BEVERLY HILLS HOUSEWIFE ANNOYED AT BUYING $100,000 DRESSES SEEN ON ACTRESSES

ile the red carpet pendulum swings toward inclusiveness, one sacred realm of fashion remains ever exclusive: haute couture, a hush-hush private club that’s invite-only, strictly nontransferable. There’s less than a handful of Los Angeles-based women, out of a global couture customer base of roughly 2,000, who make the biannual trip to shop the new collections in Paris. One of them is Christine Chiu, 33, the wife of prominent Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Gabriel. "It’s safe to say that $100,000 is the average price of a dress," says Chiu, "but no one ever asks about price."