NEIMAN MARCUS BOOK
October 7th, 2006, 11:25 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Sam Mittelsteadt
Even though we’ve been getting press releases for months, I’m not quite ready to talk about the holidays just yet. … Except the fact that the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book just landed in my mailbox last week, and one of the available gifts is a private charter into space.
A six-passenger charter, to be exact, for a trip scheduled to occur in 2009, starting with three days of medical assessments, then a trip on a launching aircraft and rocket-propelled blast up to about 63 miles above sea level. … Of course, there’s also a four-night stay at Richard Branson’s island retreat for each astronaut and a guest. .. Only $1,764,000.Now, am I going to be able to buy anything in the luxury retailer’s book? Probably not. In fact, even the $100-and-below section — and yes, there is one — seems a little too fatuous in the real world. (There is a contest to win free handbags though — more on that in a second.)But it is fun to look at and imagine: If you had a bazillion dollars, what would you get for random people? For my pen-obsessed co-worker Marija, the Montblanc Boheme Skeleton 18-karat white gold fountain pen, with 1,906 diamonds, the only one in the United States and one of only three in the world. ($160,900)
For the Arizona Costume Institute at Phoenix Art Museum, the Jacques Fath archives, with 26 original sketchbooks containing more than 3,400 couture designs from 1948 to 1956, plus three original dresses. ($3,500,000)But back to real life … the retailer is giving away three designer handbags — one each month to random winners who sign up for the store’s e-mail updates. The first one is a Kooba Lena bag valued at $625, which will be given away Nov. 1. The other bags/dates: A Chloe Edith bowler worth $1,660, Dec. 1, and an Yves Saint Laurent Muse satchel that sells for $1,895, Jan. 2. (In the fine print, it says you’ll have to pay taxes on your prize, though) More info is at www.neimanmarcus.com/sweepstakes.
