Jewels on Jewels

October 6, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

I was excited to spot this look in the beautifully styled Neiman Marcus multi-page advertising spread in the September 2008 issue of Vogue magazine—a highly textured single-breasted coat of a rich, beautiful autumnal hue topped off with an elaborate statement necklace of large rectangular disks suspended from a chain. The look is by Burberry Prorsum, and it demonstrates an entirely new way to wear necklaces.

In the October 2008 issue of Harper’s Bazaar magazine, Anne Monoky writes about the “wowing trend” in coats for fall: “On many a runway, coa...Read More

October 3, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

From time to time, I come across a photo of an individual styled so beautifully with jewelry that the photo deserves comment and another admiring look.

The nod this time goes to Maggie Gyllenhaal, whose look also merited full-page coverage as “The Best Dress” in Hal Rubenstein’s “The Look” in the October 2008 issue of In Style magazine. Rubenstein salutes Gyllenhaal as an “unconventional beauty in a beautifully unconventional silk floral gown” by Dries Van Noten.

October 1, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (1)

Bracelet-length or three-quarters sleeves have been popular over the last few seasons, and for good reason. They allow the wearer to keep her upper arms covered and still highlight a set of graceful wrists, a beautiful bracelet or two or a wonderful wristwatch. For women whose upper arms are where they carry their weight or, at the other extreme, where their upper arms are very thin or sinewy, sleeves can help the eye skim over the area and bring the focus elsewhere.

Two separate instances of pronouncements about the length of sleeves prompts this posting. First was an episode of “Time Gunn’s Guide to Style,” which advised Gunn’s curvy client JeAnne, after “an extreme weight loss,” that three-quarters sleeves on one of her “before&rd...Read More

September 29, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Matching handbags to shoes, or shoes to handbags, used to be an art form. I still remember most fondly, back in the days before there was online shopping, my aunt’s energetic search of all (and I do mean all) the department stores and shoe salons in Chicago to find just the right shoes that matched the perfect handbag that complemented the coffee cream-colored ultrasuede suit (me) and coat (her) we had acquired. The end result was so polished that I wore that suit with its perfectly matched accessories and loved it until it wore out.

Some of the designer lines, such as Ferragamo, consistently produced matching sets of handbags and shoes, but if they weren’t producing items in exactly the right color, the hunt was on. The look of matched accessori...Read More

September 24, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Taking their cures from precious metals, the evening gowns worn to the Daytime Emmy Awards, with rare exceptions, dazzled with their incorporation of metallic beading or metallic fabric, the effect of which was heightened by the addition of spectacular jewels that coordinated with the metal accents on the dresses.

Diamonds were the runaway favorite, most often white stones set in platinum, and so it was no surprise that silver was the favorite color of beading on the gowns, as seen on the dresses of Kyra Sedgwick and Vanessa Williams.  
   
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