Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Tony Duquette Collection for Coach

Coach has teamed up with late designer Tony Duquette's former business partner to create an exquisite line of limited edition jewelry that is currently available in Coach stores.  Tony Duquette was an iconic American designer of the 20th century.  Based out of Los Angeles he designed clothing, costumes and sets for the movie industy, interiors and jewelry.  His fine jewelry line is still sold in stores today, but the collection at Coach is mainly Swarovski crystal studded whimsical costume jewelry inspired by his signature designs, including sunbursts, flowers and insects,

There are four rings in the collection that are not costume.  They are gold plated sterling silver with semi-precious stones.  The four rings are:  rose quartz, clear quartz, malachite and amethyst which, in my opinion, is the most stunning.  There is also a grasshopper stick pin made with lapis.

My advice is get yourself a piece while it's still in stores and on line.  The prices are very reasonable and the pieces are definitely collectible.  Each piece is marked 'Coach' and comes with a felt pouch with a sunburst design and the names of Coach and Tony Duquette.  There is also a book about the collection for sale.  My top picks are the sunburst pendant necklace and the sunburst amethyst ring.  I have been drooling over sunburst wall mirrors for a long time and now I can wear a fabulous miniature replica of one around my neck (sans the mirror--the center is open)!



Tony Duquette for Coach Sunburst pendant necklace 

Tony Duquette for Coach cage pear pendant


Tony Duquette for Coach bouquet ring


Alternate view of the ring

Tony Duquette for Coach flower charm bracelet

Tony Duquette for Coach Amethyst Sunburst ring


Protective felt pouch says Coach on one side and Tony Duquette on the other

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Hermes Petit h collection

No brand is perhaps more synonymous with luxury and exclusivity than Hermes.  Famous for their iconic colorful silk scarves and elusive Birkin bags Hermes introduced a new line called Petit h in 2011.   The Petit h line features several thousand pieces crafted from items intended for their regular line that were imperfect and thus did not pass muster to go into the retail stores.  For example, a scarf with the tiniest mark of ink on the silk can not be sold, so those scarves have been redesigned into accordian necklaces for the Petit h line.  Another example is scraps of leather leftover from making bags have been turned into Petit h charms. 



Two views of one of the Petit h scarf necklaces

Because the Petit h line is currently crafted from discarded and leftover material from Hermes' regular line, Petit h items will be constantly changing.  The line is making the rounds of various Hermes stores around the world and was in New York at the Madison Avenue boutique in November.  Sure to be collectors' items, I hope you were able to scoop up a piece or two at the time.  If not, look for the line in Hermes boutiques around the globe and hopefully a return to New York in the future. 

A fun twist of Petit h, is that when you buy a piece you can choose a small leather disk charm to be added to your package.  I chose one in traditional Hermes orange because it's their signature color.  The saleswoman was wearing one as a bracelet and suggested I could wear mine that way as well, using the attached Hermes ribbon.  For now mine is still on the box.  I want to keep it in pristine condition, because for me the entire Petit h item with all its accoutrements is a collectible investment.

Petit h leather charm

Below are two articles about the Petit h line if you are interested in learning more about it.  If anyone would like pdfs of the articles let me know and I can email to you.


Article 1

Article 2, page 1




Article 2, page 2

Article 2, page 3


Monday, February 20, 2012

A Gem From Barbara: shopping at Trifari

When I was working at Mademoiselle Magazine we were allowed to shop at a discount in the showrooms of some of our advertisers.  For a young woman in her early twenties, such as I was, that was a great help.  One of the showrooms I visited was Trifari, the jewelry company.  Trifari made beautiful costume jewelry that was perfect for a working girl to wear.  Trifari is still in business today, but it is not owned or operated by the same people it was in the 50's and 60's when it produced the high quality costume pieces that made it an iconic costume jeweler.

Sets of jewelry were very popular in the late 1950's and early 60's so I bought a long faux pearl necklace with two complementary sets of earrings, and a strawberry pin with matching earrings.   It's been fifty years and I'm still wearing them!  That is surely a testament to the quality of Trifari jewelry.

Vintage Trifari pearl necklace and earrings

      The necklace is long and studded with faux pearls


Vintage Trifari strawberry pin and earrings


Loving the raised details




Saturday, February 11, 2012

Reader Submission

It's always nice to know people are actually looking at this blog, and even nicer when a reader contributes a photo of an accessory, because I want the blog to be interactive.  I think accessories are fun and it's interesting to see the unique items other people have.

My friend, Christine, sent this photo of the Liberty of London for Target tie she bought for her husband when Target debut their Liberty line a couple years ago.  Considering most of the stock sold out very quickly she was lucky to get this!  And, her hubby was lucky, too!

Liberty of London for Target necktie




Friday, February 3, 2012

Blue Phase

Jazz musicians play the blues, soulful crooners sing the blues, artists have their blue period and I apparently am in a blue bag phase.  I love the color blue, but don't wear a lot of blue clothing for some reason, or maybe no reason.  I can't think of one.  I suppose my blue bag obsession could be my way of making up for the lack of blue clothes.  Anyway, for the past year I have bought several blue bags, all in various shades of blue and craziest of all, they are all Michael Kors.  It seems that every time I go shopping I stumble upon a blue Michael Kors bag 50% off, which fortunately is not very expensive.   It doesn't matter if there are other colors that would fit better with my wardrobe, I buy the blue one.  It seems I even bought two in the exact same style.  So, not expensive, very roomy, nice shades of blue....if only I had clothes to wear them with once in a blue moon.

Michael Kors bag in light blue

Same style Michael Kors bag in royal blue