Category: Costume Jewelry: Contemporary

April 24, 2013

Designer Alert: Heaven Tanudiredja Jewelry

Ladies and gents, I’m calling it now: Heaven Tanudiredja will become the Alexander McQueen of costume jewelry. Not because of his pedigree–trained in womenswear at Antwerp’s Royal Academy, worked for Dries van Noten, stint at Dior–but because the Bali-born, Antwerp-based designer’s mind is just that out-there. He draws inspiration for his collections from. . .mental disorders WTF?!?! It’s ok, don’t judge. Tanudiredja recently told B0F in an interview that he tries to “sculpt the beauty behind the chaos.” I adore people whose approaches to design or to life blindside you–it is so refreshing. Despite the vibrant use of color that you will see in Heaven Tanudiredja jewelry, the details in texture and embellishment reference the dark origins of statement necklaces and cuffs bearing names such as ‘Pyromania’ and ‘Anorexia Nervosa.’ Here is a little glimpse of Heaven Tanudiredja’s past and current collections:

Heaven Tanudiredja Fall/Winter 2012/13 Photos by Zeb Daemen

Heaven Tanudiredja Spring/Summer 2013. Photos by Zeb Damen.

Heaven Tanudiredja’s pieces will be sold at 10 Corso Como, Joyce, Dover Street Market and Luisa Via Roma.

Big Kiss and Bigger Diamonds,

JZP

April 17, 2013

Jewelry Styling from the Same Designer: Alexis Bittar

Anna Dello Russo, editor-at-large of Vogue Japan and street style celebrity, has made taking looks verbatim from the runway to real life her trademark. Some call it daring as very few humans live in a world where they can lift an entire runway look and not get carted off to a loony bin, others call it lazy–where is the creativity in styling if one just copies what they see on the runway? Jewelry designers often create a few distinct lines of jewelry for sale in retail platforms. This begs the question: Should we wear matching pieces from the same line or branch out a bit? I use Alexis Bittar as my case study here because he is a costume jewelry designer who comes up with many different lines that are quite dissimilar to each other in aesthetic. He currently has a collection inspired by Georgia O’Keefe, an ‘elements’ line that draws from nature, a modernist line, a lucite line, even a Mauritius monkey line.

My personal inclination is to go against matchy-matchy jewelry. To wear earrings, necklace and bracelet all from the same line feels very dated to me. However, I see nothing wrong with wearing many pieces from different collections of the same designer.

What Not to Do

Please don’t put an entire look together with pieces from the same line (see below). I don’t care how old or young your are, it sends the message that your look was inspired by moth balls.

Alexis Bittar, Ophelia earrings; available here.

Alexis Bittar, Ophelia necklace; available here.

Alexis Bittar, Ophelia brooch; available here.

What to do

Instead, I would pull one piece from the collection and use it as inspiration for a cohesive look that also brings in other elements. If you like the Ophelia earrings from above, perhaps pair it as follows for a much more modern take on matching jewelry by echoing similar materials or colors.

Alexis Bittar, Ophelia earrings; available here.

Alexis Bittar, liquid gold thin collar; available here.

Alexis Bittar, ripped gold cuff; available here.

Alternatively, if earrings + necklace + cuff is not your thing, try just choosing one kind of jewelry like bangles for example, and layering them for an over the top look that doesn’t weigh you down. I would wear the top two cuffs on the same arm and then the third cuff on the other arm for a little bit of asymmetry and interest.

Alexis Bittar, gold parrot cuff; available here.

Alexis Bittar, baroque hinge bracelet; available here.

Alexis Bittar, modernist gold dotted bracelet; available here.

In essence, anything that is too matchy-matchy looks terrible. However, feel free to match different aspects of your jewelry whether it’s the color, material, inspiration, or style.

Big Kiss and Bigger Diamonds,

JZP

April 3, 2013

Costume Jewelry Designers You Wish You Heard of Earlier

This will likely be the costume jewelry discovery of your life. I’ve been a bit annoyed with how commercial costume jewelry has become. One sees the same brands over and over in magazines: Dannijo, Iosseliani, Fenton, Fallon, Jennifer Fisher, etc. Don’t misunderstand, I love those brands–but when editorial becomes inundated with the same images, those brands just lose their edge for me. So I turned to my costume jewelry fairy godfather, Ira Scheck. Who is Ira Scheck you ask? He is as big a character as they come in NYC–think a Jewish New Yorker version of Elton John except obsessed with costume jewelry and insanely knowledgable about the subject. A visit to Ira is the highlight of my week! It’s like walking into a fantasy land where all the creatures are made of crystals, stones, and sparkly gems.

Ira stocks brands such as Iradj, C&D and Vrba. Never heard of them? You’re welcome. Iradj is a Persian costume jewelry designer who works with stones, shells and other materials that are so many steps above the brass and Swarovski that most commercial brands are using these days. The designers behind C&D used to work for Iradj and set off to set up their own operations. They use similar high-end costume jewelry materials as Iradj but the aesthetic is quite a bit edgier. Vrba, as in Larry Vrba, has been making costume jewelry for years and produces many pieces for theater–which is why his pieces are such show stoppers.

Shown above (clockwise from top): Vrba collar necklace (made from vintage parts), C&D spider brooch, C&D dragonfly brooches, J.Crew necklace, C&D ring, C&D necklace, and C&D ring.

Visit Ira’s store on eBay. If you can leave empty-handed you’re a much stronger human being than I am.

Big Kiss and Bigger Diamonds,
JZP

March 13, 2013

J.Crew Jewelry Addiction

J.Crew jewelry gets me every time. The clothing label started putting out some really fab costume jewelry pieces after it revived its brand a few years ago at the hands of Jenna Lyons and I have to say, they never get it wrong. Sure, there are pieces that speak to me and others that don’t but I somehow always manage to find a piece that I absolutely swoon over and simply must own nearly every time I walk in the store. The basic pieces in the J.Crew jewelry collection make perfect layering necklaces and the designer collaborations are just too divine to speak of. I have heard some people opine that J.Crew jewelry is rather expensive. It is true, the prices range from about $95 for the basics to $550 for the designer collaborations but compared to other costume jewelry, J.Crew jewelry is made very well and can stand a beating. I’ve come to see J.Crew jewelry independently from its clothing line, it stands apart because it is well designed and well made. Similar pieces from boutique costume jewelry brands would run you well over $500-1,000. Here are my current faves:

J.Crew crystal crush necklace; available here.

J.Crew crystal crush bracelet; available here.

J.Crew bright stone necklace; available here.

J.Crew, mixed crystals necklace; available here.

J.Crew, neon flower bracelet; available here.

Lulu Frost for J.Crew, absinthe necklace; available here.

Big Kiss and Bigger Diamonds,

JZP

January 15, 2013

Obsession: Multi-Color Crystal Necklaces

I like to think I tell it like it is–I write about what I love, and at times, about what I loathe (see this post), and nothing sways me aside from my ever evolving tastes. When I swoon over jewelry, you can be assured that those are the things I am buying or designing for myself; and when I lift the veil on something, it is not out of cattiness but rather out of my desire to shed light on brilliant marketing so that my DMD darlings know the truth about a product if and when they purchase it. I am fully aware that people’s aesthetics differ from mine and I think everyone should embrace their own. Tyranny doesn’t suit me. . .much. Please excuse the tirade, I needed the catharsis after waging a Twitter battle with a very famous blogger who, it seemed to me, was catty and nasty for no reason other than the fact that he had gotten too big for his britches. I expressed my disappointment that people were condoning his hurtful and shallow behavior and he reacted as one would expect. In any case, I felt the need to make a promise to my readers: that I will always write what I believe and if I criticize, it is to expose fallacies rather than ridicule or cause hurt.

On a lighter note, don’t buy anymore brass spike necklaces this season. Of course you can still wear the ones that you bought last year, but I suspect the brass spike trend is teetering out so I wouldn’t invest in more. This year, if you had to make one essential purchase, it would be the multi-colored crystal necklace. I don’t mean the fussy, busy ones with poufs of flowers, lace and fur. No, I am speaking of a (relatively) simple necklace made solely of large multi-colored crystals. Wear it alone, with your brass spike necklaces, or even together with a real diamond necklace–just make sure the real diamonds don’t rub against the crystals as the crystals will scratch. Here are my favorites this season (in price order highest to lowest):