That massive ‘bang’ you may have heard last night? That was the sound of the record for most valuable jewellery auction ever smashing to pieces. Elizabeth Taylor’s jewel auction at Christie’s in New York broke the record, with her collection fetching $115 million. To put that in context? The previous record was $50 million, and Christie’s estimated that Taylor’s collection would sell for, oh, about $20 million. However, public interest, and the late legend’s reputation as one of the world’s greatest modern jewellery collectors, combined to set a new high. The prices went far beyond their estimates – pieces valued at $2,000 sold for $300,000. The biggest article? The famous Taylor-Burton Diamond, one of the most famous in history. It was bought by Richard Burton for Taylor in the 60s, and is now owned by a South Korean company. The price? A cool $8 million. The auction broke records for individual sales of diamonds, rubies and pearls. And there’s still more – Taylor’s wardrobe of one-off beauties will be up for grabs on Wednesday. Taylor’s estate is having a very, very good Christmas. Image: The Elizabeth Taylor auction. Photo by AP.
Meryl Streep is referred to by many adjectives – peerless, treasured, brilliant, talented. ‘Controversial’ isn’t normally one of them. The many-time Oscar nominee and winner, 62, is on the cover of Vogue this month, shot by Annie Liebovitz. The problem? This is Streep’s first Vogue cover shoot in an illustrious career spanning four decades and countless honours. Vogue’s decision to put Blake Lively, Sienna Miller and Rihanna on their covers – multiple times – while neglecting La Streep is garnering them some pretty loud derision. Many news outlets are jeering at Anna Wintour for ignoring Streep for decades. Meryl is now promoting Iron Lady, her film about Margaret Thatcher, hence the cover, and in classic style is graceful and magnanimous about the entire furor. Do you think Streep should have been on the cover more often? Image: Meryl Streep on Vogue.
Andrej Pejic has already proved that he can do men’s and womenswear with aplomb. Now he’s taking that to the next level. Pejic is the star of a campaign by Dutch shopping emporium Hema, promoting – what else? – a ‘magical’ push-up bra. Pejic’s gorgeous face and androgynous lankiness have garnered him work on both sides of the gender spectrum, but this is the first time a lingerie campaign has come his way. The campaign is, in general, unprecedented. The reasoning is pretty simple – if the bra can give Pejic, who is (obviously) completely without a bust, a realistic boost in the chest department, it must work wonders on women. The results are convincing – though they do involve a little hunching of the shoulders and some clever posing on Pejic’s part. Hema is reportedly very happy with the model’s shots, and it may launch a new career strand for the multi-talented Australian. Do you think he pulls it off, and would you buy the bra? Image: Andrej Pejic for Hema.
Once upon a time, there was an Australian model with long blonde hair and a striking profile. Now, however, Candice Lake – the Vogue cover girl with THAT nose – has vanished from fashion’s sights. Or has she? Rescu. can report that the ex-model is now a reputed fashion photographer, working for shoots for several Vogues and becoming a darling of street-style blogs. She’s now based in Paris, where she’s a familiar sight at Fashion Week shows – and is easily mistaken for a catwalk participant. However, Lake insists that she doesn’t miss modelling at all, and went to school for photography after quitting it permanently. She is apparently much happier on the other side of the lens. Her biggest indulgence now? Her prodigious hat collection! Rescu. looks forward to seeing a new Australian talent make her mark in the photography world. We’ll keep you posted… Image: Candice Lake, from her own blog.
