Vegas - The Report From The Field

How to survive a week of work in Las Vegas?
Skip the fancy restaurants, opt for sushi instead. Drink light beer instead of wine. Be back in your room before 11:00 with a book by Christopher Reich. Sleep well and wake up with a view of the sun on the distant hills.
As if the Antique and Estate Jewelry show isn't tiring enough...today I am off to the JCK show, which is the mother of all jewelry trade shows with everything from actual gemstones and finished jewelry to packaging, software and literally anything else you would need to be in the business... at any level.
I like to go and visit the Italian jewelers, because they always have innovative designs and high quality manufacturing...and they are really good looking and serve red wine.

My Friday suggestions for you...check out the Wall Street Journal for the article 'Does the Internet Make You Smarter or Dumber". Yes, we all need to know the answer to this. And, absolutely don't miss reading the article by Scott Adams, the creator of "Dilbert" on "Betting on the Bad Guys" or why you should invest in the companies that you hate the most.

Happy Friday

Vegas - The Report From The Field

Lesson for working at a trade show....bring your own food!
Yesterday, while I was standing in line to buy two small bottles of water, $4 each, the lady in line in front of me was charged $40 for a pre-made, pre-packaged salad, sandwich and cup of coffee. We are talking mediocre food here at its best, not a slice of foie gras on brioche. It's one thing to make a reasonable profit, it is another thing to totally rip people off when they are isolated in a convention facility.


And...while I'm on the topic of pricey food, why does the Maine lobster pot pie at Michael Mina's restaurant at the Bellagio have to cost $78? The lobster alone can't cost more than $20 so what accounts for the other $58 dollars in the price? And considering that Michael Mina is considered to be one of the best chefs in the US, why was the green pea soup that was served as an appetizer, the same base sauce used it the Alaskan halibut entree? I can certainly understand economies of scale in the use of ingredients at any basic restaurant, but this kind of blatant lack of originality at Michael Mina was not OK.


But enough of my rant...I suggest that you go over to Dave Tom's blog Savoir Faire and read the fab post on Helena Rubinstein and her jewelry collection. If anyone knows a current day Helena Rubinstein who buys ruby beads like you and I buy a coffee at Starbucks...please introduce me. I need a client like her.

Vegas - The Report From The Field

There is no reception for my iPhone at the jewelry show at the MGM Grand.
And...at the show the charge for wireless for my laptop is $100....obviously I'm not connected.
That hotel is a zoo.


Now, after standing on my feet all day long, I get to sit down for a cocktail and a yummy dinner at Michael Mina...it kind of makes all the hassle of the haggling worth it.

Off To Las Vegas

I'm off again to Las Vegas for the Antique and Estate Jewelry Show. There will be a little selling and hopefully a lot of buying and maybe even some relaxing, though probably not. Posting will be officially on hold, although I will read all of your blogs.

In the meantime, there is a little private friends and family sale going on you know where and you also know where with a 15% discount. Just use the discount code: MEMORIAL

Carrie's SATC Clothes: Don't Try This At Home

I wonder, is Patricia Field's fashion influence, from film to real life,
my problem with SATC?
Liz Jones in the Daily Mail explains it all
Those clothes are criminal! Ridiculous hats and frilly tutus - Why Sex and the City's Carrie is wanted by the fashion police
Thanks to Sex And The City, women no longer dress as men at work, but instead wear colourful, girlie prints. The character Carrie Bradshaw was a woman who dressed to please herself, not to make her attractive to men.
Patricia Field, the Oscar-nominated costume designer, gave us vintage, utility and eccentric layering. She brought back the full skirt, the prom dress, the eighties (even the batwing, cropped sweatshirt) and stilettos.

But the problems started when we began to take literally what a fictional character wore to make a point, drive a scene or promote a belly laugh. We began to buy £400 pairs of shoes and £800 handbags with no thought of wardrobe space or our credit rating. Very few of us can walk in those shoes. Carrie looked effortless in bondage shoe boots, corsets, black net and gold lame, while the rest of us ended up resembling over-the-hill hookers.

Go ahead and read the rest of the article which gives us the take down on translating the Carrie Bradshaw signature look to real life with everything from over the knee socks to tutus to arm warmers to fascinators.

TUTUS Carrie wore a tutu in the opening credits of the TV show, and it reappeared in the first film when she packs up her wardrobe. It is very Eighties, and works on Carrie given her ballerina body, but wearing one I felt like one of those Disney ice-skating hippos.

What works for a film character with the frame of a 10 year old, is most likely not going to work for the rest of us.