18 months ago - before The Reserve Bank Of India went full gold-tard (raising duties and capital controls) [4], 32-year-old Datta Phuge unleashed his $25,000 gold shirt on the world's women [5], proclaiming "I know I am not the best looking man in the world but surely no woman could fail to be dazzled by this shirt?" However, as RBI has lifted some gold restrictions (realizing the error of their ways after smuggling exploded [6]), we introduce 45 year-old politician and textile magnate Pankaj Parakh... and his $210,000 gold shirt weighing 3.3 kilograms which took 20 people 3,200 hours to create. Now, if that doesn't get him laid (or shot) we don't know what will...
[7]
As The Independent reports, [8]
Pankaj Parakh, a local politician and the owner of a multi-million pound textile business near Mumbai, has had the shirt created out of pure love for the precious metal.
The shirt in question weighs four kilos and is estimated to have cost £127,000. It has seven gold buttons has been created to move flexibly, just like any other shirt. The gold itself is 18-22 carat purity, and there have been no other metals used. It is lined with a thin cloth for added comfort, though the body of the garment is smooth.
A team of 20 people are thought to have spent 3,200 hours crafting the shirt.
...
He will flaunt the shirt on Friday at a special function to celebrate his birthday.
"Gold always fascinated me since I was five years old and studying in school. Over the years, I have become passionate about this royal metal." Mr Parakh said.
"Yet, for my marriage 23 years ago, many guests considered me an embarrassment as I sported more gold than the bride," he recalled.
...
"My family is hardly impressed or interested in my love for gold. They just ignore and accept it as a part of domestic life. But the rest of my extended family thinks I am weird," he said.
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