Lace Ace

Talk about knocking it out of the park. On the eve of her 30th birthday in January, how gorgeous was Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, in this stunning Alice by Temperley black lace gown? I love how feminine, demure and yet sexy this look is. I also love how Kate keeps her hair, makeup and jewelry very simple so it doesn’t compete with the dress.

Photo by Bauer Griffin.

Photo by Reuters.

Why don’t you channel some of Kate’s lace beauty and join Adrienne and me for our “How I Wear My: Lace” post on February 1? Send me a picture of how you wear your lace and I will include it in our post that day.

What a great picture. William looks a little like, “You. You checking out my wife? You want I should come over there and kick your ass?” Or maybe that’s Brooklyn, finally getting to me after all these years. Photo by PacificCoastNews.com.

My Blue Heaven at Chanel

It started out blue at Chanel and just got bluer.

Is it the Pan Am influence?

The Chanel haute couture collection for spring/summer 2012 was shown in Paris on Tuesday, with an “airplane” aisle for a runway.




Maybe Karl Lagerfeld had the distinctive color of the famous Pan Am uniforms in mind when he decided to make the entire Chanel collection blue. Is he as addicted to the TV show as I am? I wanted to wear most of what I saw on the models and it was inspiring to see all these shades of the same color. If you have 15 minutes, do yourself a favor and check out this show. From ice to baby, from peacock to midnight, Uncle Karl’s got the blues and you’re going to want them too.

Who needs the drink cart when the flight attendant is strolling down the aisle wearing this? Make mine a double!

I love this coat so much. I want to wear it with jeans and high-heeled black ankle boots.

I hope this appears in the Chanel boutique window so I can see it up close.

As Rachel Zoe would say, “I love me a (Chanel) sequin.” I’m sure she was dying over this entire collection, as was I.

I adore this iciest of blues.

Will we see someone wearing this beauty on Oscar night?

Uncle Karl (or is that Captain Karl?) takes his bow.

All photos courtesy of Chanel.

Julie Collection Corsica Rings (Or, How I Spent My Summer Vacation 20 Years Ago)

Corsica stacking rings shown with my wedding band.

The February 2012 issue of Lucky features a section I always like called “The Look I Want Now!” where one of the fashion editors talks about the clothes and accessories she’s craving. I adored the three rings from Julie Collection called “Corsica” rings in chalcedony, labradorite (iridescent gray) and moonstone, and when I saw that readers could take 35% off the price of each ring, $48 regularly, now $31.20, until February 27 or while supplies last, it was a done deal.

Julie Collection is in Manhattan off Lexington Avenue on 74th Street (my old stomping grounds since my obstetrician’s offices are around the corner) so I packed up my daughter (a very patient child) and we made a trip to the city.

The studio is well-lit, the sales associate Aimee gorgeous and charming (and one of the models on the website, look for the lovely girl with long light brown hair and dimples!), and there is so much to love in this collection that I predict a few more rings and bangles will find their way into my jewelry box.

Chalcedony, the most hypnotizing shade of blue.

What I especially love about these rings is how they look ancient and modern all at once, like something I lifted from one of the Egyptian cases at the Brooklyn Museum. If someone asks me about them I think I’ll say, “These old things? I picked them up the summer I worked at an archaeology dig in Italy.” They look fantastic together as a set and even more amazing when worn with a simple gold band. I’m wearing and loving them now and they are going to be a key part of my look this summer.

Labradorite, which does all kinds of pretty green-gold things in the light.

Aimee wrapped my rings into this hot pink pouch. Mama like!

Moonstone, which is white one minute, purple and blue the next. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I didn’t buy this when I visited the studio. I regretted that decision so I snapped it up online the next day and it arrived the day after that in the pouch shown below.

Gorgeous.

I have been on the hunt for a big ring for my right hand for some time, but I didn’t want gaudy or even too sparkly since I was interested in something for everyday use. These Corsica rings beautifully fit the bill.

On their own.

With my wedding band. I love them both ways!

Julie Collection
146 E. 74th Street (at Lexington Avenue)
New York NY 10021
347-968-4302

Duchessa Jewels

Blue collet necklace in a gold mount. Photo by Duchessa Jewels.

My friend Nerida at Art for Interiors has recently launched Duchessa Jewels to sell the gorgeous jewelry she designs.

From Nerida I learned that the gemstone necklaces I admire on Anna Wintour are collet necklaces, a style popular in the Georgian era—referring to the years 1714-1830 when the kings George I through IV ruled England (with a Regency thrown in for fun, from 1811-1820). She’s also taught me about the jewelry owned by the Duchess of Windsor. What I love about Nerida is that she has taken her passion for famous and historical jewelry and figured out a way to recreate it so you can have some of that glamour in your life without being the editor of a famous magazine or a woman married to a former king.

My mother bought one of Nerida’s topaz collet necklaces a year ago and I love to see it (and yes, put it on, see below) every chance I get. She recently purchased the blue necklace shown above which I hope she will let me borrow for Date Night the next time I’m in Virginia.

Wearing the topaz collet necklace, December 2010.




Dear Mom, once the blue necklace arrives, please wear both of them together like Anna does:

Anna at the Alexander McQueen Spring/Summer 2012 show on October 3, 2011. Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Europe.

And then add some sunglasses and a wild trench!

Anna attending the Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2012 show on October 5, 2011. Photo by Bauer Griffin.


Do stop by Duchessa Jewels and have a look at Nerida’s beautiful designs such as the above bib necklace, based on the Duchess of Windsor’s stunning 1947 Cartier bib necklace.

Black, White and Red All Over

I spotted these chic note cards in a gift round-up in the December 2011 issue of Harper’s Bazaar. It seems like most of the time the items featured there are way beyond my budget so it was exciting to see these 10 cards and envelopes by Pixelimpress were just $17.50 and I couldn’t resist buying a set.

From the December 2011 issue of Harper’s Bazaar.


I adore the black and white chevrons and the envelope is the perfect shade of red. They feel so Art Deco and elegant and I love that they are put out by a small stationery company owned by a woman in Prosper, Texas!

Pamela Sherry, the owner and designer of Pixelimpress, has a blog so I am looking forward to reading about her design inspirations, as well as seeing what other stationery products she makes and sells.




In the meantime, I have some notes to write and I hope what I say is half as glamorous as these cards.

Last Call: Daphne Guinness

Daphne Guinness in a vintage Armani Privé gown. Photo by David Bailey.

This Saturday, January 7, 2012, is the last day to see Daphne Guinness, at The Museum at FIT.

I finally received the book to accompany the exhibit over Christmas, after ordering it on November 1! Apparently the first printing sold out and it had to go back to press. Looking through it is a visual delight and Daphne has inspired me even more to stick with wearing black and white and painting my nails red. That is a combination you often see her wear and I tell you, it never gets old. It’s also interesting to read the vignettes on what Daphne thinks of various things, such as this, called “On Her Years in a Wifely Chrysalis”:

“When I was in school, when out of uniform, I wore pretty much anything I wanted. Then I got married—and it was fifteen years of having children and being quite conservative, which was interesting in itself. My husband was quite conservative, which I respected. He didn’t like me to dress up. I’d buy Manolos and hide them. I’d take off my stilettos and put on flats. He didn’t like me to wear hats—an English peculiarity which is almost inexplicable.

“When I was married, I’d try to tone it down and dress in a way that my husband was comfortable with. Of course, having children played its part, and living in Switzerland was not conducive to dressing up.”

On the left is a jacket of Daphne’s own design paired with a dress by her and Alexander McQueen.





I don’t know about you, but I would love to give these crazy blue shoes by Massaro a try.

Before I saw the exhibit and Daphne herself at the remarks to the press given by her and Dr. Valerie Steele, chief curator of the museum (I even got to ask Daphne a question!), I had it in my head that of course she could dress any crazy way she wanted, she has a lot of money—she is one of the heirs to the Guinness brewing fortune—so who’s to tell her she can’t. But seeing how shy and reticent she is in person, and really, how charming, and thinking about the above quote, I’ve changed my mind about her. Now I get a sense that she started knowing herself better and better as she got older and wanted to use clothes to outwardly reflect what she was holding inside—someone who wanted to dress in the most unusual and dramatic way possible. I think that takes guts, actually, and I don’t think you need money to do it, you just have to have the courage to be yourself.

So despite what I first thought, I now find Daphne an inspiration.









The Museum at FIT
Seventh Avenue and 27th Street
New York NY 10001-5992
212-217-4558
Hours: Tuesday-Friday: Noon-8PM
Saturday: 10AM-5PM
Closed Sundays, Mondays, and legal holidays
Admission is free

How I Wear My: Statement Necklace

For this month’s “How I Wear My” post, it’s high glamour time. Adrienne of The Rich Life (on a budget) and I are loving our statement necklaces.

When I first stared wearing my statement necklaces to my holiday job at Bloomingdale’s, I felt very self-conscious, since my favorite one, from J. Crew, is so big and green-gold glittery.

Well.

Plenty of the ladies who work there wore necklaces even bigger than mine (which I call the Anna in honor of Anna Wintour, Editor in Chief of Vogue, whose gemstone collet necklaces I adore).

This J. Crew necklace subtly changes colors in different lighting, which I love.

With a strict dress code of all black at Bloomingdale’s (although white shirts are permitted), a statement necklace is the only way you can bring color to your work outfit. So I got over my self-consciousness and started wearing every big necklace I own.


Another necklace I love is a recent purchase from eBay—half mother-of-pearl and black jet, half diamante, from the 1950s. I bought it from a vintage jewelry dealer in the north of England, which just enhances the romance for me. When I wear either one of these necklaces, I keep everything else pretty simple—black long-sleeved crewneck T-shirt, black cardigan, black jacket. I want to keep the focus on the necklace.





I never get tired of black and white.

Please do head over to The Rich Life (on a budget) to see how Adrienne and others wear their statement necklaces. I hope it inspires you to wear the biggest necklace you own today.

In February, the month of Valentines and love, we are going to tip our sartorial hats to that most romantic of fabrics—lace. It doesn’t have to be just bridal or boudoir. So get creative with lace, send Adrienne or me a picture of you wearing it, and we’ll include you in our “How I Wear My: Lace” post on February 1!