No matter what you do or where you turn, there is no way to escape it: Gift-buying season will very soon be upon us and Neiman Marcus hopes you’ve saved some bucks and are ready to spend. 

Actually, forget that. If you need to save some bucks, you likely don’t have enough to afford what’s in the brand-spanking-new annual Neiman Marcus Christmas Book.

If you aren’t lucky enough to get the catalog at home or live close enough to one of the company’s 41 stores, you can enjoy all of its splendors on the 104-year-old company’s website, Facebook page, or iPad app. (There are also video teasers on the luxury retailer's YouTube channel.)

As ever, this year’s catalog — the 85th edition — features a number of over the top “fantasy” gifts.

For a mere $1 million, consumers can purchase His and Hers Dancing Fountains, by hydro designer WET, which created the fountains at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas as well as the world’s largest fountain in, you guessed it, Dubai.Continue reading...

She will be remembered for her remarkable film career, her headline-making love life and many marriages, her friendship with Michael Jackson, even her White Diamonds perfume — 20 years on the market, and still the best-selling celebrity-created perfume in the world.

But the lasting legacy of Dame Elizabeth Taylor, who died today at the age of 79, may very well be her post-acting career: a quarter-century of opening minds (and wallets) to help AIDS research and those living with HIV.Continue reading...