Guest Blogging For The New York Social Diary

Check out my latest column in The New York Social Diary and see the beautiful accessories worn by the guests at the opening night of the annual Winter Antiques Show, including this amazing vintage Chanel necklace pictured below.  I did a little trend spotting, too!

http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/guest-diary/2015/accessories-diary-winter-antiques

Vintage Chanel

The Politics of Fashion: Accessory Generation Predicted Adam Clayton Powell IV Would Run For Congress

Last February I blogged about former Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV's ties and mentioned that he might run for Congress in the future...well, yesterday he declared that he is indeed going to run.  You heard it here first kids! Here is the original post from last year:

http://www.accessorygeneration.com/2014/02/the-politics-of-fashion-with-adam.html

Selling the Tucano Fendi Baguette Bag

Fendi Tucano Baguette

I've posted about this bag before (Fabulous Fendi  and Fendi Revisited)  and been contacted by a few people asking if I wanted to sell it.  It's now officially for sale on Ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Rare-FENDI-TUCANO-baguette-bag-purse-/271734448873?pt=US_CSA_WH_Handbags&hash=item3f44a2a2e9 if anyone is interested.

Guest Blogging For The New York Social Diary

Check out my latest column in The New York Social Diary, www.newyorksocialdiary.com to see the fabulous accessories people got for Christmas and Hanukkah.  Also, see Christmas pins that people collect, both vintage and contemporary.

http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/guest-diary/2015/accessories-diary-holiday-loot

This holly branch pin belonged to my grandmother

Sock It To Me

I'm not a big wearer of socks, except at the gym with my sneakers.  I don't really have a sock friendly lifestyle.   By day I'm either in Uggs in the winter or flip flops and moccasins in the summer and none of those call for socks.  At night I'm in heels or strappy sandals even if it's snowing out, so no socks for me.  I don't like bringing outside dirt into my apartment so my shoes come off at the door and I run around barefoot.  But, growing up I used to wear socks every day. I had argyle socks in every color combination as a teenager and I matched them to my outfits.  And, I also remember having "toe socks" that were like gloves for the feet with a separate space for each toe. These days I only buy socks as gifts for male friends who love them, and for my mom, who also loves them.   I try to buy fun, colorful ones to make it interesting.  Well, for Christmas both my mother and I found stripped socks in our stockings.....I have to say I'm actually loving mine and this may have reignited my old interest in socks and given me a whole new category of accessory to love.

My new socks by Joules Clothing Great Britain

An unexpected dash of yellow on the heel

Santa Claus left theses color blocked socks by 

Happy Socks for my mother

Vintage Tiffany & Co.

My father saved all the catalogs from Tiffany & Co that he ever received, starting in the mid 1970's, so we have quite a lot of them at my mother's house.  They used to be much smaller and thicker then they are now--just the perfect size for my little girl hands to flip the pages as a kid.  Oh how I loved looking at them.  I would obsess over every page. That was probably an early sign that jewelry would become a lifelong obsession of mine. As I got older,  I would grab the catalogs as soon as they arrived and pour over every page.  I still get a thrill when a jewelry catalog arrives in the mail.

The other day I was looking at the oldest catalogs we have from forty years ago and it's shocking how much the prices have skyrocketed.  It's also really interesting to see some of the old designs that are not made anymore and some of the ones that are.  And, I was really surprised to find that Ralph Lauren designed a men's jewelry collection for Tiffany in the mid-70's.

I took photos of some of the pages I found most interesting.  Enjoy this peek at Tiffany back then....

Old style Tiffany catalogs from the mid-1970's and 80's

The oldest two we have.  I took the vintage photos from them.

One designer then and now is Jean Schlumberger.  His beautiful enamel and gold bracelets are coveted by women all over the world, but out of the affordable price range for most.  They look pretty much the same today as they did forty years ago.  The only difference is the price.  They are now about ten times more expensive.  

Schlumberger bracelets sold for about $3,000 in 1975

Makes me want to cry!

A more recent catalog indicates they had reached a price tag 

of $30,000 for the same design a couple of years ago.

The cufflinks were also comparatively cheap in 1975.

In addition to Schlumberger, other Tiffany designers at the time were Angela Cummings, Ralph Lauren (as mentioned), Donald Claflin and Elsa Peretti, whose designs are still sold at Tiffany today.

These Angela Cummings necklaces remind be of the bungee cord bracelets popular today.

Ralph Lauren's debut collection for Tiffany.

This Donald Claflin bracelet is one of my all time favorites.  

Elsa Peretti's dainty designs were phenomenally popular.  

Everyone I knew had the little heart necklace in gold or silver.

Here are the Peretti hearts recently, at ten times the price.

Here's mine.  I think I've had it about fifteen years.  It was

much less expensive when I got it.

My father loved their cufflinks and had a few pairs.  I don't know exactly when he bought them, but I'm guessing in the 1980's or early 90's.  

Barbell cufflinks in 1975

My father's Tiffany collection

Some of the random designs I like from the old catalogs are below.  I wish they still sold these styles, and at these prices wouldn't hurt!

Lots of colorful beaded jewelry with semi-precious stones

More beads....

I love these stud earrings.  

Tiffany even had a selection of earrings for non-pierced ears.  

Lots of gold in rope and bamboo designs

Someone gave my mother a necklace like the one at the bottom, but she didn't like it 

and exchanged it for a silver heart ring (that I now have) and a partial credit!

Hard to imagine there was ever a time when anything could be 

purchased at Tiffany for $6, like item M, the heart tag.

The new Tiffany T bracelet...apparently not so new.  

Here's the vintage version.  

A closer look at the vintage style

But the page that had me transfixed more than any other as a child featured a large selection of ruby rings.  Ruby is my birthstone and I just could not tear myself away.

Love