Father Christmas if you're listening

I have officially been a bad blogger. Or is that bloggerer? But I do have a reason for leaving you all and doing just two measly posts lasts week. Not doing anything about London Fashion Week or doing a round up of New York or doing anything about the start of Milan!! If I worked for Vogue, I'd definitely have a big red cross against my name. I've had horrible and very mean case of tonsillitis for two weeks! It started with a bad throat and then turned into full blown tonsillitis with me sounding like a very croaky Marge Simpson and going through possibly gallons of ice cream. Any excuse! But after pestering my GP for some antibiotics, I am now on the road to recovery,but sadly I can't get away with just eating ice cream anymore, so it does have its downsides. I know a bad throat and looking like a hamster does not affect my ability to type,but the only thing I felt like doing was lying in bed watching old movies and reruns of Sex and the City all day long. Anyway, due to the fact I have like a million things that I want to blog about,I suggest you all check out these fabulous websites to find out about the Fashion Weeks,because by the time I've finished telling all you lovelies about them,the clothes will be in the sale and Primark would have made several knock-offs.

For New York Fashion Week check out: Vogue,Mercedes-Benz, Youtube NY Fashion Week Videos

London Fashion Week: Vogue, London Fashion Week Official Site, The LOOK Show

Milan Fashion Week:Vogue, Fashionising

Something that I thought that I mush share with you all is the Elizabeth Taylor Collection unveiled at Christies. It is phenonemal and I'm sure would make the most unmaterialistic person go a bit green. The collection is being shown all over the world including in Dubai,Paris and London with a portion of the admission price going to the Elizabeth Taylor Aids Foundation that was founded in 1991.It is being shown in eight places before it starts to be sold in Christie's,New York in December. Perfect timing for Christmas I think *hint hint* You better be listening Mr.Boyfriend. The collection is worth a staggering and slightly scary £20 million pounds. That's two thousand Jimmy Choo bags!! A lot of the pieces were designed by the lovely lady herself in partnership with the prestigious jewellers,Cartier and many given to her by her husbands. I can see why she had so many husbands now, I mean wouldn't you if you got a piece of amazing jewellery out of each one!?!?

After the beauty passed away in March this year,the entire collection of 300 pieces is going on sale. The chairman of Christie's America said the sale promised to 'captivate the auction world.' This is without a doubt the greatest private collection of jewellery assembled in one place.' It certainly is. You can why they didn't put it all on eBay. The Auction Fees would cost a bomb! The collection is full of Emerald's,Ruby's,Sapphire's and a hell of a lot of diamonds. It's a magpie's idea of heaven. The collection include's necklaces,earrings,rings,bracelets and some gorgeous brooches, which she also wore in her hair. Good recycling there Liz. 

The iconic and legendary Bulgari emerald suite which was bought by Elizabeth and Richard Burton while filming Cleopatra in Italy,(seen in picture) is being sold and just the necklace alone is set to fetch around £1million($1.5m). 

Many of the gems have a lot of history behind them as well as the six figure price tag. One of them,the La Pérégrina pearl is widely considered to be one of the most important pearls in the world. The piece dates back to the 16th century and once belonged to King Phillip II of Spain and his daughters,Elizabeth and Margaret. Elizabeth's husband Richard Burton,won it in an auction and worked with Cartier to have it included in a diamond and ruby necklace as a gift for her. That takes gifts from your man to a whole new level,most of us just get some garage flowers and an on sale box of chocolates,if that. 

Elizabeth has a gorgeous ruby suite as well, which was given to her by her third husband,Mike Todd. Mike also gave her a unique antique diamond tiara expected to fetch £60,000. There is a gorgeous angular long sapphire and diamond necklace by Bulgari, estimated to go for £450,000 to £600,000($600,000 to $800,000). There is also a gorgeous sapphire and diamond ring also by Bulgari set to fetch £100,000 to £150,000($150,000-$200,000.) And I thought the £10 rings in Dorothy Perkins were expensive.

The collection doesn't just contain her jewellery though. Yes it gets better people! Along with a total of 269 jewellery pieces being auctioned,there are rare works of art and over 400 fashion items that have been collected over the last 50 years,including dresses from Versace,Chanel and one of THE coolest dresses I think I have ever seen. But I will save the best till last.

Elizabeth had a pretty cool art collection to go along with her jewellery too, with an 1889 Vincent Van Gogh painting which is expected to reach seven million,yes million pounds. Along with a rare self portrait by Edgar Degas with an estimate of £450,000. Is it just me or does it look a bit like Michael Jackson!?!?

What I would do to have an unlimited amount of money right now. Fashion collectors and Elizabeth's fan's have the chance to buy a part of her magnificent wardrobe. For example, a beaded Versace evening jacket with portraits of her in many of her roles, is expected to fetch up to £13,000 and her wedding dress created by Irene Sharaff that she wore to her wedding to Richard Burton has an estimate of £26,000 to £39,000. Elizabeth seems to have been a fan of arty beaded jackets.She also had a Versace rhinestone and beadwork Bolero with portraits of Elizabeth I on, which is expected to reach $15,000 to $20,000.

One of the most amazing and elaborate pieces of the collection is a headpiece that she wore along with a gorgeous kimono,in the 1968 film Boom with Richard Burton and Noel Coward.
Around sixty eight of her most memorable looks that she had worn to galas,award ceremonies, AIDS benefits and two of her wedding dresses from her weddings to Richard Burton, are on show including capes,handbags,hats and shoes. They will all be auctioned at a gala evening,which will then be followed by a three day series of sales featuring hundreds more fashion accessories and items.It would be a total injustice not to show you some of the beautiful gowns from the collection, so here is a little sneak peek into the wardrobe of one of the most glamourous women to ever grace our screen. You won't find any Primark here. It is best to check these out at Auction Photos because you can see the dresses on a bigger scale,along with more of the jewellery collection, instead of me trying to squish them all into one blog post.

In my opinion the most amazing item of the collection is a simply breathtaking structured metallic dress with leaf detailing, that Elizabeth wore in 1992. I think this dress is completely and utterly stunning but I wouldn't advise wearing it through airport security. The metal detectors would have a field day.
So we all have till December to lust over her jewellery and clothes and till February to admire her art. An early estimate values the whole collect at around £94 million, but it is thought the final total will be much higher then that.The lower priced items will be part of an online auction featuring 'moderately valued' pieces that you have to register for to bid and starts on December the 3rd. I'm sure there will be some very lucky girls all over the world who will be getting something even if it's tiny, as part of their Christmas present. Men if you are reading,that would seriously put you in your girlfriends/wives good books for another year. So unless I win the euromillions,become a gold digger and marry a rich 80 year old man who conveniently has a heart attack or become a WAG pretty quickly, the only way I can enjoy these pieces like most of you, is to spend even more time ogling over them, like I have been doing for the past week.But we can all dream. I think some serious sweet talking in a letter to Father Christmas has to be done this year.

Second Hand Rose
XxxX