1 Luxottica’s Eyewear Market Monopoly
An Italian company named Luxottica manufactures a large number of major luxury sunglasses and prescription glasses brands, including Chanel, Ray-Ban, Versace, Giorgio Armani, Prada, and Burberry. Luxottica has a near monopoly and accounts for 60-80% of all eyewear sales in the US.
2. Puma sued Dolce & Gabbana in 2018 for allegedly copying a slipper design. D&G argued that their design targeted a different clientele and featured real fur. Puma lost the case because D&G sold only three pairs, with two purchased by Puma’s test buyers. The judge ruled there was no competition.
3. In 1989, Swiss watchmaker Patek Philippe introduced the Calibre 89, which was considered “the most complicated watch in the world” at the time. Made from 18K gold, the watch boasted 24 hands, 1,728 components, distinctive features like a star chart and a thermometer, along with a total of 33 complications. Its record stood for 27 years until 2015, when Vacheron Constantin unveiled the Reference 57260, featuring an astounding 57 complications.
4. Victoria’s Secret initially targeted men as its primary customers, encouraging them to buy for their partners. Leslie Wexner purchased the brand for $1 million and shifted its marketing focus to women. To create a luxurious image, the company listed a fake London address on its catalogs while its real headquarters remained in Columbus, Ohio.
5. Neiman Marcus, the iconic American luxury retail brand, generates 40% of its sales from just 2% of its customers, highlighting its exclusive clientele. Known for its extravagant offerings, the 2015 Neiman Marcus holiday catalog featured a $150,000 motorcycle, which included a two-day ride along the California coast with Keanu Reeves. The brand’s 1971 mail-order catalog, nodding to its eclectic history, famously sold two sealed ancient Egyptian coffins. A museum purchased both and was astonished to discover that one of them contained the remarkably well-preserved mummy of Usermontu.
6 A&F CEO’s Controversial Remarks
Mike Jeffries, the CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, once publicly stated that he did not want overweight or unattractive individuals wearing or working at his company.
7. In 2018, American discount footwear brand Payless launched a fake luxury store named “Palessi” and invited influencers to test how much people would pay for $20 shoes. The top bid reached $640, a markup of 1800%.
8. The word “limousine” originated from the Limousin horse, a breed from the Limousin region of France. Known for its luxury appeal, the Limousin horse served as a favored riding and carriage horse for French aristocrats and royalty. It merged into the modern Selle Français breed in 1958.
9. Before opening its first retail stores, Apple sent employees to train under the Ritz-Carlton program. Their study of Ritz’s concierge service inspired the creation of the Genius Bar.
10. Although prized for its clarity and luxurious feel, “crystal glass,” also known as lead glass, contains up to 40% lead by mass. Researchers have proposed that the historical association of gout with the upper class partially stemmed from their extensive use of lead crystal to store alcohol.
11 Steinway’s Military Victory Piano
Steinway designed the G.I. Piano, also known as the Victory Vertical, specifically for the U.S. military during World War II. This compact piano could be carried on ships, parachuted from planes, and withstood the humid conditions of the South Pacific, making it ideal for various military theaters.
12. The Lincoln Town Car remains the last U.S. luxury car to use body-on-frame construction instead of a unibody frame. This design allows for easier lengthening, explaining the car’s dominance in the limousine market.
13. Lewis Hamilton, the renowned Formula 1 driver, fought an unsuccessful legal battle for three years against the luxury watchmaker Hamilton over its brand name. The watch company, which has used the name since 1892, held a trademark in Europe. As a result, Hamilton’s attempt to claim rights over the name failed.
14. In Asia, many view collecting luxury goods as a smart investment. Luxury handbags, for example, can increase in value by 14.2% annually, offering returns significantly higher than the stock market.
15. Supreme famously borrowed its iconic box logo design from artist Barbara Kruger. Ironically, when Supreme sued another company for copying their logo, Kruger responded to a Complex editor’s request for comment by calling the situation “a ridiculous clusterfu*k of totally uncool jokers.”
16 Burberry Burns Unsold Merchandise
Luxury fashion brands like Burberry deliberately burn unsold merchandise worth millions of dollars to maintain their exclusivity and prevent price reductions.
17. In 2005, artists Elmgreen and Dragset created Prada Marfa, a permanently installed sculpture in Valentine, Texas, as a critique of branding and consumer culture. The faux Prada store, which sits in the middle of the Texas desert, has no employees but contains real merchandise displayed behind bulletproof glass to deter theft.
18. British luxury lingerie brand Rigby & Peller lost its royal warrant after owner June Keaton referenced her visits to Buckingham Palace in her autobiography, Storm in a D-Cup. Keaton had served as a bra-fitter to the queen.
19. New Zealand red deer produce a rare fiber known as Cervelt, which is softer than cashmere. Collecting only 20 grams of this fiber per deer annually makes it incredibly exclusive, with luxury socks made from Cervelt costing $1,500 per pair.
20. The Grand Hyatt Hotel in Cannes, France, has a team of five trained attack hawks that it uses to keep pesky seagulls from harassing its wealthy patrons in outside seating areas.
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
21 Tokyo’s Luxury Paper Experience
Itoya in Tokyo is a 12-floor luxury paper store that features a unique offering on its top floor. The 12th floor serves fresh salads grown on the 11th floor, which houses an organic indoor farm.
22. De Beers has invested millions in efforts to differentiate “real” diamonds from modern lab-grown diamonds. Despite their efforts, they have been unable to reliably detect the difference, as the market floods with inexpensive lab-grown gems, particularly from China.
23. German luxury brand Hugo Boss AG advertised itself as the “supplier of national socialist uniforms” during 1934-1935. In 1946, its founder, Hugo Boss, faced a fine of 70,000 Reichsmarks and lost his voting rights for benefiting from Nazism.
24. The Zodiac watch company, once regarded as an equal to luxury brands like Rolex, lost prominence partly due to its association with the Zodiac Killer. The killer used the company’s logo as his signature in letters sent to the press.
25. Inside a climate-controlled vault in the National Archives, Jacqueline Kennedy’s iconic blood-stained pink Chanel suit from JFK’s assassination remains uncleaned and preserved. It will remain “out of public view” until at least 2103.
RE: Fact #13 (Hamilton’s Trademark Legal Battle) – He thinks he’s all that important?
RE: Fact #1 (Luxottica’s Eyewear Market Monopoly) – Lots of places sell glasses, like LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut, and Pearle Vision. They also carry popular brands such as Ray-Ban, Persol, and Oakley.
It’s basically a monopoly, controlling everything from making the glasses to selling them. The Justice Department hasn’t touched them because of, uh, money.
The Oakley deal is nuts! Luxottica controlled all the stores, so Oakley couldn’t sell their sunglasses anywhere. Plus, Oakley blew it by not selling more online or through the mail. Luxottica had a total monopoly. They scooped up Oakley when it was practically worthless.
It’s also insane how they made Ray-Ban a luxury brand. Remember those huge, clunky, cheap Ray-Bans your grandparents wore? You’d see them at Kmart and places like that. Luxottica bought them, shut them down for a while, and then relaunched them as high-end.
Totally like a Champion from the 80s!
RE: Fact #8 (Limousine’s Aristocratic French Origins) – Their cattle are really strong and muscular, too.
RE: Fact #7 (Payless’ Luxury Store Prank) – Back in middle school, I got these cheap basketball shoes from Payless—twelve bucks! Two minutes into my first practice, someone’s yelling about scuff marks on the floor. Turns out, it was me! My shoes were leaving these huge black streaks everywhere. I had to take them off and practice in my socks. My family still gives me grief about it.
RE: Fact #49 (Debutante Ball’s High Participation Fee) – Charity balls are cool, and so are costume balls. But the best? The ones just for fun.
My balls are always jiggling around, left and right. I think my big balls deserve some pampering every night.
RE: Fact #5 (Neiman Marcus’ Exclusive Clientele) – That place I worked at? It would’ve folded after Covid if it wasn’t for a handful of customers. Lucky me, I was deemed “essential” after just a week of what felt like the end of the world. I still remember shipping a ten-thousand-dollar dress during the second week of the pandemic – crazy times!
So, what was the big shopping craze all about? Clothes and shoes, right?
I’ve met some seriously wealthy young people who, get this, don’t even know how to do laundry! They wear clothes once and toss them. Seriously, never worn again.
And then they whine that their dads only give them $7,000 a month, while their best friend gets $12,000! Can you believe it?
Probably just super fancy shoes and clothes. One guy buying five $7,000 suits brings in way more cash than 150 guys buying a couple of $200 shirts.
RE: Fact #48 (Louis Vuitton vs. Chewy Vuiton) – US parody laws let you use other people’s trademarks for parodies—that’s why Weird Al can cover songs without permission. He usually asks anyway, just to be nice, and most artists say yes.
RE: Fact #14 (Luxury Goods as Investments) – Back when I lived in Hawaii, I saw loads of Japanese girls hitting Oahu with extra-empty suitcases. They’d splurge on UGG boots from the fancy downtown shops, chill on the beach in nice hotels for a few days, then head home. The way I figured it, they could resell those boots for so much more that their whole trip was paid for. It’s basically arbitrage, I guess, but this reminded me of that.
Luxury stuff’s way cheaper in the EU and US, even with taxes. So, people in Asia get funding to go to France or the US, pretending to be tourists, to buy tons of luxury goods and resell them back home.
They’re smuggling stuff, basically to avoid paying taxes. No judgment, but that’s the long and short of it.
RE: Fact #12 (Lincoln Town Car’s Limousine Legacy) – So, Lincoln doesn’t make the Town Car anymore.
RE: Fact #40 (Gucci’s Counter-Branding Against Snooki) – I totally forgot about Jersey Shore!
We’re all giving it a go.
I was hoping the Jersey Shore cast would suddenly shout “…and scene!”, revealing they’re secretly a Danish improv group. Still waiting!
RE: Fact #32 (A&F Pays Jersey Shore Star) – Ten thousand dollars? Seriously? That’s not enough to really hurt a national clothing brand.
RE: Fact #26 (Hemingway’s A&F Gun Purchase) – So, A&F used to be like a fancy REI, before it got bought and changed.
A&F was really struggling until Les Wexner stepped in and made it a big part of American malls back in the day.
Man, I grew up near Lexand land. One time, when I was ten, I was messing around in the woods and heard someone yell, “GET OUTTA HERE, KID! SCRAM!” So, naturally, I ran home and told Grandma. She gave me this serious look and said, “Honey, maybe you shouldn’t go in those woods anymore.”
I dunno if this is important, but in central Ohio, Lex might as well *be* Lex Luthor.
RE: Fact #11 (Steinway’s Military Victory Piano) – This, like those ice cream barges, really shows how the US fought WWII in a totally different way than other countries. I mean, the Brits had tea kettles in their tanks, but did anyone else have such “luxuries”? Did other armies do anything like the USO shows, for instance?
I’m not an expert, but I heard Germans had special brothels, train cars, cafes, and stores just for themselves during the war… Apparently, during the Stalingrad siege, the Luftwaffe even dropped tons of condoms and other junk.
But, the US usually sent its soldiers to fight in other countries’ wars, and they were much farther away from the fighting than Europe was – they just approached things differently than we did.
Keeping soldiers, sailors, and marines cool with ice cream in the tropics wasn’t just about comfort – it showed the Axis powers how far behind they were in terms of industrial might and supply lines.
The Nazis still relied heavily on animals to move things around, while the US could build whole cities in the jungle, thousands of miles away, in just weeks.
Hitler and Tojo threw away countless lives getting raw materials to keep their armies going, while the Allies had a massive, undamaged industrial base and a seemingly endless supply of resources. I even read about German prisoners of war in the US getting way better food than German civilians back home. Apparently, German cooks prepared meals with US Army ingredients. Breakfast might be cereal, toast, cornflakes, jam, coffee, milk, and sugar. Lunch could be roast pork, potato salad, carrots, and ice water. And dinner? Maybe meat loaf, scrambled eggs, coffee, milk, and bread. They could even buy beer!
I bet a lot of the women in those places weren’t there by choice.
RE: Fact #7 (Payless’ Luxury Store Prank) – My mom had her own little shop, and she’d get these gorgeous cashmere scarves for three bucks each. She tried selling them for eight bucks, but nobody bought them. Then, on a lark, she bumped the price up to eighty bucks – and they flew off the shelves!
It was the same with her sewing. Twenty bucks for a repair? People complained. A hundred bucks? They were thrilled!
See, cheap stuff makes people think it’s cheap, but a higher price tag makes them think it’s high-quality. It’s not always true, but it happens a lot.
That taught me a big lesson: business is way more about people’s heads than it is about the bottom line.
Thanks for sharing your stories!
One more thing: Yeah, a lot of “influencers” are kind of… well, you know. But we’ve all bought something that was total junk, but looked amazing in the ads. If a magic trick can fool you, good marketing can too!
RE: Fact #46 (Gucci’s Historic Tax Settlement) – Giving away $1.4 billion sounds like an admission of guilt, even if they say they didn’t do it.
As long as they could pay me back, everything was cool.
RE: Fact #25 (Preservation of Jackie’s Chanel Suit) – My mother-in-law, she was young, working at the Archives, and she always talked about the time Jackie Kennedy showed up with the suit in this big box. She told that story for years, exactly the same way every time. I don’t know how much of it was actually true, but one thing she never left out: they only got a quick peek, but there wasn’t a hat in the box.
Nobody knows where that hat ended up. Her old secretary, Mary Barelli Gallagher, said she gave it to Jackie’s Secret Service guy. She passed away recently; she’d kept mum about it for years. She also wrote a pretty bitchy book about working for Jackie.
Why’s the hat gone?
Jackie shot first, that’s why. She hid her gun in the hat.
Wow, that’s interesting! My MIL was a real character, so even though other stories changed, this one always stayed the same. She really thought it was important, but I never understood why.
RE: Fact #38 (Jefferson’s $500,000 Wine Mishap) – Man, that waiter had it rough. I’ve had terrible days at work, but nothing like breaking a half-million-dollar bottle of wine!
Yeah, a $225,000 mistake? I’ve seen worse. I once clipped a hangar with an Embraer 175 while taxiing—new winglets from Brazil cost around $250,000! My punishment? A warning, a drug test, and three days paid vacation. That’s why companies get insurance.
RE: Fact #35 (Versace Dress Inspires Google Images) – Jennifer Lopez’s green dress was pretty revealing.
RE: Fact #4 (Victoria’s Secret’s Marketing Shift) – Pink spandex, 24 inches of it. Pretty hot, huh?
Calvin Klein logo on a grey spandex, 24 inches long.
RE: Fact #32 (A&F Pays Jersey Shore Star) – It would’ve been smarter to ask for way more money and threaten to act even worse in nothing but A and F.
If he was so smart, A&F wouldn’t have worried he’d mess up their image by wearing their stuff.
A&F totally loved him wearing their stuff – a clever trick to get people like me, who’d never watched Jersey Shore, to buy their clothes. Free advertising for A&F, the show, and that guy. Any publicity’s good publicity, right?
Seriously, it bugs me how much attention the media gives to jerks, and how much people lap it up. I get wanting to watch a train wreck sometimes, but constantly giving attention to a total idiot with no repercussions? That just rewards bad behavior.
RE: Fact #8 (Limousine’s Aristocratic French Origins) – So, that’s why cars made outside the Limousin area can’t be called limousines – they have to be called “long cars.”
Shiny cars, maybe?
RE: Fact #9 (Apple Learns from Ritz-Carlton) – So, my problem with Apple stores—and this is just my opinion, of course—is kinda like this: The whole concierge thing is great, if it’s done right. But it’s supposed to be optional! You can totally just leave a fancy hotel and do your own thing. Apple seems to have missed that part. I go in knowing exactly what I want—say, a Mac mini—and I have to wait in line, talk to someone, explain myself… it’s like they’re making it hard on purpose! It’s ridiculous; it’s as if the Ritz wouldn’t let you leave unless you checked in with the concierge first.
RE: Fact #4 (Victoria’s Secret’s Marketing Shift) – Years ago, my wife and I went to this place, and it was mostly women, though we saw a few other couples. Then, right before Christmas, I was at the mall waiting for someone, and the store was all women – not a single guy.
RE: Fact #15 (Supreme’s Logo Controversy) – Supreme’s ripping off designs! Can you believe it?
Their logo should say TWAT; wearing their stuff makes you look like one.
Seriously, suing? They think they’re some big shot company or something?
RE: Fact #44 (Luxury Building Rejects Mariah Carey) – There’s a co-op near Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. When Mr. Rogers first tried to buy an apartment there, they turned him down. They didn’t want anyone famous who’d draw a crowd.
Nah, I’m good.
I saw a YouTube video about how Logan Paul’s fans are driving the neighbours crazy with all the noise and mess. And those influencers living there? Total jerks.
RE: Fact #4 (Victoria’s Secret’s Marketing Shift) – Columbus, Ohio? Turns out, it’s the panty capital! Go figure.
Columbus is a huge retail hub, home to L Brands, Express, Abercrombie, Ascena, Big Lots, and DSW, among others.
It’s all about logistics, not retail, really. Columbus is a killer logistics hub—it’s only a 10-hour drive from most of the US, the state’s great for businesses, and it boasts an international airport plus a whole other one just for cargo.
RE: Fact #15 (Supreme’s Logo Controversy) – What’s even better is that Kruger just sent back a blank email with a Word doc called “fools.doc” that said: “What a ridiculous mess of uncool jokers. My work’s all about this kind of silly stuff. I’m waiting for them to sue me for copyright.”
About the Supreme lawsuit, she said it was hilarious. She thought it was funny that these supposedly cool, independent people were suing each other over money. That’s the kind of thing her work is about. Her three-sentence reply was her way of responding on their level. It had nothing to do with Supreme “ripping her off”—they’ve done that forever, and she doesn’t care.
Barbara’s awesome; she’s why I got into art. Her reply was spot-on.
She totally made Supreme look ridiculous.
My girlfriend told me there’s a whole Patriot Act episode on this, if you’re interested in learning more. I found it!
I’m totally smitten with her.
RE: Fact #6 (A&F CEO’s Controversial Remarks) – Word on the street at A&F is that Michael Jeffries is a real jerk. Beyond the whole thing about firing his 55-year-old pilot for not looking the part, apparently Abercrombie & Fitch doesn’t donate unsold clothes to charity because it’s bad for their image—they just burn them. I don’t know for sure if that’s true, but it wouldn’t surprise me.
RE: Fact #43 (Ritz-Carlton’s $2,000 Employee Empowerment) – So, my buddy works at the Ritz, right? That two grand is legit, and he mostly uses it to treat customers to free drinks and food. He’s pretty selective about who he does it for, and it’s not like he’s constantly covering up for hotel screw-ups.
One time, he heard these two guys—one a big-shot businessman staying at a nearby hotel—were chatting business poolside. He comped their $600 bill, gave them awesome service, and a few minutes later, they had a manager out there planning their yearly convention. Now, the Ritz gets their business every year – we’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars in banquets and stuff.
And yeah, I may have scored a couple free poolside drinks myself. 😉
My girlfriend last spring had an uncle who was a major private equity guy. He’d take his family to this super fancy resort, The Montage in Laguna Beach – seriously luxurious. He’d spend a fortune, leave early, and let us kids (including my girlfriend) stay the rest of the week, ordering whatever we wanted and just having a blast. What really got me was how the hotel staff would practically bow down when we walked by – always addressing his daughter as “Ms. [Last Name]”. Felt like we were walking around like royalty.
What really got me was how hotel staff would press themselves against the wall when we passed in the hallways. That’s normal hotel stuff if there’s not enough room, but it seemed odd when there was plenty of space.
RE: Fact #22 (De Beers Battles Lab Diamonds) – I’m a millennial, and I’m happy to be putting the diamond industry out of business.
My avocado toast investments are doing great!
RE: Fact #18 (Rigby & Peller Loses Warrant) – Seriously, would you want everyone knowing about your bra fitting? Doubtful, right?
RE: Fact #43 (Ritz-Carlton’s $2,000 Employee Empowerment) – I work at the Ritz-Carlton, and yeah, we have a $2000 budget to make things right for guests or smooth over problems. I mostly use it for stuff like champagne and strawberries for anniversaries or birthday treats—I even handwrite a card. After a while, all the celebrations blend together. You rarely get a thank you.
But then, you meet some amazing people who are blown away by the whole luxury experience. And then there are the jerks who know we have that $2000 and abuse it. They’ll complain about anything—I’ve even had someone pull the “housekeeper broke the glass” stunt.
It’s great to have that power, but it also means people take advantage. I think the hotel gives us that money to avoid paying managers. It’s cheaper to let us deal with complaints instead of calling in a manager for every little thing.
They tell us to use our best judgment—or go with “the punishment fits the crime.” Find a hair in your food? Free meal, and breakfast’s on us! A $200 dinner costs us $35, while a $65 breakfast is only $4.50 for the hotel. The limit’s based on what the guest pays, not what it costs us.
How do they manage to give everyone a $2000 bonus?
RE: Fact #42 (Tom Cruise Saves Ray-Bans) – Using Tom Cruise to sell stuff isn’t exactly brain surgery.
Seriously, that guy doesn’t age!
He scored some alien tech.
I wonder how much they’re shelling out yearly – cash and perks – to keep him from jumping ship.
RE: Fact #38 (Jefferson’s $500,000 Wine Mishap) – That’s how people pull off insurance fraud.
Want me to break something else?
RE: Fact #28 (Allegra Versace’s Inherited Wealth) – Donatella had the smallest piece of the pie, and she always seemed a little shady.
RE: Fact #41 (A&F’s Workplace Discrimination Lawsuit) – Wow, I didn’t know that. That’s gross.
Is it really any worse than Hooters or Twin Peaks only hiring attractive women with big breasts?
Korean Air hiring attractive Asian women.
RE: Fact #6 (A&F CEO’s Controversial Remarks) – Wow, he’s really not attractive.
He’s picky about who wears his clothes, but he wears them himself. What a jerk!
It was even worse than I thought.
He’s a total jerk.
Holy cow!
RE: Fact #2 (Puma Loses D&G Lawsuit) – That reminds me of when Marvel went after City of Heroes, claiming they let players rip off their superheroes. The judge tossed it out because every example Marvel gave was actually made by *their own people*! The judge basically said there was no proof of any real copying.
RE: Fact #45 (Rockefeller Tree’s Swarovski Topper) – That’s a bit much.
RE: Fact #14 (Luxury Goods as Investments) – Anyone want to buy some tulips?
RE: Fact #16 (Burberry Burns Unsold Merchandise) – It’s way overpriced; the name’s 90% of the cost. I mean, yeah, it’s “worth” whatever someone’s willing to pay, but those buyers are clueless.
RE: Fact #44 (Luxury Building Rejects Mariah Carey) – It’s not just for fancy folks; a regular coop can do the same. They don’t even need to explain why they say no.
RE: Fact #26 (Hemingway’s A&F Gun Purchase) – TIL: Abercrombie & Fitch has been around forever, and they used to sell guns!
I wonder what big names will be like in a century.
Glock used to sell guns, can you believe it? Picture this: you’re grabbing a gun and boba tea at the same Glock store.
They were one of the first outdoor gear companies, and then… somehow, male models.
RE: Fact #5 (Neiman Marcus’ Exclusive Clientele) – When I was eighteen, I walked into a Neiman Marcus with a grand in my pocket. Saw these killer crocodile pants and thought, “Screw it, I’ll buy them!” Then I saw the price tag: almost ten grand. Yeah, I left.
I was checking out shoes in a Nordstrom once, and I got to try on these killer $400 Prada loafers. They felt amazing, like walking on clouds! Problem was, I was fifteen, on vacation, and definitely didn’t have the cash—plus my family’s pretty careful with their money, so a spur-of-the-moment purchase like that wasn’t happening. Later in my trip, I tried on some Zegna shoes in Vegas—only $300!—but they were nowhere near as nice as those Padas. I still think about those Prada loafers every now and then, haha.
Wow, my girlfriend and I saw a dress for fifteen grand! So yeah, those pants don’t shock me. They usually don’t go for even numbers at that price point, though. It’s a statement piece; ten thousand bucks screams “high-end luxury” to the wealthy.
RE: Fact #10 (Lead Crystal’s Hidden Health Risk) – Lead glass – was it ever as clear as that picture? It’s weird how lead paint is so opaque, but lead glass is usually clear.
RE: Fact #46 (Gucci’s Historic Tax Settlement) – If they only got 1.4 billion, they were probably owed way more, like at least 14 billion.
RE: Fact #43 (Ritz-Carlton’s $2,000 Employee Empowerment) – Remember that story about the guest who forgot their laptop? Someone actually flew across the country to give it back!
I used to work at a fancy hotel, and, yeah, one time an employee drove a hotel car for four hours to deliver a guest’s lost laptop. So this story doesn’t surprise me one bit.
RE: Fact #28 (Allegra Versace’s Inherited Wealth) – Her sister, Claritin-D, was probably furious.
RE: Fact #39 (Four Seasons Employee Perk) – I worked there twenty years ago, but vacation time wasn’t available until you’d been there a year.
RE: Fact #30 (Rolex: A Meaningless Brand Name) – In Uganda, I kept seeing these egg rolls everywhere, they’re called “rolex.” So, I finally asked why, and the guy told me it’s short for “rolled eggs.”
Hey, in the former Yugoslavia, we have this breakfast thing called hemendeks (or sometimes hemendex). It’s hilarious – turns out it’s just a messed-up version of “ham and eggs,” our grandparents probably came up with it since they didn’t learn English in school.
In Polish, they call roundabouts “rondo”.
Hey, there was this Amazing Race episode where the teams had to make sandwiches, and one team was totally scrambling around a village market trying to find a watch shop.
I looked up that episode – it sounded hilarious! Found it on YouTube, the Rolex scene. Didn’t laugh though, felt really bad for her.
Kind of reminds me of that Hell’s Kitchen chef who made dog food for a dog show menu—she tried, at least.
That’s funny!
RE: Fact #19 (Cervelt: Softer Than Cashmere) – So, the super-rich have to spend their cash on something besides politics and lawyers, I guess.
RE: Fact #41 (A&F’s Workplace Discrimination Lawsuit) – I applied to a Chinese buffet, but they didn’t hire me because I’m not Asian.
RE: Fact #40 (Gucci’s Counter-Branding Against Snooki) – That’s some seriously smart marketing, but it can backfire badly. Remember what happened to Burberry in the UK back in the early 2000s with the whole chav thing? They got a terrible reputation.
What’s the deal with chav culture?
It’s debatable where it all started, but people usually call it Council House and Violence. They’re the type to wear tracksuits and Burberry caps, pick fights outside the pubs, and generally cause trouble. Often, they have a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Imagine trailer park people, but less meth and more into football hooliganism.
RE: Fact #25 (Preservation of Jackie’s Chanel Suit) – I’m surprised Kim K. hasn’t jumped on that bandwagon.
She hasn’t touched it yet, thankfully. That poor dress has been through the wringer.
So you mean that Marilyn Monroe dress Ripley’s owns? Looks like their publicity trick worked! I wouldn’t have even thought about that dress otherwise.
So you mean all the changes Marge Simpson made, right?
I was thinking the same thing! Good to know it’ll be safely tucked away from her for another 80 years.
8 Limousin – entry from Google
“The Limousin, French: Limousine, is a French breed of beef cattle from the Limousin and Manche regions of France. It was formerly used mainly as a draught animal, but in modern times is reared for beef. A herd-book was established in France in 1886.”