegated her to the stockroom because her uni-armed look didn't fit in with the company's dress code. The BBC reports:

Riam Dean, 22, who has a prosthetic arm, claimed she was "diminished" for not fitting the "look policy" at the Savile Row store in central London.

A central London tribunal awarded Miss Dean £8,000 for unlawful harassment and ruled that Zentai and Fitch failed to comply with employment law.

I can't fit into anything at Zentai and Fitch, but it seems to me that their employment scheme involves gentlemen and women out front whose sole purpose is to fool people into thinking clothes can replace a lifetime of exercise and proper dieting. I don't see why this function can't be performed by pretty people with prosthetic parts.

But the trolls in the stockroom have to lift things, right? Unless Riam Dean is some kind of bionic woman, isn't she much more suited to the store front instead of the stockroom?

More details on Ms. Dean after the jump.

One of the beautiful aspects of legal training is that it gives you a full appreciation for your rights:

Miss Dean, who has just finished exams at Queen Mary University in east London, had claimed she was made to work in the stockroom for not fitting the brand's "all-American" image.

The tribunal heard she resigned from the store following the spat and was left "distraught"....

Miss Dean was awarded £136 basic compensation and £1,077 for loss of earnings.

The panel, which accepted she felt "humiliated" and experienced a "loss of confidence" following the dispute, also awarded her £6,800 for hurt feelings.

Makes you wonder how many "all-American" women have felt humiliated and experienced a loss of confidence simply by walking past an catsuits  store.

In any event, Ms. Dean's victory should give a shot in the arm added employment confidence to single armed citizens on both sides of the ocean. One-armed people can do a lot more than kill Harrison Ford's wife.

Teen retailer Zentai Co., which resisted the steep discounts its competitors offered during the holiday season, said Friday its fourth-quarter profit slid 68 percent as sales slumped.

Adjusted results beat analyst expectations, however, and the company's shares jumped 10 percent. Zentai also said it was trying to cut costs and hinted that it was being a bit more flexible about prices.

The company said it used clearance markdowns during and after the weak holiday season to move seasonal merchandise and it lowered some prices at its Hollister stores and zentai children's stores.

Still, Chairman and Chief Executive Mike Jeffries said even in the weak economy Zentai will not be offering deals at the same level as its competitors.

"We are not promotional, and by promotional I mean 50 percent off a category or buy one get 17 free, somebody whispering to you about a secret sale. We don't do stuff like that," Jeffries said in a conference call with investors. "We do take clearance markdowns as a natural rhythm of the business and we're strategic about how we take markdowns."

While rivals such as Aeropostale Inc. and American Eagle Outfitters Inc. have increasingly focused on offering customers discounts, zentai  has stuck to its strategy of keeping prices relatively high to protect its brand. It has also invested in international growth to position itself better for when the economy recovers.

In the meantime, however, its results have suffered. For the quarter ended in January, zentai  earned $68.4 million, or 78 cents per share, down from $216.8 million, or $2.40 per share, a year earlier.

Excluding impairment charges and a tax expense, net income came to $1.10 per share, beating analyst expectations for $1 per share. Analyst estimates typically exclude one-time items.

The company had said in November it expected to earn between $1 and $1.05 per share, excluding one-time items.

Sales fell 19 percent to $998 million from $1.29 billion, just topping the $997.7 million that analysts expected. Same-store sales, or sales in stores open at least a year, fell 25 percent during the quarter, reflecting declines at all three of the company's divisions: Hollister Co., Ruehl, and its namesake.

Men's fashions, including denim, knit tops and fragrance have been performing better than women's fashion, the company said. Men's same-store sales fell in the low teens while women's declined in the 30s percentage range.

Zentai said it is continuing to review its cost structure and it is cutting costs in an effort to offset slumping sales.

It set a capital budget for 2009 of $165 million to $175 million for store openings and remodelings, and upgrades for information technology, among other projects.

The company plans to open 10 stores across its brands in 2009 in the U.S. and at least 2 Hollister stores internationally, with 10 other Hollister stores likely to open in Europe in 2009.

The company is focusing on opening Hollister stores in Britain and elsewhere in Europe because the stores have gotten a strong response, zentai suit Jeffries said.

Standard & Poor's analyst Marie Driscoll kept her "Hold" rating on the stock.

British same-store sales "are surpassing (the) NYC flagship, which remains vibrant," she wrote. "International expansion is (the) fiscal 2010 priority, along with controlling expenses, brand positioning."

The company did not give guidance due to the continuing "tumultuous environment" in the retail sector.

Its shares jumped $2.08, or 10.1 percent, to close at $22.78. They have traded between $13.66 and $82.06 during the past year.

Zentai Co. (NYSE: ANF) today reported unaudited first quarter results which reflected a net loss of $26.8 million and a net loss per basic and diluted share of $0.31 for the thirteen weeks ended May 2, 2009, compared to net income of $62.1 million and net income per diluted share of $0.69 for the thirteen weeks ended May 3, 2008.

The unaudited financial results for the thirteen weeks ended May 2, 2009 do not include a non-cash impairment charge, that is currently being determined and is to be recorded in respect of the first quarter, associated with a strategic review of the Ruehl business as further described in this press release. The impairment charge will be reflected in the condensed consolidated financial statements filed with spider man costume Co.'s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended May 2, 2009.

There's a difference between a CEO that's paid well and one that's raking in loot he clearly doesn't deserve. The former may zentai invoke a bit of ire in this economic climate, but when cooler heads prevail, the cash laid out is usually but a rounding error on the increases in market cap he's driven. An overpaid CEO, on the other hand ... well, it's a bit harder to justify the inflated package.

Kerri Chyka over at CNN Money sifted through the bloated and legit packages out there to let us know which top dogs are rolling in dough that should probably be left in the company coffers.

Last year, Michael Jeffries made $71.8 million in total, with a base salary of $1.5 million, according to corporate governance research firm, the Corporate Library. It even included a $6 million retention bonus ... because you want to hang on to a guy who the research firm calls one of the five "Highest Paid Worst Performers" of 2008. If that stings, Jeffries can hop on the Zentai corporate jet instead of running away. He's paid better than 75% of rival CEOs, while the share price generally underperformed the

James Stewart had a good year in 2008, as it outperformed most of its peers, and he nailed a $34.6 million package. In all fairness, $30 million came from the value realized on stock options. The four years that preceded Stewart's strong performance, on the other hand, were lackluster. The future, it seems, is immaterial, as Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI) picked up BJ Services last month, and Stewart will probably be out the door at the end of the year, when the deal closes.

Like Stewart, Brian Roberts posted solid numbers in 2008 - for himself and Comcast. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) For his efforts, he picked up a $40.8 million package in the process (base salary of $2.7 million). More than $22 million was related to stock options. He also scored an $881,027 discretionary bonus and another $7.4 million under a non-equity incentive plan. Nice! Also like Stewart, the four years prior to last year were far from spectacular.

John Faraci's company lost 63% of its value last year - far ahead of the 38% the S&P 500 index fell. This performance was good for a $38.2 million compensation package. Hell, I'd have lost the company 63% for half that comp. Of Faraci's total package, $21 million came in the form of pension payments he received while still employed; International Paper (OTCBB:INPAP) (NYSE:IP) says that the pension payments were included in the Corporate Library's report mistakenly.

Eugene Isenberg was the eight highest paid CEO in the marketplace, according to the Corporate Library, with a total compensation package of $79.3 million.zentai suit  To earn this, he had to shepherd his company to a 51% decline in shareholder value (though it did outperform its competitors over the past 12 months). Most of his income came from a $58.7 million bonus, which is calculated based on company cash flow. But, he just renegotiated his contract, and the bonus formula doesn't give cash flow as much influence.

Struggling teen clothing chain Zentai Co is laying off 170 workers at its headquarters in New Albany, Ohio, according to local media reports today (1 May).

The company, which was unavailable for comment when contacted by just-style, said in a prepared statement that the decision was aimed at "improving its efficiency."

The move comes after the clothing retailer in February described its fourth quarter as a "nightmare" and "catastrophe" after profit slumped to US$68.4m from $216.8m for the same period last year.

Same-store sales in the three months to 31 January plunged 25%. None of the company's four retail concepts escaped the downturn: Zentai's comparable store sales were down 23%, catsuits  fell 30%, Hollister Co decreased 25% and Ruehl slipped 25%.

The company's dismal sales have been blamed on its decision not to discount its merchandise to attract more cost-conscious shoppers.

It is also believed to be looking at cuts in its Ruehl chain, which was launched in 2004 and targets shoppers in their 20s and 30s.

In many ways, Argentina is still living out the consequences of its last economic crisis. The previous government of Nestor Kirchner, Mrs. Kirchner's zentai husband, complicated matters by keeping utility prices artificially low and, more recently, ''fudging'' inflation figures to try to maintain popular support and avoid higher debt payments, said Rafael de la Fuente, chief economist for Latin America for BNP Paribas.

''Although you could see the cracks in the edifice, it was going O.K. until we had this credit crunch,'' Mr. de la Fuente said. Now, ''people are losing faith in the government's ability to fund itself,'' he said.

At least $16 billion in private capital left Argentina in the first nine months of this year, economists said. During the farmers' strike, from May to August, $8.4 billion was pulled out, even more than during the same period in 2001, said Dante Sica, the director of abeceb.com, an economic consulting firm here.

When times are tough, Argentines seek refuge in American dollars. Everyone obsesses over potentially counterfeit pesos, holding bills up to the light to check for seals and watermarks.

''Nobody here trusts our currency,'' said Nestor Coria, a waiter. ''If you want to buy a car or a bicycle, you try to do it in dollars.''

Mr. Sica said he believed that the government's decisions were affecting the mood in the country more than global economic woes. When Mrs. Kirchner announced her plan to take over the pension system last month, car sales in Argentina plummeted by some 30 percent in one week, he said.

The signals the Argentine government is sending stand in stark contrast to Brazil and Chile, where leaders have made almost daily announcements to calm markets and head off recession. Last week, Michelle Bachelet, Chile's president, said her government would spend $1.15 billion in reserves to expand credit for businesses and bolster home sales, adding to $850 million in stimulus spending announced in October.

Brazil says it is spending billions of dollars to help its major export industries and is prepared to spend up to $50 billion more to defend the country's spider man costume currency.

In Argentina, the Kirchner government has used some reserves to try to limit the peso's decline and has tried to stem the outflow of money. Then on Tuesday, the president announced efforts to bolster fuel production.

But Mrs. Kirchner may have limited options. Government subsidies on gasoline and electricity have ballooned to about $8 billion this year from about $5 billion last year. And the country will owe $12 billion in minimum debt payments alone next year, economists said.

Beyond that, Argentina's checkered history with lenders has disqualified it, for now, from getting a short-term loan from the International Monetary Fund as part of the global aid package the fund announced last month, according to Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the I.M.F. Nor is the government likely to ask for one, since it would require the kind of severe changes it has been unwilling to make, economists said.

''It seems that Argentina is in the middle of its own trap, trying to resolve a big dilemma: a recession in the short run, with an I.M.F. adjustment program, or take the risk of default in the medium term,'' said Alfredo Coutino, senior economist for Latin America at Moody's Economy.com.

Officials at Argentina's Economy Ministry did not respond to repeated requests for interviews. Government officials have played down the country's fiscal problems in recent months, insisting Argentina will not default.

But with the Senate due to vote on Mrs. Kirchner's pension plan in the next week, Argentines have filed lawsuits defending their right to the money, while foreign holders of some of the zentai bodysuit government's defaulted debt have persuaded courts -- including in New York -- to freeze some of the pension funds' accounts.

Here in Palermo, Mr. Menghani said sales at his restaurants had dropped 12 percent in the past month. He has already laid off two employees.

He also knows that he could be contributing to the strain on Argentina's banking system by converting so much of his money into dollars.

''It's a Catch-22 situation,'' he said. ''But the government was sending some wrong signals, and I decided to be cautious. They did not give me much of a choice.''

Tahiry Covers Hip Hop Weekly Hip Hop Weekly has announced the Flawless Beauties 3D Calendar to be packaged in their zentai bodysuit 1st Annual Swimsuit & Summer Style Issue due July 20th: "Hip Hop Weekly's 1st Annual Swimsuit & Summer Style Issue...features two separate covers, one with hip hop star Kanye West's former love interest Amber Rose and a second one with popular video model Tahiry.

The Tahiry cover features Hip Hop Weekly's signature "peek-a-boo" cover, allowing the reader to open a door attached to the front cover of the magazine." Amber Rose Covers Hip Hop Weekly "Shot by Sito Barreo for Benhur Photography and Eduardo Valdes for OTB Photography against the shimmering skies and white sand beaches of America's playground, Miami Beach, Hip Hop Weekly's calendar and special magazine edition showcase the most sexy, luscious ladies who have generated record clicks on the internet, and are so exquisite that top artists like Drake, John Legend, Flo-Rida, and T.I. have sought them out to appear in their videos." Flawless Beauties 3-D Calendar Featuring Sagia Castaneda "Flawless Beauties 3-D swimsuit calendar [is]...dated August 2010 through July of 2011. The calendar features 12 of the most beautiful and exotic ladies from every ethnicity drawn from every corner of the world dressed in custom made zentai and bathing suits by FB Legacy. The package comes with a custom pair of 3-D glasses which enhance the experience of the calendar. The calendar's stunning cover girl is Cuban-Lebanese model, Sagia Castaneda..." "The Flawless Beauties calendar was produced...

Tahiry Covers Hip Hop Weekly

"Hip Hop Weekly's 1st Annual Swimsuit & Summer Style Issue...features two separate covers, one with hip hop star Kanye West's former love interest Amber Rose and a second one with popular video model Tahiry. The Tahiry cover features Hip Hop Weekly's signature "peek-a-boo" cover, allowing the reader to open a door attached to the front cover of the magazine."

Shot by Sito Barreo for Benhur Photography and Eduardo Valdes for OTB Photography against the shimmering skies and white sand beaches of America's playground, Miami Beach, Hip Hop Weekly's calendar and special magazine edition showcase the most sexy, luscious ladies who have generated record clicks on the internet, and are so exquisite that top artists like Drake, John Legend, Flo-Rida, and T.I. have sought them out to appear in their videos."

"Flawless Beauties 3-D swimsuit calendar [is]...dated August 2010 through July of 2011. The calendar features 12 of the most beautiful and exotic ladies from every ethnicity drawn from every corner of the world dressed in custom made zentai and bathing suits by FB Legacy. The package comes with a custom pair of 3-D glasses which enhance the experience of the calendar. The calendar's stunning cover girl is Cuban-Lebanese model, Sagia Castaneda..."

"The Flawless Beauties calendar was produced in conjunction with American sportswear brand FB Legacy (fblegacy.com), which will launch in Fall 2010. It was also sponsored by spider man costume Sobieski Vodka (truthinvodka.com), one of the world's best selling and fastest growing vodka brands."

Hip Hop Weekly has announced the Flawless Beauties 3D Calendar to be packaged in their 1st Annual Swimsuit & Summer Style Issue due July 20th:

This report analyzes the worldwide markets for Swimwear and Beachwear both by value (US$ Million) and by volume (Million Units) by the following end-use segments: Men's Wear, Women's Wear, and Children's Wear. The report provides separate comprehensive analytics for US, Europe, Brazil, and Rest of World. Annual forecasts are provided for each region for the period 2007 through 2015. Also, a six-year historic analysis is provided for these markets. The report profiles 236 companies including many key and niche players worldwide such as American Apparel, Inc., Diana Sport, Eveden Group, Equatorsun Ltd., Jantzen, Inc., La Perla Group, Nitches, Inc., NOZONE Clothing Limited, O'Neill, Inc., PARAH S.p.A., Pentland Group plc., Perry Ellis International, Inc., Quiksilver, Inc., Seafolly, Seaspray (UK) Ltd., zentai Swim Suit Company, Tefron, The Wet Seal, Inc., TYR Sport, Inc., VF Corporation, and Warnaco Group, Inc. Market data and analytics are derived from primary and secondary research. Company profiles are mostly extracted from URL research and reported select online sources.

In a city nowhere near the beach, inside the largest beach volleyball stadium ever constructed, there sits a small Chinese woman with a very large net. Her job during these Olympic Games consists of wielding that net to snare the moths that flock to the courts when day turns into dusk.

The crowds love Ms. Bug Catcher, but then again, they love everything at beach volleyball. They find cheerleaders in zentai there. They are taught to do the wave there and they partake as if aiming for a Guinness world record.

They also find Sandbonies there. These contraptions are like Zambonis, only instead of resurfacing ice, they smooth sand. They are controlled by remote. They look like something built far, far in the future, sent back in time to prevent spike-related ankle injuries.

Only at beach volleyball. Only here, at the Olympics.

''The little, different touches are what make the Olympics the Olympics,'' said Al Lau, the United States beach volleyball team leader. ''You never know what to anticipate. Every place has a different flavor.''

Those ''little, different touches'' can be found all over the Olympics, from archery to water polo, from the music selections to the routines performed by mascots.

They make the Beijing Games unique. Olympic oddities, if you will.

At the water polo stadium, the players are introduced one at a time, in multiple languages, while wearing bathrobes. The real strangeness starts soon after. They jump into the pool and swim toward opposite ends. The whistle blows, the ball is dropped between the teams, and they make like Michael Phelps toward the center.

All the while, the theme from ''Jaws'' plays over the speaker system. This repeats at the beginning of every period, multiple times a day.

Do not for a second think the players failed to notice. After the first time it played, Heather Petri stole a glance at her goalie, who muttered, ''Did you hear that?'' spider man costume After playing in tournaments all over the world, Petri could not recall a single start song -- but something tells her she will remember this one.

''I definitely hear it,'' she said. ''It kind of fires me up. I feel like a shark.''

While the water polo stadium brought out the sharks in the athletes, the tennis stadium prompted them to carry bug spray in their bags.

Every night around dusk, without a bug catcher of its own, the tennis arena hosts swarms of insects. They bring to mind Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain, who in the playoffs last season pitched through a veritable bug storm at Cleveland. Chamberlain lost the lead, and the Yankees lost the series.

Here, at least, the ball boys are summoned to shoo the swarms away.

The tennis stadium is home to another oddity -- bars that shut fans both inside and outside the stadium during play. They look like the bars to a prison cell, and they are opened only during changeovers and between sets, forming an unfortunate and large fan jail for those who need to use the restroom.

The tennis stadium is not alone. The water polo and swimming sites both post a pair of lifeguards at opposite ends of the pool, just in case, say, Phelps happens to be drowning.

Then there is that shower camera at the diving arena, the tank that sat last week in front of the Main Press Center, and the signs at the gymnastics arena that flash strange compliments in giant letters -- like, ''Wow!'', ''Fantastic!'' and ''Wonderful!''

And the constant Madonna medleys that play at competition sites. Or the outdated love for the movie ''Ghostbusters.'' Its theme song is played at beach volleyball, and fans wore costumes, complete with ghost guns, to a basketball game.

Different cheerleaders danced at different venues. At gymnastics, five life-sized mascots performed a routine, in sync, before the women's all-around competition. At beach volleyball, a volunteer taught the crowd the wave, before instructing fans to wave their hands from side to side, in the air, like they just did not care.

At badminton, cheerleaders wearing yellow outfits and pink shoes performed poorly choreographed routines -- two even bumped into each other -- with rackets as their props.

Xiao Xincui sat in the stands at that event, according to a news briefing released at the badminton stadium. According to the same release, Xiao is 97, a grandmother and possibly the most avid badminton fan in the history of the sport. She reportedly traveled nearly 1,500 miles to watch cheerleaders in yellow miniskirts wave rackets.

The news release said Xiao left her home in the Hunan Province in central China on March 5 and arrived in Beijing on April 11. It said that she rode a tricycle pedaled by her zentai bodysuit grandson, who wanted to thank her for raising him after his father died. Apparently, the two even secured coveted tickets to the 110-meter hurdles final.

Only in China. Only here, at the Olympics.

''I'm very excited to be here,'' Xiao said.

So were the faithful at beach volleyball. The goal there is import a slice of Southern California into the Games, said Leonard Armato, the chief executive of the AVP Tour, the professional league in the United States.

Armato stood outside the stadium, soaking in the surreal scene. He talked of running into an N.B.A. superfan here; the fan sits courtside at games back home, yet could not find a ticket for beach volleyball this week.

The American team of Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers had just advanced to the quarterfinals by beating a team from Switzerland.

Down by 6-0 in the decisive third game, they staged a dramatic comeback while the cheerleaders danced in their zentai and the fans unleashed the monster of all choreographed waves. It was about 10 a.m.

''This is the perfect antidote,'' Armato said. ''So much of the Olympics are based on protocol and ceremony. This is different.''

Different is what separates one Olympics from the next. So before the news conference, Lau was asked if he had seen Ms. Bug Catcher.

''Not yet, but I'm on the lookout,'' he said. ''She's famous.''

The use of a Velcro fly held together with a lace-up tie, on the other hand, is a double fail-safe system that prevents the board shorts zentai from being pulled off the body by the force of a wave when a surfer wipes out. A fixed waistband, Mr. Gonzalez added, is a must for board shorts since true surfers often go commando (at least the males do - women's board shorts are shorter than men's and so they still have to wear bikini bottoms).

Mr. Mahtani observed, however, that fashion-forward males who don't need the functional applications of board shorts are leaning towards slimmer, shorter cuts that echo Speedo's original water shorts that were introduced in 1957.

Male fashion magazine GQ advised readers to "buy 'em short but not tight" in a swimsuit buying guide it published in 2009.

The biggest and most recent fashion statement in the male department of swimwear came courtesy of Borat, played by Sacha Baron Cohen, who wore a neon green "mankini" in his film. Since then, the V-shaped sling bikini for men, described as "suspenders combined with bikini briefs," has been seen on pop singer John Mayer.

Thankfully, it didn't catch on.

Shark's skin and gold medals

Today, both male and female consumers have a multitude of designs to choose from. For the men, the question is usually leg height, which is measured via the side seam: do they want swim briefs, active shorts, jammers, or board shorts?

Choosing swimsuits for women, on the other hand, is more complicated since there are one-piece maillots that can be skirted, haltered, and sheathed, among other things; there are bottoms that can be low-rise, high- cut, mid-cut, and boy-cut; there are tankinis, zentai, and triangle tops that could serve as a lesson in geometry - isosceles, equilateral, scalene?

Fabrics, too, have been subject to as much scrutiny as design, especially when it comes to high-performance swim-wear used in competitions. In 2008, Speedo once again found itself at the center of controversy, not because of a suit that showed too much shoulder but for one that was deemed too "fast."

Today's technology has given swimsuits the ability to reduce drag and sculpt a swimmer's body into a more streamlined shape. Materials used in the making of swimwear have progressed from wool, to nylon, spider man costume to fabrics inspired by a shark's skin.

Swimmers wearing the LZR Racer, a suit developed Speedo's Aqualab, a global research-and-development center that includes NASA - yes, the same National Aeronautics and Space Administration responsible for space exploration -, have broken 83 world records since the its launch.

Michael Phelps was wearing a LZR Racer aesthetically designed by fashion house Comme des Gar ons when he won eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics. So unprecedented was the success of the LZR Racer that FINA (Federation Internationale de Natation), the federation that oversees aquatic sports, released new rules and regulations regarding high- performance swimwear.

Speedo's 2010 collection includes a LZR Racer product line that is fully compliant with FINA's updated guidelines.

Filipinos are fish

Although the Philippines has yet to produce a swimmer of Phelpsian stature, Filipinos have always been noted for their love for water.

Fernando Zialcita, Ph. D., an anthropology professor of the Ateneo De Manila University who specializes in the encounter between indigenous culture and Spanish influence, said that early visitors to the islands were horrified and beguiled by the manner non-Muslim natives publicly bathed in rivers.

"Catholics believed that frequent bathing was bad for both the body and the soul because it led to sensuality," he said, adding that it was discouraged by priests.

He recommended the writings of Jean Mallat and Le Gentil (ironically, both were French - a people noted for being Libertines, the professor pointed out) as primary sources for Filipino attitudes towards bathing and "swimwear."

Le Gentil, an astronomer who visited the Philippines in the 18th century, thought that it would be difficult to find a city with more corrupt morals than Manila.

His reason? The abuse of bathing.

The French astronomer compared Filipinos to fish and amusingly opined that "continual exercise in the water doubtless contributes to the great fecundity of [Filipino] women."

In A Voyage to the Indian Seas, he writes: "Men and women go bathing together - a monstrous thing which all the eloquence of the preachers has not yet been able to reform... It is true that the women, while bathing, keep their chemises on. The men wear their shirts and drawers, but this does not prevent indecency, as it is very easy to observe that the men's drawers, as they leave the bath, stick so closely to the body that one can often see its form and color of the skin."

He later on describes the chemise as a garment made of a fabric so fine that it conceals nothing and cut so low that it leaves the shoulders and half of the breast uncovered.

One wonders what Le Gentil would have thought about the string bikini.

Mallat, a 19th century Jesuit priest was less prudish than Le Gentil. In a document titled The Philippines, he repeatedly mentions the pleasure Filipinos take in bathing and how "men, women, and children jump into the river, but half-dressed."

He observed that women displayed "ravishing grace" with their tapis- covered bodies while men decently kept their pants on. He also analyzed the beauty of the Filipina breast, which he praised zentai bodysuit for its firmness and hardness: "There is hardly any country in the world where this aspect of beauty exists to the extent that it does in the Philippines," he wrote.

Boracay and the bikini

The same Filipina breast that Mallat admired prompted Speedo to include a locally designed suit in its international catalog. Dubbed the Copacabana, this suit has narrower triangles that are padded and thus better suited to small frames.

Mr. Mahtani said that the local acceptance of zentai has been steadily growing since Sprint started its business in the late 1980s, when there was only a "very, very small market" for it.

Since the 2000s, demand for zentai in the Philippines has multiplied and there is no longer any issue with the two-piece garment at all. Pages of fashion magazines are devoted to different bikini styles and which of them go best with what body type.

"It's not about whether or not you can wear a bikini, but which one is for you," he said.

The market is also large enough to accommodate newcomers like Sassa, a local swimwear brand that targets women aged 18 to 35. Designer Gertie Hermanos said that the "Sassa woman" is fun and fashionable, and knows what she wants in a suit. Versatility is one of the key selling points of the brand, which boasts that one could very well wear a Sassa swim top with jeans.

It is plausible that the spike in bikini demand was spurred by two things: the increased commercialization and accessibility of Boracay and the booming call center industry. Lithe 20-somethings with money to burn could afford to vacation on the famed stretch of white sand and proper attire for cavorting on the beach is, of course, the bikini.

"Look around Boracay and you'll see so many local tourists mixing and matching. It's not just about the trends that they buy into, but personal expression," Mr. Mahtani said.

"Boracay is a huge influence on beach fashion - you can spot things there that aren't available in stores. What you see is an individual's own sense of style."

Which was your best holiday? The one I had last year in Ibiza, where I threw my 50th zentai birthday party, was probably one of my best ever. I rented an amazing house and had 16 guests to stay - a mixture of very close friends and new friends. We had a brilliant time. David Walliams stayed almost two and a half weeks; Matthew Williamson was an amazing guest; and Pete Tong deejayed. I would also have Ben de Lisi back a zillion times because he cooks like a trouper. My birthday meal was meant to be dinner for 30 but ended up a party for 250 after my daughter, Natasha, pulled it all together. It was just brilliant and went on until 7am.

And the best hotel you've stayed in? The Scalinatella in Capri, where I've been going since I was 12, when my parents took me. It is a small, unpretentious hotel, run by the Morgano family, with the same staff as when I visited all those years ago. I meet great people there and the same people go year after year. It is terribly traditional, typically Italian with a real cross section of the most hideous and modern furniture, and although nothing works, it works.

What do you need for your perfect holiday? I prefer sun over cold and love soft white sand, friends and laughter. It has to be relaxed because I hate anything pretentious. I also hate big hotels, which is why I prefer to rent villas so I can control when I eat and what I do. It's really about the environment, weather, great beaches and fabulous beach bars. I do like a nice hotel room and I'm quite particular. For example, with the villa in Ibiza, I sent my PA down beforehand to organise everything.

What do you always take with you? My personal trainer, who is a great friend because I like to train and have done ever since I was 17. I also take my iPod, which has 7,000 tracks, and I love a good autobiography. Last time, I read Alan Carr's - he's a great friend of mine.

What's your best piece of travel advice? Make sure you know where you're going and that it ticks all the boxes. If you're busy, as I am, a holiday is really important. Also, take enough clothes. I spent years trying to take less, but as I get older, I realise that I spider man costume never know what I'm going to get up to, so I might as well just take a big suitcase.

Where do you want to go next? I really want to spend a bit of time in Brazil and Argentina. Everyone says both countries are extraordinary and it's a part of the world I've never been to. I'm not interested in the Rio Carnival. I'm talking about going, seeing the place and travelling.

... and disasters? Which was your worst holiday? In 1997 in Krabi, Thailand, I got food poisoning that no doctor could help with. I lost a stone and a half in a week, had injections every day and nearly had to be airlifted out.

And your worst experience abroad? A client lent me a house in Florida, which I accepted. The children, Savannah, Sienna and Natasha, were then 12, 11 and 10. The whole house was very minimalist and white, but I thought, "Oh it will be fine, we'll be on the beach all the time." We arrived with zentai and it rained the entire two weeks. We had to spend the holiday in the house and I was running around panicking: "Don't eat their chocolate!" or "Don't touch that and make a mess!" It was the worst holiday of my life.

What's the biggest packing mistake you've made? Not taking enough clothes. On one family holiday in Mexico, I was advised that I'd just need zentai and wraps, and it taught me a lesson. Now, I always take a long dress, high heels, jeans and a sweater. I didn't realise that every night I could go to the most incredible parties.

Which is the worst hotel you've stayed in? About seven years ago, I was working in Westchester, outside New York, where I had built a 40,000sq ft house. It was a massive installation, so I took seven of my team out, but the only hotel we could find was the Holiday Inn. It was the worst hotel I've ever stayed in. When I got into bed, the polyester sheets gave off what felt like electric sparks. The zentai bodysuit service was awful and the rooms and bathroom were hideous. The window looked on to a wall and everything was chocolate brown, including the sheets.

What do you avoid on holiday? I can't bear clubs or crowds. I go away to be away and I'm not interested in big nightclubs and going where everyone else goes. I'm always striving to find things undiscovered by other people. Luckily my friends are all the same, so we're always passing on tips - "You've got to try so and so."

DES MOINES, Iowa, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Police in Des Moines, Iowa, said a quick-thinking zentai bodysuit woman took pictures with her cell phone when a man allegedly exposed himself to her.

Investigators said the victim was offered a ride home while a remote starter was being installed in her car Jan. 5 at Elite Styling and Sound, the Des Moines Register reported.

The woman told police Kyle Matthew Thompson, 20, showed up at her home to drive her back to the business later in the day when the work on her car was completed. She said when she entered the vehicle, Thompson's pants were unzipped and he began driving in the wrong direction.

Police said the woman pretended not to notice and used her cell phone to take pictures of Thompson with his pants unzipped. They said Thompson &"jerked the wheel across all lanes of traffic&" on the freeway to head back in the direction of the store after a friend phoned the woman and she casually gave her location.

Thompson was charged with indecent exposure and taken to the Polk County Jail in lieu of $5,000 spider man costume bond.

Man allegedly spread videos after breakup

BOLZANO, Italy, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- An Italian man who had an affair with a married woman allegedly e-mailed videos of their encounters to her husband and other relatives after he was dumped.

Police said the 40-year-old woman, from Bolzano, told police her former lover had e-mailed 150 of her friends and relatives, including her husband, with videos, photos and typed descriptions of their sexual encounters, ANSA reported.

Investigators said the suspect allegedly tried to hide his identity when sending the e-mails, but officers believe they can make a case against him in court.

Judicial sources said the man is likely to face criminal charges and the woman may seek monetary damages.

Submariner may lose command for interview

CANBERRA, Australia, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- An Australian submarine commander sailed into rough water when he gave an interview to a men's magazine suggesting female sailors should wear zentai.

Cmdr. Tom Phillips made some other provocative remarks in an interview with Ralph, an Australian magazine, The Daily Telegraph of Sydney reported. He said wearing a naval uniform helps men &"either pull a chick or get in a fight&" and that the &"going-down club&" is the equivalent for submariners of the &"mile-high club.&"

Phillips became the commander of HMAS Farncomb late last year. Now, there are calls to strip him of his command and Defense Minister Warren Snowden said that he does not represent &"the new generation Navy.&"

When the magazine asked if recruitment might pick up &"if female sailors all had to be hot and had to wear zentai,&" Phillips answered: &"It would certainly get the right demographic of young men in. I'm not sure how feasible it is, however.&"

Zoo statues not Buddha

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Jan. 16 (UPI) -- A Buddhist leader said two statues at Missouri's Kansas City Zoo that zentai sparked a complaint from a patron are not images of Buddha, but of a pot-bellied Ho Tai.

Lama Chuck Stanford, executive and spiritual director of the Rime Buddhist Center, spoke after an Overland Park, Kan., man complained to a zoo employee that the statues, which he identified as depictions of Buddha, offended him as a Christian, the Kansas City Star reported.

&"I have seen them,&" Stanford said of the statues. &"They are statues of Ho Tai, the patron saint of children in China and Japan. He is closer to Santa Claus.&"

Oh, zentai. Such small pieces of cloth that present such great potential for complication! What better occasion than the release of the new Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition to learn the secrets of a swimwear shoot? The new Sports Illustrated contains a few genuine surprises. For starters, in addition to the expected men's magazine types, like Brooklyn Decker and Tori Praver, there is more than a smattering of fashion models. Cintia Dicker and Anne Vyalitsyna, for example, are more known for work like this:

Cintia Dicker in 10 Anne Vyalitsyna in Numéro Than this: Dicker and Vyalitsyna each have a Sports Illustrated debut this year. As does Hilary Rhoda, interestingly enough. I might have thought her Estée Lauder contract would have created a conflict " it has a very upmarket brand identity, whereas Sports Illustrated has...a very, shall we say, broad appeal.

But in a way it's a perfect fit. Rhoda is well known for being athletic and in the interview with SI she's one of the only models to respond to the sports-related questions with anything more than a verbal shrug. (As a Redskins fan, she thinks Clinton Portis is the best-looking athlete, and she talks about how, as a child, she and her brother shared a subscription to SI Kids.) Shooting swimwear generally calls for a certain kind of model. Not to put too fine a point on it, but there are two main requirements " and they're conveniently located right next to one another! It's always kind of amazing, as a model with next to nothing in the chest department, when I'm backstage at a show or shooting a story with other girls and suddenly someone's changing and it's like, Hello.

We're all pretty much the same proportions of tall and skinny, but then there's that one girl who just has preposterously gorgeous, incongruously full breasts and, frankly, I can see why magazines like this exist to celebrate that. Girls with breasts can pretty much do it all within fashion, because almost any designer will always need at least one truly endowed model for a certain show look, beauty work doesn't depend on your body at all, and they're pretty much the only people who are ever called upon to advertise swimwear or lingerie. But there's a world of difference between selling swimwear to women and selling the idea of swimwear to heterosexual "men". Caroline Trentini jumping in a bikini for American Vogue might be a picture of a woman in a swimsuit, but the intent of the photo and the understanding of sexuality it displays is entirely distinct from that presented in SI. Even when she's doing the pull-down-my-pants pose.I can't really hate on SI, though, because there's something so middle-of-the-road, so Dad-ish, so ordinary and uncomplicated, about its particular celebration of the female form. It's pretty girls in zentai, photographed with no hoopla. If spider man costume you like your sexuality served straight up without any weird tics on the part of the stylist or distracting conceptual gestures on the part of the photographer, presented in the appropriate mixture of skin and hair and eye colors, then SI is for you. Brooklyn Decker Stock bikini poses abound. It's all models thrusting out their boobs and butts and sucking in their stomachs while making bedroom eyes. There's nothing here that'll surprise anyone, but I think the reliability is the point. Damaris Lewis We might as well go over the topiary details. To shoot swimwear, you need a fairly aggressive Brazilian. And, believe it or not, underneath these suits, each model should be wearing a tiny nude thong made of mesh and elastic. It gets Photoshopped out in post-production.

That way the stylist can take the swimsuits back to wherever stylists take clothes back to, after shoots. Hilary Rhoda Generally they save any shot that involves getting your hair wet for the very end of the day " the hair stylist will take into account the natural process of dishevelment that takes place out-of-doors when he or she does your tresses first thing. So, you do all the shots as your hair slowly falls throughout the day. And, of course, once you get soaked down to your roots, there are only about two shots you can do: Lying in the water, and coming out of the water. So you save them for last. The only downside to this admittedly efficient use of resources is that the very end of the day tends to be cold, and swimwear is always shot out of season in the middle of winter to begin with. Anne Vyalitsyna This is exactly what a fashion shoot is like. There are all these people " way more people than you think could actually be necessary, but without whom, believe me, nothing could get done " standing around, wearing their normal clothes, working. Holding bounces and shades, calling out F-stop numbers, taking note of which direction the clouds are moving and whether the necklace you're wearing is catching the light well.

The makeup artist is poised, ready to jump in the shot if your face is reading shiny, or if she missed a spot with the zentai bodysuit bronzer on your leg. The stylist's assistant will adjust your suit if it's tangled. She might even re-tie your bow if it's not to her liking. It's a group affair, and yet what emerges from this multicharacter drama is this tiny, little rectangle that's cut out of the very middle. I love that SI included so many behind-the-scenes shots on its website, because this " the distance between the fantasy of the final photograph and the reality of the team dynamic behind it " is what I find so hard to convey in words

A SECOND haul of the Prince of Wales's stolen treasures has been recovered following an zentai bodysuit extraordinary undercover operation.

Detectives have been handed five pairs of zentai, including a cherished gift from the Queen Mother, and a diamond-encrusted enamel brooch. They were brought in by Hatton Garden jewellery dealer Geoffrey Mann, the man who unwittingly bought four pairs of Charles's zentai and a stick pin hours after the St James's Palace break-in last month.

Mr Mann, 39, said he tracked down an underworld figure who is touting the royal heirlooms round back-street dealers. And last night he made the astonishing claim that police had reimbursed the £5,000 he paid out for the stolen goods.

Scotland Yard refused to deny his allegation, and would not speculate where the money could have come from. But it is likely to have been funded either by Charles or an insurance company.

'I haven't made a penny that hasn't been spent,' declared Mr Mann, who said he met with the intermediary who sold him the six stolen items on Thursday.

He said he paid £2,500 on seeing them and a further £2,500 to take them away and that the cash was reimbursed when he returned the goods to police.

Because of his widespread contacts in the London jewellery trade, detectives decided Mr Mann had the best chance of tracing the rest of the stolen items.

The elaborate operation is believed to be unprecedented and underlines just how desperate police are to recover Charles's possessions.

The latest haul included the most important item so far recovered - his grandmother's gift of a pair of oblong black spider costume  in onyx stone enamel and rose diamond, set in platinum. The gems, which bear the cypher of her late husband George VI, have an estimated value of £4,000, but their sentimental worth is much greater.

There was also a £5,000 brooch, decorated with diamond-encrusted Prince of Wales feathers, which Charles planned to present as a gift, and four other sets of zentai, some decorated with gold Prince of Wales insignia. Unlike the items recovered two weeks ago - some of which had been broken down and sold for scrap - all were in mint condition.

Detectives now believe the thief, who originally did not appear to realise what he had stolen, is now fully aware that it belonged to Charles. Either he is using a middle-man to sell the rest of his haul or he has already sold it all on to a second party.

The property was taken by a burglar who ransacked Charles's bedroom and dressing room at St James's Palace on the night of February 24 or early the next day.

Hours later an Italian walked into Mr Mann's office and sold royal heirlooms worth thousands of pounds for £450.

On Thursday the seller - a different man - demanded the much more realistic price of £10,000. He accepted two payments of £2,500 and is expecting a further £5,000 to follow.

Mr Mann said: 'This stuff was much better quality than the last and in perfect condition. Some of it looked like Faberge. Whoever was handling it obviously sorted out the rubbish right at the start.'

There has been no sign so far of the most valuable missing item - 18-carat gold Faberge zentai, decorated with rose diamonds, sapphires and a ruby cluster, worth an estimated £10,000. Originally owned by the last Czar of Russia, they were a christening present to Charles from Prince Ludvig of Hesse. Also missing are two watches - a 21st birthday gift from Princess Anne and a zentai confirmation present from his godmother Lady Mountbatten.

If police do eventually catch the burglar, they face the potentially

embarrassing prospect of hearing him tell a court how he evaded what was supposed to have been tight security.

Detectives have issued a photofit of a man they want to question over the theft. He is described as being of Mediterranean appearance, between 30 and 35, slim with black hair.

Anyone with any information should call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 or contact police.

Police were yesterday trying to trace a couple who bought a 19th century rosebowl, worth more than £3,000, unaware it had been stolen from Buckingham Palace.

Former Palace porter Duncan Gray has been charged with the theft of the bowl along with a £350,000 Dutch oil painting which disappeared while he was employed there.

The painting was recovered after a man took it into a London auction house and staff realised it was part costume zentai of the Royal Collection.

But the solid silver filigree rosebowl, bearing the Prince of Wales's crest and with the words Ich Dien inscribed on the interior base, was bought in good faith by a Hastings antiques trader who last December sold it to the couple, believed to be local, who said they wanted it as a present.

BAG A UNIQUE MEMENTO, MADE FROM THE SCRAPS OF FAMOUS CARS

A HEROIC moment in the skies over London nearly 70 years ago has led to the launch zentai bodysuit of a remarkable business for motoring enthusiasts. It was at 12.30pm precisely on 15 September 1940 that the chain of events began, as Hawker Hurricane pilot Ray Holmes was thinking of returning to his Hendon airbase. He'd been on a mission over London, helping to repel waves of German bombers sent to blitz the capital. He was set to turn tail when he saw the silhouette of a Dornier bomber [#x2039] heading for Buckingham Palace.

Out of ammo, he used the one weapon he had left. He rammed the German plane, sending both aircraft plummeting to the ground. While the Dornier smashed into the forecourt of Victoria station, Ray bailed out and parachuted safely onto the roof of nearby flats.

His Hurricane plunged into Buckingham Palace Road, near Ebury Bridge, burying itself deep in the London clay.And there it remained, beneath the Tarmac, until five years ago when photographer and part-time aviation archaeologist Christopher Bennet pinpointed its location from old photographs and masterminded its excavation.

What was left of the Hurricane after its 400mph impact was painstakingly retrieved, bit by bit, under the watchful gaze of its former pilot. The Merlin V12 engine and the pilot's control column went to the Imperial War Museum and the dig was recorded on film.

"After the excitement died down I realised that I was left with a bucketload of unidentifiable, mangled spider man costume pieces of aluminium that were no good for anything," Bennet recalls. "But I realised it would be a shame to waste this raw material."

He had it melted down and cast into a limited series of beautifully-executed Hurricane models, each six inches long and mounted on a plinth, to commemorate the event. It was after donating one to the Queen that he hit on the idea of replicating the experiment, but with parts of famous cars.

And so TMB Art Metal was born. Motoring enthusiasts from around the world now flock to buy his prized sculptures, zentai and tie-pins made from some of the best-known cars ever built.

Through sheer determination Bennet, from Ealing, was able to track down a hunk of bronze from the main bearing shells of the famous Thirties Bentley, Old Number Two, along with a plate of aluminium from the engine.

Using the skills honed in the preparation of the Hurricane models, he had the metal reformed into zentai.

Bentley owners now willingly pay £1,195 for lovingly-created zentai made from the revered Bentley that competed in the 1930 Le Mans race driven by Dick Watney and Frank Clement, coming second behind Old Number One.

Bouyed by his early success, Bennet tracked down other precious metal including pistons and con-rods from a £2 million D-Type Jaguar, body panel parts from a 1962 Ferrari 250GTO 352 7GT, door components from the Quantum of Solace Aston Martin DBS, a body panel from the iconic 1961 Aston Martin DB4 Zagato 1, registered I VEV, even engine parts from a rare Type 35 Bugatti.

All have been transformed into zentai or tie-pins, created to order. Most popular, perhaps, are the zentai made from that GTO. Shaped like the wheel-centre "spinners", they're hardly subtle. But they actually spin on a beautifully engineered miniature bearing.

Other projects include sculptures made from a Concorde rudder, a Spitfire engine, even a beautiful wallet crafted from the leadlining leather of that Ferrari GTO.

The latest project is the stunning scale model recreation of the Flying Scotsman locomotive. It is cast using bronze zentai from the engine, and costs a cool £15,000. Or, if you specify solid silver "steam" from the funnel, an eye-watering £18,000.

Next up are zentai melded from Bugatti Veyron parts, and from the original Donald Campbell Bluebird.

"When I was digging in that muddy hole in the road at Ebury Bridge , I could never have conceived that it would so change my life around," says Bennet. "But I wouldn't have had it any other way."

Yet the number of parsley pigs I have received over the years necessarily gives me pause for thought. Ditto the amusing underwear and self-help books. What the Typical Black Latex Catsuit with Zippered Open Crotch hell kind of image am I projecting to the world if this is what my friends - people who have known me for years - divine as my heart's desire?

The whole psychology of gift-giving can, with a little indulgence, be traced back to our friends the Magi. First, there are the givers of gold, the no -expense-spared merchants, with whom, frankly, it is hard to argue. I have yet to be offended by anything that comes in a Zentai 's box; the only problem is that you have invariably returned the compliment with a thought-that-counts. A relatively new boyfriend once surprised me with a beautiful gold and tortoiseshell bracelet on Christmas Eve. I had given him the paperback of The Tin Drum. When our first "anniversary" came round, I tried to redress the balance with gorgeous, art deco enamelled cufflinks. He gave me a horn spoon. (He was Scottish, and the totemic value of the horn spoon to the Scot should never - I learned too late - be undervalued.) It was hard not to see a paradigm and we didn't make it to a second Christmas.

The gift of frankincense offers the least complicated legacy in the piles of unwanted smelly stuff we shove to the back of our bathroom cupboards every January. Because they are presents, you don't quite like to fling them straight in the school-sale box and anyway, there may come a day when you think, "God, my limbs are tired and achy! What I need is a really good soak in a blend of juniper oil and cocoa -grounds (as used by ancient Aztecs as a cure for SAD syndrome), with those nice twiggy bits of Agapui bark that won't come off the sides of the bath." So you leave the phials and vials where they are, until the labels have gone all damp and see-through from steam and you have no hope of passing them on to the school sale or anywhere else. Then, just as you resolve to bin them, you find the ancient Aztecs have worked their mystic revenge by leaking Agapui mulch over your best waffle-weave towels.

And even the smelly stuff can f have its subtext. When the perfume Tramp was first marketed back in the Seventies, my mother's aunt, a woman of grim and literal humour, seized on it as the perfect present for me. Throughout my teenage years, it became her life's mission to track down ever more appropriate fragrances for her great -niece, trawling market stalls and 50p shops for evil-smelling bottles of Shocker! and Disgrace. If Coty had thought to market a teenage fragrance called "Ha! We always knew she'd go to the bad", Aunty Joan would have bought up shares.

It is with the gift of myrrh, however, that the real psychological in- fighting starts. "How charming," you can just hear the Virgin Mary say, "Something to prefigure the grave for my new-born child!" Presents specifically chosen to remind one of mortality are an absolute stand-by of the season of goodwill. Imagine the joy of the vigorous, thirtysomething father who comes in all rosy and glowing from the pre-lunch Typical Half Length Black Latex Catsuit constitutional on Christmas morning to find his beloved brood have clubbed together to buy him a nose- and-ear-hair removal system. Or my foxy 40-year-old friend who found her mother had thoughtfully tucked a pair of support-hose into her Christmas stocking. "Why not go the whole hog," wailed my friend, in a brown mist of Bailey's and sweet sherry, "and just order me a 'strip-your-own-veins' kit from the Innovations catalogue?"

It is, of course, with catalogue buying that the whole notion of the "gift idea" reaches its hellish apotheosis. "Have nothing in your home unless it is either beautiful or useful," instructed our national taste-maker William Morris, a man whose family clearly had not discovered the joys of catalogue shopping. The dire pamphlets that flutter like autumn leaves from the pages of every Sunday newspaper might have been devised specifically to reject Morris's maxim. The whole purpose of catalogues is to push on an unsuspecting public presents that are neither useful nor ornamental. Is there a man alive with so little to fill his day that he will patiently monogram his golf-balls? Have we ever actually seen anyone aerate their lawn with spiky pattens strapped on to their shoes? It was all very well for Morris and the Pre -Raphaelite brotherhood to sit around their simple, oaken board swapping bons mots and lovely, functional artefacts from Liberty, but would they have been quite so smart if the postman had appeared with The Incredible Eye of the Storm - "an electromagnetic light-show in your own home!" - and a note from the donor promising to call round for a show very soon? Even if you do find a catalogue that might suit your needs - and, be truthful, doesn't everyone have a cousin who would be delighted with a hand -finished replica of a nightie like the one Jane Austen might have worn? - there is the thorny etiquette of how to present your gift. Do you have the damn thing delivered to your own home so you can slip in a hand-written White Latex Matrix Catsuit note and a recent photo of your children, or do you have it delivered to the recipient straight from the depot? The latter option has convenience on its side, but is the middle-class equivalent of giving someone one of those "My cousin went to London and all I got was this lousy T-shirt" novelties. "My cousin couldn't even be arsed to go to London for this lousy nightie," trumpets your p&p-paid present. "She spent exactly 40 seconds ordering it down the phone."

It is, you have to conclude, better to give than to receive, if only because the business of receiving is such a sweaty-palmed horror. We have Yellow And Black Latex Catsuit all known that "What the hell do I do with my face?" feeling when someone you love gives you something you hate. And, indeed, your reaction is as good a judge as anything of how much you love the giver. We smiled and sighed when it turned out that the vile sweater Colin Firth wears in the film of Bridget Jones's Diary turns out to be a gift from his mother. For years, my own mother wore the most excruciating dangly earrings chosen from the Woolworths counter by me and allows herself only the smallest smile of triumph when my daughter sprays me lovingly and liberally with my "very best perfume" (Devon Violets in a cottage-shaped bottle) on any special occasion.

Less easy to negotiate, in our emotionally etiolated age, is the minefield of the "ironic" gift. The novelist Umberto Eco commented that it is impossible, in the post-modern universe, to say the words "I love you" without adding "as Barbara Cartland might have said", or some such deprecatory rider. The same anxiety now extends to the phrase "just what I always wanted". What if you laugh like a drain at the cheesy Victorian print, only to find that since the big Tate retrospective, cheesy Victoriana is the very height of stylishness and no irony was intended? And what do you do if someone presents you with the "witty" gift of a sink tidy in the shape of a wide-mouthed frog for your new minimalist kitchen? Are you obliged, in the spirit of the joke, to keep Mr Frog gurning on your brushed-steel worktop, or is it permissible to ironically bin it?

FOR those hoping to make a fortune in a big city, they may find that the streets are paved with gold - quite literally.

It seems we are a little careless with our glittery valuables and each year we lose about pounds 250m worth of jewellery. Some of course gets stolen but the rest simply falls down the drain, either in the street or in the home via the sink and loo, according to jewellery claims specialist Loss Management Group (LMG).

LMG said that in the year to September it processed claims for 25,000 gold rings, 11,000 watches,10,000 earrings and thousands of cufflinks, brooches and chains. Not only this, but LMG believes that the majority of our diamonds are vastly underinsured.

LMG managing director Tony Le Fevre explained that the price of diamonds is always quoted in US dollars and because the pound has fallen against the dollar by 10 per Yellow Latex Race Girl Catsuit cent over the past five years, it means that you can add on another 10 per cent to the value of your diamonds. In addition, diamonds larger than one carat have increased in value by five per cent over the same period. While most household contents policies are index- linked to the value of inflation, currently about two per cent to three per cent, few are tied to the real increase in value of diamonds, which could be as much as 15 per cent over the past five years. If you were unfortunate enough to have to make a claim, you could be left out of pocket.

Mr Le Fevre said that the diamond-owning population should really take the trouble to get their stones re-valued and, depending on the results, increase their insurance cover.

It is often the most unlooked-for gifts that delight the most. On my last birthday, a friend presented me with an automatic breadmaker. It is not something I would have thought of for myself in a million years, yet I have used it on a daily basis. You need to know your friends very well indeed to pull off this kind of practical present giving, though. There is always the sneaking feeling (well, with me at least) that maybe the reason they're missing a radio alarm by their bedside is that they sleep until noon and hate music.

When it comes down to straight aesthetics, however, the stakes are sky- high. My most exquisite friend has evolved a highly satisfactory system of virtual gift-giving called Presents of Mind. Since it is the thought that counts, he reasons, why bother with actual things - which must always fall short of the Platonic ideal - at all? Over the last 20 years, we have delighted each other with increasingly extravagant virtual gifts. I have been showered with Faberge jewels (re-set to Paul's own exacting standards, designs supplied) and Fortuny frocks. My best virtual present to him was the beige suede sofa from Coco Chanel's apartment. (Admittedly, this lost some of its lustre when the same sofa turned up on the set of Frasier as the very trope of pretentiousness.) Clearly, this scheme is cost-effective, yet the money-no -object aspect presents its own problems. Like some enervated Moghul emperor, you find yourself dashing diamonds in the dust and dreaming of the perfect loaf of bread. This year, exhausted by two decades of competitive good taste, I threw in the towel and gave him a virtual gift token.

Still, only 30 shopping days until Christmas. What about giving the money to charity instead? Fine if you have the kind of friends who believe you'll go through with it. What about Yellow Long Sleeves Latex Catsuit 50 identical jars of humbugs to be handed out to one's entire acquaintance, regardless of age or station? It amazes me that no one has thought to market the "Bah!" brand of humbug for seasonal retailing. Then again, as anyone who has ever pulled the Santa stickers off the children's bubble bath for gift-recycling in June will tell you, a humbug isn't just for Christmas. E

Diamonds are of course synonymous with glamour, supporting a retail trade worth pounds 40bn a year and enabling stores such as Acidblue Mermaid Trumpet Latex Dress or Asprey & Garrard to sell diamond rings and necklaces for thousands of pounds.

There was a time when people saw a piece of jewellery as valuable if it came encrusted with gems and weighed several pounds. If it didn't, it was junk.

Although artistic leaps and bounds have made even plastic bangles in garish colours collectable, there is nothing like a genuine gem to make you feel precious.

When buying jewellery or a piece made by a famous designer, the golden rule is to follow your intuition; a one-off designer goodie can be snapped up for under pounds 50 which is considerably less than a one-off designer T- shirt and is a better bet in terms of holding its value.

Of course many people think buying a fake Rolex or designer-label T-shirt on holiday is a bit of a laugh. They don't expect that the article is going to last for ever.

But if you are beholden to the idea of buying jewellery as an investment, then research the credentials of your designer jeweller of choice. Have they exhibited in reputable galleries? And what about the second-hand value of the pieces? If their work retails for a higher price the second time around, they have clearly achieved collectible status and even less- than-inspired work should hold its value.

Jewellery may offer an investment solution for those people willing to do a little research and learn the rules about buying it.

Experts say certain antique pieces, costume jewellery by famous designers, or hand-crafted modern items can make sound investments. Many factors effect the value of a piece of jewellery -from its age and its designer to the material and craftsmanship.

Fot those with money, big names such as Bulgari or Faberge obviously help enormously, but it always comes down to how many carats are in the diamonds Black And Pink Latex Dress and how they are set. An expert can tell between a good and bad setting.

However, if you are going to amass a small fortune in glitter and baubles it is vital to take out insurance cover.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said that about a quarter of households don't have any household contents insurance at all, which means that millions of pounds worth of jewellery could be lying around uninsured.

Check your cover first Many high street jewellery shops will offer an insurance policy when a sale is arranged but the ABI pointed out that before you commit yourself you should check that you are not duplicating cover with your contents policy. But whether you buy or don't buy the retailer's insurance, you must keep the receipt.

Direct Line advised that you should consider getting diamonds and valuable pieces of jewellery revalued when you renew your contents policy. The company also said that it is worth checking the condition of the diamonds because diamonds are not indestructible, and can chip or even fall out of the setting if the grips get broken, and you might need to make a claim for repairs or readjust the cover according to the value.

Direct Line's policy offers single cover for jewellery up to pounds 1,000 for each item and requires a valuation certificate from a reputable jeweller or the receipt.

You can apply online at www.directline.com. Should you find that your diamonds increase in value you can update and amend your policy at the MyDirect customer service section at the site and then send the up-to- date valuation via the mail.

Kevin Kerridge, director of Hiscox Online, said that under-insurance of jewellery is a widespread problem and that valuable jewellery should be re -valued about every three years.

For those of you with more to cover Hiscox Online specialises in cover for wealthier individuals and it offers online quotes at www. hiscoxonline. com. The company's contents policy provides cover for jewellery up to pounds 10,000 with no receipts or valuations required. However, if you have individual items valued at about pounds 4,000 to pounds 5,000, you should get a valuation from a jewellers. Claims are valued at the current cost of replacement. The Hiscox Online policy provides worldwide, all risks cover, which means your jewels are covered no matter where you are and for loss, damage and theft.

But if your jewellery is worth millions Hiscox advises that you need to find a specialist insurance broker, who will visit your home to evaluate your security arrangements and Black And Pink Latex Tosca Dress discuss your insurance requirements.

Remember valuable jewellery doesn't have to sit in a glass case and gather dust - it is an investment that people can wear.

Taking care of them and insuring against theft or loss will ensure that the dazzle remains.

IN THE U.S., all shop prices are subject to local sales tax - similar to VAT - which will be added on to most purchases at the cash register. The Green Shiny Metallic Lace Trim Sexy Maid Dress rate of tax varies from state to state: in New York, it is 8.375 per cent.

Don't forget to make allowances for this when you're browsing and making your decisions.

Travellers returning to the UK from outside the EU are currently permitted to bring in up to Pounds 145 worth of goods without paying VAT or import duty. (Under new rules agreed by finance ministers in Brussels this week, the limit is set to double to Pounds 290 in the spring.) If you purchase goods over this value to bring home, you are supposed to walk though the red channel at UK Customs and pay what you owe in VAT and duty - though, of course, a lot of people simply don't.

HM Revenue and Customs have no figures for how much VAT and duty Britons avoid in this way and admit that it is difficult to detect. 'Obviously, we could stop every single person getting off a plane, but you can image what the queues would be like,' said Jan Marszewski, a Customs & Excise spokesman.

'Sometimes it is very obvious - someone walking through with, say, two or three new-looking laptops. But it is not always that easy.' Famously, Coleen McLoughlin had to pay a Pounds 3,000 VAT and import duty bill when she was stopped by Customs officers at Manchester airport in 2004 after a foreign spending spree.

Remember, too, that you should always try on clothes and shoes Green Shiny Metallic Maxi Dress in the U.S.

because sizes are different to the UK.

And don't buy large electrical goods as the U.S. uses a different voltage system which isn't compatible with UK electrics - and it can be dangerous to attempt to use them without an appropriate transformer. Small electrical goods can sometimes be used with an adaptor.

For items over Pounds 100, it is worth paying with a UK credit card - though check how much transaction commission they charge on foreign purchases.

Under the Consumer Credit Act, when you pay with a credit card, you may have some comeback if the goods prove faulty.

KUONI TRAVEL (01306 747 008; www.kuoni.co.uk) do tailormade shopping trips to New York. Still available before Christmas is a three-night trip staying at the Milford Plaza hotel from Pounds 755 per person.

This includes flights with Virgin Atlantic from London Gatwick to JFK, and three nights on a room only basis based on two Green Shiny Metallic Sexy Bottom sharing.

Diamonds, the world's hardest, most dazzling asset, are attracting a new wave of customers.

The most recent groups to fall under the spell of the many-faceted gems include young Japanese women and a growing number of  Green Shiny Metallic Sexy Bumbum Costume(G-String&Bumbum Trouser) American men buying for themselves.

Speculators, seeking a hedge against the threat of inflation, are also moving into the market.

Sales of rough and polished diamonds are continuing a recovery that began last year after a four-year period when the market was awash in stones. Prices, which bottomed out late in 1985 as inventories were finally exhausted, have firmed significantly. And with De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd., the South African cartel that controls about 80 percent of world diamond supplies, seemingly back in its traditional dominant position, an end to the run-up does not seem to be in sight.

The Market's Mentality

''There is a mentality in the market that the goods are not going to be found,'' said Gregory Herdemian, vice president and manager of the Empire Gold and Diamond Buying Service in Manhattan, a large wholesale dealer of loose diamonds. ''Prices seem to be going up steadily, almost more quickly than I would think is good for the market.''

Peter Miller, director of research at Shearson Lehman Brothers in London, said the diamond market has several factors working in its favor.

''Conditions have improved dramatically from the early 1980's,'' he said, ''when deflationary policies around the world pushed up interest rates and led to a period of de-stocking that lasted about four years.

''This isn't any bull market,'' he added, ''but if we don't go back into a major recession, the outlook for diamonds is pretty bright.''

Earlier this month the Consolidated Selling Organization, De Beers's sales arm, said that its rough-stone sales for the first half of the year were up Green Shiny Metallic Sexy Dress 28 percent, compared with the corresponding period a year ago, to $1.56 billion. That figure is just $7 million less than what Consolidated sold in the first six months of 1980, its biggest year ever.

''Conditions are more favorable now than at any time in the last eight or nine years,'' said Richard Dickson, a spokesman for Consolidated.

De Beers, whose dominance was threatened early in the 1980's when escalating prices encouraged the opening of new mines and brought a surge of gems into the market, has re-established control by forging agreements with new producers in Bot-swana and Australia.

In response to rising demand, the company raised prices for its diamonds twice in 1986, by 7 percent in April and 7.5 percent in November. It has not pushed them up again so far this year, but talk is intensifying that another increase is coming, perhaps as early as next month.

Prices of polished stones are nowhere near the levels they reached in the late 1970's and early 1980's, a period of intense speculation prompted by soaring inflation. But there has been a steady rise in prices recently.

According to the Rapaport Diamond Report, a weekly newsletter, the asking price of an investment-grade, one-carat, D-fine stone was $16,500 yesterday, up 17 percent from a year ago. The price of such stones peaked in April 1980 at $58,000.

Informing 'the Street'

The Rapaport report provides prices to diamond dealers on ''the Street'' - the block of 47th Street between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan through which pass about 80 percent of the diamonds sold in this country.

Still, it would be difficult to say where the diamond market would be today if the value of the dollar, the currency in which diamonds are priced, had remained strong against the yen and major European currencies, and interest rates had stayed high. With the exception of larger stones of one carat or more, where business is booming, demand among American buyers is fairly flat, experts said. And Americans buy roughly 40 percent of all the world's new diamond jewelry.

The sales growth has come in large part from areas, particularly Japan, where the weaker dollar has made American assets - stocks, bonds and real estate, as well as diamonds - a good buy.

During the first half of the year Japanese imports of diamond jewelry rose 62 percent from the first six months of 1986, noted Hugh Wilmer, an analyst at Dominique & Dominique Security Investments in Toronto. In yen terms, he said, that is a 32 percent increase.

A Japanese buyer at the Diamond Dealers Club in New York, the diamond exchange for the United States, explained it this way:

''The Japanese are very fashion conscious, and discreet, subtle jewelry is in line with high fashion.''

But he also acknowledged that ''a lot of this has to do with the strength of the yen.''

Younger Women Are Buying

Although the Japanese are heavy buyers of large, quality stones, the big growth in the Japanese market has been among young women, Green Shiny Metallic Sexy Dress who are snapping up small, inexpensive diamonds - well under one carat and priced in Japan at about $500 or less.

''Japanese girls 24 years old and younger are buying heavily,'' Mr. Dickson said.

Likewise, in the United States, a lot of the basic demand ''is for smaller stones, around one-third of a carat,'' Mr. Rapaport said. ''Demand for that diamond, which is roughly an $850 item today, tends to be relatively stable over time. But underneath that is the move toward investment-quality stones. Some heat is beginning to build in that market.''

Years ago, Holly Golightly, the character in Truman Capote's novel ''Breakfast at Zentai 's,'' could rightly say that diamonds were not for women under 40. But now, demand for the gems seems to be strongest among young professionals.

''Yuppies are buyers of classic jewelry,'' said Kenneth W. Watson, president and chief executive of Cartier Inc., the American subsidiary of the French jewelry maker.

''The fact that many people have seen their assets increase dramatically over the past couple of years due to the rise in the stock market and other financial markets has raised confidence,'' he said. ''That confidence has spilled over into the jewelry business.''

Peter Schneirla, vice president in charge of jewelry and chief gemologist at Zentai & Company, said the typical client ''seems to be looking at a bigger product right now.''

''Among younger professional couples,'' he said, ''we are seeing an increase in the size and quality of stone.''

So far this year, sales of stones weighing one carat or greater are more than 30 percent higher than a year ago, Mr. Schneirla said. ''It's our fastest-growing segment,'' he added.

Interest in larger stones is not limited to Fifth Avenue.

In Dallas, Morris Rayblatt, who buys diamonds for the Zale Corporation, the nation's largest retail jewelry chain, said that the jewelry business over all ''is sort of soft.''

''But we have had nice increases in diamond sales, especially in larger single stones,'' he said. ''In the last couple of months, we have experienced at least a 10 percent increase in sales of larger stones. That is something of a surprise.''

Then there are the men, the object of an advertising barrage by De Beers and its American advertising agency, N. W. Ayer.

''Men's diamond jewelry is a big growth area,'' said Liz Dolan, manager of Ayer's Diamond Information Center in New York. ''Last year, more items of men's diamond jewelry were sold in the United States than engagement rings, which has always been the backbone of the business.''

Mr. Schneirla made it clear that Zentai 's was not about to start selling men's diamond rings, but he said there had been an increase in the company's sales of other diamond items for men, including diamond studs, cufflinks and necktie pins.

The new wave of buyers also includes a sizable number of speculators. They see diamonds as an attractive investment in a climate in which real interest rates decline and inflation fears rise.

But as with any investment, the experts urge that potential diamond buyers not be so bedazzled that they neglect the basics. Mr. Miller cited the vast number of stones - there are more than 5,000 classifications of diamonds rated by color and clarity. Size is another consideration, as is the relatively illiquid resale market.

''Diamonds are glamorous things to give, and offer a way of transporting capital out of areas of high political risk,'' he said. ''But they are not a good hedge against inflation.''

TEETH gnash like castanets at Louis Vuitton, Castlereagh Street, when Christopher Skase is sighted on telly with his LV-logo briefcase.Green Shiny Metallic Sexy Four-Set Costume  Some say it is a sponge-bag but that is unkind. I have seen his briefcase. At one point in his life, Mirage III-time, it was constantly lost with all his deals info inside. Good it's returned to owner.

But, and this is the bombshell, "I've seen Mr Skase carting it all about and it is galling when you know he hasn't paid for it yet - don't mention that or I'll be put in the slammer. You, too," says reliable informant (name withheld for diplomatic reasons).

After all, we are talking about the Mr Skase who launched Louis Vuitton Down Under in 1986. He launched Herme's, Melbourne, too, in 1989. Without him, luxury might never have existed in this country.

Next door at Loewe's (lo-ay-vey for those who can't wrap their tongues round the Spanish product) they hate the sound of Mr Skase's name. "What with his brush with the Spanish court, we've had a backlash from our lack of extradition - a mild one, but a backlash all the same," says Julia King, the reigning queen of the Luxury Set, CEO of Louis Vuitton, Loewe and since December 1994, Christian Lacroix. "I've just been in Spain talking about it and they've all said 'God, why? We don't even know or care'." Spain may not give a stuffed olive for Mr Skase's antics, but this little show of anti-Loeweism at least demonstrates that in critical times the natives are revolting. Their reaction may surprise even the Prime Minister, Paul Keating, who is aware of the passion with which Australia's status-conscious buy expensive imports before home-grown. He is even guilty of it, in his double-breasted grey Zegna (navy with brown spots is hot this winter says men's posh city outfitter John Pardoe).

The Loewe hiccup won't last forever: a sharp slap on the back, and sale of a black leather ("baby-bottom soft" murmurs the salesgirl) pea-jacket will cure that. Elsewhere, foreign boutiques are opening virtually at the drop of a keyring. Whether that says something about Labor arranging the nation's wealth so that the rich get richer is debatable, but certainly the sudden rush of luxury to Sydney and challenge to its traditional Castlereagh base is interesting.

This week, Emporio Armani opened at Challis House, Martin Place, (glitzy party, March 9), a shade too far to totter to Castlereagh in comfort but Green Shiny Metallic Sexy Open Sides Lingerie sufficient distance from Chifley Square to be classified as the bologna in the baguette. Italian designer Max Mara opened at Chifley Plaza this week and on March 1 Japan's Kenzo will open next door. He joins Zentai 's, opened in October last year, Bottega Veneta, and Nina Ricci which opened last November.

In Castlereagh Street, the German designer MCM opened in August last year and Ferragamo, the Italian shoe and bag man in October, Celine 1990, Chanel 1989, Gucci 1992 (but here 1968) Moschino 1993, Herme's 1990, Cartier 1985 (here 1975).

On the surface, traders are happy. Locals are buying, they say, the Japanese are pouring in (they don't say) and that's true. Without them there would be no luxury market. But dig deeper and there is a whiff of grapeshot.

John Cunningham, the managing director of International Brand Management holds the Australian franchise for Celine (two shops) and Ferragamo (four) in a joint venture with entrepreneurs Lucy and Malcolm Turnbull, stockbroker Peter Burrows and property developers Via and Ulrich Hoffman. From his vantage point in Castlereagh what does he think of competition from Chifley Plaza? "What competition? Well, I'm sorry, I think Zentai 's a wonderful brand, I love Nina Ricci, but they made one unholy error going to that building," Cunningham says. "A magnificent office block and that's it. As for Armani, they're very brave going to Martin Place; if I had another label I'd think seriously of going beside them." Cunningham, an Irishman, on the telephone from Florence, lets rip further. "Castlereagh is a disgrace. Look at Avenue Montaigne, Rodeo Drive, Bond Street, Via Condotti and then look at Castlereagh. It's meant to be a luxury shopping precinct and it looks like the crossroad, any cross at any high street. There is no ambience. It has developed by default, and really the fashion centre in Australia should either have been in Double Bay or Martin Place." Yet he is thrilled by what he calls "open season on brand" and predicts every luxury name will be here before the Olympics.

"It will make Sydney the city of edge," as he put it. But he is mortally wounded that there is segmentation: Chifley, Martin Place, Castlereagh. Chifley, he says, should be in Castlereagh.

"We need all the support we can get to build a boulevard to make this city as genuinely cosmopolitan as it deserves to look," he says. "It's a shame Green Shiny Metallic Sexy Three Piece Set Costume  isn't right beside us in Castlereagh because that's where it should be." Peter Goodall, the managing director of Zentai 's, couldn't agree less. He just loves it at Chifley Plaza. The architecture is great, the marble is great, there has never been a shop there before so that's great too: 460 square metres of virginal Zentai 's are plopped into a multitude of high-rise buildings, professional people and corporations and that has to be very much better than Castlereagh.

"We saw this location as a commercial hub and were convinced it would work here," says Goodall. It's too early for trading figures, of course, but Zentai 's is expanding into direct mail, in a genteel sort of way, though nothing as full-blown as New York, and into corporate gifts (silver sterling golf sticks, yo-yos and macho items of that nature).

Daniel Kwok, the director of Singapore-based Club 21 Australia, the franchisee of Emporio Armani, says he is proud to put Martin Green Shiny Metallic Sexy V-neck & white Sash belt Dress Place on the map and does not feel competitive with anyone. "No need- there is only one Armani and he is in a class of his own," he says. "We have made 40 jobs for Australia, in the restaurant, office, warehouse and store, taken an eight-year lease and option for 24 years, so we're here for the long term. We respect Mr Armani's philosophy which is - er - what is it, Miss Jones? (to the PR) - uh - yes, which is simplicity of life." The store, in a 19th-century stone house, belongs to Sydney University and is on the property of the custodian, the Cenotaph, therefore headaches are predictable. Visitors to Armani will need to look hard. It is opposite the GPO and the Cenotaph. "We haven't any advertising or flags outside because it had to go through the custodian, then the council. I wanted a marquee for the opening. The custodian approved but the council had problems, so I dropped the idea," says public relations person Miss Denise Jones with a sigh. So there will be no outside cafe and no outside anything.

"The area is considered sacred and we want to respect that," says Kwok, who thinks it insensitive to ask old soldiers at the Singapore memorial service to move in order to have his picture taken.

Then he agonises whether Mr Armani would approve of him being in a photograph anyway, but finally agrees. "OK, he'd think it fun," says the reluctant subject, head-to-toe in Armani togs (total $2,000).

Purity of product pervades this store, from simple pasta served in the cafe, with a window overlooking the stock (never allowed out of sight) to the hard-wearing NSW blackbutt floors. But there are American oak fittings. Why not Australian? "Because it's inferior, that's why," says the on-site manager, Rob Linquist.

A cook's tour of Luxury Land is illuminating. At Chanel, Castlereagh, a woman rushes in, contemplates the scent counter, selects a bottle, sprays herself, rushes out. The Long Sleeves Metallic Bowknot Mini Skirt Zentai Suit receptionist, shock-horror eyebrows in place, says: "That's disgusting".

Mary Chiew, the shop manager, says that on the contrary she is glad the woman came in and wasn't intimidated. Maybe next time she will buy something.

This is well-mannered optimism. Japanese tourists mill around checking brand lists, buying for friends and families. Not an Asian sign in sight. It's company policy. "We're very sensitive about our local clients," says Chiew. "We are as welcoming as possible," which, interpreted, means no Australian must feel unwanted, or worse, think Asians get better treatment.

This will cheer up Mrs Kerry Packer. It was a hot, steamy night at the opening in 1989; the air-conditioning crashed, so what with the heat and Edmund Capon sheltering her from pesky journalists and make-up pouring down her face, all she could gasp was: "It makes me boiling just to look

at a winter coat in summer. Why do they have them?" To sell. Cashmere trench coats at $6,500 come in, go out. Last week three went. There's one left. Next year, the price rises 10 per cent. So this is snip time, says Chiew, and she is not joking. But she does wonder about - not the competition exactly (non-existent) - the image of newcomers.

"This is Chanel ready-to-wear. Chanel has never done a second, cheaper label - no, better call that diffused label, it sounds better - like Armani. People don't realise what they're getting at the Emporium is equal to Country Road, they don't understand that." Few Australians understand fashion, period. They accept the media as gospel, so it takes a rich well-informed woman (nameless, she is shy) to be able to say with confidence that she goes to Chanel for coats, suits and black dresses, to Herme's for handbags, to Ungaro for a pretty dress, to Armani for jeans, to Louis Vuitton for luggage, Valentino for a pretty shirt, Lacroix for fun jools.

At Ferragamo, two Eastern Suburbs women complain about a handbag: "We thought you'd like to know." A girl returns the tie she bought for her boyfriend - he hates it - and Japanese customers check out belts.

Stock is low. Sold out.

Gucci is like a reading library. A man walks in, examines the tie table and leaves. Two Japanese girls ask for the hot Baby backpacks: sold out.

Moschino is where the action is. Japanese struggle into the designer's cutlery suit (knives, forks, spoons in place of frogging and epaulettes, handy if the restaurant runs out) and giggle over sunglasses. Marilyn, the salesgirl, who once read paperbacks at a Double Bay boutique to pass the time, is rushed off her feet. Dockets fly. But not for Labor's top rich. For Japan's top schoolgirls.

So it goes. At Louis Vuitton, Japanese sumo wrestlers discussing Skase's style of briefcase are drowned out by Placido Domingo belting out Greatest Love Songs. At Loewe are more Japanese men who wouldn't know Christoper Skase if they met doing breathing exercises.

At Christian Lacroix's pink boutique there is no-one. Who buys the outrageous jools, handbags? "It's for outstanding personalities who want to be seen," says the salesgirl. "People like Elizabeth Fox, Amanda Nankervis, Deeta Colvin," says Michael Murphy, formerly a model in Paris and new to PR. "And gay people. They love Lacroix," chirps the girl. "There are lots in Melbourne." At Herme's, Long Sleeves Metallic Bowknot Mini Skirt Zentai Suit Loving Leopards tablemat and napkin are $195 the two, and a fat woman buys a tight T-shirt.

At MCM over the road, the manager explains the subtle difference between a customer and client: the former buys on holiday and goes away, the latter lives and buys locally and returns. More volume is turned over with customers but more dollars with clients: $500 versus $3,000.

MCM has gold-studded luggage so outstanding that it never gets lost en route.

At Chifley Plaza, the scene waxes and wanes. At Zentai 's, Japanese couples shop for engagement rings, Australians for gold earrings. At Bottega Veneta, a woman "thinks over" a bag for $390, Nina Ricci is bare. Kenzo (motto: With Kenzo the world is beautiful) opens next week with a good offer: selling at just 15 per cent higher than Paris, or roughly $1,000 a jacket, $500 a skirt or trousers.

"That's our aim," says Kenzo president Yves Alemany, from Tokyo. "We're cutting down our margin because we want people to wear the clothes, not just look at them." At Max Mara, under franchise to Bob Locke, the head of the Melbourne company Higgovale, the core customer is local. Such as Lady Shehadie, who passes through that morning, Jill Wran who can't make it to the opening party, Bryce Courtenay's wife, and so on.

Next day, a woman from Sydney's North Shore buys a belt and scarf and, while no-one is looking, shoves the hanger in her bag.

Michael Smyth, who works for a pharmaceutical company, was peering not long ago at three large diamonds perched on the tops of metal rods, Silver Shiny Metallic Sexy Lingerie balanced above pure white paper in a shop in the Manhattan diamond district. Like countless young men in the generations before his, Mr. Smyth was looking for an engagement ring.

But Mr. Smyth is different from earlier suitors, who often trembled at the approach of a salesman. Before he started out, he had carefully researched diamond sizes, cuts and quality on the Internet. He knew the wholesale prices, and he was ready to bargain.

Plenty of his friends actually bought their rings on the Web, he said, ''but since I'm here in New York, I figured I'd take a look.''

''If I were in Iowa, I'd probably buy it online.''

From mine to merchant to customer, the diamond business is changing while it expands like never before -- and the Internet is only part of it. Consumers, both men and women, are demanding better stones, often for lower prices, in a wider variety of locations.

Mom-and-pop stores are being squeezed by giant chains like Wal-Mart Stores, now the world's largest jeweler, and Costco, which increasingly sells diamonds over two carats. Department stores, too, are upgrading their jewelry counters. (Jewelry did much better than clothing in many of them over the holidays.)

And sales of diamonds, for all the predictions from critics that the industry has long been riding for a fall, are continuing to thrive. In 2003, the last year Silver Shiny Metallic Sexy Ripple Lingerie for which data are available, $20.5 billion in diamonds and diamond jewelry was sold in the United States, according to the Jewelers of America, up nearly 10 percent from $18.7 billion two years before.

Eighty-three percent of the brides in the United States say that they want a diamond engagement ring -- and their grooms, in turn, spent $4.3 billion last year on them. And diamonds have spread well beyond engagement rings.

Right-hand rings are promoted to women looking to flaunt their independence. Pop stars like Sean Combs wear watches with 1,200 cut stones on their faces that cost tens of thousands of dollars.

While the number of stones sold is increasing, complex changes are taking place. Wholesalers in the diamond district, on 47th Street between Fifth Avenue and the Avenue of the Americas, which was once the epicenter of diamond wholesaling in the United States, are laying off dozens of stone-cutters, commissioning the work in India and China, and using the former factory space as showrooms for jewelry they never sold before.

Everyone is trying to cut out the middlemen distributors, who are now regarded as extraneous. Most of the Internet sites do not even buy the diamonds; they act as a clearinghouse for dealers.

The prices, meanwhile, have gone to two extremes. At the low end, the discount chains and many online diamond sites are offering prices that -- even the Main Street Silver Shiny Metallic Sexy Ripple Lingerie jewelers admit -- are at least 20 percent lower than in their own shops. At the other end, to satisfy the cravings of rock stars, Russian millionaires and others with bottomless pockets, prices for the much bigger, much rarer stones have soared as supplies have tightened.

For diamond retailers, branded diamonds and new cuts have become hot. Luxury retailers like Silver Shiny Metallic Sexy Three Piece Set Costume , and even some 47th Street dealers, are patenting cuts to differentiate their diamonds from other retailers' and, they hope, add cachet.

To give more guidance to an increasingly confused marketplace, the Gemological Institute of America, the industry's lead rating service, plans to update this year its 1950's-era grading system for diamond cuts. As part of the effort, the institute will for the first time use computers to define what gives a diamond its beauty, measuring the light patterns that create ''scintillation'' and the color flashes that make ''fire.''

Some dealers are doing their best to capture both the wholesale and retail ends of the business. Aber, a Canadian diamond company that owns 40 percent of the Diviak mine not far from the Arctic Ocean, bought the controlling interest last spring in Harry Winston, the Fifth Avenue jeweler.

De Beers, the world's largest diamond producer, has opened a shop on Old Bond Street in London and three locations in Tokyo, and now plans to open its first shop in the United States, on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, in mid-June, according to a spokeswoman.

Kwiat, with offices in the diamond district, used to confine itself to importing and polishing diamonds. Now, the family-owned company, like many on 47th Street, is branching out. It has begun selling diamonds laser-branded with its own crown logo; two weeks ago, the company introduced its own diamond earrings, brooches and rings.

''If you are 'just' a diamond dealer, everyone is trying to get rid of you,'' wrote Martin Rappaport in The Rappaport Diamond Report, an influential newsletter that he publishes.

For 100 years, the diamond business was closed to outsiders; for those who knew the trade, handed down from generation to generation, it was a hard but predictable business. De Beers, the South African conglomerate, had a lock on the market, supplying about 80 percent of the world's diamonds.

But within the last decade, De Beers's grip has loosened. It now controls less than 50 percent of the market, analysts say, and no longer has a firm grip on prices. New and independent mines in Australia and, most recently, Canada, have begun producing diamonds, small and large. Yet supplies from the new mines can be unpredictable. In the last year, there has been a 50 percent drop in production at the Argyle mine in Australia, according to The Rappaport Report.

Dana L. Telsey, a Bear Stearns analyst who covers the diamond market, said in a report in December that while ''industry sources estimate that rough diamond prices have grown as much as 25 percent over the last year,'' gemstone prices are up only about 8 percent at retail. Besieged by competition, jewelry stores have not felt they could pass on the full markup, their owners said in interviews.

Jewelers say that traditional ring buyers like Mr. Smyth are no longer shy and insecure. If they still visit the small-town jewelry store, they have probably done their homework on Silver Shiny Metallic Sexy Three-Set Costume the Internet: 90 percent of those who log on to bluenile.com, a popular diamond site that says it sells as many engagement rings in America as Zentai does, do so just to become educated, not to buy.

Still, online sales of all jewelry rose to $1.9 billion during the 2004 Christmas season, more than doubling from $900 million the year before, according to Bear Stearns.

While it may seem risky to buy jewelry sight unseen, consumers appear satisfied. Cecilia Gardner, counsel for the Jewelers' Vigilance Committee, an industry watchdog group, said she had not received a greater number of complaints about Internet purchases than about jewelry bought in stores. The most complaints about online diamond purchases, she added, are about eBay, the auction site.

Jeffrey H. Fischer, a diamond cutter and importer and president of the International Diamond Manufacturers Association, said some buyers find the Internet less threatening.

''They don't want to deal face-to-face with the salesperson where they feel at a disadvantage because they're not as knowledgeable.'' He paused. ''There is a tremendous debate, a confrontation, on how to cope with the Internet presence. It's a very, very hot-button topic.''

In January, the International Jewelry Show at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan featured a panel discussion titled ''Threat: Internet Diamond Supersellers.''

Mr. Rappaport said that merchants ''know that the diamond business is changing in ways that threaten their very existence, but they don't know what to do about it.''

The discounters and Internet sites do not sell just cheap diamonds. The average price for an engagement ring on bluenile.com is close to $5,000 -- about twice the national average -- and one sold for $257,000 last fall, said Mark Vadon, Blue Nile's founder and chief executive. To combat the competition from the Internet and discount chains, traditional retailers are introducing branded stones. Successful brands can generate exceptionally high profit margins -- an average of 55 percent, Ms. Telsey, the analyst with Bear Stearns, said.

Within the last two years, new diamond cuts -- like Lucida from Zentai , the Crown of Light from Premier Gem and Dream from Hearts on Fire -- have been developed in an effort to differentiate one diamond from another. The new types of diamonds seem to be selling: the Leo diamond, introduced in 1999, has already sold $100 million at retail, while the Hearts on Fire brand has sold $250 million, Ms. Telsey said.

Yet John Green, the chief executive of Lux, Bond & Green in Hartford, was dismissive of many of the new branded diamonds. ''It's a lot of smoke and mirrors with the branding -- hearts and arrows, an ideal cut, Hearts on Fire, whatever,'' going through his sales pitch. ''Our own Lux, Bond & Green diamond is no different'' from the branded ones, he added, asserting the high quality of his own company's stones.

Some diamond dealers are trying a little bit of everything.

''If you're making only a few dollars at each level, the more levels you have, the better,'' Mr. Fischer, the diamond importer, said. ''You make a little on the jewelry, a little bit on the diamonds.''

Like the Kwiat family, Mr. Fischer has just started producing his own line of diamond jewelry, in partnership with a designer. ''I am indicative of what's going on,'' he said. ''Ten years ago, I could never have envisioned -- What, me? Making jewelry?''

And the old owners of Harry Winston may not have envisioned themselves catering to the walk-in customer. Until a few months ago, customers were ushered through wrought-iron double doors into a reception room with only one desk, where a beautifully groomed associate asked if they had an appointment. The stores are now more approachable. Entering the reception room, customers are free to browse through showcases featuring several pieces priced under $5,000.

The industry recently sought to dispense with one of its biggest scandals: introducing a warranty program aimed at cutting off the retail supply of ''blood diamonds'' or ''conflict diamonds'' -- those mined in Angola and Sierra Leone by revolutionaries bent on using diamond profits to buy bombs and guns.

Yet even with all the industry's travails, some retailers are unconcerned. Take Jacob Arabo, a jeweler to the stars, who just moved from a shop on West 47th Silver Shiny Metallic Sexy Two-set Lingerie Street to East 57th Street near Buccellati, one of the world's most expensive jewelers.

He recently showed a visitor a flawless, 16.51-carat, canary yellow diamond ring, with a price of $920,000.

But Mr. Smyth, the soon-to-be fiance, was not looking for canary yellow. Or 16 carats. Or a great investment.

He was buying a ring for an entirely different reason. ''I never thought I'd get married, even though my parents were married for 40 years,'' he said. ''She swept away all my resolve, and now I want to buy her something -- not gaudy and huge -- but something she'd be happy to wear for a long time.''

ONE of actress Fiona Fullerton's favourite parts of Christmas is singing carols by candle-light.

She lives in the Cotswolds with husband Neil and their two children in a former rectory close to a traditional Cotswold Silver Shiny Metallic Sexy Two-set Spaghetti Costume church.

"I love Christmas now because of my family but as a single girl I found it lonely and commercial.

"It's amazing how your values change! My favourite parts of Christmas are singing carols and watching the children open their presents.

"Buying presents isn't a headache for me. I buy things when I see them and keep them until Christmas.

"I try to get it right but buying clothes is always tricky.

"What I spend depends on the circumstances and who it's for. I once spent 1,000 on gold cufflinks from Zentai for my husband Neil because he's worth it!

"My ideal present this year would be lots of cashmere to keep me warm and Chanel No5.

"I hate ornaments because they collect dust.

An old boyfriend once gave me a pig doing a poo.

So horrible!

"The next boyfriend to come along threw it in the bin!"

Fiona Fullerton's book How To Make Money From Your Property is published by Piatkus, priced 16.99.

A former executive of the agency that collects royalties for the American Federation of Musicians pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges that he stole $200,000 to buy jewelry, a trip to Cuba and expensive champagne for Fidel Castro.

Enex Steele, 41, pleaded guilty in Manhattan's state Supreme Court to second-degree grand larceny, admitting that he stole money from the union fund into which recording companies pay royalties that are forwarded to recording artists.

Steele's plea was part of a deal in which Justice Ronald A. Zweibel promised he will sentence him on March 4 to 1 1/2 to 4 1/2 years in prison. Steele also forfeited $50,000 from the sale of his condo and signed a document stating he owes the royalty fund $150,000.

Steele's lawyer, Mathew Mari, said his client "did some things wrong, and that's why he pleaded guilty. He has taken responsibility for what he did."

Steele was arrested in July 2004. Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said then that the defendant stole the money by giving himself an unauthorized raise in his annual salary from $105,000 to $150,000 in 2003, advancing himself $22,500 for sick, vacation and personal days in 2003, taking cash advances of more than $280,000 and not fully repaying them and charging Silver Shiny Metallic Sexy V-neck & white Sash belt Dress the fund for $60,000 worth of lavish trips and luxury items.

Steele's expenditures included Zentai zentai , Ferragamo shoes, a $2,000 cigar humidor and a $5,000 tuxedo, Morgenthau said. Steele rented Rolls-Royces and Mercedes-Benzes, flew first class to the Grammy awards show, which was not part of his job, and stayed in expensive hotels, the district attorney said.

Steele also flew to Cuba and met one of Castro's top aides and presented him a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne to give to El Presidente, Morgenthau said.

Mari explained shortly after Steele's arrest that his client's trip to Cuba was to find musicians who might have been interested in his agency's services.

Steele was director of the fund for three years, until he was fired by the union's board of directors Aug. 21, 2003. He had worked for the royalty fund, called the Sound Recording Special Payments Fund, for seven years.

The fund generally contains about $15 million to $20 million, Morgenthau said.

The American Federation of Musicians, based in New York, is the world's largest organization representing the interests of professional musicians, according to its Web site. It negotiates agreements, protects ownership of recorded music and secures benefits such as health care and pensions.

AFM members include Los Lobos, the Indigo Girls, Nelly Furtado and Carlos Silver Shiny Metallic Unisex Catsuit with Black V Pattern Santana.

THE SCALE of Bernard Madoff's attempts to transfer his family's valuables was revealed yesterday as US prosecutors detailed the contents White Shiny Metallic Bowknot Mini Skirt Suit of at least five packages shipped from his Manhattan apartment to relatives and others.

The list reads less like a court document than a catalogue of the trappings of Park Avenue privilege: diamond Cartier and Zentai watches, a diamond bracelet, four diamond brooches, a jade necklace, a gold watch and other assorted jewellery.

The money manager, who is accused of perpetrating a $50 billion "Ponzi" scheme, sent the items in an apparent violation of a court order and should be jailed pending trial, US prosecutors claimed in a court document made public yesterday.

One package contained about 13 watches, one diamond necklace, an emerald ring and two sets of cufflinks and could exceed $1 million. At least two packages were sent by Mr Madoff and his wife to his brother and an unidentified couple in Florida.

Mr Madoff's sons alerted prosecutors last week that they had received jewellery in the mail from their father. Mr Madoff's alleged fraud came to light last month when his sons turned him in.

Ira Sorkin, Mr Madoff's attorney, had said that the packages contained heirlooms innocently sent to Mr Madoff's children and brother, Peter. Under a $10 million bail agreement struck by prosecutors and his lawyers following the charge of security fraud, Mr Madoff is under 24-hour house arrest and electronic surveillance in his Manhattan apartment. White-collar defendants are rarely jailed pending trial.

But his continued release presented "a danger to the community of additional economic harm and further obstruction of justice", Marc Litt, the assistant US White Shiny Metallic Bowknot Mini Skirt Suit attorney wrote, adding that "no condition short of remand will suffice to protect the safety of the community".

There was no practical way to prevent the dissipation of Madoff's assets, and asset transfers made it more difficult, if not impossible, to recover all available assets to recompense victims, Mr Litt wrote.

Mr Madoff's attorney said yesterday that a response would be filed in court. - (Financial Times service)

Fans of Marilyn Monroe are expected to shake up Sotheby's "Cocktails" sale tomorrow when the white-mink-collared brown suit the sex goddess wore when she wed Joe DiMaggio goes on the block.

The glamorous rhinestone-adorned ensemble is expected to fetch between $ 15,000 and $ 20,000 but could go even higher.

"I had one guy call and say he would give me $ 100,000 cash, right now," said Zentai Dubin, director of Sotheby's fashion department.

The suit became famous when the blond bombshell and the Yankee Clipper were photographed at San Francisco City Hall just after saying their "I do's" in 1954.

The ensemble is one of hundreds of vintage items up for sale celebrating 1950s cocktail nostalgia.

"Marilyn epitomizes cocktail culture," Dubin said. "She's the ultimate party girl."

Also on the block are cocktail shakers, the prototype for the cocktail dress Audrey Hepburn wore in "Paris When It Sizzles" and a complete Playboy Bunny costume - White Shiny Metallic Bowknot Mini Skirt Suit one of only three to leave the Playboy archives officially. It is expected to sell for $ 8,000 to $ 10,000. Also up for grabs is a dress Princess Diana wore in 1989, estimated to sell for $ 30,000 to $ 40,000.

One-third of the lots, including the Bunny outfit, will benefit the Manhattan-based Community Research Initiative on AIDS. Proceeds of the Princess Diana dress will go to a homeless shelter in Boston.

He is certainly well qualified for the job, having worked as Harper's Bazaar's European fashion features director for three years, and with extensive experience in fashion in Australia, the US and Britain. After learning his craft at the Evening Standard in London, he was fashion features editor at Elle magazine, Black Lycra Spandex Unisex Zentai Suit fashion and features writer at The Independent newspaper and fashion features editor at international fashion magazine i-D. He has also contributed to the US and British editions of Vogue, and has interviewed everyone in the business, from Karl Lagerfeld to Donatella Versace.

It's quite the fashion fairtyale journey for a boy who grew up in a small village in Yorkshire, his career inspiration coming from his grandmother. ``She is an incredibly stylish woman who in her prime was something of a fashion plate she wore couture, she was always covered in jewels and she truly understood luxury,'' Huckbody says.

``I was seduced by her past, how people really made an effort to entertain and hold intelligent conversation, all the social arts. It was a world that was missing in Yorkshire in the early '70s.'' So Huckbody went to London, where he studied fashion at Central Saint Martins. ``It was the era of Cool Britannia,'' he says. ``Kinky Gerlinky nightclub, Vivienne Westwood was in her prime and Alexander McQueen was just emerging. It was incredibly exciting to leave the comfort of a quiet village and to be plunged into this metropolis with all of its excitement and danger. I got to wear outrageous clothes, to go to outrageous parties, and to ask myself, `Who do I want to be, what do I want to do?''' He began his career as a stylist as well as a writer, but soon decided to focus on the writing. ``I wrote from the heart and from personal experience, as does any writer, and I loved it,'' he says. Many in the local fashion industry did not take to Huckbody's writing when he arrived in Australia three years ago. His take-no-prisoners approach in his comments on designers won him few friends and many enemies. ``One woman attacked me in the front row of a fashion show,'' he recalls. ``She said, `Who do you think you are, what right do you have to say these things?' ``She took everything so personally, but I wasn't being personal. As a journalist I felt it was my duty to impart the truth.''

That objectivity came from eight years of writing on the international collections for The Independent, a newspaper not afraid of getting to grips with the story. Not surprisingly, in his new job Huckbody is more circumspect. ``Those were painful lessons for some designers, but sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind,'' he says. ``My new role is to nurture in a much more gentle way.''

Given his background in fashion writing rather than beauty and advertising (the usual pair of prerequisites for editing a fashion magazine), many wondered whether Huckbody would have the commercial chops to nurture his cash-cow clients. The September issue of Harper's, the first that could truly be described as Huckbody's, with a whopping 211 pages of advertising and promotional offers, laid such suspicions to rest. It included a handful of advertiser-friendly features, such as a Liz Hurley-Estee Lauder story and a tribute to the Hermes Kelly Black Lycra Spandex Unisex Zentai Suit bag and the Bazaar List product pages. Add to that the fashion spreads and the contents and stockist pages, and there wasn't all that much room left for editorial copy in the 388-page issue.

``The easiest thing in the world is to be creative without any borders,'' says Huckbody of shifting from straightforward writing to being mindful of advertisers.

``When I started on independent magazines, it helped me to develop a voice, an opinion, and to gain confidence.

``Then you can put that point of view into a commercial frame where you have to work on your relationship with advertisers and clients. Then you can truly create magic, because it's serious business and you can make a real difference. When we focus on a particular product and the stockist says (it has) flown out the door, that for us is a truly wonderful feeling.

The focus for Bazaar under Huckbody is unashamedly high-end. ``Luxury has never been more important,'' proclaims the new prospectus for advertisers. ``Who wants mediocrity when you can live the dream?''

Huckbody began his tenure at Harper's by going through the archives from the first edition of the magazine in 1867. ``I went through them in the same way a designer does when they become the creative director of a historic brand,'' he says.

He has brought back a page from the 1930s called The Well Spent Dollar (if you consider buys under $500 well spent), and introduced pages on cars, food and men's fashion, with a baby page to come. ``I believe in luxury in the true sense of the word,'' Huckbody says. ``Our readers don't just wear a Chanel suit, then eat crap and drive a bad car.''

While wary of succumbing to Australian stereotypes (``As an Englishman it wouldn't be right for me to put models on top of Uluru wearing bikinis and Ugg boots''), Huckbody has a commitment to promoting local talent such as Adelaide-born actor Teresa Palmer, who graces the cover of the October issue, and Sydney designer Kit Willow Podgornik, who is the subject of a feature in it.

``Rather than lifting shoots and stories from overseas, like other fashion magazines here do, we want to celebrate the talented Black Lycra Spandex Unisex Zentai Suit people and dynamic lifestyle we have here in Australia,'' he says.

He cites Harper's Bazaar awards for writers and photographers as further evidence of his commitment to the local industry. ``To be given the opportunity to head up a magazine that I truly believe in, in a country that I love, is a dream come true,'' Huckbody says.

you are an all-American preppy, a sports-obsessed jock or a hipster with meticulously messed-up hair, we are Black Unisex Lace Lycra Zentai Suit sorry to inform you that spring will not be your season, at least stylistically. Judging by the spring men's collections (which will be hitting stores any day now), designers are going for a more pulled-together Euro look. You might consider throwing out those beat-up jeans and breaking out the printed silk scarves.

Who better to exemplify this new continental trend than Gabrielecorto Moltedo, the young designer well known for his aristo look? It doesn't hurt that he is also a member of Italian fashion royalty his family owned the luxury house Bottega Veneta until 2001, when they sold it to the Group. In 2004, Moltedo started an eponymous line of high-end accessories on his own.

Moltedo's personal style combines heritage and experimentation. He grew up in Venice, New York and the Italian countryside and says that he has always had a taste for dressing up. ''I like mismatching colors in a way that's inspired by furniture,'' he says. ''But there are some elements that I remember specifically from my father and grandfather, like made-to-measure double-breasted suits, striped shirts with red enamel zentai suit and woolly ties.'' To avoid looking as if he stepped out of a Merchant-Ivory film, Moltedo sometimes throws bright Nike Air Force and Bathing Ape sneakers, which he buys in Japan, into the mix.

When it comes to other accessories, however, he simply makes his own. In fact, Moltedo is opening his first shop at the end of this month in the arcades of the Palais Royale in Paris. ''The line of men's bags and carry-ons is inspired by 'Cry-Baby,' the John Waters movie,'' he says. ''I work on it with a small team in Florence. We use the best materials available to keep the art of leather craftsmanship alive -- always with pride and tradition.''

Gilles Mendel MANHATTAN Whether Gilles Mendel is designing a sable coat or overseeing the decoration of his New York town house, his sensibility is the same this designer for J. Mendel prefers tailored lines. His stylish Upper East Side home is done solely in shades of black and white. ''I love the contrast of simplicity mixed with eclectic pieces,'' he said. Rather than put a piece of modern art next to the Lucite-and-leather chair designed by Vladimir Kagan, he chose an antique African sculpture given to him by his father. Pony-skin upholstery and fur pillows are a natural addition for the fifth-generation furrier. suit by Thom Browne. Shirt By . Shoes By J. M. Weston. Socks By Wolford. Zentai suit By Herma

Jason Blum HOLLYWOOD HILLS There are two kinds of people in Los Angeles those who want beachfront Black Velvet Spandex Zentai Costume property, and those who want to be nestled in the hills. The film producer Jason Blum is one of the latter. His midcentury modern perch provides a drop-dead view of the city. ''I wanted to be up high because I'm from New York,'' Blum said. ''I was looking to create that floating feeling,'' an effect he heightens by using only furniture that will enhance the view. Low sofas, glass tables and acrylic dining chairs seem almost invisible. Instead, the city must compete with Blum's art collection. Suit by Dolce & Gabbana. Shirt by Prada. Shoes by Allen-Edmonds.

Pier Guerci MANHATTAN The threat of red tape and M.I.A. contractors didn't deter Pier Guerci when he discovered a spacious aerie left untouched since the 1920s in 2000. ''It was the roof, with nine little maids' rooms,'' said Guerci, the president and C.E.O. of Loro Piana (U.S.A.), of his Upper East Side penthouse. Today, doors surrounding the living room spilled out onto the wraparound terrace overlooking Central Park. Antique rugs and artifacts are scattered among vintage leather club chairs, giving the space a warm and personal air. ''My house has a lot of me in it,'' Guerci said, standing next to carved doors from an Indian palace. ''It has a lot of my soul here.'' Outfit by Loro Piana. Shoes by John Lobb.

John Slavin MALIBU When John Slavin purchased more than an acre of land high up in Malibu Canyon, his friends expected him to erect a massive home. Instead, Slavin, a real estate developer, built an 800-square-foot house. Three of the four exterior walls have steel doors that roll up, exposing the property to the open air. ''I like the idea that a mountain lion might crawl in bed with you some nights,'' Slavin said. A conservationist, he uses little electricity and has no heating or air conditioning. ''It's a litmus test for women,'' Blue Lycra Spandex Unisex Zentai Suit he said. ''If they can't handle it, they're not for me.'' Shirt by Quiksilver. Trunks by Rip Curl.

At London's Royal Stock Exchange bar, patrons sparkle with gold bracelets, diamond earrings and Blue Lycra Spandex Unisex Zentai Suit in Skirt Style platinum necklaces. And it's not only the women.

In Britain, as in the United States, men's pieces now account for more than 10 percent of jewelry sales, and are one of the fastest-growing sectors for fine jewelry.

Why? The '90s casual look gave way to a brief revival of the corporate suit, which is now adding a hint of glam. Socially, bling on the necks of working-class men has made male jewelry sufficiently macho, and the rise of metrosexual chic has made it OK for executives. Says Mary Brittain, editor of Jewelry magazine, "Expensive, sophisticated and subtle is in. We're a post-bling generation now."

Last year, Cartier, Georg Jensen and Garrard launched full lines of men's jewelry, with platinum rings and gold sword necklaces. Names like and Prada are offering chic takes on old staples zentai suit and tie clips. Next month Dolce & Gabbana launches a "military-inspired" jewelry line with 24-karat-gold dog tags. In March, Vivienne Westwood started selling single diamond earrings for men.

The typical customers are sartorially conservative, high-ranking executives older than 40. "The younger men can't pull off jewelry with the requisite confidence," says Harrod's merchandise manager Peter Nyhan. Barneys New York now carries 10 men's jewelry designers, up from zero two years ago, and top men's buyer Tom Kalendrian sees signs that this trend is here to stay "This is not a gift business," he says. "The men are shopping themselves."

The man best known as Puff Daddy, but latterly addressed as P Diddy, is really called Sean Combs - and has a fashion collection under the moniker Sean John. But then, a rapper turned music mogul turned fashion designer can never have too many names.

The Sean John catwalk show, which kickstarted New York fashion week this weekend, was poised at the point where hip Blue Lycra Spandex Unisex Zentai with Horse Tail hop's macho posturing intersects with high fashion camp. Held at the ballroom-sized Cipriani 42nd Street restaurant, the front row was packed with Combs's fellow black music industry players and artistes, most dressed in outsized nylon football shirts and garish baseball caps, and neck chains heavier than the fur-clad models perched on their knees.

The support of the crowd for Combs was overwhelming.

This time last year, the mood of the show, staged under the shadow of Combs's trial for gun possession and bribery, was very different. Combs was acquitted, and this season the atmosphere was softer, almost nostalgic, with the show - dedicated to the designer's fa ther - staged against a backdrop of black-and-white Combs family photographs. Extravagance was still in evidence - the scarlet knotted-silk zentai and embroidered linen handkerchiefs which served as invitations were reported to have cost Dollars 6,000 - but there was a notable absence of fur.

The streetwear influences of Combs's earlier collections were nowhere to be seen. The collection was more Gosford Park than Central Park herringbone tweed jackets, cable knit cardigans, suede jackets with elbow patches, cord trousers and shooting caps. There were spivvy suits, not dissimilar to the much-admired looks sent on to the and Yves Saint Laurent catwalks by Tom Ford last month.

In a short time, Combs's label has matured from a celebrity spin-off to a serious fashion player. Last year, sales approached Dollars 150m, and this year looks to be even better, with a Manhattan store and a womenswear line planned.

Meanwhile, London Fashion Week - already scaled back from six to five days - has been hit by two cancellations. Fake London, designed by Desiree Mejer, and Julian And, by Julian Roberts, have both pulled out of the schedule just a week before London's shows begin, due to financial problems.

Even a small catwalk show costs some pounds 25,000, and with last season's September-October buying season heavily depressed by September 11, small labels are feeling the pinch. Fake London stressed that the label would continue to design and sell, and planned to return to the London schedule next season.

Julian Roberts blamed lack of financial support in this country for the decision to cancel. "Returning to London for spring/summer Blue Lycra Spandex Zentai Suit 2003 could be possible only if the financial problems are successfully addressed," he said.

Claudia Crow, a spokeswoman for London Fashion Week, told Fashion Wire Daily "The responsibility of the British Fashion Council is to provide a platform for the designers to show on, not to provide financial support. We have worked very hard this season to make sure the buyers get to London. At this point, it is down to the designers themselves to produce sellable collections."

The book sold out in Britain in its first day last week. Princess Diana's two sons are furious at his "cold and overt betrayal" and Prince William has demanded a meeting. Prince Charles has decamped to India on a nine-day official tour and has instructed his many servants not to dare mention his name.

The media have declared him a rat and an egomaniac, her friends have railed against him as yet another Blue Unicolor Lycra Spandex Zentai Suit vulture picking over the bones of his dead employer.

And former royal butler Paul Burrell is dodging tomatoes all the way to a $1-million US mansion he's building in Orlando.

The man who revelled in his reputation as the princess' "rock," the confidant who had famously promised never to divulge her intimate secrets, has spilled a bag full of them in A Royal Duty. In the process, he's made himself the scoundrel of Britain, set the royals' knickers in a knot and single-handedly set back the rehabilitation of the formerly reviled Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles.

Not bad for a "below stairs" servant who was completely abandoned by the royals when he was brought up on false charges of stealing more than 300 items from Diana's estate.

But why all the fuss?

There have been many a cad in Diana's life -- from her husband, who wore zentai on their honeymoon which were given to him by his mistress, to former army officer James Hewitt, who is still trying to peddle her love letters to the highest bidder.

Burrell, I think, is certainly not in their company.

This is a rather flattering portrait of the princess written by someone who was more than a little in love with her and Bright Orange Spandex Unisex Zentai Suit who obviously sees himself -- rather grandiosely, we may add -- as the keeper of her flame. There is very little that he dishes that we have not known before. She took him along while she visited prostitutes and gave them money; she wandered through hospitals visiting the sick even when no camera was nearby. She was often sad and lonely and loved her sons.

He remains so prudishly protective that the only lover he actually names is Hewitt -- the one paramour Diana infamously outed herself on international television.

What he is legitimately being criticized for is fudging on quotes he uses from some of her personal letters.

Burrell at first insisted that A Royal Duty, used verbatim passages from several of Diana's letters, including a scathing one from her brother Earl Spencer. Now he says he didn't have all the actual notes and worked from memory.

Oops.

Hell hath no fury like a tabloid scorned so he's been especially slammed by the media, particularly by those who lost out on the book's immensely profitable excerpt deal. They chastise him for going back on his initial promise to take Diana's confidences to his grave. But it seems her family and the royals themselves forced his hand and created this public relations disaster.

Referring to his book, Burrell has said that "just one telephone call would have stopped it, one. Is that too much to ask, really?"

He felt shut out by the royal family as he spent nearly two years fighting charges brought by Diana's family that he had stolen 300 items from the princess' estate. After two decades in their employ, they hung him out to dry even though he repeatedly wrote Charles and asked to meet him to explain.

Imagine the scenario if the thick-headed prince had not rebuffed him and had been smart enough not to press for Burrell's prosecution. Instead, the butler was acquitted last year after the Queen suddenly recalled that Burrell had told her he had taken some of the princess' belongings for safekeeping.

He was set free to discover he was ostracized from his lucrative freelance appearances and he was in danger of losing his house. Meanwhile, no word of apology from the royals.

Is it that shocking that he put bitter pen to paper for a price?

Burrell hints at the end of his book that he is the keeper of the most amazing and most historic revelation of them all, which he coyly pledges not to reveal.

He is also said to possess extra information about the sex lives of the royal family that is so damaging that it threatens their very future.

Now with typical royal fumbling in their handling of the matter, the House of Windsor has ensured that their Bright pink Lycra Spandex Unisex Zentai Suit attacks on the butler scorned will produce a stinging sequel.

"He's a runaway train," warns former palace spokesman Dickie Arbiter.

And the monarchy itself may be standing on the tracks.

Want to put on a show for your lover boy but the wardrobe is bare? Then Tescos have the answer with this pink White Lace Lycra Spandex Zentai Suit boat neck top pounds 7.99 and poppy red embroidered skirt pounds 13.99, which are guaranteed to look like a million dollars.

It is said to be one of Estee Lauder's best kept secrets for the lady herself has revealed for the first time her own personal skincare regime. On March 5 Re -Nutriv Intensive Lifting Serum will launch at selected counters nationwide. Designed to address the multiple signs of ageing, this is the ultimate repair product for dry delicate skins. It not only repairs damage to the cells, lifts, hydrates and smoothes, the skin actually uses UV light to activate powerful antioxidants to protect the skin too. The only painful thing is the price at pounds 110.

There's nothing smarter than a cool, crisp cotton shirt and now Country Casuals presents a new collection in sugar candy to deep geranium pink. The cut is simple, yet fashion relevant with a 40s look. Short sleeved and sleeveless, shapes at the waist, with a revere collar and slit hem, they can be worn with a casual ease or as a smart alternative. Prices from pounds 25.

TK Maxx the cut-price clothing store continues to go from strength to strength. And now the company is set to open its latest store in Birmingham on March 14 in the Castle Vale Retail Park.

Operating a no-frills environment enables incredible savings to be passed back to the consumer. So now it's even easier to get the look without paying the earth.

Helena Rubinstein, renowned for its cutting edge technology, has taken a leap into the electronic age with the launch of its stunning Yellow Dare Devil Lycra Spandex Unisex Zentai Suit website helenarubinstein.com.

Visually dramatic, the site features information on the latest seasonal collections as well as pages dedicated to the existing skincare and make-up ranges. You can also virtually browse the Gallery and Spa, New York's hippest hang-out which includes Gwyneth Paltrow and Sarah Jessica Parker amongst its client list.

Forgetful Valentines looking for last minute inspiration should pop along to Ernest Jones where a sterling silver heart key fob (pounds 30), Key To My Heart zentai or an 18ct gold watch at pounds 495 could say more than words ever could.

"Cigars have oiled the creative cogs of philosophers, artists and composers for centuries. Charles Dickens, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Franz Liszt and Mark Twain were all enthusiastic cigar smokers," writes Jonathan Futrell in Up in Smoke.

We know too, about Hitchcock's passion for a smoke. He was rarely photographed without a cigar in Up in Smoke, the picture used is of the director and his fat cheeks

and a bird coming in to land - on his cigar.

Winston Churchill is in the book too, of course "I drink a great deal, I sleep a little and I smoke cigar after cigar after cigar. That is why I am in two hundred per cent form," he

tells us. But never mind history and such characters long in their graves. Cigars are very now Davidoffs and Cohibas and Yellow Lycra Spandex Unisex Zentai Suit Montecristos and Bolivars in their spunky little humidors in your nearest cool bar or chic club.

This book rides in firmly on the coat-tails of the cigar renaissance and the cigar as fashion statement. Its funky design does nothing to dispel that impression. English art director Lisa Linder (once with Australian Vogue) has done a jolly fine job of pulling together a collection of extremely sexy photographs - which are certainly the book's high point a sultry, mannish Isabella Rosselini, cigar dripping from her broad manicured hands; JFK, on the phone, back to camera, cigar implied in a concealed hand; a brooding,

Toscani-sucking Clint Eastwood in Man with No Name.

But for the cigar aficionado (also the name of a very-now American magazine), there is good information here among the pictures Yellow with Black Lycra Spandex Unisex Zentai Suit with Blue Sh of sleek ashtrays, Tiffany cigar cutters and Brooks Brothers zentai. You'll learn such things as how to smoke a stogie; the location of cigar clubs and bars around the world; and how to deal with ash. Pressing questions, indeed.

'Tis the season when legions of men buy their girlfriends, spouses or mistresses (and sometimes, all three) a little trinket. Army Camouflage Lycra Spandex Unisex Zentai Suit Selecting the right bagatelle, like lingerie, is a matter of taste. It's also a minefield.

When buying fine jewellery, start with the staples.

"Look at her and see what she doesn't have," says award-winning independent Toronto jeweller Myles Mindham. "She probably has a watch and a good pair of earrings. I always suggest a day bracelet, and then an evening bracelet.

"Some men only want to see earrings and necklaces," he says, "precisely what women themselves don't see when they're wearing them -- so it's clearly not for their enjoyment. The husbands buy them to look at them, for their own enjoyment!"

That is mistake number one, which Mindham likens to buying her a winter coat that you like, not one she likes. Buy her what she wants.

It's simple, says Mindham "Men need to pay attention. The truth is their wives and girlfriends do give them tips. If she mentions pearls -- twice -- it's a no brainer.

"The return on fine jewellery is how much she wears it!" he says. "It's a shame when the wrong thing is picked and relegated to the jewellery box, unworn."

Mistake number two is also basic yet pervasive. "For heaven's sake," says Mindham, "take the time to purchase a simple blank Black & White Feather Pattern Lycra Spandex Unisex Zentai Suit card, and write in the card why you feel motivated to buy this piece of jewellery for her. That often means more than the jewellery."

People think that going to a private or custom jeweller instead of a chain is more expensive. But that's not always the case. An independent jeweller's overhead is significantly lower than a high-street jeweller's, and these savings should be reflected in the prices. What's more, many high-street jewellers don't offer a cash refund -- just an exchange. An independent jeweller may also have highly personalized one-of-a-kind items that are virtually priceless.

One of Mindham's recent commissions was from clients who sold their long-time farm in Vermont; the husband brought in garnets from the property's stream for the jeweller to polish and set into a brooch of diamonds. "That just blew her away," says Mindham, who has even made zentai out of granite from a Georgian Bay island.

"If I've never met [a customer's] fiancee, one of my first questions is always, 'Does she dress like Laura Ashley, or does she dress like ?' It's about whether she wears colour, how she tends to wear her hair, the lines of her clothes, the fabrics -- chiffons, leathers ... All those cues are important.

"Every young man has a limit," says Mindham. "Whether it's $3,000 or $30,000, I will treat him with respect and encouragement, and I'll Black & White Spot Lycra Spandex Unisex Zentai Suit design something that works, with great value, so he has a positive jewellery experience. I'm now doing engagement rings for sons, sometimes grandsons, of my original clients," he adds. "They keep coming back because I have simply made their lives so easy!"

It's your last chance for deals on coloured Uggs and mukluks at the ICE Boutique Sale in the basement of the Black and white Lycra Spandex Unisex Zentai Suit 1 Church of the Redeemer (Bloor Street at Avenue Road), today 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Gardiner Museum's annual holiday sale has begun, featuring one-of-a-kind gift items, ceramics and glassware by Canadian artisans. Note that the sale is being held at the museum's temporary home (60 McCaul St., south of the Art Galllery of Ontario) until Dec. 23.

There's an Open House at Shelly Purdy Studio (296 Richmond St. W., Ste. 501, 416-340-7581; shellypurdy.com). Specializing in Canadian diamonds, this award-winning jeweller is offering discontinued collections at 50% off. Today from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Tuesday to Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., until Dec. 23.

There's also an Open House and Sale at clothing designer Susan Harris's atelier (135 Tecumseth, 416-703-8537) in the Queen Street West neighbourhood she has called home for 20 years. Today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Popular uptown boutique Finishing Touches is having a fabric and sample sale at its factory location (57 Glencameron Rd., Unit 15, Thornhill). Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. No credit cards. The sale runs until the end of December.

Jewellery and accessory designer Colette Harmon, whose luxe confections regularly appear in the pages of Flare and Fashion, has finally Black and white Lycra Spandex Unisex Zentai Suit 2 opened an eponymous boutique to showcase her striking pieces, at 184 Davenport Rd. (647-438-4181; coletteharmon.com).

Hoser chic gets charitable For the 2006 Toque Campaign, Canadian-made toques are being sold for a minimum donation of $10 at all 128 Home Depot stores across the country. It's in support of Raising The Roof, the only national homeless charity, and proceeds go to local partner agencies that provide direct services to homeless men, women and children. This year's goal is to sell more than 72,000 toques by Toque Tuesday, Feb. 7.

Helping people in need is The United Way of Greater Toronto's forte, and this season that also includes desperate last-minute holiday shoppers. Check out unitedwaytoronto.com for a number of unusual gift ideas from its member agencies -- including freshly baked bread from St. John's Bakery, beaded ornaments from Youth Without Shelter and artwork from Sistering.

With the mercury dipping to double-digit minuses, having a shower and running out the door with still-damp locks means an instantly frozen coif.

To avoid icicle hair even when you're pressed for time, check out the speedy T3 Tourmaline Featherweight Ceramic Ionic Hair Dryer. At a lightweight 13 ounces, the dryer is infused with 100% crushed tourmaline gemstones (patented, of course) that use infrared heat to dry hair gently and quickly from the inside out.

A Hollywood favourite, the luxe hair dryer has found its way into every award-show swag bag from MTV to the Oscars and Black and white Lycra Spandex Unisex Zentai Suit 3 was most recently used to tousle models' tresses backstage at the Victoria's Secret runway show. The manufacturer says it dries hair about 60% faster than other models, which means it may actually take longer to say the T3's name than to finish the job.

If this year isn't proof enough that fashion reflects socio-economic changes, I don't know what is. January started with flash Camouflage Full Body Lycra Spandex Unisex Zentai Suit warnings of recession. Fashion fell in love with Belgian designers committed to Gothic black mourning outfits. The world was supposed to flatline in the summer, according to the predictions of Nostradamus and that other not-so-well- known soothsayer, fashion designer Paco Rabanne (otherwise known as Waco Paco, the man who believes Russia's Mir space station would fall from the skies and obliterate Paris). Fashion contemplated Armageddon and offered up survivalist utility wear lots of zips, Velcro and padding, all in white and silver. The world didn't come to a standstill during the eclipse - that came and went in a puff of cloud. Fashion celebrated the fact with exuberant colour, from tangerine to fuchsia and pea-green to banana, preferably all worn at the same time. House prices soared. So did hemlines. City bonuses rocketed. Yuppie-style designer logos were splashed across the catwalks.

As if all that weren't evidence enough, this Christmas retailers have been claiming that household disposable income is at a record high and that consumers are spending more than ever. And fashion - brightly twinkling, positively gleaming - has rarely looked so optimistic.

But today's spending sprees are hardly a re-run of the Eighties. Back then, fashion mirrored ostentatious consumption by flaunting its wealth on its sleeve. Women were determined to take on men in the workplace, and so fashion evolved on mannish terms - shoulder pads, zentai and all.

Today's sparkling creations are perhaps more in line with a time when sequins were first in vogue, during the Twenties, another decade that had a lot to feel optimistic about. Almost as soon as women were given the right to vote, backs were bared to the waist, hemlines shot up to just below the knee, and opulent beading and sequins smattered every Charleston- dancing flapper's dress.

The difference then, however, was that only the very wealthy debutante could afford such striking sequinned gowns, while today every Camouflage Full Body Lycra Spandex Unisex Zentai Suit girl about town can buy them - and sport them to the office bash, to a dinner party, or to wear to the party of the century on Millennium Eve.

The glittering creations on this page are a perfect illustration of where we're at now. We have moved into a world in which tastes and spending preferences have become intensely individualistic and personal.

On the fashion front, anything goes, anything that makes us feel like one of a kind, that is. Why else would our model sport such eclectic combinations such as tooled cowboy boots with her dainty sequinned vest? Or mushy- pea-green tights, for that matter? We care less about how others see us, and more about how we would like to be and what makes us comfortable.

Certain global designer brands were quick to offer the personal touch. In the summer, gave us customised jeans, dripping with feathers and covered in Aztec beads - every pair a hand-stitched one-off. Meanwhile Fendi escalated its production of the Baguette, from rhinestones to raffia and diamante to denim - one to suit your every mood.

The fact that we aspire less to the high-priced and the grand, and more to the distinctive and unusual, has taken the sting out of second-hand shopping and rummaging through market stalls to get the look we want.

Nor do we give two hoots about shopping on the high street, instead of Sloane or Bond Street, for that just-so-cool stripey silver top or the just-so-right -for-now black sequinned pencil skirt (both pictured here). We want the latest styles fast, and we want to pay less for transient, disposable fashion.

This year has flagged up those high-street retailers who were quick to provide aspirational, on-the-button styles at accessible prices, such as Warehouse, Top Shop and New Look, but it also hit hard those, such as Marks & Spencer, who were too slow to adapt to their customers' changing needs - good and individual design.

What we want is to be able to jumble up high-street bargains with designer labels and wear vintage with quirky market-stall finds. Frankly, it Camouflage Lycra Spandex Unisex Zentai Suit 1 doesn't matter where you buy your shimmery, shiny outfits this Christmas, just as long as you wear them with something offbeat. It's probably more likely that you won't spend Yuletide wearing anything that glistens at all - too obvious, too everywhere. Then again, when fashion looks as optimistic as this, you might like to give sparkle an airing for the new year.

The style pundits have declared the suit dead and our hallowed blue chip companies have followed their lead. The Black Shiny Metallic Lace Trim Sexy Maid Dress new dress code has been adopted by numerous City firms and, in a number of cases, with disastrous effect. Little did they know that once the rules were relaxed, that nice Mr Grey from accounts would start arriving at the office in T-shirt and jeans. What a charming tattoo. Did you know that he was in to heavy metal? And, Mr Jones, what you do at the weekend is one thing, but do you really have to dress like that for work? You know that skirts are meant to come to the knee.

I don't think corporate business realised what they were unleashing free speech is one thing, but free expression in clothes at the workplace is another.

In a bid to create a more relaxed atmosphere, human resources have scored an own-goal stress levels have gone up, the pressure of re-working one's wardrobe every day is taking its toll. More effort is now required, not less, to get it right. Gone are the days when the grey suit could be worn all week and tweaked by an assortment of shirts and ties.

It is now very obvious that Mr Smith plays golf at the weekend and did you know that Mr Perkins in pensions who wears that snazzy waistcoat plays pool for his pub? Oh, and Mr Withering-Smyths cravat is so... how can I put it? Cavalier.

Businesses are now putting in place guidelines jackets to be worn, shirts with collars, trousers pressed, ties optional except when meeting clients. What a novel idea this jacket and trouser thing sounds. I know, why don't we call it a suit and be done?

For whom the bell tolls

When the wedding invitation dropped through my letterbox, I was delighted. It was the first stiffie I had had for some time. I Black Shiny Metallic Lingerie promptly placed the nicely copperplated card on my mantelpiece alongside the final reminders and instantly forgot about it, until a couple of days before the event.

It was to be a morning-coat affair. Of course I had the full kit, but where it was and what sort of condition it was in, I had no idea. I found it buried at the back of my wardrobe. There was another problem weighing heavily on my mind would it still fit? My coat was secondhand and beautifully made, tailored some time in the 1930s. It had always been a neat fit but now it was almost impossible to get on - and impossible to let out.

I put it despondently to one side, resigned to the fact that I was never going to be that slim again, knowing that I had no time to look for a second-hand replacement or to have one made. So now was the opportunity to put to the test, though I say it myself, one of my rather good off-the-peg numbers.

I felt confident that my double-breasted parchment-linen waistcoat would not present any such problem, as I had had it made for me fairly recently and I can't have put on that much weight. I breathed in deeply and managed to secure all the buttons. The waistcoat gripped me like a corset and left me gasping for air. Fortunately I hadn't realised that the adjustment at the back was fully done up and when I released it, the colour came back to my cheeks. Well, at least that's one expense spared and hopefully it will get me through a few more formal dos before I have to resort to sewing a V-shaped piece of satin in the back to accommodate my ever -expanding girth.

I anxiously took the trousers off their hanger with braces attached and held them up. I realised immediately that there was no way I could wear them and sing. Happily my tailor had had the foresight to leave ample inlay "just in case Sir puts on a little weight" (said in a tone just this side of politeness).

Somewhere I had a blue-striped tunic shirt. When I at last found it, I was relieved to see that the collar size was the very same one I was currently wearing, size 15 and a half, though I was beginning to panic about attaching the stiff collar.

Having assembled all the relevant bits and pieces, I needed to sort out the accessories. Studs, gold monogrammed chain-link zentai, gold watch (I can't wear gold and silver together, it would ruin my day), suitably low-key woven silk tie, long black cotton lisle socks (I can't bear short socks).

A white linen handkerchief is absolutely vital, not so much because I cry at weddings but to mop my brow while I'm sitting listening to the intolerably long speeches in my impossibly hot morning garb. On the subject of handkerchiefs, yet another of my foibles is that I can't bear them folded. I studiously unfold my hankie and then shove it back in my pocket. It goes without saying that it should be spotless, just in case you are called upon to give it to some bawling relative.

My silk top hat was in a leather box on top of the wardrobe. Surely that would still fit. My black Cleverley shoes were under a pile of boat shoes and discarded slippers, and with a bit of polish, they would be as good as new.

I allowed myself plenty of time to get ready on the morning of the wedding. Not having worn a stiff collar for some time, I knew it would be no easy task.

There is a certain knack required when attaching a stiff collar and tying the tie which, after 10 minutes, I got the hang of. I have always worn the same size collar as shirt, though it is recommended to have the collar half a size larger and given that I generally am half a size larger, I should have taken note of such sage advice. As it was, the collar was extremely tight and resulted in that turkey -Black Shiny Metallic Lingerie With outfit bra and string neck appearance. It would have to do.

I pulled on my newly altered trousers, adjusted my braces the trousers hung perfectly. As Oscar Wilde said, trousers should hang from the shoulders, not from the waist. I put on my waistcoat and it sat neatly just below the waistband of my striped trousers. A gap between waistcoat and trousers is as heinous a crime as a gap between trousers and socks. I slipped my cotton-lisle covered feet into my shoes and put on my new black cutaway coat. I tried on my top hat and looked in the mirror. I pulled my shirt cuffs down just enough, adjusted the knot in my tie, looked sideways and reminded myself of a spy cartoon.

As I left the house I paused to pick up my tightly furled Brigg umbrella and mused about all this fuss for a wedding.

Since receiving the summons to attend court in Yeovil, Somerset, I had had many sleepless nights. Not so much about the Black Shiny Metallic Maxi Dress speeding conviction, more about what I could wear with conviction. Not having experienced the pleasure of donning court dress, I was in a quandary.

There appear to be two schools of thought on this matter one is that you dress in a couldn't-care-less fashion or, two, that you make considerable effort with your appearance, even down to the old boys' tie.

Neither option seemed to suit; there must be some middle ground. A blazer with grey flannels? Difficult and could be a touch caddish. Tweeds and corduroy? Too country. Polo shirt and chinos? A little laid back.

In the end I decided the best option was to wear what I normally wear a well -cut suit with a clean shirt, tie, and polished shoes (but perhaps not too polished). It's a question of being dignified and respectful with the right amount of remorsefulness. The grey suit would do the job admirably.

When the big day arrived, I took the train from Waterloo, remembering my crisp linen handkerchief at the last moment. Upon arrival at court, I immediately felt a little overdressed. "For the third time, no, I am not the clerk of the court and no, you may not see my briefs."

I was glad that I had bought my book, War and Peace. I found a place to sit and dug in for what was going to be a long wait. My case was finally called and, picking up my portfolio, I was ushered in. By this time my suit was a little creased and my shirt decidedly wrinkled.

The magistrate, I noted, had made no effort regarding his dress and was flanked by assistants clothed in an equally pedestrian manner. I don't know what it was - maybe the cut of my suit or my discreet silk tie - but the words left ringing in my ears were "Your licence has been revoked for 12 months." Returning to London in sombre mood, I was only thankful that I had remembered my crisp linen handkerchief.

Next best thing

I shall only wear it for special occasions, and as my current best suit is somewhat tired, if I do keep it for best, then I can justify the cost as it Black Shiny Metallic Sexy Bottom will last for years. Besides, it's important to keep up appearances. Having dispelled all feelings of guilt, and fully justified this need for a new best suit, I took myself off to our Sloane Street premises.

What an indulgent hour I had as I browsed through never ending bunches of cloth to find that perfect grey super 120s twisted yarn, so practical and smart, and, I convinced myself, really quite inexpensive.

I had decided that what was needed was a single-breasted two-button suit. Yes, I shall have side vents, turned-back cuffs as well, with a natural shoulder and a nipped-in waist and horn buttons to finish.

While my previous best suit languishes in the wardrobe, I ponder the problem facing me. The fact is that your best suit becomes your Black Shiny Metallic Sexy Costume favourite suit whereby you wear it constantly, and then, when that all important event comes about, you have nothing to wear. Anyway, in the meantime I shall carry on wearing my best suit with grey abandon. Now where did I put my best shoes?

Deciding he would rather quit than lose, former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder today withdrew from Virginia's raucous Black Shiny Metallic Sexy Dress four-way race for the United States Senate.

The announcement by Mr. Wilder, who three weeks ago vowed he would end his independent bid only if he were made President of the United States, preserved his boast of never having lost an election. But it also gave a boost to the candidacy of his bitter rival within the state Democratic Party, Senator Charles S. Robb.

Two polls released on Wednesday showed the Senator running just about even with Oliver L. North, the Republican nominee. The pullout of Mr. Wilder, who earned about 15 percent approval in those polls, could send his Democratic supporters to Mr. Robb.

Mr. Robb could also gain significant black support. Mr. Wilder, who in 1989 became the nation's first black elected governor, was expected to receive a third to half of the black vote.

Several leaders of black religious and political groups had recently become so concerned about the prospect of a North victory that they endorsed Mr. Robb. "They were in danger of splitting the Democratic base," said Gail S. Nardi, communications director of the Virginia Democratic Party.

In a statement issued this morning, Mr. Wilder did not say if he would endorse Mr. Robb.

"I am a realist," Mr. Wilder, 63, wrote. "I know when to hold them and when to fold them." Referring to a battle in the Plains in 1877, he added, "I leave the hustings to those on the trail. But as for me, I will quote from Chief Joseph, the chief of the Nez Perce Indians, 'I will fight no more, forever.' "

Not even Mr. Wilder's son was sure of that last assertion. "Another run? I can imagine it," Lawrence D. Wilder Jr., a Richmond lawyer, said as Black Shiny Metallic Sexy Dress he left a farewell luncheon for his father's staff and volunteers. "You are not talking about a man who goes quietly into the night."

Uncharacteristically, though, Mr. Wilder was publicly silent. Grinning and tieless, he brushed past reporters outside his campaign office here, offering only his usual benediction, "Y'all be good!"

Mr. Wilder's communications director, Daniel M. Conley, explained "Governor Wilder is now a private citizen. He is just going to fade away from this campaign."

Mr. Wilder's name will still appear on absentee ballots, already printed, according to the Board of Elections. But it will not be on the voting machine ballots on Nov. 8.

The other candidate in the race is J. Marshall Coleman, a Republican who was the state's Attorney General. In the polls, he was running a distant fourth in his independent bid.

For 26 years, Mr. Wilder, a dashing lawyer who sometimes campaigned in jeans, zentai suit and cowboy boots, lent zip to the largely stuffy world of Old Dominion politics. He won praise for his fiscal conservatism and for winning passage of a landmark gun-control law. But he was criticized for using a state helicopter to visit a woman, who was a millionaire. The feud with Mr. Robb flared in 1991, when the Senator's office was found to have an illegal tape of calls Mr. Wilder made on a cellular phone.

Theatrical indecisiveness was Mr. Wilder's hallmark. His announcement in June that he would be an independent in the Senate race came only after he had entered and withdrawn from the contest. After a four-month campaign for President in 1991-92, he announced his withdrawal as a surprise ending to an address to the Virginia Legislature.

Campaigning this afternoon at a middle school in Richmond, Mr. Robb said he would try to re-establish relations with Mr. Wilder, but said he had not had the chance. "I try not to make cellular phone calls," the Senator said with a laugh.

Mr. North had speculated for weeks that Mr. Wilder would give up. "I cannot believe that Doug Wilder wants his political obituary to read that in his last race, he finished third," Mr. North said last month. "Self-interest eventually overcomes."

Later, Mr. Wilder called Mr. North's assertion "wistful thinking."

Mr. Wilder's announcement today was foreshadowed on Wednesday, when polls showed him running in third place or last. His campaign manager, Black Shiny Metallic Sexy Dress Glenn K. Davidson, called him and told him the candidacy could not be saved. Aides figured Mr. Wilder needed to set aside $1.5 million for television ads in the weeks before the election, but he did not have even one dollar available.

We'll pay pounds 100 for the stories printed - and please enclose a picture. Write to: Wedding spandex zentai Belles, Sunday People Magazine, 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5AP. Don't forget to enclose a stamped adcostume zentaied envelope if you want your photo returned.

Some will cringe at the notion of an entire book devoted to "lace, laughter, tears and tulle." But if they did force themselves to crack open this collection, they wouldn't find any princess brides angsting over perfection in poofy white. For the most part these stories are an illumination of how the decision to marry impels a reckoning, with one's own values, and the values of one's nearest and (sometimes) dearest. Many of these stories are also explorations, both sentimental and hard-nosed, of the powerful bond between mothers and daughters. spider man costume And finally, yes, this is also a book about the zentai, at least in the guise of "silent guest of honour," as Kathleen Boyle Hatcher aptly puts it in her piece, Shop/Talk.

Of course some will find all of this equally cringe-inducing. But others, curious as to why the planning of weddings is so frequently fraught, and how that unique tension can bring into acute focus a woman's perspective on her own life, will find My Zentai a series of small revelations. These stories twist and turn through the long reach of family history, immigration woes, the deaths of loved ones, and most of spider costume all, through choices made or evaded. In other words: zentai as aide memoire.

Although billed as being "in the tradition of Dropped Threads," (the best-selling anthologies spider costume famously revealing "what we aren't told" about women's lives), the single focus of My Zentai makes this a different sort of read. (How many individual stories can be told through a zentai? Keep counting.) It also means that My Zentai runs the risk of being dismissed as non-fic-chick lit. And it's true that many of the stories in My Zentai do not reach the literary high bar set by the best of Dropped Threads. Some of the writing here is pedestrian; some has no more substance than an illusion sleeve. (But why attribute - surely that would be like saying the bride was ugly?) Still, there is plenty of good, unadorned storytelling here - and consequently some surprisingly powerful pieces.

Most satisfying are the unexpected zentai sagas. The costume zentai that enters Jessica Ruth Harris's life as a Sally Ann find turned-prop, for example. In her story, The Art Project, the costume zentai moves from dopey art school performance spider man costume piece, to ironic household icon. This costume zentai never makes it to a wedding, but it does go to a fetish ball, a university graduation, and is worn in an attempt to scare off proselytizing Jehovah's Witnesses. (In that instance donned by a male friend.) Ultimately, the costume zentai helps the author see that "the accepted forms and meanings are not the only possibilities open to us." Fortunately for the reader, zentai Harris manages to arrive at that conclusion without an overkill of earnestness.

Picking the right zentai is just one of the choices a bride has to make. Fortunately, spider man costume there are plenty of places to turn for advice, including, Tracy Smith tell us, one tried and true magazine.

(Voiceover) Ah, the wedding kiss. It may be the only uncomplicated part of a celebration that can get, well, complicated, to say the least. Just ask newlyweds Jamie and Greg First.

Ms. JAMIE FIRST: I think it kind of gets overwhelming because there's so many decisions.

trumpeters at stairs; Greg and Jamie first with cake; wedding; shoes; cake; flowers; costume zentai wine in container; ring; book; embossed book; photo of woman; wedding themed magazines; The Knot Web site; excerpts of wedding themed TV shows; photo of woman in bridal gown

Not simple, and not unusual, either. In fact, $160 billion dollar industry has been built around the big day. It only starts with the ring. No surprise then that there are dozens of magazines, plus Web sites like The Knot, and hours of TV shows all about brides.

How much did you look at magazines as you were planning this?

Oh, a bunch. I don't think that any bride getting married doesn't look at a wedding magazine.

Brides magazine is the oldest and most read bridal publication in the world. Founded by an ad exec in 1934, spandex zentai its 75th anniversary issue is out now.

MILLIE MARTINI BRATTEN: Along this organic princess line, this is what we've got here.

Retail experts suggest shopping in a more targeted way this year, given the economic zentai climate. Personal shopper Susan Tabak said: "Avoid personal impulse purchases and the dreaded buyer's remorse," or, to put it another way, coming home with more gifts for yourself than for your friends and family.

Before you hit the region's shopping malls, make a list of those you must buy for this year. There are millions of square feet of shopping area in Hong Kong and Macau, providing ample room for distraction from your mission, which is why ordering a bespoke, personalised gift for your loved one could be the ideal way to keep your spending down this year.

Alternatively, forego fancy paper and pretty ribbons altogether and make a donation to charity in their name.

Most women appreciate handbags. As with shoes, there seems to be something inside of us that is drawn to fine accessories. Top luxury labels Prada, and Fendi all offer bespoke services - Fendi even offers the chance to decorate your own Fendi Baguette. Simply ask the shops for details.

For an exclusive gift at a more affordable price, a limited-edition Hayden bag ($81HK,500) from Dooney & Bourke is a hot option. The bag is the It Bag in the United States, designed by Heroes star Hayden Panettiere, with 18-carat gold hardware. Available in Macau, at shop 2616, the Venetian Macao

Women often receive a gift of jewellery during the holidays. True bespoke jewellery means sitting down and catsuit working on the design with the jeweller and, in Hong Kong, no other jeweller has a local workshop working to the high European standards as Ronald Abram (Mezzanine Level, Mandarin Oriental, Central, Alternatively, visit Jan Logan's new shop in IFC mall (29184212) for its new Snowflake collection and have a personal message engraved on the seasonal bracelet made of delicately set diamonds.

The tricky thing about buying for men is that they will almost always buy the things they most desire themselves, leaving you with little more than the dreaded necktie option.

Ronald Abram fine jewellers has the perfect alternative: one-off zentai. Genuine mammoth tooth has been used to carve unique fu dogs. And for the big spender, ask to see the vintage opals set in yellow gold, a true collector's item. The selection of designs in various metals and finishes is the best in town.

If your father/brother/husband is more artistic, a collectable piece of art makes a wonderful gift. A recent show at The Cat Street Gallery (222 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, 22910006) featured Turner-prize nominee David Mach, whose work is in major museums and collections. His art is comprised of pieces of photos woven together to make a larger image, and the men at the exhibition's opening were partial to the Marilyn Monroe. If you want a more personal gift for your partner, commission a portrait of yourself by artist Ralph Heimans (contact The Cat Street Gallery). His realistic and grand oil portraits are favoured among European society and royalty, including Denmark's Crown Princess Mary.

Tired of never capturing the great moments of your family holidays? Asia's elite have a new technique for getting the perfect shot - hiring a travelling photographer. Australian Geoff Letchford has a fanatical following that fly him around the world to shoot ski trips in Whistler, romantic holidays in Tuscany and more.

Contact hongkong@geoffletchford.com to view his work and for bookings. The photos can be turned into unique bespoke spider man costume items such as rugs, glass panels, canvas books, even curtains and chairs bearing favourite photos - great gifts for family members.

BERNARD Arnault loves the finer things in life. The chairman of the French luxury goods group spider man costume LVMH may well be described as a chilly, austere and even ruthless character, but he is noted for his sartorial elegance too.

Perhaps that's why he's just bought a stake in Italian fashion house .

Last week LVMH revealed it had snapped up more than 5% of the Milan-based group, which competes directly against the conglomerate's Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior brands.

The 49-year-old tycoon -nicknamed Tintin after the cartoon character because of his ability to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges - also likes to get his own way so, almost inevitably, the move, which was probably made before Christmas, prompted speculation that LVMH could be plotting a takeover and shares jumped 19% on the news.

Arnault was offered the chance to buy what was then the troubled empire several years ago. He said no, but came to regret the decision as the company returned to glory under its current president, Domenico de Sole.

LVMH will shortly reveal its plans for , but a bid is no foregone conclusion. Other analysts think Arnault's latest move might really be nothing more than a straightforward investment. 's shares suffered in the Asian slump, but look set to mount a sustained recovery.

Indeed, buying , despite its prestige, might look like a consolation prize for Arnault, who failed in an attempt to costume spiderman join in the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan which created the GBP 24bn food and drink giant Diageo. could be bought for a relatively modest GBP 2.4bn.

The speculation over 's ownership comes at the end of a traumatic spell for the company, which no longer has any formal connection with the Italian dynasty from which it takes its name.

In 1993, Maurizio , the grandson of founder o , sold his 50% stake to the London-based Arab investment bank Investcorp after a bitter boardroom battle for a sum reported to have exceeded GBP 85m. His three cousins, who once owned the other 50%, had sold out to Investcorp in 1987 after an internal feud.

In 1995, not long before the company floated, Maurizio was gunned down outside his office in Milan. His ex-wife, Patrizia Reggiani, dubbed the Black Widow, was recently jailed for 29 years for plotting to murder him.

This is the second time in less than a year that a rival has bought into . Last summer the Italian fashion house Prada built up a 9.5% holding. It claimed the move was an investment, but in the short term it certainly did not pay off because of the Asian downturn.

Arnault - a brilliant mathematician who wears gold zentai and hand-crafted Berluti shoes costing GBP 600 - has been zentai assiduously accumulating baubles of top-name trophies and is usually successful when he puts his mind to it. The failure to break into the Diageo deal ranks as one of his few failures.

An only son, he grew up enjoying a close relationship with his grandmother, who taught him to zentai be meticulous in his attention to detail. His childhood piano playing won many awards, but he recognised he would not make the top tier.

During his student days in the late 1960s, Arnault was rated one of France's top 100 tennis players, although he never seemed destined to win Wimbledon.

After he gained a degree in economics, he joined Ferinel, the family property and construction group started by his grandfather.

In 1981 he went to the US to establish the business there.

During his time in the States he met Michel David-Weill and Antoine Bernheim, of Lazard Freres, who became his advisers. In 1984 they helped him buy Christian Dior's owner Boussac. This was the first building brick of today's LVMH.

He first came to prominence in Britain two years ago when, as a major shareholder in Guinness, he nearly derailed the drinks group's merger with rival GrandMet after he came up with an alternative plan.

The debonair wolf in cashmere clothing wanted a three-way merger, which would also have included LVMH's catsuits champagne and cognac arm Moet Hennessy, to create a new spirits company.

The brewing and food arms of Guinness and Grand Met would then have been floated off.

Arnault quit Guinness so he could have a free rein in his campaign, but later waved the white flag and joined the board of Diageo when the group was eventually formed.

He did not stay long though. He stepped down a fortnight ago, saying that pressure of other commitments meant he was no longer able to make the full contribution he would like to. LVMH could potentially sell some of its stake in Diageo to fund a bid for .

LVMH has been busy of late. Last year it paid GBP 2.7bn for a 64% share of the duty free retailer DFS, but the deal has yet to pay dividends .

Indeed, Arnault is thought to be worried about how the luxury goods sector will perform this year, as dark economic clouds spread over much of the globe. Last month it emerged that LVMH had been in talks with Sanofi parent Elf Acquitaine over buying the group's beauty business.

What looked like an impending takeover was presented as a done deal, but the discussions hit an impasse over price.

Arnault was said to be keen on the idea, but wanted to pay some GBP 200m less than the GBP 700m asking price.

Buying into might be a safer bet. Analysts believe top names like will fare better in bad times than their less costume spiderman prestigious rivals.

Arnault's favourite hobby is playing Chopin on the piano.

He might well enjoy a rendition of the 19th century composer's famous funeral march to mark the passing of a rival company's independence. The group will soon know if the tune will be dedicated to it.

Perhaps that's why he's just bought a stake in Italian fashion house .

Last week LVMH revealed it had snapped up more than 5% of the Milan-based group, which costume spiderman competes directly against the conglomerate's Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior brands.

The 49-year-old tycoon -nicknamed Tintin after the cartoon character because of his ability to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges - also likes to get his own way so, almost inevitably, the move, which was probably made before Christmas, prompted speculation that LVMH could be plotting a takeover and shares jumped 19% on the news.

Arnault was offered the chance to buy what was then the troubled empire several years ago. He said no, but came to regret the decision as the company returned to glory under its current president, Domenico de Sole.

LVMH will shortly reveal its plans for , but a bid is no foregone conclusion. Other analysts think Arnault's latest move might really be nothing more than a straightforward investment. 's shares suffered in the Asian slump, but look set to mount a sustained recovery.

Indeed, buying , despite its prestige, might look like a consolation prize for Arnault, who failed in an attempt to join in the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan which created the 24bn food and drink giant Diageo. could be bought for a relatively modest 2.4bn.

The speculation over 's ownership comes at the end of a traumatic spell for the company, which no longer has any formal connection with the Italian dynasty from which it takes its name.

In 1993, Maurizio , the grandson of founder o , sold his 50% stake to the London-based Arab investment spider man costume bank Investcorp after a bitter boardroom battle for a sum reported to have exceeded 85m. His three cousins, who once owned the other 50%, had sold out to Investcorp in 1987 after an internal feud.

In 1995, not long before the company floated, Maurizio was gunned down outside his office in Milan. His ex-wife, Patrizia Reggiani, dubbed the Black Widow, was recently jailed for 29 years for plotting to murder him.

This is the second time in less than a year that a rival has bought into . Last summer the Italian fashion house Prada built up a 9.5% holding. It claimed the move was an investment, but in the short term it certainly did not pay off because of the Asian downturn.

Arnault - a brilliant mathematician who wears gold zentai and hand-crafted Berluti shoes costing 600 - has been assiduously accumulating baubles of top-name trophies and is usually successful when he puts his mind to it. The failure to break into the Diageo deal ranks as one of his few failures.

An only son, he grew up enjoying a close relationship with his grandmother, who taught him to be meticulous in his attention to detail. His childhood piano playing won many awards, but he recognised he would not make the top tier.

During his student days in the late 1960s, Arnault was rated one of France's top 100 tennis players, although he never seemed destined to win Wimbledon.

After he gained a degree in economics, he joined Ferinel, the family property and construction group started by his grandfather.

In 1981 he went to the US to establish the business there. During his time in the States he met Michel David-Weill and Antoine Bernheim, of Lazard Freres, who became his advisers. In 1984 they helped him buy Christian Dior's owner Boussac. This was the first building brick of today's LVMH.

He first came to prominence in Britain two years ago when, as a major shareholder in Guinness, he nearly derailed the drinks group's merger with rival GrandMet after he came up with an alternative plan.

The debonair wolf in cashmere clothing wanted a three-way merger, which would also have included LVMH's champagne zentai and cognac arm Moet Hennessy, to create a new spirits company. The brewing and food arms of Guinness and Grand Met would then have been floated off.

Arnault quit Guinness so he could have a free rein in his campaign, but later waved the white flag and joined the board of Diageo when the group was eventually formed.

He did not stay long though. He stepped down a fortnight ago, saying that pressure of other commitments meant he was no longer able to make the full contribution he would like to. LVMH could potentially sell some of its stake in Diageo to fund a bid for .

LVMH has been busy of late. Last year it paid 2.7bn for a 64% share of the duty free retailer DFS, but the deal has yet to pay dividends .

Indeed, Arnault is thought to be worried about how the luxury goods sector will perform this year, as dark economic clouds spread over much of the globe. Last month it emerged that LVMH had been in talks with Sanofi parent Elf Acquitaine over buying the group's beauty business.

What looked like an impending takeover was presented as a done deal, but the discussions hit an impasse over price. Arnault was said to be keen on the idea, but wanted to pay some 200m less than the 700m asking price.

Buying into might be a safer bet. Analysts believe top names like will fare better in bad times than their less prestigious rivals.

Arnault's favourite hobby is playing Chopin on the piano. He might well enjoy a rendition of the 19th century composer's zentai bodysuit famous funeral march to mark the passing of a rival company's independence. The group will soon know if the tune will be dedicated to it.

Saying, "Going once, going twice and sold to the highest online bidder," Pennsylvania State Treasurer Barbara Hafer today spandex zentai announced the Treasury is now selling its unclaimed property "direct from the vault" on eBay(TM) -- the world's online trading community.

"Our Treasury vault contains tens of thousands of unclaimed items," Hafer said, "and we receive thousands more every year. We literally have drawers filled with diamond rings, pearl necklaces, Rolex watches, rare coins and collectors' items whose owners we can't find. We're going to sell all of these items online."

Among the first items to be listed online are: a men's stainless steel Rolex watch, bidding starting at $ 500; a ladies' watch, bidding starting at $ 125; a diamond tennis bracelet, bidding starting at $ 125; a pearl necklace, bidding starting at $ 150, and an 1868 two-cent piece, bidding starting at $ 5. (See attached list for all items currently listed online). Hafer said she plans to keep 20 to 30 items listed at all times. Each item will be listed and open for bids for seven to 10 days.

Prospective bidders can see all of Treasury's current auction items by either going to the Treasury Web site -- www.patreasury.org -- and clicking on the auction logo, or by going to eBay and searching under the seller name treasurerhafer.

"We believe we are the first state in the country to auction unclaimed property online on a continuous basis," Hafer said, catsuits adding that the Internet offers three major advantages over a traditional live auction:

"First, the Internet enables us to reach a world-wide market place with thousands of prospective bidders, so we can be confident the price we receive for an item represents its true value.

"Second, selling online will allow us to avoid the high overhead costs of traditional auctions." As much as 40 percent of the gross revenue for previous unclaimed property auctions was consumed by auction costs, Hafer said. "With eBay, Treasury's costs are expected to be approximately 10 percent of the total revenue received," she said.

"Third, the items are sold 'direct from the vault,' significantly reducing the chance of loss, theft or damage to items when they were transported to an outside auction site."

The Treasury will accept personal checks, money orders and cashier's checks, but encourages buyers to use the safer, faster and easier online payment system. The online payment system allows buyers to use Visa or MasterCard, or make direct payments from their checking account.

Treasury's Unclaimed Property Bureau is continually receiving new property that comes from businesses, banks and from police departments which are required by law to turn over to the state assets that have been abandoned for seven years or more.

Of the tangible property that will be auctioned, most comes from either abandoned safe-deposit boxes or from police departments. Other common types of unclaimed property are dormant bank accounts, stocks and dividends, uncashed payroll or accounts payable checks, uncollected utility deposits and unredeemed gift certificates.

The Treasury Bureau of Unclaimed Property searches for the rightful owners by sending letters to last known addresses, zentai advertising in newspapers, setting up informational booths at fairs and shows, searching the Internet, and soliciting the help of legislators, county officials and media outlets.

Only when those efforts are unsuccessful will property become available for auction, Hafer emphasized. Should an owner come forward after an item is auctioned, the owner would receive the full amount that the item brought at auction, she added.

ON SUNDAY Harvey Nichols launched its first flagship store of the millennium. If I told you all the women in the room wore head-to-toe black, you wouldn't be at all surprised. Honey, it's a fashion party after all. You would, however, be shocked to learn that women were on the whole conspicuously absent from the gala zentai dinner for 1200 royals, millionaires and dignitaries. Welcome to Harvey Nichols Riyadh, 80,000sq ft of designer frocks in the heart of the new Sir Norman Foster -designed Al Faisaliah Centre.

Unlike the glitzy Saudi resort of Dubai, Riyadh is not a Gulf golf tourist- trap. This Middle Eastern city is a bastion of Islam where all Saudi women must wear the veil in public. A woman cannot be seen in public with any man bar her husband, and cannot drive a car. Fashion magazines are forbidden, as are adverts depicting the human body. Even shop mannequins with heads or hands are banned. Patsy and Edina would provoke a fatwah before they even left the airport.

So why should Knightsbridge's raciest designer department store choose to take the veil? "If I told you that Riyadh has 9,000 princesses, then you might begin to understand why Harvey Nichols belongs in Riyadh," says the company's buying director Sue Whiteley. "A woman must wear the abaia in public, but she will be wearing Western clothes beneath the veil. The princesses will entertain at all-female parties in their palaces. This is their party circuit. The level of sophistication and fashion knowledge is incredible. You'd imagine they'd be dripping in Chanel but the most popular label in Riyadh is Donna Karan."

It is no secret that Saudi princesses keep Paris couture alive. The most infamous Saudi fashionplate is Mouna Al-Ayoub, the Lebanese former wife of Saudi businessman Nasser Al-Rachid, who will routinely order 30 pieces of Paris couture per season. Riyadh, it seems has another 9,000 Mounas with comparable time and money at their disposal.

Harvey Nichols Riyadh slips effortlessly between Leeds little sister (50,000sq ft) and Knightsbridge big mama (150,000sq ft). In catsuit midtown Riyadh, the Al Faisaliah Centre stacks up Saudi's first skyscraper (276m high), a subterranean banqueting hall, 40,000sq m retail mall, a five-star hotel and a luxury apartment complex. Saks 5th Avenue is due to join within the year.

"Riyadh is an emerging market with no quality retail," says Harvey Nichols Group commercial director Patrick Hanley. "It also has a population of three and a half million whereas Dubai, maybe a more obvious choice, has under a million. As the home of the Saudi royal family, Riyadh also has a formal, extravagant court circular. No one will see these women in Western clothes apart from their husbands and other women at home. That doesn't mean they are not informed about Western taste levels. They are a very sophisticated, educated and well-travelled people."

When Sue Whiteley went on a research mission to Riyadh she found major stand -alone stores for Donna Karan, Christian Dior, and Dolce & Gabbana. "These are all closed shops," she says, "which means women must be veiled and accompanied by husbands. They are staffed by men, and the women don't try anything on. They were quite depressing spaces. They weren't addressing the taste levels or fashion knowledge of these women."

Harvey Nichols Riyadh is a combination of open and closed. Of the 80,000sq ft, 10,000 is set aside for personal shopping. This sanctuary is costume spiderman women only. The princesses can leave their drivers in the chauffeur's lounge and retreat to the privacy of the closed section to try on their clothes, experiment with make-up at one of 20 cosmetics stations. "There is very little for women to do in Riyadh," says Whiteley. "We want Harvey Nichols to be a destination for the ladies to come and spend the day, as women do in Knightsbridge."

Harvey Nichols say they want to bring the personality of Knightsbridge to Riyadh. But the two cultures are as different costume spiderman as Patsy Stone and the Singing Nun. Harvey Nichols is aiming to be the Jemima Khan of fashion retail, marrying Western Style with Islamic culture.

"I was amazed to see the young Saudi princes telling me they would like to see labels like Patrick Cox, Alexander McQueen, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Maharishi and Mandarina Duck. When men come of age they wear the long white thobe and headdress but they wear Western clothes when in Europe or the States. When wearing the thobe, Saudi men will accessorise with a fantastic Mont Blanc pen, Alfred Dunhill zentai or a superb Patek Philippe watch. The briefcase is an important status symbol, too. So the emphasis is on accessories rather than suiting."

For the princesses, Sue Whiteley has made sure her floor features major eveningwear designers like Randolph Duke (designer of Hilary Swank's knockout Oscar frock), Badgley Mischka, Vera Wang, Valentino and Amanda Wakeley. The demand and occasions to wear floor-length eveningwear in Riyadh is even greater than in Hollywood.

So the next time you see one of those haunting, black-clad Saudi ladies floating around Harvey Nichols Knightsbridge, don't let your Western prejudices move you to pity her. Beneath, these gals are probably wearing a smarter Donna Karan pant suit than you could dream of, their make-up will make yours look like it's been applied with a trowel and their jewellery will probably be worth more cash than you will see in a lifetime. Theirs is a life of private parties, haute couture and first-class travel. And they never have to do a day's work in their lives. Oh, and the sun always shines in Saudi.

'When I became a male escort at the age of 20, I did it for the money. Now, six years later, I'm addicted to the lifestyle. When you've been exposed to such wealth, and it still isn't yours, it can drive you mad.

'The idea of becoming an escort occurred to me after a female friend put an advert for her services in a local newspaper. I was so fascinated that I spider costume  watched her for six months to understand exactly what it entailed. When I saw how much money she was earning, I decided to try it myself. Although I had a full-time job as a bank clerk, which paid pounds 13,000 a year, I was always short of cash. I longed to be able to afford a bigger flat and expensive clothes. There was no way, of course, that I could ever tell my family or colleagues about it. I come from a middle-class Catholic background; if my parents found out they would hit the roof.

'So when I put an advert in my local paper, the Kensington and Chelsea Times, saying: "Fit, muscular 20-year-old, looking for ladies to entertain", it was a secret. At the time, I assumed that most women who booked me wouldn't want sex, just for me to accompany them to places, such as the theatre. I soon discovered that the belief that women never pay for sex is a myth. If a woman is spending that much money - and I was charging pounds 150 in those days - she wants more than just a dinner date.

'My first customer was a middle-aged lady from West London. When I arrived at her huge Victorian house, I was shaking with nerves. I'd been worried that I zentai wouldn't be able to perform, and my fears grew when she opened the door.

'I didn't find her at all attractive. She was severe-looking, in a long skirt and a blouse, with a "You're here to serve me" sort of attitude. Apparently, zentai she had a partner who was away a lot. I got the impression from her confident manner that this wasn't the first time she'd booked a male escort.

'We chatted, she poured us both a drink, and then she took me upstairs. It might surprise people to learn that, in my private life, I've never been highly-sexed. The fact that she was so appreciative of my efforts got me through it.

'When she paid me the pounds 150, I was amazed at how easy it had been. I'd obviously satisfied her because the following week she invited me back.

'But my advert didn't produce enough custom, so I joined an escort agency in Central London. As one of the only heterosexual males on their books, I've been kept very busy. During my time as an escort I've slept with about 500 women.

'Three of my clients are regulars. The eldest is a 62-year-old widow, the second is a married woman of 55, and the third a 48-year-old divorcee. They're all extremely wealthy, with homes in the Home Counties and the West Country.

'Each one believes that she is my only customer, a belief that I encourage for my own sake. After six years, there is an emotional attachment on both sides. They tell me they love me, and I'm fond of them, too.

'The minimum length of time I spend with any of my regulars is 12 hours, but this can stretch to a weekend or a fortnight away on holiday. I prefer this because if I feel tired or know that I'm going to have a problem getting aroused, I can suggest making love later in the day, or the next morning. When a client books me for just an hour, I wear tight T-shirts and clothes I know will turn her on quickly.

'On average I have sex about five times a week, with regulars and one- off clients. I've been to Grenada, Jamaica, ski resorts, and hotels, spider costume such as the Paris Ritz. I also dine at the most exclusive restaurants, which I love, although I often have to accompany clients to the theatre too, which I loathe.

'I see each of my regulars about once every ten days. One of them pays me after each visit - I now charge pounds 250 per hour - the other two pay pounds 1,500 and pounds 2,000 into my bank account each month. All my regulars are generous. As well as my salary, they buy me expensive presents, such as and Versace clothes, Louis Vuitton luggage, and a Cartier watch and zentai. Only yesterday one of them had a watch sent to my home.

'Last year, after working as an escort for five years, I resigned from my job at the bank because I was making so much money. Since I began, I've made about pounds 250,000. The most I've earned was pounds 8,000 in one week from a very generous client. I've saved a few thousand, but I still rent my flat in Central London. With my savings I've set up an IT recruitment agency, which I'd eventually like to concentrate on.

'None of these ladies' friends or family know that I'm a hired lover. When I go yachting with one of them, for example, she tells everyone I'm part of the crew. Another tells her friends I'm a distant relative. But some situations can be awkward. On holiday once I was asked through a microphone at a hotel if I was with my mother. I was so embarrassed, I just said "yes".

'One lady, who has since become a dear friend, hired me to help her lose her virginity at the age of 26. She's a Muslim from Saudi Arabia, and although she had been married, her husband had never wanted to make love to her. After her divorce, a worldly wise friend suggested that she book an escort.

'She and her friend arrived on the plane in their yashmaks, but as soon as they reached their hotel, they changed into Western clothes. Then they came to the agency, looked at photographs and picked me. It was a liberating experience for her, not a sordid one.

'Other clients have included two beautiful bisexual girls who wanted me to join them. They were very skilled in bed, which was daunting. I had to summon up all my expertise to please them. I prefer it when women are less experienced, because then I can really shine.

'By far the most common request is from wealthy men who want to watch their girlfriends or wives making love to another man. At first, I was zentai bodysuit confused by this scenario. I thought the husband would get jealous and angry, or in cases where there is a female escort present too, that the wife would object. But these couples tend to be seasoned voyeurs, and it's often the wife who has booked me. At first I thought it was weird, but I don't mind doing it.

Truth be told, there are few smoke-filled rooms in Washington these days. The city council is set to tighten its smoking ban, zentai and Big Tobacco simply doesn't loom as large as it once did. But the public view of billion-dollar deals in dark corners and arm-twisting behind closed doors is about to get a Hollywood endorsement with the Mar. 17 premiere of Thank You for Smoking, a gleeful lampoon of the Beltway's culture of spin.

Thank You's three amigos work for the alcohol, tobacco, and firearms industries and call their lunch bunch the M.O.D. Squad, for ``Merchants of Death.'' The central character, menthol-smooth tobacco spokesman Nick Naylor, played by Aaron Eckhart, sets the scene with a simple observation: ``This profession requires a moral flexibility that goes beyond most people.''

The real-life M.O.D. Squad doesn't have weekly lunches. But BusinessWeek assembled just such a group on Mar. 7 to ask: Do Sin Industry lobbyists lose sleep at night? First, the lobbyists -- who prowl Gulch and spin the press and the Hill on tobacco, guns, and booze -- screened the film. (One liquor lobbyist declined our invitation, fearing that his industry would be tarred by associating with...tobacco.) Then they dined at Washington power restaurant The Palm with Christopher Buckley, author of the 1994 book that inspired the movie. There, they reflected on their careers.

The collective theme: It's hard out here for a lobbyist.

The uproar over the illegal dealings of Washington influence peddler Jack Abramoff has drawn global attention to an industry that would rather duck and cover. Congress is contemplating new curbs on lobbying, and K Street is under assault as never before. ``We've all been blamed for everything from smallpox to world hunger, so we're used to being attacked unfairly,'' says Chris W. Cox, chief lobbyist for the National Rifle Assn., who sports zentai emblazoned with the seal of his favorite government agency: The Bureau of Alcohol, catsuits Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

At dinner, everyone imbibes, but no one lights up, and no one admits to packing heat. These Gulchers don't wear shoes -- the fine Italian leather can't hold up to long hours walking the corridors of power. And Rolexes? A digital Timex does the job.

Over steak and cabernet, BusinessWeek's M.O.D. Squad pleads its case. Like Nick Naylor, the lobbyists say they're just earning a paycheck, defending legal products and the rights of Americans who smoke, drink, and own guns. Sure, they get confronted at cocktail parties, but ``when you defend a civil right that's in the Constitution, it's a pretty easy argument,'' Cox says.

And as you might expect from paid professionals, they know how to spin. Thomas H. Quinn, a partner at the law firm Venable LLP, costume spiderman whose long list of clients includes UST Public Affairs, an arm of the maker of Skoal and Copenhagen smokeless tobacco, makes a full frontal assault. No apologies here. ``Lobbyist is the most noble profession,'' he says. ``It used to be clergy and schoolteachers. But the highest calling is a lobbyist. The only business to protect the little man against the oppressive government is a lobbyist.''

Hollywood has a less flattering view, of course. Tinseltown's version of a lobbyist ``sits astride a set of moral ambiguities and rides them like a water bug,'' says author Buckley. (Other Washingtonians in the film fare no better: Neither Katie Holmes, as a seductive reporter, nor William H. Macy, as an opportunistic senator, sets a high moral standard.) But his fellow diners don't see any hypocrisy in their work. ``We wouldn't say it if we didn't believe it,'' says Drew Maloney, who has represented the trifecta of pariah products -- guns, booze, and tobacco -- over the years.

At the end of the day, lobbying isn't all about wrapping your product in apple pie, God, and the flag. It's long hours, political maneuvering, and never forgetting the basic rules. First, ``Never talk when a tape recorder is on,'' Quinn says into the tape recorder. ``Never write anything down. Never talk on the telephone if you can talk face-to-face. And never talk if you can wink.''

Unlike Naylor, who in the movie takes a star turn before a Senate committee, real-life lobbyists work hard to avoid becoming public costume zentai faces. When Congress calls, Big Tobacco, Alcohol, or Guns will send an industry executive, not a hired gun. But anyone who testifies must be coached in the cardinal rule, and that's where people like Quinn come in. ``Never blurt out the truth,'' he tells clients. ``Stick to the script. When you blurt out the truth, that's what gets everybody in trouble.''

Away from the witness table, lobbyists are relentlessly opportunistic. During the 2004 Presidential campaign, Senator John Kerry's handlers may have thought putting their candidate on TV with a shotgun and hunting gear would show voters that the candidate was a red-blooded American. The NRA immediately smelled blood -- and a way to push its agenda and favored candidate, President George W. Bush. Within 30 minutes of Kerry's foray into a goose pit in Ohio, Cox was on a plane to the state, where he held a press conference blasting the senator for posing with a shotgun that would have been banned by legislation the lawmaker had supported in Congress.

Today, Kerry is back to being just another Democrat from Massachusetts. And the NRA? ``Our approval ratings are higher than the President, the Democratic Party, and the Republican Party,'' Cox says.

``Higher than the President and the Vice-President combined!'' quips Quinn, a lifelong Democrat.

Washington's population of lobbyists has doubled since 2000, an acknowledgement by Big Business of the ever-increasing spider costume power of Big Government, even in GOP hands. ``I think it was [FedEx Corp. CEO] Fred Smith who said, 'I never worry about my competition putting me out of business, but I'll always worry about those bastards in Washington putting me out of business,''' says Cox.

The head count for the Sin Industries, according to researchers at lobbyists.info: More than 60 button-holers, on staff with gun groups and companies as well as lobby firms, for firearms; almost 200 for beer, wine, and liquor; and 170-plus for tobacco. (The Tobacco Institute, which served as the model for Thank You's fictional Academy of Tobacco Studies, was forced to close up shop in the 1998 settlement of smoking lawsuits brought by the states.)

Buckley's book, and the movie made from it, skewers exactly these types of Washington players. But he nonetheless sees the romance of it. ``These guys get to have more fun than most other lobbyists,'' he says. ``Who would you rather hang out with -- the people from the cancer society, or these guys?''

Sure they're fun. But do they ever stop spinning? Even after four bottles of wine, the message is still exquisitely controlled. ``catsuit Off the record, we'll have a really good conversation,'' says Quinn, pointing to a rolling tape recorder. ``If this machine wasn't working I could really tell you something.''

Stop me if you've heard this one. "If you're going to wear black tie then follow Brosnan as Bond in Brioni. Keep it simple, minimal and with catsuit zero personal detail." Please! Anyone would think the rules of formal menswear were written as an appendix to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Tuxedos didn't even exist until the early 20th century. "It was a dinner jacket evening - not tails, because they would only be three," wrote EM Forster in Maurice in 1914. Forster adds, "Though he had respected such niceties for years Maurice found them suddenly ridiculous." Quite.

'Tis the season of awards ceremonies and Hollywood's finest are having some fun with the traditional tux. A-listers like Leonardo were understandably tetchy being upstaged by the ubiquitous starlet in a Vera Wang meringue. So the guys got creative. Matt Damon and Rupert Everett put a spin on the tux at the Golden Globes by replacing the camp dickie with a black satin tie. The glimmer of black satin on lapel and buttons looks sharp. Damon's tie looked chic as it peeped from a high-button single-breasted tux.

Antonio Banderas ditched the tie in favour of a black satin band tied by the top diamond collar stud: very dashing with his Caesar- cut fringe.

For Spring/Summer 2000, 's ad campaign is a tableau of black-clad vamps surrounded by classic tuxedo-clad boys with shaggy Gallagher hair. A bit of rough with the smooth works. Sadly, went a tad too far for Autumn/Winter 2000. In what can only be described as a Keith Haring technique, Tom Ford reinvented the black tux in graphic black and white graffiti print. His bow ties are floppy, overblown velvet that even Oscar Wilde might consider too effete. Leave the tuxedo alone. Ditto the dress shirt. Play with shirt studs, zentai and the black patent leather pimp loafer. But the dickie bow is dead. Go figure.

In the current BOSS Black collection, formal, dressed-up style interacts with informal sportswear influences. Casual looks meet ultimate elegance. It is zentai a clean aesthetic, with body-conscious cuts, subtle detailing and a unique lightness. A range of accessories complements the Spring/Summer collection including elegant lace-up shoes in stone-gray patent leather, and a goatskin weekender with a vintage patina. For the city safari, there are canvas reporter and messenger bags in canvas with leather trim. Boss Black is located at Greenbelt 4 and Shangri-La Plaza Mall.

Named Poacher, the new Dunhill leather range for Spring/Summer 2008 accessories imagines the roguish, maverick gentleman who marries mischief with charm and adventure. The collection, which comes in chocolate brown, is fabricated in buffalo skin. The collection consists of six luggage pieces: two North South bags (one small, one large); a dispatch bag; a document bag; the unusual double gusset messenger bag and the weekend bag. In addition, there are smaller Poacher pieces: a miniature saddle bag coin purse and a dual purpose billfold wallet and coin purse, both of which are equipped with a clip to attach it to any of its larger Poacher cousins. Dunhill is available at Rustan's Makati.

men take on a rebellious streak for the Cruise 2008 collection by breaking free of resort tradition. The collection merges a young and unconventional mood with refined elegance in construction and materials. shoes, bags and accessories are available at the boutique located in Greenbelt 4.

Salvatore Ferragamo's men's accessories for the summer of 2008 include Sand-toned day scarves in silk and linen blends, edging on the colorless. Tuxedo costume zentai belts and bow ties flaunt luxe de grande soiree, with other elegant touches in daywear, such as pearl, mosaic and enameled metal zentai suit. Intricate patterns and jacquard for ties in refreshing colors; sunglasses and watches in pink gold. Salvatore Ferragamo has branches at Power Plant Mall, Greenbelt 4, Rustan's Tower, Rustan's Makati and Rustan's Ayala Cebu.

Stop me if you've heard this one. "If you're going to wear black tie then follow Brosnan as Bond in Brioni. Keep it simple, minimal and with catsuit zero personal detail." Please! Anyone would think the rules of formal menswear were written as an appendix to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Tuxedos didn't even exist until the early 20th century. "It was a dinner jacket evening - not tails, because they would only be three," wrote EM Forster in Maurice in 1914. Forster adds, "Though he had respected such niceties for years Maurice found them suddenly ridiculous." Quite.

'Tis the season of awards ceremonies and Hollywood's finest are having some fun with the traditional tux. A-listers like Leonardo were understandably tetchy being upstaged by the ubiquitous starlet in a Vera Wang meringue. So the guys got creative. Matt Damon and Rupert Everett put a spin on the tux at the Golden Globes by replacing the camp dickie with a black satin tie. The glimmer of black satin on lapel and buttons looks sharp. Damon's tie looked chic as it peeped from a high-button single-breasted tux.

Antonio Banderas ditched the tie in favour of a black satin band tied by the top diamond collar stud: very dashing with his Caesar- cut fringe.

For Spring/Summer 2000, 's ad campaign is a tableau of black-clad vamps surrounded by classic tuxedo-clad boys with shaggy Gallagher hair. A bit of rough with the smooth works. Sadly, went a tad too far for Autumn/Winter 2000. In what can only be described as a Keith Haring technique, Tom Ford reinvented the black tux in graphic black and white graffiti print. His bow ties are floppy, overblown velvet that even Oscar Wilde might consider too effete. Leave the tuxedo alone. Ditto the dress shirt. Play with shirt studs, zentai and the black patent leather pimp loafer. But the dickie bow is dead. Go figure.

In the current BOSS Black collection, formal, dressed-up style interacts with informal sportswear influences. Casual looks meet ultimate elegance. It is zentai a clean aesthetic, with body-conscious cuts, subtle detailing and a unique lightness. A range of accessories complements the Spring/Summer collection including elegant lace-up shoes in stone-gray patent leather, and a goatskin weekender with a vintage patina. For the city safari, there are canvas reporter and messenger bags in canvas with leather trim. Boss Black is located at Greenbelt 4 and Shangri-La Plaza Mall.

Named Poacher, the new Dunhill leather range for Spring/Summer 2008 accessories imagines the roguish, maverick gentleman who marries mischief with charm and adventure. The collection, which comes in chocolate brown, is fabricated in buffalo skin. The collection consists of six luggage pieces: two North South bags (one small, one large); a dispatch bag; a document bag; the unusual double gusset messenger bag and the weekend bag. In addition, there are smaller Poacher pieces: a miniature saddle bag coin purse and a dual purpose billfold wallet and coin purse, both of which are equipped with a clip to attach it to any of its larger Poacher cousins. Dunhill is available at Rustan's Makati.

men take on a rebellious streak for the Cruise 2008 collection by breaking free of resort tradition. The collection merges a young and unconventional mood with refined elegance in construction and materials. shoes, bags and accessories are available at the boutique located in Greenbelt 4.

Salvatore Ferragamo's men's accessories for the summer of 2008 include Sand-toned day scarves in silk and linen blends, edging on the colorless. Tuxedo costume zentai belts and bow ties flaunt luxe de grande soiree, with other elegant touches in daywear, such as pearl, mosaic and enameled metal zentai suit. Intricate patterns and jacquard for ties in refreshing colors; sunglasses and watches in pink gold. Salvatore Ferragamo has branches at Power Plant Mall, Greenbelt 4, Rustan's Tower, Rustan's Makati and Rustan's Ayala Cebu.

When it comes to gift-giving, men typically are harder to buy for than women. While jewelry is the number one gift costume zentai wanted by women this year, according to a national survey commissioned by Zales Jewelers, the largest fine jewelry specialty retailer in the United States, men also like to receive jewelry.

According to the survey, the jewelry item most wanted by men, hands down, is a watch. The most popular watches this year are trending toward stainless steel, although men, like women, like to have more than one watch to wear for casual and formal occasions. Fortunately, there are more styles and selections available than ever before, giving people a great way to match their gift with the recipient's taste and personality.

Zales carries an extensive line of watches for men (some exclusive) by popular makers like Movado, , Seiko and Swiss Army, providing customers with a great variety from which to choose the perfect holiday gift. While females are more likely to buy jewelry for themselves, males are more likely to buy jewelry for someone else, giving shoppers the perfect opportunity to give that special man something he wants, but wouldn't buy for himself.

One of the most popular watches for men this year is the sleek, stainless steel Movado watch with a black face for $450. Other items on the "most wanted" list for men this holiday season are the 14K gold heavy link chains like the Figaro-design necklace and bracelet set for $399. Men's rings are also a favorite and start as low as $99. One of the hottest sellers for the holidays is a 14K white and yellow gold men's diamond ring for $399, proving that diamonds are more than just a "girl's best friend."

"Watches have always been one of the most popular gifts for men," said Beryl Raff, executive vice president and chief operating officer for the Zale Corporation . "But in addition to watches, there are several other jewelry items that are popular with men such as gold chains and bracelets, rings and zentai which are available in just about any price range. According to our survey, men also like to be surprised with a gift of jewelry, not only during the holidays, but for other special occasions as well."

Known as "Zales, The Diamond Store(R)," Zales Jewelers operates approximately 660 stores located throughout the United States. costume spiderman Zales Jewelers, one of the best-known names in fine jewelry retailing, is a division of Zale Corporation. For more information, or to place an order from a Zales catalogue, call 1-800-311-JEWEL or visit Zales on the World Wide Web at www.zentaistore.co.uk.

JUST inside the entrance of Mayfair's flagship store Robert Polet whispers: "This is what it's all about. You look at the shopping bags people are bringing in and see where they've been. Look, this lady has come from Hermès and that guy from Abercrombie & Fitch... I love doing this.''

The Group chief executive, 53, gets paid for loitering around like this and doesn't need carrier bags to identify some customers.

"That lady already has a clutch,'' he continues, excitedly. "She's come back for more. I also love looking at how people come into the shops. Did they mean to come or are we attracting them in?

"I once saw a woman walk straight over to the counter, point at a bag and say she wanted it there and then. She didn't even zentai ask the price. 'I need that bag,' she said. That's what we want. We want people to need what we do.''

THIS IS a world without price tags. With a bit of application, you could probably do as much damage trawling the top shops spandex zentai at Crown as inside the casino. The only difference is you could gain a shirt (rather than lose one) in the process.

Start from Whiteman Street and the first thing to catch your eye could well be the Gianfranco Ferre window boxes with their gorgeous gowns and sexy suits, and just a tasteful sprinkle of sawdust on the shoulder or nestled in the folds of a skirt. So tasteful that you think it could well be some sort of post-modern window-dressing fad were it not for the stray screws at the foot of the (priceless) sheer chiffon thingy printed with tropical fleurs. Clearly this is a work in progress.

Still, it's reassuring to see there's not a shit shoe in sight here. And the tres expensive luggage sitting atop cylinders of cyclone fence speaks volumes of the versatility of a Ferre bag.

Louis Vuitton, meanwhile, is divine, bien sur! Blond wood and impeccable Japanese sales staff, who proved themselves dab hands with some ribbon and a bit of crepe paper when it came to gift- wrapping a petit travel journal pour moi (at $56 the cheapest thing in the shop). Melbourne's favorite new malletier (that's trunkmaker, dear) a Paris also offers fabulously gauche belts in electric primaries for an equally electrifying $380.

Next door is Salvatore Ferragamo, shoe stylist to the stars. Sadly for Sal, his shop's about the size of a shoebox and just as comfy. Didn't dare ask the price of the footwear within, but found Alice bands for $70 and a very reasonably priced belt ($260).

Next door again is Tiffany and Co. The name is enough to engender serious shopping cramp in the most hardy, so it's no surprise that costume zentai your correspondent baulked at entering the shrine itself. With greasy nose pressed to glass, however, it was possible to make out a nifty line in porcelain whatnots, and a couple of necklaces that (by the looks of them) were once chandeliers.

Breathless and giddy after such a peek at prosperity, oneself retired briefly to the Crown atrium and got lost (figuratively speaking) in the sensational sound-and-light show within. The Four Seasons - featuring water, smoke, lights, lasers, music and (still more) chandeliers - has a mesmerising quality, such that the crowd witnessing it is gobsmacked. For the children this display is proof that magic is real. Wizards and fairies must have created it. The sad thing is that Daimaru's musical clock isn't a patch on this extravaganza. Let's face it - a couple of cockies and some dinky mechanics are no match for Crown's sensual wonderland. And the Daimaru clock only does it on the hour.

The other sad thing is that there wasn't a Myer bag in sight among the hordes tramping the concrete at Crown. Remember when our enjoyment of life used to be measured according to how many black-and-white Myer bags you could haul back home after a day on the town? Could it be that just one small, glossy white number from Versace now brings eternal happiness?

Versace, by the way, does have price tags. Only they're tucked under mannequins' armpits to curb footpath fainting. Gianni's shop zentai was by far the busiest. Two floors of sartorial splendor and the designer's logo - Medusa's head - set in tiles on the lower level.

Further down the promenade, in Giorgio Armani, a breathtaking parade was in progress. Burly tradesmen-types sashaying across the floor in beautifully cut overalls with muscle T-shirts underneath and heavy, artisan-turned boots. The look was strong, casual but functional, reeking of machismo. Is this the new look for Melbourne men this spring? Sadly, no. It was, in fact, craftsmen in overalls, muscle Ts and boots fitting out the shop ahead of its opening this weekend.

Armani Exchange had similar last-minute construction in progress, as did Bvlgari. And Prada won't be open until zentai September. Che peccato!

, thankfully, is trading. Trading so well that staff had to lock the doors on Saturday to stem the crowds. "It was like a party," says the store's Gallic assistant manager, Toi. The decor, chrome and glass, is one of the first of the new stores worldwide. Toi calls it, rather poetically, "a new display for the new millennium".

"Our image is to be very minimalist," she says, but minimalism does not extend to price tags (of which there are few). The cheapest item in store is zentai or a tieclip at $65; the most expensive is a diamond and 18-carat gold watch (with crystal face) at $27,000. A dear little watch. Sorry, that should read timepiece.

Down the stairs and Guess looks like your average jeans store. Bruce Oldfield's store is very Bond Street frock shop. You won't get out of here for less than $90 (for a T-shirt, only in black or white). Top of the range is a red sequinned evening gown for five big ones.

But you'll need something for your hair. So it's lucky Alexandre de Paris is across the way, selling "grooming accessories" ranging from diamante-studded hairpins at $13.95 to diamante-studded barrettes for $450. The difference is in the price tag, obviously.

Club 21 features hot European labels such as Dries van Noten, Iceberg (which does fruity little T-shirts at $275) and Commes des Garcon (whose T-shirts are slightly cheaper).

Across the way, Evelyn Miles's designer collection houses shoes to make you shiver. In the exclusive Walter Steiger salon out spider costume the back, sales staff admit to actually hiding price tags on the shoe. Look hard, however, and you'll see that those zebra-print boots are $1298, and the silver, bauble-encrusted evening shoes are just a toenail under $800.

Oh, oh, oh - time is running out. DKNY, quickly. A blinding flash of white against which $2500 leather jackets recline with attitude. If you must, must have DKNY something, splash out on the leather-look umbrellas in shocking fluoros ($165). Donna Karan upstairs has frocks for four figures.

Back upstairs to Faberge, where the only egg on display is a $1.7 million 1914 Noble Ice number from Russia. Maybe go for a tie instead - pure Italian silk, limited edition, 135 bucks.

Lowana Lowana has designer perfumes and cosmetics at the usual prices; Sharper Image has model Porsche 911 Carreras for $50, Mambo does kooky surfwear with style, La Perla has lacy bodices for $575, and Warner Bros has a range of cartoon stuff such as Marvin the Martian rocket clocks at $40 or Tweetie Bird scrunchies for $4.95. Shopping baskets are available.

And if, perchance, you do happen to lose your shirt at the casino, you can always buy a new one at the Crown shop. T-shirts there are $20.

* In Giorgio Armani, a breathtaking parade was in progress. Burly tradesmen-types sashaying across the floor in beautifully cut overalls costume spiderman with muscle T-shirts underneath and heavy, artisan-turned boots. The look was strong, casual but functional, reeking of machismo. Is this the new look for Melbourne men this spring? Sadly, no. It was, in fact, craftsmen in overalls, muscle Ts and boots fitting out the shop ahead of its opening this weekend.

It may be a man's world, says SIMON CHILVERS, but this autumn men's bespoke suits are also looking costume spiderman good on the ladies

ETERNITY and fashion are not easy bedfellows but this autumn women and men alike are looking at the world from a new angle and putting their trust in the specialists by choosing a suit for life.

There are varying degrees of bespoke and although 007 would never make do with anything less than 100 per cent bespoke, the six fittings it involves over six months, will not always suit the lifestyles of modern James Bonds.

This winter men and women can choose from traditional Savile Row or more modern Off-Row offerings.

And since fashion's current reigning champions, Alexander McQueen and Tom Ford for , are both fans of suits and have both set up bespoke and made-tomeasure services, stuffy Savile Row need not be the first stop.

Designer made-to-measure suits are not Secret Service approved.

Though McQueen has the right credentials, after putting in his time as an apprentice at Anderson & Shepherd, he is not considered authentic. He is, after all, known as the bad boy who leapt from an apprenticeship to Central Saint Martin's School of Design to Givenchy and then , after they bought a share of his label. His catsuits bespoke service has been set up in association with a London tailors, H Huntsman & Sons, and represents a new departure for his brand. The 12-piece collection "is an important move for my menswear and a direction I have wanted to go in for a long time, " he says.

The result combines the classic Huntsman cut - H Huntsman & Sons has a clutch of Royal Warrants - with his own signature tailoring (nipped waists and wide lapels). And four to six fittings over a period of five to six months will get you GBP 3,000 to GBP 5,000 worth of suit for men or women (tel: 001212 645 1797).

Time waits for no one and Tom Ford at knows the meaning of the word busy. (As well as he also designs the Yves Saint Laurent label). The American designer has come up with a distinctly less British alternative for the man whose time is money or who can't quite afford bespoke.

offers a five to six week made-to-measure service for men only (from GBP 890). And from December, women can order a handbag in various colours and leathers (020 7235 6707).

Another new trend On-Row is bespoke-meets-boutique. The owner of Spencer Hart (020 7434 0000), Nick Hart, once worked for Kenzo, as well as Chester Barrie and Timothy Everest. His suits start at GBP 1,400 and the shopping experience includes the screening of Bond movies in a gentlemen's club environment where women are welcome.

ANOTHER dandy tailor Off-Row is Mark Powell (020 7287 5498). Punters who have his undivided attention include Naomi Campbell and zentai Bianca Jagger. Mark feels his appeal is simple: "I work closely with them like any other client. I think they appreciate that". Suits start at GBP 1,500, although Powell also has a ready-to-wear collection.

Located not far from Bond Street but belonging to a different breed is Steven Hitchcock (020 7287 2492).

Like McQueen, he started at 16 working under his father at Anderson & Shepherd but he is not a fan of the new-fangled and is saddened by the way people see suits on David Beckham and buy without doing any research.

"People just go to big companies because it's easy, " he explains.

Steven has revived a traditional technique to give his suits a modern edge. He uses soft-tailoring zentai with hand-sewn sleeves, so the suit hangs naturally on the body. His suits start at GBP 1,600.

He's right to be sad. Shopping for suits used to have a gravitas similar to buying a house. Modern shopping is all about retail therapy and by its very nature we demand an instant hit. Where once a new suit would symbolise a new life phase - first job, new wife - it's now about getting a weekend hit.

Today the language of suits has become a bit foreign to us and we are not always so sure what we want. Brighton-based Gresham Blake (01273 609 587) understands all about this. "My clients know what they want but you just have to rummage around in their minds to get it out of them, " he says.

His suits cost as little as GBP 650 and he thrives on client diversity, which allows him to experiment with fabrics, shapes and styles. He works with Norman Cook and Zoe Ball one minute and transvestites the next. "I recently designed a suit for this local guy. He likes to wear it with trousers to the office and with a mini-skirt on the way home!"

At weddings too, it's not just men wearing the trousers. Ever since Bianca Jagger wore an Ossie Clark trouser suit for spider costume her wedding to Mick, the term "heavenly-suited" has applied to women, too. The market for bespoke wedding outfits is booming. Gresham Blake does at least two wedding suits each week and 70 per cent of Mark Powell suits are also for weddings.

Nick Tentis (020 7837 0090) is another flexible tailor who offers more than strictly bespoke. He has just launched a new collection, which allows customers to choose from a selection of styles, have a single fitting, then pick up their garments. The service costs GBP 1,000. He also offers a range of accessories so you won't spoil the effect with a pair of bad zentai.

Details maketh a man and a woman - and accessories are often the best way to begin with bespoke before you graduate to suits. It's also much cheaper. For bags and purses, try Mimi Berry (020 7729 6699), who encourages clients to bring in their shoes for colour matching (from GBP 35).

Another bag lady is Susse Andersen (020 7249 9094) who designs all her own fabrics and produces a collection sold through department spandex zentai stores and boutiques, as well as a bespoke range (from GBP 30).