The midnight oil has been burning in Hatton st, in Mayfair for months, slipping in the side entrance via Mayfair place into Lazard’s, bleary eyed analysts, that have been adjusting markup after markup of the deal, will be breathing a big sigh of relief now its out and official.
Although, a flurry of activity precursed todays announcement, with a press releases to put the wider public off the scent. On 4th of April Sunday Times report added that Mohammed Al Fayed said he would never sell the business ….
8th May Ken Costa Chairmen of Lazards confirms the deal but does not reveal the actual amount according to unconfirmed sources the deal is worth a £1.5bn deal…
“Qatar Holding was specifically chosen by the Trust as they had both the vision and financial capacity to support the long term successful growth of Harrods.”
Al Fayed, who also owns English soccer club Fulham, bought Harrods in 1985 for about 615 million pounds at a time when the group also owned the House of Fraser department store chain, which was later spun off.
The transfer of Harrods to Qatar Holding will be the fifth owner of Harrods since its creation in 1840.
I guess the old saying stands true Never say Never
As one era ends a new era begins especially for Roman Abramovich with the Eclipse making its maiden voyage from Blohm + Voss in Hamburg. The Eclipse features a military-grade missile defense system, armor plating and bullet-proof windows. It also has three helipads, two swimming pools – the larger of which converts into a dance floor when drained – six foot home cinema screens in every guest cabin, and a master suite where the roof opens to sleep under the stars
Do you think the sale of Harrods and Eclipse setting sail might be a sign that the big boys are getting out of old blighty until Parliament is sorted out???
Almost forget the lingerie, Harlette is busy working on the new collection at the moment and has been busy with commissions for private client work.
Most recently pieces of the collection have been sent to a member of the Royal Family in Saudi Arabia and also working on a custom piece for a US TV Star.
As the Indian summer draws to a close over Europe, in another part of the world Down Under, Spring is in the air, racing carnivals have begun, World Masters Games are about to commence and a select set of women are doing their best to plan for that day of all days that is the Wedding Wonderland.
Brides to be, preparing for the day (eg working out what to wear), can get at times, as we have seen in countless hollywood movies, like “Bride Wars” and “My Best Friends Wedding”, down right dirty and as close to a blood sport as maybe the women’s waterpolo olympic final.
Getting everything thing perfect, takes a full assult team, a tactician and at times a trained negotiator to talk many a bride, and her best friend from jumping off the ledge of friendship into a lonely endless sea of wedding insanity.
Yet with all the planning for the wedding itself, and the revered designer wedding gown that contain two words that start with V W (insert Vera Wang or Vivienne Westwood Carrie Gown as your see fit) . Not to mention the cake, the flowers, the guest list, the music, the honeymoon, the gift registry, the cars, the thank you cards, the invitations, the ring, and this and that.
I have seen many brides to be, arrive on department store lingerie floor’s around the world, and do exactly the same thing. Usually less than a week before the wedding, in a flap, they ask for white, smooth, seamless lingerie that does not under any circumstance interfere with the line of the dress.
So we explore the options slowly and with a sense of humor.. They never bring the dress and describing it well we dont have time for playing charades. Corsets at a pinch yes, silk, yes, knickerless on occassions YES… Braless too many times to mention.. What women will do without, just to wear a white dress is amazing.
Off course one thing is always forgotten..WEDDING NIGHT LINGERIE and the ART OF SEDUCTION. Hello this is the NIGHT of ALL NIGHTS for ROMANCE. FOR SEDUCTION, FOR ILLUSION, FOR INTENTION and FOR SENSUAL HEIGHTS of SHEER INDULGENCE and OPULANCE.
Of course Kim Basinger is totally in need of Harlette Housecoat in 9 1/2 weeks but Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger really know how to play.. I know you do to…
So dont forget this level of absolute bliss, after all how much did you spend on the dress.. how many credits cards did you split the payments across, have you actually told anyone the real price of it? I am thinking NO to all of the above questions and the best lie’s one tells is of course I got a discount… mmm OK moving on.
So say the dress in the vicinity of tens of thousands…you wear it for at most eight hours.. the return of investment is very low in comparison to what the return on investment is for exceptional lingerie. Lingerie can always be brought out again… Especially when you can link it with the phrase remember our wedding night, and what I wore, would you like me to put it on again.
You see it works if its lingerie… There is not a man in the world that would say NO honey to sexy lingerie.. You see what happens though is women associate all that intoxicating romance stuff and link it with the dress and how they feel, forgetting sometimes about the love’s of their lives, and their needs and the amount of times women will try to bring the wedding dress out again to rekindle the romance is suprising..
So be prepared to create the ultimate seduction on the wedding night and come prepared with at least three sets of lingerie. One that is daring, one that is tantalising and one that is sensual. Make your wedding night a night to remember.
Of course to make this happen, try to avoid the typical bride diet, eating nothing then drinking copious amounts of pink laurent perrier champagne on the day. Dont get me started on the Honeymoon…
Speaking of weddings and honeymoons, Harlette Luxury Lingerie had a photo shoot last week for a wedding magazine called Modern Wedding and will be available in December. It featured the soon to be released Wedding Wonderland Housecoat that features a handmade piece from the Harlette Platinum Lingerie collection.
The shoot also featured a super secret preview of a few of the pieces that will be shown in central London at www.mybeautifulcity.co.ukon December the 3rd as part of Fashion Mode Fashion Show, coincidently Vivienne Westwood also recently showed her spring summer 2009 collection here and for the time being all the Harlette pieces are underwraps until the London Launch.
Which reminds me, on a Eurostar trip from Paris to London I was sitting in the first class section and got talking to a lovely bride to be as she sat across from me, as we shared dinner she told me the tale that she had just bought the Carrie wedding dress from the Sex in the City movie from the Vivienne Westwood Conduit Street store in Mayfair and I thought to myself, fairytales can come true for those that believe.
What impressed me the most about this bride to be, was that she did not stop at the Carrie dress, she also had another one in reserve and was deciding at what time during the day she would wear which dress. My type of Bride… making it as fashion full and fabulous as can be.
For the ultimate lingerie experience, why not take it to the level of lovers and adorn yourself with limited edition hand crafted diamonds and platinum lingerie items for him to feast forever upon you. To arrange a viewing just click the link and enter your name and email address http://www.harletteplatinumlingerie.com/Guestbook.php
One of the pieces of the Harlette Platinum Lingerie collection is a first of its kind in the world of luxury objet d’art and has a patent on its design. You do require a password to preview the work of art and to become one of the inner circle of the harlette platinum lingerie purveyor’s, budget really is not a concern.
To suit those with a budget, you can still experience something that is unique, Harlette can create luxury objet d’art in silver or gold and use swarovski crystals instead. The New Strait Times mentioned the Harlette Platinum Lingerie in a Sunday People article written by Rachael Philip in August 2009.
Of course if 9 1/2 weeks and food is not your thing, maybe your a dancing queen at heart so may be you would prefer to take a tip or two from Jamie Lee Curtis on the art of seduction from the movie True Lies..
Harlette Luxury Lingerie Blog 
