Wholesale Fashion Jewelry & Accessories Blog

Browse through the malls and specialty shops and it quickly becomes apparent that an affordable selection of evening bags in colors and styles is hardly anywhere to be found.  What an advantage for retailers that offer selection in evening bags, especially this month for June brides. 

This summer is the season of bright colors and matching evening bags took off with prom dresses and continue with cocktail dresses and bridesmaid dresses.  Colors that never received a thought last summer are hot in this season’s palette-red, orange, yellow, turquoise, and apple green to name a few.  Add some color to your evening bag selection and the impact will catch the attention of shoppers.

Evening bags are about elegance and this is the top selling point for most customers.  Think timeless design that appeals in every era and that is classic elegance.  These evening bags have universal age appeal and work for every formal occasion and after 5 event including dressing up to dine out. 

Leatherette evening bags with that soft shiny leather look has been coming on strong.  This style appeals especially to the young and makes a great presentation with the basic colors like black, white, gold, and silver.  Pewter and bronze are also superb, but when they go to brights like red and apple green, the results are fabulous.   

Long evening bags have been making a statement in formal accessories for the last three seasons.  The forties look introduced elongated evening bags a few seasons ago and this shape has been important ever since.  Styles in nearly everything from classic to leatherette will offer some options in elongated evening bags, which are too important to ignore this summer.  The style appeals to the young as well as the mature market and is a favorite as bridesmaid bags.

Evening clutches receive a lot of raves in the fashion magazines with oversize clutches being a hot trend this summer.  Wholesalers respond with an increased variety of clutches while they are at the top of their popularity.  Most have tuck-away shoulder straps or handles for hands free use.  Today’s selection has a full spectrum of colors and materials to please all the consumers’ tastes. 

Bridal bags have year round demand with white and ivory most important.   Brides prefer delicate feminine looks, but colors are big as bridesmaid bags and this is a popular bridesmaid gift with today’s bridal parties.  Many evening bags have white and ivory as color options, even in styles that feature brights and metallic colors.    

Evening bags are a necessity for formal events or just an evening out, yet selection is very limited in the retail world.  Major events continue year round to drive sales, starting with holiday and then prom plus bridal that never ends.  In addition there are endless smaller events like balls, theatre, dining out, and church functions that call for a dressier look that includes evening bags.  So give consideration to this low competition market that has buying demand based on need rather than whimsical purchases.

Think for a moment about this–designers of fashion jewelry have hundreds of components to work with to present something fresh; but designers of rhinestone jewelry do it almost entirely with rhinestone chain.  Yet every season new designs are absolutely breath-taking.  Will they ever run out of ideas? 

 Well it certainly didn’t happen this season.  The fresh designs absolutely amazed me as I put new arrivals in wholesale rhinestone jewelry on the website.  This June is the month for June brides so rhinestone is important.  Here are some of the latest designs that will please your bridal customers as well as accessorize the bridesmaids. 

 First gold plating makes a strong presence.  Trends keep talking about the return of gold, but bridal shops and their customers remain dedicated to silver.  The extraordinary designs this summer may move consumers in the gold direction. 

Next comes design.  How does rhinestone jewelry deliver innovative designs season after season?  This summer notice the inclusions of minimal bands of plated metal.  Smooth shiny surfaces add a new dimension to rhinestone designs.  Some create shadows of the rhinestone and others provide a reflective backdrop that the eye barely sees, yet it adds to the impact. 

Fringe designs are on the rise.  Parallel lines of rhinestone drops add a little more impact to the rhinestone jewelry without going to dramatic size that is only for the daring.  Fringe necklaces provide an increase in width and a little more impact with sparkle than delicate sets, yet remain tasteful and elegant. 

Color highlights continue to deliver bridesmaid jewelry to match gowns.  Pink is forever popular and this season red and peridot (light green) provide important colors that are not always on the palette.  Highlight colors mix with clear rhinestones to provide dazzle that is lost in rhinestone jewelry with solid colored stones. 

Now comes the question–what do brides prefer?  The wedding day is too important to take chances and brides realize the wedding day pictures of the bride graced in elegant rhinestone jewelry stay in the family for generations.  So brides want the look perfect and depend on the bridal shops to find it.  The overwhelming choice remains clear rhinestones in silver plated settings that are simple and traditional.  This is the wholesale rhinestone jewelry that continues to ship to bridal shops because this is the look brides feel they can’t go wrong with.  So weight your selection with traditional looks and round out your bridal accessories with gold plating and a few dramatic statements for the more daring.  Also include some rhinestone jewelry with color for the bridesmaids.

The fashion jewelry that populates boutiques, department stores, and accessory shops starts mostly with the wholesale jewelry at shows for retailers and on pads in wholesale showrooms.  It seems to magically appear everywhere with a signature look centered on themes for each season.  How does that happen?

Fads and themes play a big part in guiding wholesale jewelry designs that will show up in fashion magazines and fill the showcases and racks of retailers.  Henrik Vejlgaard ably points out the difference between fads and themes in his book, Anatomy of a Trend. Fads are short term, often one season, and are limited in the area they appeal to and genres they affect.  Trends go much deeper and wider.  They often brew under the radar for a long period before they surface and become wide spread in fashion.  They can also affect other fields such as furniture, art, or literature. 

Remember the skull jewelry that surfaced a couple of years ago when The Pirates of the Caribbean came out.  That was gone in one season and was definitely a fad.  On the other hand, classic design has remained a major theme in fashion jewelry over the last four seasons or more.  This is a trend that appears in apparel, accessories, and even auto manufacturing with the return of retro design in cars-something people love.  Trends are more long term and can evolve over a decade. 

So how does this season’s wholesale jewelry fit into the picture?  Let’s start with bright colors.  Orange, yellow, and apple green are on the palette and doing very well.  These are the citrus colors and they appeared in the late eighties to provide color shock everyone loved, but they only lasted one summer.  They have reappeared at least three times since then and each time only lasted one summer.  This summer, like always, consumers love these vibrant colors in fashion jewelry, but they are unlikely to be back next summer in the same vibrant shades.  We have to call this a fad.

Now what about the classic fashion jewelry with looks that include gemstone and Murano style glass?  They have already enjoyed four seasons of popularity and are likely to continue.  This is the heart of classic trends that include apparel and spreads to other areas that influence our life.  Classic is the central theme of fashion and may continue for several more seasons.  Of course there will be evolutions in design, but a look forward to next season’s fashion previews sees continued classic trends.

Inspirational jewelry with engraved messages is a child of classic trends.  Classic is retro-a look back-and whenever we think of our roots and history, values automatically come in play.  This jewelry expression is already in its third season and shares the trend category with classic looks.

Finally, what about theme jewelry?  Theme jewelry is immune to fashion trends.  Themes appeal to the heart rather than fashion instinct.  The theme pendant and earring line on our site sold right through the mid nineties when another trend, minimalism, promoted a natural look and evaporated the appeal of dramatic jewelry statements and bold colors.  This is the safe haven when dramatic jewelry loses its fashion appeal and is neither a trend nor a fad.  Theme jewelry is a steady item that continues to attract attention regardless of fashion.

The better we understand fads and trends, the better we can direct our business towards fulfilling the consumer’s wants and build success in an ever changing industry.

Am I the only one getting all those unwanted emails about buying luxury goods?  I’m sure the reason for these campaigns is because luxury goods are flying so high.  This is a crazy business when you look at the recent Nielsen Report.  The top luxury buying populations are Greece, Hong Kong, India, and Hungary.  Who would have guessed that?

According to the report, most people say designer brands are overpriced and not significantly higher in quality than standard brands.  Most believe that wearing the brands is to project social status and hardly anyone believes the fakes are as good as the real ones.  Calvin Klein is the number one brand bought while Gucci is the favorite if money were no object.  All that is interesting, but what does it mean to the average boutique or fashion accessory retailer? 

Gobs of money fuel the luxury goods spike and part of this money may be moving to you if people feel they need to tighten up.  Accessories give a new look to apparel already paid for and hanging in the closet.  Wishful thinking?  There is a strong consensus called “the lipstick effect” that buying doesn’t quit; it moves to lower priced goods.  The Upside of Economic Uncertainty elaborates on this tendency in society.  So accessory retailers can benefit by offering unique fashion jewelry and accessories that bring a new look to an outfit at an affordable price. 

Let’s focus on two important looks in wholesale jewelry that will help you update customers’ wardrobes.  Classic deigns in fashion jewelry remain the most sought after look according to our sales statistics and gemstone jewelry proves to be the most popular.  It is natural for all the eco-green customers and has more intrinsic value than costume jewelry in plastics.  Turquoise is the gemstone in highest demand, but all semiprecious stones are doing well this summer.

A second important trend this summer is bright color.  Accessories in bright colors can definitively give apparel a summer 2008 look.  Both necklace sets and bracelets provide that splash of bright color that’s new on the radar this season. 

These are two big hits this summer, but there are several more accessories that give an updated look to apparel.  One simple solution is theme pendants and earrings that provide numerous different looks just by switching the chokers and chains the pendants slide on.  These are excellent for summer sales, but attitude is important also.  Customers buy more affordable accessories because they want to feel good so we need to ignore gloomy news and give them an uplifting experience.

Page through a pageant magazine today and the dramatic earrings jump out at you.  You get the same experience with bridal magazines so in formal wear dazzling big earrings are definitely important.  Today let’s look at some new crystal jewelry that fills the bill. 

 New jewelry designs arrive every week at Accessory Wholesale Inc. so we get a little insensitive to the beauty of recent developments. But a new arrival in crystal earrings even took our breath, and they’re just the thing for dramatic baubles. 

 One impressive design in crystal earrings uses dramatic drops that definitely show vintage inspiration.    A large flat back stone glistens in the center seemingly suspended in open air with an outer border shimmering with smaller crystals.  Tiny leaves blend into the border and a choice of five colors means these earrings can match nearly anything.  Clear even works for bridal.

More excitement comes from dramatic ovals with a teardrop dangling below–definitely Victorian.  Fine filigree frames add significantly to the vintage look.  Antique gold or silver plating provides different looks and again there are color choices. 

Dazzling color radiates from another design in this crystal earring family.  Again the earrings make a statement, but this time more elegant with a pear-shaped crystal that is capped dropping from a small marquis-shaped crystal top.  A filigree border gives the feminine lacey look and colors include vitrail, which has changing peacock colors as light hits the crystals from different angles. 

This is some of the excitement this season brings for pageant and June brides.  Dramatic earrings need to be an option this year in formal and bridal accessories.  Colors will match bridesmaid dresses to make a 2008 statement for weddings.  Now catch your breath because the next few blogs will take you through more gorgeous jewelry and accessories to please your June bride customers.

The issue of new five dollar bills prompted a friend to send me a picture of one with a slight alteration.  The right hand corner read “Good for one gallon of gas”.  Humorous as it was, this is on many retailers’ minds. 

A recent comment to our blog from Tom makes the point:  “We are, (or, at least, for the sake of this question), entering a time of expensive energy for our homes, our cars, and many other items that we take for granted. It will affect our lifestyles in ways more profound than the “Oil Shock” of the 1970’s. How were fashion trends in accessories and jewelry impacted then and how do you see them being affected now? Do people get more fashion-conscious or do they retract in such areas?”

To answer, my business specialized in American Indian jewelry in the late seventies and I was green at it and gave no thought to the economy effecting business (this may be an advantage to new people in the industry).  There was a short period when gas was limited to 10 gallons per customer and lines could be a block long waiting to get to the pump.  I don’t remember any reluctance of people to flood out to shows and festivals or retailers to stock merchandise because of fuel costs. 

Runaway inflation was also part of the picture with mortgages commanding double digit interest rates.  Even this didn’t seem to be a factor.  The problem for all businesses based on sterling silver like American Indian jewelry came in 1979 and it had nothing to do with the economy.  The Hunt brothers tried to corner the silver market and ran the price from around $4.00 per ounce to around $50.00 per ounce, which meant wholesalers could easily sell their inventory, but couldn’t replace it so many went into other businesses. 

All this happened in the Midwest where they felt the pinch of gas prices, but in South Louisiana it was boom times because of offshore drilling.  There was more work than workers and a joke passing around Morgan City said anyone hitchhiking through town would be picked up and sent out on an oil rig.  Then in 1983 oil prices plunged and ushered in the “oil bust”.  Unemployment in the oil-dependent cities loomed around Great Depression figures and in this setting I restarted my business, which grew every year and peaked in 1990.  Growth was based on local business because the internet was not there to provide wide exposure. 

Actually in January of 1984 the greatest phenomenon that I ever experienced in fashion jewelry took place–twist beads.  Retailers needed only these 33 inch strands of beads and twist bead clasps to have phenomenal business.  Women would rush to a retail outlet and spend sixty or eighty dollars on their lunch hour.  Twist beads started in January and were over in May, but I have never seen an item sell like that.  Remember this is the year after the oil bust. 

By 1995 the news was raving about a great economy, but fashion was dictating a natural look with minimal jewelry.  This was dire news for the fashion jewelry industry that thrived on bold statements and color.  Players were dropping out of the fashion jewelry chain from manufacturers to retailers.  Survivors had to change course.  We entered the thriving tourist industry with a line geared to local tourist destinations.  This at least stopped the bleeding.  The fashion jewelry business went south, not because of the economy, but because of fashion trends.

These are my experiences that leave me believing fashion trumps the economy in this industry.  Department stores have an old adage called “the lipstick effect”.  Basically this is women don’t quit buying; they just buy lower priced items like “lipstick”.  Personally, I believe the average fashion retailer will enjoy continued business, some of it coming from money previously spent on luxury goods. 

The stage is set for success with trends favoring bold looks and color.  Only fashion jewelry delivers these ingredients and will continue in demand.  Fashion is our field and not energy so we don’t claim any expertise in solving the fuel problem, but we can see strong attention focused on alternative fuels with coal conversion high on the list.  Several countries have good coal deposits and the US has more than anyone so this could the fuel of the future.  Some believe the gas price is a bubble ready to break.  For more on this see The “Now” in Fashion Jewelry & Accessories and check out the links.

A relaxing Sunday evening of flipping through the TV channels sent me to work on Monday morning with four new things to worry about that I couldn’t do anything about. Doom and gloom glues people to the TV set and sells newspapers.  How different from the fashion jewelry and accessory industry that is a “feel good” business.  No wonder women love to shop.

 Part of the fun is creating new looks and that can be a big savings to customers also.  Vibrant colors are definitely part of summer fashion, but it doesn’t require a new wardrobe.  Shoes, belts, hats, handbags and especially jewelry can give a splash of this season’s color to nearly all of last year’s outfits hanging in the closet. 

Fashion jewelry can add impact with a statement piece.  A bold necklace can deliver the color in a major way, but let it be the focus piece surrounded by smaller earrings and bracelets.  Then it isn’t overdone or gaudy. 

Wonderful creativity can take pace this season because colors, platings, and textures don’t have to match.  Look at In Style Magazine and see how well red shoes go with a yellow handbag.  Mixing bright colors makes a statement that works.  Also mixed metals and platings go together when combining necklaces and bracelets.

 Making this work, especially with colors, takes spatial relationship.  Large bright earrings work better with a bright cuff or bangle bracelet than a bold bright necklace so there is space between the impact jewelry just as the handbag and shoes have space. 

 Don’t make the statement too “hit you in the face”.  Soften the impact with apparel that cooperates. For example, a light salmon top with a coral orange necklace.

 Jewelry can deliver other themes besides bright color in summer fashion trends.  Globalization brings tribal themes and ethnic prints to apparel.  Woods, patina, and gemstone in earth tones can pick these themes up.  Floral jewelry can bring alive the floral print theme.  You save a customer money by accessorizing the apparel in her closet. When she gets that first sincere compliment, she will trust your judgment and be back.

June is here and temperatures are hitting the nineties in South Louisiana.  This is hat time and there are three more months to go.  So, quick, let’s look at hats that are selling because this is the time.

Widebrim Hats

Here is a hat that really provides relief from the sun and everyone looks good wearing them.  Widebrims rise in popularity every summer, but this season has the addition of very fashionable super wide brims.   These hats are making a fashion statement from runways to fashion magazines, but they are not easy to find.  Include some super widebrims in your selection because you may have little competition in this stylish headwear that customers are looking for.

Cowboy Hats

These hats are just too cool to ever go away.  Wholesale cowboy hats are leading every category in orders shipped.  Four of the six top selling hat items are cowboy hats.  This is not everyone’s item, but you probably need cowboy hats if you have younger customers.  Distressed and natural shapeable straws are the best, but color is also selling.  These hats are too good to ignore with festivals, trips to the beach, and outdoor activities upon us.

Kettle Shape Hats

The kettle shape is another popular summer hat that returns every year.  Most have a wider brim that flips up all around and provides sun protection with another cute shape.  Natural straws and color both do well.  White and ivory are the best colors unless customers have a special interest in red hats. Also raffias are offering an upscale look in kettle shape hats this summer. 

Newsboys

Celebrities wearing newsboys make this hat a big hit with the young.  Bright colors add to this season’s sales in a hat that provides a cute look for girls in the summer, though it does little for sun protection.  But then again, there is more than beaches to summer activities and this headwear is great for going out, shopping, or other casual happenings.

Fedoras

Fedoras have been on a steady rise thanks again to celebrities.  This season offers an unusually wide range of choices with both guys and gals going for the look.  Actually, we recently did a reorder on wool fedoras (a winter hat) because even these wholesale men’s fedoras are selling.  The gals have more choices with colors, pinstripes, studs, and a variety of materials.  Fedoras are the hats with most improved sales this summer. 

The 2007 sales report on accessories by Accessories Magazine shows a 110 million dollar annual increase in retail hat sales compared to 5 years ago and this season is starting with strong sales again.  So give hats serious consideration to help build sales this summer.