I'll admit it, I not only owned a pair of combat boots in my teens but I wore them with dresses. Mind you, it was the early 90's and grunge was all the rage...so don't judge. I still have a soft spot for feminine dresses with bad ass boots...and lately I have been jonesing for a pair of cowboy boots to wear with my closet full of skirts. Eh, I figure if I'm going to be a Texan, I might as well embrace it and embrace it I will...the search starts tomorrow!
photo from Marie Claire, March 2010
Part of my job is to know what is going on in the world of design. I have started sharing with you some of the snippets that industry in the last few emails and it's made me realize that perhaps there is more to share than just pretty pictures. As much as I love eye candy, all of the images in the world are useless if you don't what to to do with them. That goes for fashion and specifically jewelry as well. You can have the worlds largest collection of beautiful jewelry but if you are unsure of how to wear it all, those little pretties will just sit there collecting dust. You should be having fun with fashion...and particularly with jewelry as it can very quickly update or change an entire outfit in seconds!
Today I wanted to let you know that one of the age old jewelry rules is meant to be broken.
Yes, that is correct...you are free to mix those silver and gold chains, stack your brass, copper and gold bangles, wear a gold watch with silver bangles and pile on white gold, yellow gold and rose gold bands on your finger! As the tip states...they key is keep all of the pieces the same style and scale, regardless of metal color. In other words...don't wear your modern gold cuff with a pair of dainty antique platinum and diamond earrings and avoid mixing a chunky gold necklace with a delicate silver chain.
Another way to keep a cohesive look, is to wear a two toned piece as a way to ground your mixing. For example, when shopping for a new watch a few years ago, I opted for a stainless steel model with gold (or brass?) links in the band as well. I am rather thankful for this now as my engagement ring is platinum and yet I wear almost vintage brass necklaces exclusively. The two toned watch brings it all together nicely and makes sense of the mix of metals. Speaking of wedding rings, two toned wedding bands be it white and yellow gold, platinum and rose gold or any other combo are also an excellent way to always have a foundation piece on for mixing metals.
Have fun mixing your jewelry and know that this tip applies to interiors and metallic clothes and accessories as well!
The older I get, the more I subscribe to the idea of buying a much smaller quantity of clothes each season, but making sure the ones I buy are high quality, timeless and look great on me. I pretty much wear a daily uniform of solid shirt with a printed full skirt and flats. When I dress up, I switch to a dress and add heels...and the dresses I choose almost always have a defined high waist and full skirt. Like I said, I know what works. The only downside is, I sometimes get a bit bored with what I have. Lucky for me, I am a jewelry designer, so I have access to an unlimited supply of jewelry to instantly update whats already hanging in my closet. I will admit though that there are a handful of pieces that I wear constantly and in fact only add a few new pieces to the rotation each season there as well. What can I say, I'm a busy girl, I don't have a great deal of time to spend figuring out what to wear!
One of my favorite ways to stay in the moment with my classic wardrobe is to check out the Pantone Colors for the season and accessorize with those. I love color, and its so fun to see what designs come out each season in the new palettes! Above is the Fall 2011 Pantone Color chart, they are all so pretty!
Now that you know what the most stylish colors are, you need to consider what the jewelry trends are for the season. This fall, three basic ideals stand out...
1. Bigger is better. Wearing one statement pieces goes a long way...and means you have to less to decide on that day!
2. Mixing metals is fresh and modern. Go ahead...mix gold and gun metal!
3. Layering necklaces is a simple and cool way to create your own unique look. Mix a few long chains, or even pile on the shorter chunkier styles, how you do it is up to you!
Well, now you are armed with the knowledge of the colors and styles of jewelry to adorn your self with for the season...how will you do it?
Farah Zsa Zsa Bling Ring Fuchsia
This Fall, I have three Zsa Zsa Bling Rings that I plan on rotating as they are such an easy last minute addition of color! The gold crystal wrapped in a gold , the pale blue crystal wrapped in a gunmetal and for really adding color, the amethyst crystal wrapped in fuchsia ! I personally prefer the crystals as I can wear them during the day easily too.
Vanir Mermaid Parade Necklace
As big necklaces are already my thing, I plan on wearing the as the green is perfect for fall...and I love the lion with his little heart hanging off of his paw. I also have been waiting for cooler weather to break out my current favorite Mermaid Parade, the ...and it's so perfect for this seasons colors!
Just You & Me Necklaces
For the layered look, I LOVE to wear all four of the at once, the vintage charms look gorgeous hanging all together in a cluster!
Earring wise I still go to the Sweetest Thing Earrings as they can be worn with big necklaces and add a little color. The , and are the perfect pink for the season!
Amana Material Girl Earrings
I have been really loving big earrings at night though...and I plan on making the a staple of my Fall night looks...they are made with vintage sequins and are light as air!
What has been getting me really excited for fall though are the new bracelets! They will be available next week and are made from Vintage Scarves and are so comfortable that you can't even tell you're wearing it. The only problem I have, is which one I will wear?
So what are you buying for this season? Do you treat yourself to a closet full of clothes, add shoes and jackets or update the accessories? Would love to hear what you're excited about this season!
I am finally getting the recap together from Fashion Week. As my apartment will not be ready until September 10th, I have been staying with Adam...and he moved this past weekend. Chaos is beyond what my life has been.
I however am finally enjoying a few quiet hours of solitude and catching up as much as I can. So I can now share how the Jewelry Showcase went! Note that I sadly took very few photos that night as it was crazy busy...I'm pretty bummed about that...but what can you do.
I was invited about a month ago to be part of the Jewelry Showcase during Austin Fashion Week, the showcase is a curated event of the best 16 or so designers from around the country. I was BEYOND nervous leading up to the event and to make my stress levels soar, my moving pod had not arrived and I had no display. I spent the few days before scrambling around at Ikea, Home Depot and Michaels trying to gather materials to build a new presentation. I had no idea how it would look or if it would even work when set up. Without the pod, I also had nothing to wear. Adam being the awesome boyfriend that he is, declared that he wanted to buy me a new dress for that night so Holly and I set off on a mission that morning which took us to 7 stores before we found a dress that fit right, but we did it!
The event was at the in Austin, a historic and gorgeous back drop for the show. We had the second floor, the center of which was the runway and podium and then there were two rooms off of it where the jewelry designers were all set up. When you walked into the room I was in, Manic Trout was the first thing you saw...I thought that was pretty awesome.
As you can see, I was pretty happy with how the display turned out...not bad for starting from scratch...I did miss my glass blocks though.
Those images are Manic Trout in the press...it looked impressive shown all at once and I think a better display than the usual binders that I had been using. The whole night was a whirlwind of new faces and the fashion elite of Austin. Business cards were changing hands in a blur and the swarm of press and the fashion elite was intoxicating. At one point during the evening I was even interviewed for the CW Austin!
Being set up around the room was only the tip of the iceberg though...the highlight of the event (and the part that made me want to throw up when I thought about it) was the presentation part of the evening. Each designer had 3-5 minutes to give a speech and 4 models to show jewelry on. I was editing my speech and trying to mentally slow myself down up until the last second I got up on that stage.
It went well...although the lights went off in the middle for no reason and it caused me to stumble over my words for a second, but both the lights and my speaking ability quickly recovered! I finished up with..."I am excited to share that even though at the moment my life is trapped somewhere in transit inside of a moving container, as of this week, Manic Trout officially calls Austin, Texas home!" which received such a loud applause and shouts from the audience that the co-coordinator asked me when I stepped down and returned back stage what I said to receive the loudest applause of the night. It felt good.
More details to come later, but I had to share this asap...I was one of the designers interviewed by The CW Austin last night and you can watch it!!
Ok, here's the dealio...I ordered this dress for my sisters graduation at the end of May. Deets to keep in mind, the ceremony is at 11 am on a Sunday and its on a lawn, so I will need to wear flats.
I ordered it from the Ann Taylor Weddings & Events department, you can see it and I thought it was going to be more pink from the photo...however the color is named fresh tulip, so I should have thought about that. Anyway, its more purple then I imagined but really is the color of a tulip.
I'm not really sure about it. Its seems kind of off...I think I usually go for a fuller skirt. I really would love some input here, should I keep it for graduation? Help! (excuse my weird faces...I wasn't really paying attention to the timer)
I highly doubt you'd be shocked to discover that I'm known to wear a lot of color...and that I grew up watching Punky Brewster. Last Friday it was cold and bleak, so I decided I would pile on vibrant hues to make the night a bit more cheerful. The result is a bit berry like, but fun...you should have seen what it looked like with my bright red, fur trimmed moon boots!!!
sweater: victoria's secret; skirt: kenar; tights: we love colors; shoes: aldo. All jewelry: manic trout. & .
I had to wear all black last Saturday for work and decided to keep the same basic outfit for night, but make it a little more fun with colored tights and an awesome vintage jacket. The great thing about all black is that the jewelry really pops...and in my world, that's awesome.
I'll admit that I sometimes use random inspiration when I get dressed and the morning outfit was very Degas goes to a funeral. I was so exhausted by evening (as you may notice in my super enthusiastic energy I am exhibiting in those photos) that I was lucky to change part of my outfit...I lost energy in the hair department, so no judgment please 
Day Version:
shirt: my mom gave it to me I think, no idea where it is from but there is a lovely detail of tiny black beads around the neck and sleeves. skirt: victorias secret (their clothes really are perfect for little, curvy figures like my own 5'2" frame). gray tights: we love colors. shoes: ciao bella. all jewelry: . . .
Night Version:
shirt: my mom gave it to me I think, no idea where it is from but there is a lovely detail of tiny black beads around the neck and sleeves. (same as above) skirt: victorias secret (same as above). jacket: vintage Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche. bright blue tights: we love colors. shoes: ciao bella. all jewelry: . . . Gloria Zsa Zsa Bling Ring with limited edition peacock blue setting.
Image from Numero 109 Dec/Jan 10
Colored tights!!!
I will be kind enough to share my secret source with you for the bounty of colored leg wear: has an AWESOME selection of colored tights. The question now is...what colors do I buy this year???
I wear mostly charcoal gray, black and brown dresses in the winter, and I always buy a fuchsia pair...but what else should I get??
I have for many years now thought that Giselle was the most beautiful of all the pretty ladies in the world...this photo shoot just made me think so even more...
Image from Muse Magazine #22
Image from Muse Magazine #22
Image from Muse Magazine #22
Who do you think is the fairest of them all?
