Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Falling Behind

It has been a long time since my Blog Queue grew to any length. Here are yesterday's thoughts for today. It's a bit like one of my old "circles".

More from the New York Social Diary: A gala dinner at the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute, graced by the Queen herself. Chaired by Oscar de la Renta (who is, incidentally, Argentinian...) with special guest Senator Hillary Clinton, who was wearing a blue velvet De la Renta dress. Queen Sofia was in a classic number but there was no mention of the designer so it probably wasn't by De la Renta.

The author went on to name all the illustrious guests and drop in a tidbit of gossip here and there. The paragraph that made me laugh out loud went like this: "Rafael the duc de Feria, Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia. The prince and the duke soon learned on meeting that they were wearing the same Royal Oak watch by Audemars Piguet, except Prince Dimitri's was accompanied by a wristlet with one large black pearl (something for the duke to want)."

Amongst the party snaps, there was one of the Prince and the Duke comparing watches.

Combien coute-ca?* A few thousand pounds, which is affordable compared to the competition, yet buys you a really special piece of machinery. They make Rolex look blinging, and I doubt anyone has thought of knocking off an Audemars Piguet.

But wait, this means that when they met, they kept an eye on each others cuffs for a glimpse of watch and then one decided to point it out. Do men eyeball each other's watches or cufflinks in the same way women look at each other's earrings or handbags?

I must say, I do like the look of a man's wrist sporting a nice watch. But it does have to be a nice wrist attached to a nice man, and he has to have nice hands too.

I have personal experience of this. Not the hands, well yes...the hands...*sigh*........no, of my bag being noticed (and not when I was mugged). Specifically by the Christie's interviewer who remarked on the slimness of my leather portfolio. Indeed, it is the neatest I could find.

I nearly slid into one of my cheeky 20Six blogs back there!

So it is obvious that in some settings, at least, every detail counts.
This could be the moral of the story. Yes, today we have a moral: Every detail counts.

* Apologies, the accents do not work after publishing

11 comments:

sanity index said...

Details sure count. That's why they gave us US$1000 to buy "interview outfits," which includes nice a portfolio or briefcase. You want to make your best impression, but I've never had anyone other than colleagues comment on my outfits! An interviewer doing it just seems...rude.

I'll have to ask what men notice when they greet each other, though I may just get an answer like, "Men don't check each other out!"

-merserene

Olivia said...

Mers - Who gave you $1000??? I have heard of companies doing this if they recruit you out of university.

The mind boggles at the fine suits I could get with £500 or so! As yet I have only one, it cost under £100 and is fairly good.

I'd love to ask a few of them (men) what they look at when they meet each other...

Anonymous said...

I think they size each other up in a similar way to women but with them it's all about alpha male stuff. Who is taller, who has the biggest car, watch and uhm... ;o)
I certainly know that my brother makes use of his enormous height (6'5''- 196cm )to tower over other men, seems too give him an edge of some sort...

michelle said...

havn't I told you that...attention to detail...they do count.

sanity index said...

My host school gave us that money shortly after we got here. Wasn't it just so generous? That's why I bought a nice Ann Taylor suit with a couple of expensive shirts and a briefcase to go with.

Just knowing you're wearing an expensive suit makes a difference.

Rox's list reminds me of men who would add "women" to that list, as in, "Look at the beautiful woman I'm with, and she's not yours!" Heh.

-merserene

Olivia said...

Rox - 6'5"? Doesn't the spine stop working at that point?

Jia Li - yes but I am already a details person and need to chill sometimes.

Merserene - that's bloody fantastic! When I lived in the US I used to say, "When I grow up I will wear Ann Taylor suits."
'Course, they do size 2 don't they? Well cut, nice lines, really discreet.

I don't dare spend the equivalent here to get an A.T. quality suit...!

Olivia said...

Oh, and I don't think the interviewer was rude to comment on my portfolio. All she said was, "That's a slim portfolio."

Even I have never seen another like it. She probably wants one now :)

Anonymous said...

You might try Massimo Dutti. They have lovely stuff and it's good looking classical stuff but still reasonably priced. Or of course Jigsaw, their suits might also come in small sizes. (I never look at small sizes myself sigh :oP)
As for my bro yes he does have back and hip problems but mostly cause he grew too fast (10cm+ per year) Doesn't stop him from towering and hovering over ppl though, the meanie!

Anonymous said...

what's with frickin? English has many fine profanities to choose from - don't introduce made up Americanisms into the argot, it's simply not cricket.

Olivia said...

Ooooohhh you *always* pick them up the one time I sneak them in. I've never used that word before...! Just like I never did the Jewish "fancy schmancy" thing before!

P.S. this is under the wrong post, which explains why I couldn't find it for a while.

sanity index said...

O., Ann Taylor is awesome. I've bought several suits from them before while I was still working. They come in 2s (and zeros), but for me the best part is always their petite selection because they fit so well.

The price wasn't bad, though; about typical for a nice suit. (Mine was about US$250.) The shirts, on the other hand, were almost as expensive as the pants...

-merserene