A dress named desire - at FT.com - 14 minutes ago
At a birthday party recently where the guests were decked out in all sorts of elaborate and modish costumes - tangerine ruffle gowns, extravagant blue evening blouses, white lacy first-communion-style dresses lent sophistication by dark stockings - three women stood out by a mile.

The art market: Fending off pre-sale jitters - at FT.com - 14 minutes ago
All eyes are on New York this week as the richest offering of contemporary art ever to hit the auction block comes up for sale. Sotheby's, Christie's and Phillips will hammer down a combined total of 1,322 artworks, worth in excess of £500m.

Golden Globe - at FT.com - 14 minutes ago
"The whole place was set up on the premise that the theatre would be a disaster." Dominic Dromgoole is close to talking himself out of a job. According to its artistic director, Shakespeare's Globe - which was completed in 1997, the brainchild of American actor and director Sam Wanamaker - was never really meant to be anything like the success it has been.

Sale of the week: Images from rock 'n' roll - at FT.com - 14 minutes ago
Sale: The Peter Golding Collection of Rock 'n' Roll Art Location: Bonhams, 580 Madison Avenue, New York. Tel: +1 323 436 5467

Trouble at t' rice mill as prices double - at FT.com - 14 minutes ago
There is trouble at the rice mill. This awesome array of machinery, spread over four floors in West Bromwich, husks and polishes five tonnes of rice an hour. It is the largest rice mill in Europe, according to owner East End Foods.

Philippines traders shun rice incentive - at FT.com - 19 minutes ago
Philippines traders on Friday largely ignored a government tender designed to encourage private sector rice imports in return for tax concessions.

Former Siemens chief faces admin probe - at FT.com - 29 minutes ago
Heinrich von Pierer, the former chairman of Siemens and one of Germany's most prominent businessmen, is being investigated by prosecutors for an administrative offence in the bribery scandal that hit the German conglomerate but he has escaped criminal charges.

Solidarity with the fishermen - at FT.com - 29 minutes ago
Now here is one of those neat stories about changing times. If you fall in love with the splendid collection of posters from the Paris street rebellions of May 1968 on show at the Hayward Gallery, you will be pleased to hear that you can buy facsimile versions of them for your safe European homes.

Girls (and bags) on film - at FT.com - 29 minutes ago
The Sex and the City juggernaut has rolled into town. The e-mails began piling up more than a month ago: "Introducing Mandarin Oriental's Sex and the City celebration package"; "Put the Sex back into the City with Modern Courtesan's luxurious lingerie line"; "May's must-have accessory for every Sex and the City fan is an iconic 'your name in diamonds' pendant from icecool.co.uk ".

Touching moments - at FT.com - 29 minutes ago
When I set off for Spain on a life-changing reconnaissance mission in the spring of 1983, my first port of call was Pamplona. This was the city Hemingway had favoured, where he set his first major novel The Sun Also Rises, where they race bulls through the streets during the crazy fiesta of San Fermin in July.

'Head to Brooklyn' - at FT.com - 29 minutes ago
Despite being a frequent visitor to New York, I made my first trip across the Brooklyn Bridge only a fortnight ago with many others from Manhattan as we headed for a Paul Simon concert at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.