The Cuban leader Fidel Castro, a revolutionary Che Gevara, politicians Winston Churchill and Bill Clinton, writers Somerset Maugham and Mark Twain, the actor and the political figure Arnold Schwarzenegger – these names are well-known and these figures are best known to the world for their political, social, literary and other achievements. Moreover, the abovementioned people highly esteem cigar smoking and, thus, they come as people who own the greatest number of tools and accessories so requisite for this leisurely process and among others there are cigar lighters.
In the light of a variety and availability of glass items, glass ware is still appreciated by plenty people, especially when it comes to cut glass. The cut glass produces a long, lingering and musical tune when you put your finger at the cut-glass edge. So, in Japan the craftsmen make unique musical instruments. A crystal violin, completely transparent, is estimated for fifty thousand USD. Crystal glass tableware is not so much expensive though it is able to produce the charming, unique and so brittle music providing it is properly cared.
Wealthy persons are mostly known for their fortune only. However, despite they make billions, these people possess some personal features that attract people when estimating them. While Warren shovels up money, he has to do with quite conflicting image he created: he is known to be the proved miser and at the same time he privately donates huge amounts for charity purposes.
Modern person is hard to take by surprise: Bold designer solutions, shocking imagination tendencies in fashion, mad fantasies of modern art trendsetters... We have become accustomed to it all and take each new event in the world of design as a part of natural process. However, among those splashes of creativity pictured on glossy covers and liquid-crystal screens, one can reveal numerous examples of ideas inspired by the past.
They are graphic elements of folk ornaments, communist epoch
symbols, shapes and colors popular long time ago... But each of these
ideas only can be brought into life if propper materials are available.
Long forgotten ancient technologies can successfully compete with
modern ones. Gold leaf is a material which has been priceless to
designers of all times and epochs.
It is difficult to say who
and when got the idea of fine gold fabric, mesmerizing by its luster
and beauty. It is only known that gold leaf became extremely popular in
the XV century. At that time it was used for decoration of tsar's
palaces and church domes, and it added elegant luxury to interior
design. Gold leaf holds its place in the creation of decor
masterpieces. By that time gold had become the standard of elegance and
style, the sign of good taste and prosperity. The noble radiance of
gold leaf has acquired extraordinary popularity today. The areas of
gold leaf application are only limited by designers' fantasy.
Traditionally, finest sheets of gold are widely used in architecture.
Domes, sculptures and architectural details get covered with them. Gold
leaf can decorate furniture, different objects of interior, and dishes.
Gilding gives a second life to an old obsolete wooden chair and a
grandmother's favorite box. A photoframe or a shabby leather-bound book
can be covered with a sparkling gold layer too. One of the latest
achievements of gold leaf technique is putting different images
directly onto the finest surface of precious fabric. A picture like
that can become an elegant addition to the interior, or a pretty
valuable gift.
Technology of the gold leaf production has
remained virtually unchanged for centuries. It is a long, by no means
simple work - to beat a massive bar of gold into a weightless gold
cobweb. The thickness of gold sheets can vary. For external objects
thicker sheets are used while gilding of furniture, picture frames,
wooden elegant boxes take thinner gold leaf. The size of gold sheets is
always the same. They are sandwiched between sheets of paper to protect
them and packed into books. Then gold leaf is handed to designers and
decorators. Gilding is a complex, labor-consuming process. First, the
surface intended for gilding is thoroughly sand-papered. Then, special
glue of animal origin is applied on the perfectly smooth surface. And
only after that gold leaf is applied. Special tools, like a gilder's
brush, are used to rub the surface until gold layer becomes completely
streak free. The luster of objects, gilded in such manner, remains for
decades in propper care, delighting with its splendid beauty. But not
only furniture and small interior objects can be decorated with gold
leaf. The present tendencies in fashion encourage gilding of all kinds
of surfaces. Designers refine their collections, decorating clothing
with gold leaf. Make-up designers frequently use this precious metal
for make-up. Body artists also get involved applying the finest sheets
of genuine gold to their works. And a lot of manicure professionals
create their masterpieces with this exquisite material, which can
hardly lose its appeal. More and more masters of art discover unique
features of gold leaf and add some noble light splashes to their
creations.
Lingerie for women was just the plain underwear until the 20th century when it became the mean self-expression, as the subject of esthetic admiration. A piece of lingerie seen in between the women wear looked quite shocking to be shame and no one thought of designing luxury items based on lingerie, leaving alone works of art. Today every woman dreams of having a pair, or even more, of luxury and high quality lingerie to associate with sexuality, sensibility and attraction with male.
Today the knitwear is presented in so many styles and
it is so popular that no single autumn and spring collections can do without
hosiery. Knit
women's coats are offered in classic, sporty, romantic, vintage, casual and
ethnic styles. The demand for knit coats
grows in line with the more increasing range of color and texture of woolen
yarn as merino wool, angora, alpaca, Kashmir. Globally known brands launch knit
coats for women in their latest collections and most celebrities today appear
wearing knitwear for many occasions and that's hard to picture that some time
back it was something different.
First established in 1980, the brand by Carolina Herrera is one of the well-known fashion brands; collections by Carolina Herrera make a conquest for the public love and demand due to elegance and delicacy of the fashion wear models. The collections were successful, though Carolina Herrera opened its perfume line first in 1988 presenting Carolina Herrera for Women. Carolina Herrera 212 is known to be the bestseller first launched in 1997, and today this fragrance takes its niche among the most recognized perfumes of the world.
First established in 1860, Chopard is one of the reputed watch and jewelry houses producing incredibly beautiful, fascinating jewelry items and watches of dream. The house also launched a number of celebrated fragrances as Casmir, Wish, Madness and Infiniment. Despite the long and solid history of the brand, it appeared only recently in the market of fragrances with the first fragrance Chopard launched only in 1992. Six years later, in 1996, the Chopard House presented its Mira-Bai, the fragrance which is still in favor among women keen on oriental scents. Mira-Bai shows no intentions to compete with such a fashion-setter in the sphere of oriental compositions as Guerlain Shalimar, though the fragrance by Chopard takes its niche among the classic perfumes in the market of oriental perfume.
