Wholesale Fashion Jewelry & Accessories Blog

BLOGGING ON THE INTERNET is becoming a celebrity-rich adventure, with top web sites bringing in big-name personalities as guest bloggers for a day or a week or more. 

On one of the top bridal sites, the newest guest blogger for the week is none other than Ivana Trump, the blonde beauty queen who revamped the Plaza Hotel as just one of her many business accomplishments and who is reportedly soon to be engaged to Jared Kushner,  a hunk younger than her own kids.  Hey, if men can do it, why not women…?

Of course, Ivana is better known as the former wife of billionaire Donald Trump. A woman of impeccable grooming with a spectacular designer wardrobe, Ivana blogs on jewelry and bridal wear, saying that every woman should look for fine jewelry pieces that are timeless and versatile and that can be worn in many different ways. 

She also suggests that investment pieces should be wearable as everyday jewelry, and not kept just for dressy occasions.  Ivana points especially to diamond studs, which she calls elegant and simple, as ideal investment jewelry. She suggests that studs are something “every woman should have in her wardrobe.”

• INVESTMENT JEWELRY:  do you think it is just for fine jewelry pieces?  Costume jewelry has become extremely collectible and while prices are still reasonable for older pieces from the 30s, say, expectations are this jewelry will soon be worth a bundle!  Today’s costume jewelry likewise has the potential to become tomorrow’s heirloom treasures. Pick out some beauties and then just wait…

But…back to Ivana.  Talking to today’s bride, the celebrity “first wife” says that over-accessorizing a bridal dress is the biggest mistake a woman can make.  She thinks it’s best to choose just one piece of jewelry and to use it as a focal point. 

Ivana is big on bold statement necklaces for strapless bridal dresses. She promotes a piece from her own jewelry collection:  a graduated pave bead necklace.

• YOU CAN GET THE LOOK: Perfect for a wedding day ensemble is a rhinestone necklace in a timeless V shape. It is dramatic, impressive, aristocratic, a real statement necklace! Or, consider a versatile rhinestone fringe necklace for a slightly dressier, traditional look.  This particular piece uses fringe brilliantly for maximum sparkle and light.

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For halter bridal dresses, Ivana goes for diamond stud earrings and a beautiful bracelet.  For a sweetheart neckline bridal dress, she again suggests diamond earrings, and also thinks a diamond lariat necklace is ideal.  She suggests that a lariat from her collection could be a very “sexy” accessory.

• YOU CAN GET THE LOOK:  Consider a stunning elongated link bracelet that combines shine with gold-plating to create a true modern classic. Or, look at a dramatic bracelet with a rich traditional design. It has a double row of faux white pearls with bands of shimming rhinestones, and is really special.  Another elegant style involves cream pearls on a golden chain bracelet. Its delicacy reverberates softly against a bridal gown and gently finishes the entire ensemble. 

IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN:  The holidays were made for dress-up extravagance, and this year designers are offering a dazzling collection of dresses to enthrall even the most fashion-blase soul.  The feeling is gentle, romantic, individualistic, with an interesting blend of traditional and modern design features.

Accessorizing is equally thrilling, with large jewelry pieces, elegant golden purses, and wildly extravagant high heeled sandals.  A recession may have set into the American (if not global) economy, but you would hardly know it from this holiday fare.  Among the big themes on the Christmas/New Year’s dress calendar: 

A BLACK AND WHITE STORY:  This season, look for black and white extravagance everywhere!  Beautiful black and white dresses bring images of crisp winter nights and bright, new-fallen snow. They have a timeless quality that underwrites a warm, traditional Christmas. 

Expressing the story with elegance is Michael De Paulo’s beautiful strapless black and white dress with big, floral design and crystal-enhanced bodice.   Douglas Hannant also works with black and white, but adds a placket of seductive netting to an otherwise strapless dress.  Gauzy black flowers seem to fall down, vine-like from the waist.  Very unique. 

• You can stay with this look totally, by pairing it with fashionable black or white jewelry, or mimic the look with the black and white-themed pieces set against more colorful dress choices.  One way or the other, do think about both black and white and black and white combined in jewelry for Christmas:  It is hot, hot, hot this year!

• A unique twist on this theme is a white shell necklace with mother-of-pearl pendant.  Or, a black-lip mother-of-pearl necklace with hanging black pendant.  Both are exquisite! Also great for this look is a necklace of Bohemian glass and tiny faceted crystals spacing egg-shaped black freshwater pearls in iridescent gray. The neckpiece features a large black-lip mother-of-pearl pendant with jet crystals.

A SOFT PINK STORY:  This is the ultimate feminine expression in the season’s dresses. Pale pink makes an aristocratic impression for holiday wear, seen, for example, in a strapless iridescent silk taffeta gown with back detailing by Roland Nivelais.    

• Be creative in accessorizing this delicate look by choosing bridal jewelry for the ultimate romantic impression.   Consider, for example, a necklace of tiny pave-like faux pearls with a center marquis crystal focal point cradled in smaller crystals. Dangling off it all is a classic teardrop pearl.  Double the impact with matching earrings.

• Also elegant is a beautiful pearl necklace and earring set featuring a double row faux pearl necklace with a domed center pearl surrounded by crystals.  Dropping off the necklace is an elegant faux pearl pendant. 

A MATERIAL GIRL STORY: Billowy material that floats out from the dress itself gives a new look to formal Christmas wear. A fabulous strapless red-red dress from Lanvin made from enormous amounts of billowy material is very updated 2008-2009.

Likewise, a creamy white elegant dress with the mood of the slouchy thirties look to it, features a large swath of material pulled to the back of the dress, which then hangs down to form a full but subtle train.  Ohhh, so feminine and romantic!  These are the kind of dresses you can swirl around in, perfect for dancing.

• And, while you’re dancing, accessorize the look with a carry-everywhere little minaudiere that would make even Judith Leiber look twice!  Taken from a fabulous collection of evening bags, choose a little pouch in satin, beads or leather, as charming as it is practical and surprisingly inexpensive!

• Equally fabulous evening bags include clutches done in rich, pleated satin.  Or, consider an evening bag in crushed satin with snakeskin appearance that gives a whole new dimension to evening wear!  — This bag comes in your choice of five intense holiday colors, including a wild and dramatic red, set off by shimmering gold plate hardware.  

A GOLDEN AGE STORY:  Quiet gold is another hot look for the season.  Think in terms of a matte-like gold lame skirt by Dries Van Noten….a soft-shine ribbed short- sleeve gold sweater by Marc Jacobs…or a slacksuit of brushed linen rubbed with gold by Ralph Lauren. The look shimmers, but quietly. It shines, but not too much. It is altogether super-rich, and gives otherwise conservative clients the opportunity to try “glitz” without being really “glitzy.”

• To accessorize the look brilliantly, stay with gold!  Try a large turquoise necklace in gold plate with trendy circle design.  For a more formal look, consider an elegant necklace featuring rays of rhinestones splaying out, each encircled with a gold plated wire loop.

• A classy look in bracelets features large tile beads that dome up, in crackly soft gold color. This works with both dressy and casual styles, and gives a touch of richness without the expense!

TIME WAS, NEUTRALS HAD A LIMITED DEFINITION and an even more limited degree of fashion excitement. Neutrals were thought of as fashion “background,” not “foreground,” and were rarely, if ever, bold, exciting, or edgy.  — Well, hold on to your seats, because all that is rapidly, dramatically changing!

Just look at the new neutrals parading across fashion runways this year.  A biggie is grey, but certainly not your everyday, familiar grey at any costs.  Think in terms of color blended grey, creating a soft lilac-y grey, a pale blue-ish grey and a very sophisticated pinky-grey.  Add to all of this some wild and brilliantly forged clothing and accessories texture, like shimmery, pastel-y satin, or shiny ambergris-grey silk. Pit it with flashy patent leather that flashes lightning images across the room.  These are show-off colors at their best!                  

But…don’t let it go at that.  The new neutrals include soft peachy colors, light tans (not to be compromised by the laid-back nature shades of yesterday), sexy nude colors that revive the sensual languor and decadence of the 30s, and black – intense and saturated,  screaming high sheen and vibrating with a kind of hot, sometimes Gothic, energy. Black is the new neutral essential, by itself and accenting other neutrals, lifting pastels to a new palette category, and turning the whole color spectrum a little askew, but fascinating.     

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TWO-TONES LIKEWISE PLAY into the neutral push in an intriguing fashion. The double entendre, so to speak, works a kind of magical light effect on color, intensifying it, and turning what would otherwise be a single color into something more dramatic, more creative. The technique is especially effective with accessories, like handbags, where a single, more reserved look is desired, but with a heightened color impact.  It’s a fast way of putting zing into the product!

An off-beat example of the two-tone rush is with Wolford’s nylon and spandex tights; the two color design — separate neutral grey tones on separate legs — gives a sexy vertical line that visually elongates the legs and makes both of them stand out in relief against each other.

 In jewelry, freshwater pearls can offer many of the same exciting neutral color effects.  Consider the neutral color play of iridescent crystal with freshwater pearls in a double row necklace.  Or, an iridescent grey, irregularly shaped freshwater pearl necklace that gives a deep neutral color effect that is contemporary and popular.  

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SILVER IS ANOTHER NEW NEUTRAL giving clothing and accessories a very contemporary look, especially when it is paired with an airy, blue-grey color.  Needless to say, silver jewelry reaches a high point of importance with this neutral expression, especially in eveningwear. 

Silver bracelets always look good, but for this particular mode, try those very modern, sleek and shiny silver cuffs.  Pair them with more silver, matte or shiny and, again, modern, like wide and thin interchangeable bangles that resonate against each other. 

Long slippery shiny silver earrings can complete the look when put above a silver necklace that is plain or spotted with neutral gemstones, especially a very light yellow, like a pale yellow diamond color.    

There are many ways of working jewelry against neutral clothing for a surprisingly dazzling look. If you play with different pieces you’ll begin to get the idea.  Done right, this is simultaneously sophisticated and glimmery.  It can also have a degree of glitz, but it is anything but coarse or jarring.  The idea is to keep it all balanced, harmonious, and smooth — very, very smooth.

But…is it luxe?  Well, what else could it be?

SHOWS, SHOWS, SHOWS!!  From Milan to Tokyo, Los Angeles to Beijing, fashion runways are filled with new designs, new ideas, and exciting innovations aimed at seducing the public to buy at all costs. It’s no different in Chicago, where Stylemax – the largest women’s fashion show in the Midwest – recently bowed to surprisingly good buyer response.

Some vendors said business was brisk, others said it was slower than usual, but that they were holding their own, considering the tight economic situation. While apparel was given a lukewarm response in general, accessory items, especially handbags and jewelry, moved remarkably well. Sales here were actually up.

“That part of the business continues to grow,” declared Deanne Millhouse, buyer for Geneseo, a management firm which runs women’s specialty stores in Illinois and Iowa.

Some interesting points to note from Stylemax:

• BUYING HITS CLOSER TO HOME:  Susan McCullough, apparel executive for Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc.was pleased with the show, attributing good business to the fact that more buyers opted out of going to New York, choosing instead to shop closer to home.

• INTERNET SALES BOUNCE: Another buyer pointed out that reluctance to travel to shows this year is also having a positive impact on Internet sales.

• GOOD LOCATION PAYS DIVIDENDS: Nina Buscemi, co-owner of a women’s store in the affluent Chicago suburb of Winnetka, said that her store’s proximity to a Starbucks helped fuel better sales.  “Young mothers meet friends there, and then come to our store and spend several hundred dollars,” she said.

• DARKER COLORS, BOHEMIAN THEMES POP:  Buscemi was among many merchandisers ordering merchandise in army green, navy, and black.  She was also gung-ho on long, flowing bohemian tie-dye skirts.

                                    LONDON ON MY MIND: 

CARTOON THEMES STILL POPULAR: Brit designer Robert-Cary Williams will soon launch a line of hand-printed cartoon tank tops, taking inspiration from a brand new cartoon duo, Scarlett & Crimson, about to hit the “funny” streets.  The two main characters wear black and red dresses and are aimed at ‘tween girls.  Pay attention to their motifs:  skulls, hearts and bats. You can be sure they’ll get more popular in jewelry and other accessory items soon.

                       ENAMELED JEWELRY COMING ON STRONG

Bright, colorful jewelry is about to hit the fashion corridors for Spring merchandising.  The pieces are beautifully enameled and feature some very exciting themes such as American Indian crafts; cute, girlie figurines, like ballerinas; and all kinds of highly creative nature motifs, including lush vines and plentiful floral bouquets.

Among the really hot lacquered colors for Spring:  Yellow (yellow, and more yellow), soft and bright medium blue, Hilfiger orange, and a gentle lilac.  Red appears here, there, and everywhere as an accent.

IT’S CHRISTMAS, and the family is gathered around the tree, everyone is dressed to kill, and mom’s best jewelry is sparkling impressively for all to see.  This is a refined, joyous time of year, when children are spoiled and enchanting gifts are given and shared.  Christmas carols fill the air and just about everyone is on their best behavior. It is a wonderful family time but…it wasn’t always this way. 

Christmas has an old and fascinating history, and has evolved from ancient celebrations that were often raucous and pagan.   Long before the time of Christ, people celebrated the arrival of winter with festivals and feasts; they dressed up in their finest clothing, put on their best jewelry and accessories, and danced and sang ecstatically.  It was a time of light and abandon.

The celebrations generally took place at the time of the winter solstice and were held all over Europe. The celebration of Yule in Scandinavia ran from the end of December through January and honored the return of the sun to earth.  Animals were slaughtered for meat, and beer and wine poured freely.  In Germany, the god Ogden was thought to make nightly flights through the sky at this time of year, observing his people, and deciding who deserved to be rewarded.  Does this sound a bit familiar?

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IO SATURNALIA!! The celebration that most directly predates Christmas was the Roman Saturnalia in honor of the God Saturn.  This was a hedonistic ritual that ran for an entire month and involved everyone from aristocrats to slaves. It was a time when the rich repaid their debt to society by giving to the poor. Not a new idea, either.

In early Christianity, Christmas wasn’t celebrated at all.  Then, in the 4th century, the church chose to commemorate Christ’s birth with a holiday on December.25^th. There is evidence to suggest that this date was chosen in order to replace the pagan Saturnalia. Actually, the plan worked, and by the 9^th Century, practically all of Europe celebrated Christmas.  How it was celebrated, however, was another story.

Most Europeans went to church on Christmas day, giving their religion its due; but then, they celebrated the holiday in wild, drunken revelry not unlike a carnival.  Puritans refused to recognize it at all, denying the legitimacy of the celebration. 

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SNOW FALLS, AND TIME PASSES:  The checkered history of Christmas continued.  The pilgrims eschewed Christmas, and the holiday was actually banned in 17^th Century Boston.  But little by little, the winter day took on new importance.  Congress declared Christmas a national holiday in 1870.  Authors Washington Irving and Charles Dickens wrote about Christmas as a time for good will, charity, and family celebrations. Ancient customs that had never actually existed were embraced, and a modern Christmas began! 

Throughout it all, Christmas itself has held on tightly as a formal event linked to Christ’s birth. On a more secular note, Christmas is special, a time for dressing up, looking and feeling good.  Wonderful family dinners are prepared, and as fathers and sons put on their best suits, the women of the family invariably don elegant outfits and show off the glistening beauty of their jewelry under alluring mistletoe. 

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CHRISTMAS SPARKLE:  What could be more fitting to Christmas Present than sparkling rhinestone necklace and earring sets?  This is a time for refined glitz, and the more elaborate the necklaces the better.  Rhinestones invariably enhance a dressy dress or evening gown, adding sparkle and shine as the perfect visual complement. It is as though Christmas festivities were made for this kind of jewelry.

But don’t forget rhinestone bracelets, either.  This is a season when bracelets are enjoying enhanced trendy stature, and while a single elegant bracelet looks terrific, several, one might say, can look even better.  Adding several rhinestone bracelets to the overall accessories worn will dramatically update any outfit, putting a fashionable Christmas

2008 stamp upon it. 

At a time when the economy is shaky, money is tight, and worries are all too often high, what could make a better antidote than to decorate this modern Christmas with a “diamond look “  –  to give it the feel of optimism and the expectation, if not the reality, of plenty?  Rhinestones share many fabulous qualities with real gemstones in that they sparkle across a room, they look incredibly rich, and they give delight and pleasure to all who see them.  What a great way to celebrate Christmas!