In the "spirit" of gift giving, wine is a grape – er, great – choice.

digital, digital revolution, Features, Gift Giving, Gifts, Grapes, iCollector, Invaluable, Ken Hall, Laptop, LiveAuctioneers, Online bidding, PC, Spirit, Tablet, wine, WIne Collecting

Wine collecting has gotten much younger and more sophisticated – and has gone decidedly global – thanks to the modern digital age. By Ken Hall One needn’t look any further ...

May I Have This Dance?

Ballroom, Bill Thornbrook, Celebrations, Dance, Features, First Night, Formal Invite, Formals, Holidays, Invitations, New Years, New Years Eve, Proms, , Socials, Times Square, Weddings

By Bill Thornbrook It seems as if every year concludes with short days and a long holiday season seemingly crammed with more social occasions than the calendar can possibly accommodate ...

Hermés Scarves

Art, Birkin Bag, Engraving, Features, Grands Boulevards, Hermés, Hermés Scarves, Jane Birkin, Maxine Carter-Lome, Paris, Scarf, Scarves, Silk, Thierry Hermés, Wearable Art

Fashionable by Design By Maxine Carter-Lome When you think of luxury brands that have stood the test of time by staying true to its craftsman roots, Hermès is one that ...

Fans and Fashion

bird feathers, Chinese, courtly, culture, Egyptian, Fans, Fashion, Features, Fixed Fan, Folding Fan, Greek, hand Fans, Hot weather, Kathryn Hanna, Plants, Status

By Kathryn Hanna Quick History of Fans. The ubiquitous cooling instrument for hot weather and making a fashion statement - ahhhh, the hand fan. Over the millennia, hand fans have ...

Collecting Vintage Mexican Jewelry In Today’s Market

Antonio Pineda, Features, Hector Aguilar, Jamie L. Shenkman, Mexican Jewelry, Neiman-Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, silversmithing, Taller de Las Delicias, Taxco, Tiffany & Co., Vintage Jewelry, William Spratling

by Jamie L. Shenkman "Too hot to buy,” so say some dealers of vintage Mexican jewelry. A colleague in the antique and vintage jewelry business recently mentioned that prices have ...

Seeing is Believing: Extravagant 1950s & '60s Eyewear

By Donald-Brian Johnson Photos by Leslie Piña Writer Dorothy Parker once declared that "men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses." Judging by what, for many years, constituted eyewear ...

Smoke Rings: Collecting Vintage Ashtrays

Ash-pans, Ashes, Ashtrays, barware, buffet dishes, Cigarette Rests, Cigarettes, cigars, decorative accessories, Donald-Brian Johnson, Features, Mad Men, pipes, Smoke, Smoke Rings, smoking, Tobacco

By Donald-Brian Johnson Ever watch Mad Men? If you were one of the many fans of that series, which meticulously recreated American life in the early 1960s, after awhile you ...

Native American Red Stone Pipes

Arapaho, Cheyenne, Cigarettes, cigars, Features, Native American, pipes, Red Stone, smoking, Stone Pipe, Tobacco, William A. Turnbaugh

By William A. Turnbaugh, Ph.D. Native American traditions and mythology highlight the regard that the New World's people have long held for their smoking pipes. Links between the tobacco pipe, ...

Cigar Tip Cutters and Lighters of the Late 19th Century and Early 20th Century

aficionado, Cigar, Cigar Cutters, Cigar Tip, Civil War, Features, Lighters, Matches, Michael Eckles, scissors, smoking, Tobacco, Tobacconists

By Michael Eckles Preparing to smoke a fine cigar can be a long and luxurious process that involves a series of steps and accessories to ensure it will smoke as ...

The Early History of Cigarettes in America

America, calumets, Christopher Columbus, Cigarettes, dried leaves, Features, History, maize, pipes, Richard Elliot, Smoke, smokers, Tobacco

By Richard Elliot When Christopher Columbus reached the West Indies in 1492, the natives greeted him with fruit, wooden spears and "certain dried leaves which gave off a distinct fragrance." ...

White House China

American history, China, Citizens, Decoration, Decorative China, Executive Mansion, Features, POTUS, Style, US President, White House, William G. Allman

Excerpted with permission from Official White House China From the 18th to the 21st Centuries by William G. Allman The house in which the President of the United States lives ...

The Royal Connection

Art Collections, artistic, China, commemoration, Features, floristry, Herend Porcelain, Judy Gonyeau, Louis XV, Manufacture de Vincennes, Porcelain, Queen Elizabeth, royal art, Royal Collection Trust, Sèvres, tableware, Wedgwood

By Judy Gonyeau When Queen Elizabeth was preparing to celebrate her 90th birthday, a beautiful set of china was commissioned by the Royal Collection Trust, which is dedicated to preserving ...

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