Financial Times: how to spend it

Do you read the Financial Times? It's the pink newspaper that is not The New York Observer. It's also the daily newspaper with the highest demographic in the world, i.e. its readers are global moguls with average incomes of like $47 billion. And they read it to figure out how to make even more next year.

I read it most everyday for my day job -- it's actually a great paper. But the best part is its weekly weekend magazine, "how to spend it." Aside from recommending exotic vacation spots and where to find the best cigars and cognacs, it features some of the most astounding couture, with styling and photography that rivals the top fashion books (or so I've heard, I hardly ever read women's magazines, believe it or not).

Like spending a day in Barneys and Bergdorf's, I merely read this insert to find out what is happening in the world of high-end fashion. I will not likely ever be able to...I mean want to - I have my principles, of course!...spend so much money on clothing. However, it is one of the sources from which I form my ideas about what looks and which designers are driving fashion. It arms me with a mind's eye of what I should be looking for as I cruise town as a (wo)man with a mission.

In the edition pictured above, an embroidered lace dress by Alexander McQueen tickles my fancy. And it only costs 4,190 GBP, which, when you take into account the strength of American currency, tranlates into something like $57,000.