I have not, but have heard mixed reviews about him.

I heard nothing but good things about Bijan on Rodeo - and sometime a few years ago I walked in inquiring about the price of one of their suits.
The kind gentlemen politely said "To get you into one of these, we start at no less than $15,000, but most of our clientele will spend on average of $50,000 per suit."

I didn't flinch, even though it was far too rich for my blood. I said "That's wonderful. And just how much is this bottle of perfume?"

He looked at me and asked me to sample some of it. It smelled pretty good, but nothing extraordinary. He said "$3,000 for the bottle."

Lately, I've seen this incredible looking yellow Bugatti Veyron parked outside of his store. I need to snatch a photo of it to share with you guys. Although he passed away earlier this year, I am sure his son is enjoying driving it.

As I normally do when I have a moment, I spent a few hours shopping on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. This time, I tried my best to capture the overt displays of wealth by the many BH patrons, by trying to take a picture of the cars that roam around the streets. Unfortunately, they move far to quickly for my slow BlackBerry camera, but I did my best to get what I could.



The newest Rolls Royce Ghost and a Ferrari 458 Italia parked outside of Club Monaco.



An Aston Martin DB9 Coupe in front of Miu Miu.



Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe

The Mercedes and BMW's are just kids cars, including my own E500 AMG.



Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster (my next car)

For all the Aston Martin's and Rolls in these pictures, I missed some beautiful R8's, Bentley's, Murcielago's and a Carrera GT. I simply wasn't fast enough to grab a photo.



And of course to keep the forum admins happy, here's some on-topic pics.





Two of these will be gifts, but I haven't decided which ones. I'm leaning towards keeping the one to the left.




Anyways, since I'm here in the states, and I love to share (not just photos), if you guys need me to help acquire or ship some fine luxury goods to add to your collection, let me know and I'll do my best to accommodate.

i took the one to the left and gave the other two away.

the one in the middle looks like any other belt.

the other two have the ganccini and double ganccini logo, which is a signature mark for Ferragamo. I chose the single ganccini, which is similar to the one worn by Shia Lebouf (I think) in the movie Wall Street.

the brown colour is what is exactly what i needed to match up with my watches and shoes.

thanks for the feedback!

club monaco in BH is actually pretty decent. they curate a different selection of clothes that are definitely more upscale, although they are still reasonably priced and compete with brands like J. Crew, Banana Republic, A|X, etc.

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Added on July 1, 2011, 3:53 pm

I picked up a pair of these earlier this week on a rush, but after closer inspection .... extremely disappointed.

Not even 10 years ago, this brand was making some very good high quality stuff. Now it's just another fashion label, with low quality overpriced goods.

The stitching is terrible, the calf grain is barely acceptable grade, and the moulds used for the sole are a joke.

They look okay, and are reasonably comfortable, and still have a strong name. Sometimes the "flashier" side of me makes the "reasonable, quality-appreciating" side of me upset.



This post has been edited by CHiNO730: Jul 1 2011, 03:53 PM

i am not certain actually. these brass ones comes with the shirts from Charles Tyrwhitt, and I usually order a few extras.
keep in mind that collar sizes vary depending on the shirt made. not just varying difference between point or spread collars, but even amongst the same collar type w/just diff shirt brands.
so you'd have to buy a few different sizes of stiffners to get the best fit for your shirts.

these brass ones are great, because they are incredibly stiff and durable. no worries about your plastic ones bending out of shape during frequent wear, and if you prefer the collar pinned down to your neck, you can bend the metal stiffners and they will stay that way permanently.

there are, of course, other brands besides FP out there gentlemen.

nice. well said.

No real alternative, huh?

I wear Lacoste's all day long and used to have a collection of RL's. No FP's though.

René Lacoste started wearing simple piqué-cotton shirts during his matches at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open back in the 1920's. He had gotten the idea from Anglo-Indian army polo players who under brutal heat, wore uniforms that included light, open-knit shirts. These shirts had minute holes to let air circulate and let sweat exit and evaporate. During this time, the traditional sportsmen were still wearing flannel and oxford shirts.

Lacoste paired up with French weavers Deschamps to produce the first-ever commercial polo shirt in 1933.

Fred Perry's shirts were in fact not even his own idea, but that of Tibby Wegner, who started producing polos under Fred Perry much later in 1952 after seeing the success of René Lacoste.

So Lacoste is not just the reason why your FP polos exist today, but why all modern polos are still a staple of menswear.



This post has been edited by CHiNO730: Jul 12 2011, 05:18 PM

kotmj, while I respect your wisdom and opinion, you aversion to the values represented by Lacoste and RL must certainly cover FP as well. In nearly all cases FP offends on your points more than the others.

The point of a polo was function. Anybody with a brain can put stripes, use different combinations of materials, and come up with a creative logo. You make it sound like what FP is doing is something terribly unique that RL and Lacoste cannot hold a candle to. Lacoste has over 300 product SKU's for their polo style alone. How many does FP have?

"You start with a stock standard white polo worth maybe 50 ringgit retail. You stick an alligator/pony logo on it. Now it is worth 400 ringgit retail."

This is precisely what FP is doing with their Made in China polos, except w/a fancy crest instead of an alligator/pony. At least Rene Lacoste can be credited with bring the polo into the limelight, with which hundreds if not thousands of fashion labels have been influenced by this in some way or another. To you such sartorial significance may not be worth the "400 ringgit retail" but by that same token, adding stripes and colours does not in any way make FP superior.



"We were the first to put lines in our collar."

I'm not against FP at all. Simply put, if I had a choice between the two, I'd choose Lacoste for the reasons above.

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Added on July 13, 2011, 7:49 ami think history is incredibly important. fashion is one part history, one part art, one part function, and one part style.


quality wise, you might be right, although FP's are made in China and Lacoste's are made in Peru.



This post has been edited by CHiNO730: Jul 13 2011, 07:49 AM

atta,

yes, i am completely aware that FP produces more than just collar tipped polos. I was just commenting on the ad itself - and yes, my apologies for generalizing that all FP's are made in China. I do concede that there are other regions where the fabric is woven and the shirt is put together.

regardless of what my opinion is on with FP vs Lacoste, I salute you sharing your posts as our forum readers may not share my opinion and would love to see the huge store full of FP's polos that you have.
in the end it is about sharing, and many would not agree with my style, choice of products/brands, etc. regardless, i still post away.

take for instance a recent acquisition. my good friend with a fine taste in fashion says he'd prefer a fine example from Carmina vs what I have chosen below.

^ completely agree. cheers to that!

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Added on July 14, 2011, 6:18 pmthank you sir. I was debating between this one and the signature green-red "web stripe" and decided on this for its understated appeal and more formal appearance.

sometimes i have to lay low and control my urge to be flashy.

i assure that this is only temporary though.

This post has been edited by CHiNO730: Jul 14 2011, 06:20 PM

lol. something you can wear casually with a pair of Fukijama's or pair up w/some khakis and hit some balls at the golf course.

^ atta = ballAR, in every $ense of the word.

This post has been edited by CHiNO730: Jul 28 2011, 05:00 PM

sounds like a rich mans response.

your definition of meticulous = well thought out products with good style, features, appearance and most importantly brand (you will probably disagree with that last one)= expensive.

I have the older version of your Samsonite that I acquired about 5 or so years ago:


These things are incredibly durable. It has a strong aluminum frame to support the ABS plastic shell. I could literally sit on it and roll myself ever so slightly while waiting in those long lines.
I think mine was about RM 500 less than what you paid for a 28"

Sorry couleur, those are some of the most hideous "shoes" I've ever seen.
I won't discount Prada's effort in creating something forward-thinking and unique, but I believe they missed the marque with these things.

I've been known be pick up the flashiest from the fashion houses, but even I stick to the more traditional styles of menswear.

The Italians are definitely known for their flashiness, and Prada has always tried pushing that envelope. Sometimes they get it right (The America's Cup Sneaker has been around for well over a decade and still continues to sell out), and other times they produce something beyond horrendous. As fashion aficianados, I suppose we just have to take it in stride.

Of course, when it comes to high-fashion, Prada is not the only brand that has committed such offenses. Almost all of the fashion houses can be accused of such, and in the end, it's merely a matter of perspective.

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Added on December 8, 2011, 10:21 pm

Recent haul. Picked up a few pairs of sunglasses from the store last week. Will post the rest in the LV thread or somethin'....

Unofficial celebrity endorsement photos below:

Rick Ross - Aston Martin Music



Jay Sean - Do You Remember (pictured here w/Sean Paul)


This post has been edited by CHiNO730: Dec 8 2011, 10:21 PM

Unfortunately they cannot.

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Added on December 16, 2011, 1:14 pm

I think I need more. What do you guys think?

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Added on December 16, 2011, 1:16 pm300 shoes? You can't make a statement like that on this forum without backing it up.

This post has been edited by CHiNO730: Dec 16 2011, 01:16 PM

You may need a bigger closet!

Even though my closet appears bigger, I seem to have much less hanging space on my side compared to yours.
Still, most of my clothes are in another one, and I often have to move back and forth between the two.





This post has been edited by CHiNO730: Jan 6 2012, 04:10 AM

Always happy to share.

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Added on January 19, 2012, 1:44 pmVery good question. In my case, since I cannot stand the smell of moth balls and anything with 1,4 dichlorobenzene, I hire a special "moth maiden" to protect my clothing - basically a very nice pair of Indonesian ladies who sit (on rotation) just outside of my closet 24 hours a day 6 days a week, with a small moth swatter. If any moths try to come in to the closet, they are usually successful in defeating the moths entrance and subsequent laying of larvae.
For the 7th day, I have any one of my many girlfriends sit outside and do the same job.

Although, just the other day, I had a few holes in my Loro Piana Cashmere sweater (~RM 3800) and none were able to admit that they were guilty of letting a moth pass, so I subsequently had to use said moth swatter to beat the moth maidens as well as the many girlfriends on rotation. (I am still not sure who was at fault, but better safe than sorry)

It is a very tough life to live, and sometimes I cannot get through the day knowing that one of my sweaters have a small 2mm hole in them. My friend thinks that it came from a small pin I was wearing in the front of the sweater, but I assured her that those pins are only a max of 1mm in diameter.

Hope this helps.

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Added on January 19, 2012, 1:45 pmyes sir. gotta make appearances with those politicians too sometimes! sadly, it's my only batik, so i think they're getting bored of seeing the same thing.
the next closest thing i have is a batik material woven into the collar of one of my bespoke shirts.

This post has been edited by CHiNO730: Jan 19 2012, 01:45 PM

A few stacked under the dress shirts. That tray slides out.
The rest in the other closet. =)

Nice! Still ballin' outta control I see.
Glad to see things are still the same here. Heheh.

---------------

Do they have these in M'sia? I just got mine in the mail and was thinking - all of the spending one does on these luxury items are tracked by the worlds credit card companies.

Anyways, I'll be sure to post my latest haul's but wow there are some rich guys posting on this thread. I don't think I'll be able to keep up!



This post has been edited by CHiNO730: Nov 27 2012, 07:22 AM

hi Blissguy, in lies the credit card within the box. It's packaged with plastic, similar to how an electronics device might be packaged. I imagine, as part of the presentation, a normal envelope would not do.
The credit card itself is made of patented (pending) carbon material on the face. To be honest it does not feel all that much different from a normal card, maybe a bit thinner.
There are also some documents and reading material on the card features, the list is long.

No gifts yet, but I have used the concierge service to help me with some travel arrangements for next month.