Old and New

Dear 2010,

Thanks to those who hated me,

you made me a stronger person.

Thanks to those who loved me,

you made my heart bigger.

Thanks to those who envied me,

you make my self-esteem grow.

Thanks to those who cared,

you made me feel important.

Thanks to those who worried,

you let me know that you care.

Thanks to those who left,

you showed me that not everything is forever.

Thanks to those who stayed,

you showed me the meaning of true friends.

Thanks to those who entered my life,

you made me who I am today.

One Last Piece of Advice:

So many people have no clue of what they want.

They don't think independently, merely following what everyone else is doing.

I admire people with a sense of independence, who stand firm on their beliefs.

Calculated "authenticity" is inauthentic.

Trying to appear authentic is role playing, the opposite of true authenticity.

Since culture determines what's currently "cool", you can't be cool and counter-culture. You must choose side.

Trying to be cool tells everyone you are a follower.

The same principle applies in fashion:

You don't wear what other people are wearing.

You create your own style and set the trend.

Style is actually a state of mind.

You're so confident about what you're wearing that others start doubting themselves.

Period.

Loosen up.

Unbend.

You’ll feel better.

Detox.

Does it ever happen to you?

Does it ever happen to you to feel as if there were nothing more to come?

NOTHING

That everything good is past?

And to feel not exactly dull, but sad?

When everything is alright and everyone is cheerful?

The thought has come into my mind that I was already tired of it all,

and that we must all die.

As if all of your life is a mere dream.

I should think so...

a Merry Little Christmas

Have yourself a merry little Christmas.

Let your heart be light.
From now on, our troubles will be out of sight.
Faithful friends who are dear to us gather near to us once more.
Through the years, we all will be together.
If the Fates allow, hang a shining star upon the highest bough.

Christmas eve with the loveliest gleams.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas now.

Best of 2010

Life is a caleidoscope.

Always changing patterns, different in colours.

Symmetry of Asymmetry.

It is beautiful, it is grim, it is frustrating, it is everything...

It is life.

Here, a roundup of year 2010 in style:

Jang Dong Gun & Go So Young’s

# 2010 BEST EPIC WEDDING CEREMONY

This is not a drama but something real.

Mega stars {Korean Brangelina}, Jang Dong-gun and Go So-young tied the knot on 2nd May. The wedding ceremony was held at Shilla Hotel. After teasing the entire nation with their wedding photos, the A-listers couple dazzles us with their conspicuous beauty and guest list. About 500 of influential people were invited, from US Ambassadors to the fellow A-listers.

Mr and Mrs Jang was afterwards spending the long passionate night in the hotel’s presidential suite. Just to rub it in as to how filthy rich they are, the suite cost US $8000 per night. Imagine how delectable the wedding banquet was. The golden couple left for their 4 day honeymoon at Bali, Indonesia the next day.

Go So-young, looked ravishing in her Oscar De La Renta gown. Jang Dong-gun on the other hand, is all dapper in his black tuxedo. A beautiful couple no doubt.

Céline Luggage Tote

The luggage tote has a waitlist that rivals the Hermes Birkin, so if you're looking for one, call the store asap at 214-559-4510 (Singapore).

A little advice: Get the calfskin, better structured.

Runway Report: S/S 2010

# 2010 BEST FASHION MAGAZINE

Need a little rendezvous of the past seasons?

Still can't get over those styles?

From flirty dresses and utilitarian separates to ’60s trompe l’oeil and futuristic motocross, the spring/summer 2010 shows which offered looks that were smart, playful, and chic are gorgeously compiled here:

The Corinthian Club

# 2010 BEST COUNTRY CLUB

Presenting the ever fluctuating Corinthian Club located in the heart of Glasgow... The Glasgow Ship Bank was built in 1843 and ranks high on the city’s most intricate and ornate buildings list. And now, millions of pounds later, the establishment has opened its doors again to become the epitome of classic brilliance and new beauty.

The Corinthian Club features a casino, hotel suites, bars, restaurants, meeting rooms, and press rooms. This grand, Victorian former bank is now all about fine food at affordable prices. Ideally situated in the center of Glasgow, The Corinthian Club is always abuzz with activity.

Enter and you'll find bars to your left and right, above and below - a myriad of bar styles, including 30s cocktail and girlie boutique all feature, each providing something new and unique. We ate in the grand and majestic banking hall, which is now knows as the Tellers Bar and Brasserie. The ceilings soars and is framed by the most amazing cornicing and ornate plasterwork. Modern touches are fused with the building’s original decedent glamor. The restaurant below is replete with beautiful bays and cozy winged seating surrounding a central bar - the lively hubbub is both exciting and welcoming.

The ostentatious Victorian architecture - as well as a host of quirky touches - ensures that The Corinthian Club provides a feast for your eyes as well as your palate. So If you feel like getting dressed up and going to a place where you can have a cocktail, dinner, and then dance -all under one roof, then come here. Enjoy!

Boxed Water

# 2010 BEST GREEN DAIRY PRODUCT

Part sustainable water company, part art project, part philanthropic project, and completely curious. Boxed Water Is Better, is a boxed water company.

Started with the simple idea of creating a new bottled water brand that is kinder to the environment and gives back a bit - The Boxed Water found that it shouldn't be bottled at all, but instead, boxed. So they looked to the past for inspiration in the century old beverage container and decided to keep things simple, sustainable, and beautiful.

About 85% of the Boxed Water container is made from a renewable resource, trees, that when harvested in a responsible, managed, and ethical way serve as an amazing renewable resource that benefits the environment even as it's renewed. They ship the boxes flat to their filler which is significantly more efficient compared to shipping empty plastic or glass bottles to be filled.
They really care about the world's water supply. 10% of their profit is donated to world water relief foundations.

I love the idea of drinking water when that helps to plant more trees and protect our forests.

Jane Aldridge of Sea of Shoes

# 2010 BEST FASHION BLOGGER

The new front row: Who's got the best seats at Fashion Weeks?

Jane Aldridge Paris, Texas: Who knew the Lone Star State could be so chic? Aldridge, the 17-year-old blogger phenom behind Sea of Shoes, has a wardrobe that could make stylists in the Marais rethink their outfits. She wears a Junya Watanabe flight coat and Givenchy bondage wedges to school (though only when it's a no-uniform day, presumably).

Kanye Approved

Glossy magazines have been tracking Aldridge since at least 2008, but the greatest compliment of all? Getting an e-mail of approval from Mr. West and a plug on his blog in March. From then on, she's the fashion blogs darling! Check out her site!

Robert Downey Jr.

# 2010 BEST ACTOR

Hailed by many critics as one of the most brilliant and versatile actors of his generation, Robert Downey Jr. chalked up a formidable onscreen track record that quickly launched the young thesp into the stratosphere.

Although, for a time, Downey's stormy offscreen life and personal problems threatened to challenge his public image, he quickly bounced back and overcame these setbacks, with a continued array of impressive roles on the big and small screens that never sacrificed his audience appeal or affability.

"Robert has a way of making everyone around him feel very special and comfortable," Michelle Monaghan, his costar in Due Date, raves about the 44-year-old. "Whenever I see him, I walk away smiling. Those beautiful brown eyes may have something to do with it."

Chair Couture,

# 2010 Best {green} Design Inspiration

How to Wake Up in a Field

Each one-of-a kind piece in New York-based Chair Couture's green collection is a bold, contemporary splash of the outdoors. Founder Margaret Elman reupholsters finds with her own nature-inspired recycled polyester and organic cotton fabrics--say sunlight glinting through the trees, dappled water, a field of gently waving dandelions, and grass so lush it looks in need of a mow.

Voila, a bold, modern, nature-inspired collection!

Euphoria, Calvin Klein

# 2010 BEST FRAGRANCE

Mysterious beauty, intoxicating glamour
An air of seduction transparent with desire
Arouse the senses, illuminate the dream…

The beautiful fragrance starts with sweet fruits; the pomegranate and persimmon are liberally sugared, and the “lush green accord” adds a kind of synthetic freshness that floats above but does nothing to temper the syrupy sweetness. It moves quickly into the dry down, which is blended floral notes mingling with now-indistinct fruits, the whole doused with a warm vanilla cream laced with patchouli, amber and a hefty dose of musk.

The iconic Euphoria bottle has been rediscovered with a silver shell draped over the shoulders, exposing the signature bottle’s sensuous curves. The color of the fragrance is sheer and elegant, with the sleek champagne interpretation of the outer packaging refined and delicate.

The Cat That Ate The Canary

# 2010 Best Trend

Miu Miu's Spring Prints

Everybody's cold black heart should slowly turning red for these flighty friends. Whimsical bird prints were seen all over Miu Miu’s Spring runway and if Prada’s doing it, that’s enough reason to overcome ornithophobia. Incorporating bird prints and charms into Spring outfits takes it to soaring new heights.

Mad Cow Restaurant

# 2010 BEST CONCEPTUAL RESTAURANT

Cuisines: Steakhouse
Neighbourhood: City Centre
330 Georges Street, Sydney 2000, Australia
(02) 9240 3000

Mad Cow might just be the least appealing name for a steakhouse ever, but it’s certainly memorable. Its look speaks of sweetness and light (breaking with the steakhouse clichés and trying something new). The oversized lampshades, all-booth seating and the array of cute little chandeliers and shades are all white or picked out in a very zesty shade of lemon. Pale green carnations and little bunches of hydrangeas adorn the tables.

Back of house, head chef Christopher Whitehead has been meticulous in ensuring that Mad Cow. has something to suit all tastes. Having built the restaurant reputation on the exceptional steak offering, the super heated grill ensures that every steak that leaves the kitchen is cooked to the customer's expectation of perfection.

The team's attention to details, such as having a match wine list personally selected by Filippo L'episcopo (overseen by Gourmet Traveller's Somelier of the year, Franck Moreau) were not missed by the judges at the 2011 SMH Good Food Guide Awards, where Mad Cow received one hat.

for Cover-Girls-Wanna-Be...

# 2010 BEST GIFT IDEA

pefect gift for Christmas, the Vogue cover-mirror.

Suri Cruise, Youngest Style Icon

# 2010 Best Style Icon

Suri Cruise, the daughter of Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise, is only a tot. And she's already a style icon the world over. Designers are desperate to dress her, and the mini fashionista's £2million wardrobe features custom made clobber from every big label.

Suri has been spotted wearing a Ralph Lauren dress or a Burberry coat or with a white leather Valextra designer bag. She even has a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes! They were custom made for her after a mold was taken of her feet. We wonder if she'll get a new pair every time her feet change sizes.

We never thought we'd be going to a 3-year-old for fashion advice, but we'd probably wear everything Suri Cruise wears if it happened to come in our size. She is officially the hottest tot of the year. Based on cuteness alone, she has become a real star!

Karl Who?

# 2010 BEST QUOTE

Personality begins where comparison ends.
-Karl Lagerfeld

Glamorous Gossip Girl

# 2010 Best TV Series

Why do we love Gossip Girl?

The fashion and drama.

The cat fights and kisses.

They make Mondays so much better.

You know you love me...

xoxo,

Gossip Girl.

♥

Hermes' Dark Fairy Tale

# 2010 BEST AD CAMPAIGN

Hermes Fall Winter 2010

For some reasons, Hermes always plays with fairy-tale plots and characters for its campaign. Now it's time to darken up, tighten up and watch Constance Jablonski doing the magic for the Fall Winter 2010 ad campaign. Constance angles for luxury Hermes bags and rides a horse to get the desired Hermes scarf. Pure delight, all immortalized through Paolo Roversi’s lenses.

Alber Elbaz, Dress Whisperer

# 2010 BEST DESIGNER

In the eight years that Elbaz has been designing for Lanvin, the oldest surviving French fashion house, he has transformed it from a dusty artifact of the past into something influential and prominent. His vision has also started to trickle down to the mass market. {Who doesn't love Lanvin for H&M?}

Who the hell is Alber Elbaz?

Elbaz worries constantly and openly, and there seems to be something fundamental about him in need of comforting. If he is melancholy and heavy, his clothes are joyful and weightless. He often describes his work as “classic with a twist.”

Elbaz was born in Morocco. When he was eight months old, his family, like many other Sephardic Jews at the time, moved to Israel. He left home in 1985 and moved to New York to pursue a career in fashion. Geoffrey Beene hired him as an assistant designer and served as his mentor for seven years.

In 1997, Elbaz moved to Paris to become head designer at Guy Laroche. After Elbaz had spent just over a decade in the business, Yves Saint Laurent and his partner, Pierre Bergé, recruited him to be head of ready-to-wear for Y.S.L. In November 1999, the Gucci Group, headed by Tom Ford and Domenico De Sole, bought Y.S.L. Two months later, Elbaz was dismissed and Ford was installed as head designer. Elbaz was devastated. Ford both reflected and shaped the culture of the nineties. He made it cool to flaunt. But in our current moment Tom Ford, with his cufflinks that cost as much as a car and his naked-men-on-bearskin-rugs aesthetic, seems distant and comical. Elbaz doesn’t want to define trends. He wants his designs to be timeless.

Elbaz and his dreams: Lanvin

Like Elbaz, Jeanne Lanvin sought to design fashion that transcended seasonal fads. She found founded her label in 1889, starting out as a milliner and later dressing Paris’s upper class. The company built a name with ultrafeminine clothing, marked by elaborate trimmings like embroidery and beading, as well as its popular fragrances.

After a period of decline at the end of the twentieth century, Lanvin found new financial and critical success with the 2001 arrival of designer Alber Elbaz, who is frequently lauded for his technical skill and innate sense of what women want to wear. The Israeli designer has made Lanvin one of fashion's most coveted labels.

Today, it’s the oldest French fashion house in operation. And while it encompasses menswear, it is best loved among editors and celebs for exquisitely made womenswear. Duchesse satin, cocktail-length frocks (often with one shoulder), dressed-up cigarette pants, and volume experimentation are signatures.

Pictures via The New Yorker

Life Lesson:

about THE BIG GUY UP THERE:
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
34. God loves you because of who God is,
not because of anything you did or didn't do.
38. Yield.

ME, MYSELF and I…
23. Be eccentric now. Don 't wait for old age to wear purple.
32. Don 't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
35. Don 't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

Don’t forget THE BFFs & FAMILY SQUAD…
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

Forgive everyone for everything.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick.
Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

phiLOVEsophy…
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life,
don't take no for an answer.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
36. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

It’s all about the MONEY?
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

MEAN GIRLS SYNDROME?
12. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
13. Don 't compare your life to others.
You have no idea what their journey is all about.
24. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's,
we'd grab ours back.

O, O, You’re in Trouble?
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
15. Growing old beats the alternative -dying young. Always choose life.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words
'In five years, will this matter?'
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
33. Believe in miracles.

a lil REMINDER
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, and wear the fancy lingerie.
Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
27. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
28. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

in the END,
1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
22. Over prepare, and then go with the flow.
37. The best is yet to come.
39. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift

To Mr. Christmas.

To North Pole.

I know it's a very busy time for you:

Getting the sleigh ready,

making sure the elves are doing their job,

Checking your list of good girls and boys.

I've been a good girl all year long.

Here's is my secret wish-list.

I'll be waiting for the delivery.

P.S. We don't have chimneys in Indonesia,

but I'm leaving the door key under the mat.

Pictures via Hermes

Turn Back Time

Lollipops turn into cigarettes.

Soda becomes vodka.

Kisses turn into sex.

Remember when getting high meant swinging on the playground?

When protection meant wearing a helmet?

When the worst things you could get from boys were cooties?

Dad’s shoulders were the highest place on earth and mum was your hero?

War was only a card game, and your worst enemies were your siblings.

Race issues were about who ran the fastest.

The only drug you knew was cough medicine.

The most pain you felt was when you skinned your knees,

and goodbyes only meant until tomorrow?

And we couldn’t wait to grow up.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This Thanksgiving, we give thanks...

for the love and health of family and friends,

delicious food,

and of course, football.

As Erma Bombeck once said,

“Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare.

They are consumed in twelve minutes.

Half-times take twelve minutes.

This is not coincidence.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

Picture via Angeline Melin

Making Up for Bad Health Habit

Bad Habit: Poor Posture
Misaligned posture can lead to back, knee, hip and neck issues as well as collapsed arches and a host of other problems. If you’ve had poor posture most of your life, you probably think there’s nothing you can do to improve it. Not true! You can make changes instantly, transform yourself and don't have to wait to see results.

This easy exercise to turn back years of bad posture habits: “Stand with your heels almost touching a wall. Roll your shoulder blades back and drop them down until they touch the wall. Slightly lower your chin and pull the base of your head against the wall, lengthening the back of your neck. Hold this position for 15 seconds, breathe, rest and repeat. If you cannot touch the wall, then your goal is to work up to it slowly.”

Jessica Stam NYC pied-à-terre

Stam was brought up on a farm in rural Ontario, Canada. She lived in a Victorian house, had a cow named Bessie and a collie named Lassie, and was the only girl amid six strapping brothers. That's before a modeling scout discovered her in 2002, when she was 15, sipping hot chocolate at a doughnut shop. Now, she mused Steven Meisel, and her face, with its huge eyes and small pointy chin, become the defining look of the aughts. She lives super stylishly and jet about life. But there's a hint of the country girl craving to be synthesized, other than a scrubbed, a fresh quality beneath her rock ’n’ roll cool...

So, she bought the bright, polished one-bed two-bath; drawn to its location, a few blocks from New York City’s Union Square, and the fact that it “wasn’t cookie-cutter.” In a converted factory building, it had prewar proportions (high ceilings, huge windows), but it also had the spa steam shower and designer kitchen!

She removed some of the wallpaper in favor of muted gray paint. She kept bits of the satin and Lucite, but added more tailored elements— a plump little ’40s chair was reupholstered in black-and-white tweed from the same factory that produced Chanel’s fabrics; the pink satin headboard in gray leather; chrome and crystal lamps replaced ornate white ceramic.

Although she says she’s not at all into “granny,” it’s hard not to notice that her favorite new sheets are edged in cotton embroidery and that there’s a shabby rustic wooden chair tucked in a corner; a thrift-store painting of a bird (that she asked not be photographed because it didn’t quite go) in the guest bathroom; and many, many photos of her family, who still live in Ontario. Well, when your past includes snowmobiles, a tree house built by Dad, and 500 acres, but you just walked nine runways in Paris, which is now your favorite city, it’s rare to find yourself at home.

Miss Dior Eau de Toilette

Discover a dazzling spring floral interpretation of the classic Miss Dior Chérie, created by Dior Master Perfumer, Francois Demachy! This fresh and elegant floral-chypre successor aims at younger women who enjoy freedom and independence.

It opens with a lilting fruity note for a fresh and joyful first impression. Transparent notes of freesia and lily of the valley start this spring, feminine composition which lines up accords of jasmine, orange blossom and tuberose. This floral bouquet evokes the sense of a garden full of flowers. Top notes are enriched with pleasant and almost fruity accents which lead us into a heart with charming popcorns, followed with pralines and vanilla. An elegant, signature base note of chypre effect and a dose of elegance with patchouli accords completes the captivating essence.

The fragrance is available as 50 and 100 ml EDT, shaped just like Miss Dior Cherie EDP edition from 2005. Liquid of the new EDT version is gentle pink. Tim Walker`s advertising campaign features a spring garden with roses in bloom.

for True Music Lovers...

an excellent gift guide for the holiday season:

A. Pink Martini

Sympathique, Pink Martini's wildly popular debut album, was released in 1997. It has gone on to sell over 750,000 copies worldwide and has taken the band around the world on tours to the Cannes Film Festival, Lebanon, Turkey and Taiwan among other far-flung destinations. Songs from Sympathique appear on numerous music compilations including Starbucks/Hear Music, Buddha Bar, Hotel Costes, West Elm, Faonnable, Putumayo, Nordstrom, Williams-Sonoma and in various films such as In the Cut, Nurse Betty and Josie & the Pussycats, and have been used on television shows such as The Sopranos and The West Wing, among others.

B. Paolo Conte

Italian singer-songwriter Paolo Conte is famous for his gravelly voice – often compared to singer-poets such as Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen - his elegant and seductive rhythms, melodies and lyrics that sometimes veer towards hot jazz or bar-room tangos. It is a music of memories - half true, half dreams, poetic fragments of colors, images and fantasies.

C. Melody Gardot

My One and Only Thrill is the spellbinding Gardot's album, eloquently confirms her as a supreme songwriting talent possessed of a truly sublime voice. Gardot's effortless blend of soft-edged, late-night jazz and quiet, introspective blues is on exquisite display throughout. The album's title track is a 4am-in-the-morning confessional masquerading as a bittersweet ballad that lingers long in the imagination.

D. The Courteeners

A northern band with a lead singer who has an outspoken opinion? Rattling snare drums, staccato guitars and tales of urban youth in meltdown? No wait…come back!

Oh, So Coco!

One of the most popular models in recent memory, Coco Rocha is truly a model media darling.

Rocha was born in Toronto, Ontario, and moved to Richmond, British Columbia at a very young age. Her family is in the airline industry. Her mother, Juanita, is a flight attendant and her father, Trevor Haines, is a ticket manager. She has one sister named Lindsay and one brother named Greg Morandin. She is of Irish, Russian, and Welsh descent.

Discovered at an Irish dance competition at the age of 14, it took Vancouver-born Coco Rocha a year before she even agreed to model and danced her way to the top.

Since her debut, Rocha has been the face of a variety of advertising campaigns including Americana Manhasset, Balenciaga, Chanel, D&G, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Lanvin, The Gap, Tommy Hilfiger, Yves Saint Laurent and Rimmel. Vogue Paris declared her one of the top 30 models of the 2000s.

Rocha is one of the few models who has spoken out against the prevalence of eating disorders in the modeling industry. She has acknowledged the pressure she faced as a fledgling model and recalls becoming obsessed with food after a trip to Singapore where she gained ten pounds. In an email to the Associated Press, she gives an insight into the fashion world, saying: "I'll never forget the piece of advice I got from people in the industry when they saw my new body ... They said, 'You need to lose more weight. The look this year is anorexia. We don't want you to be anorexic but that's what we want you to look like."

Rocha married interior designer James Conran on June 9, 2010.

Behind the Seams of a Birkin

Hermès Birkin handbags are hand-built by experienced craftsmen, one of the primary factors contributing to the high price of all Hermès handbags. The production of each bag may take up to 48 work hours, translating into weeks. They are distributed worldwide to Hermès boutiques on intentionally unpredictable schedules and in even fewer reliable quantities, creating a sense of scarcity and exclusivity around the product.

The exterior of the bag can be made of a variety of leathers. One of the most expensive variations of the bag is made of saltwater crocodile skin. The price of these bags depends on the size of the scales. Bags with smaller scales cost much more than those with larger scales.

Typically, a Birkin bag's lining is made of goat skin and its color will match the bag's exterior color. The bags can also be special-ordered with custom leathers and colors, but order privileges are granted only to certain established Hermès clients, and again, on an unpredictable basis.

Orders are reportedly submitted to Paris twice a year, with "special-order" bags coming back anywhere from a year to two years later. Occasionally, special orders may never arrive, as Hermès is notorious for discontinuing certain leathers or colors without notice, frequently making the arrival and "pick-up" of a special order Birkin a cause for some fun fanfare both for the client, and occasionally even for boutique staff.

The metallic hardware on a Birkin bag (the lock, keys, buckle hardware and feet studs) are typically plated with gold or other precious metals, such as palladium, which, unlike silver, will not tarnish. The metal lock may be covered with leather as an option when custom ordering. Certain notable Hermès clients have paved buckle hardware with diamonds, notoriously resulting in one black crocodile skin Birkin which notably sold for close to $65,000 at auction in 2005.

Birkin lock keys are enclosed in a type of leather lanyard known as a "clochette" which is typically, but not necessarily, carried by looping it through one of a Birkin's handles. The Birkin bag may be locked by closing the bag's top flaps over all buckle loops, wrapping the buckle straps, and closing the lock on the front hardware. Locks and keys are number-coded.

Meet Me at the Corner

I remember the corner.

The corner of your color.

The corner of your smile.

The corner where we kissed.

The street corners turning into the corners of the corridor.

Into the corners of the room where we lay.

The corners of your mouth, of your eyes.

The corners of words we didn't finish.

The corner of your name.

On the corner where we parted.

I remember the corner.