For more than a century, New York City has been home to a constellation of department stores whose openings, closings, and transformations have charted the fortunes and foibles of the city itself.
When I dine with CEOs at Michael's in New York or Spago in L.A., we score the best tables. On my own, I wind up seated near the kitchen doors.
What is it about the cut of certain clothes that signals 'VIP?' Men's Brioni suits and Charvet shirts are famous for it.
Clothes are particularly hard to value. While cars and high-tech gadgets - Maseratis, Audemars Piguet watches, and first-generation iPhones - offer not only performance but the cachet of a visibly rich item, clothing does less to convey what you spent on it. Clothes get stained and snagged, and they go out of style quickly.
