Tag Archives: jewelry

September 17, 2011 · 7:46 am

Vintage Saturday Night Look

A few months ago, my friend Karthik was featured on this blog wearing an upcycled sari. She wore the look wonderfully. The tough decision she made before that event was which of her two vintage dresses to wear. Since she had two fancy events to attend, she didn’t have to worry too much; what she didn’t wear to her friend’s wedding-vow renewal she’d wear to the evening wedding.

Here’s the outfit she wore:

Vintage dress: Oh Bella!
Ring and bangles: Vintage family heirlooms
Earrings: From Houston’s Mahatma Gandhi neighborhood
Vegan shoes: Bandolino

I helped Karthik put this outfit together (even though she was doing fine on her own). We talked about a few style issues. Karthik wanted to wear some of her own wedding jewelry with the outfit but was advised against mixing blue and green. I said go for it! Her family heirloom jewelry included emeralds and was a terrific touch. The cool tones went well with the dress.

Here’s a closer look at the jewelry she wore with the dress, along with how she first styled it at her wedding.

Karthik wore the same earrings as she wore to her wedding, and the ring on her right middle finger is the same. Her ruby wedding band is on her left ring finger every day. She kept her wrist minimally adorned by choosing only two bangles from the assortment she wore to her wedding.

The other style issue was choosing shoes. We talked about metallics, which would have worked, and we talked about “nude” shoes. Since Karthik’s jewelry added enough sparkle, she chose nude. The challenge was finding a neutral tone that worked with Karthik’s skin tone. Luckily zappos.com has a great selection and an excellent return policy. Karthik bought a few pairs, tested them for comfort, style, and color, and landed on this great peep-toe with a kitten heel.

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Filed under Fashion

Tagged as dress, emeralds, fashion, jewelry, style, vegan, vintage

August 22, 2011 · 5:58 am

Street Style: Long and Lean

I’ve finally captured the elusive Cheryl. She can usually be seen running races or rowing competitively. Today, I found her moving at a slower pace so I snapped a picture. Cheryl is sporting a terrific long and lean look. Yes, it helps if you’re actually long and lean, but you can create a lean silhouette with a slim-cut top, skinny jeans, a sleek heel.

Top: Una
Jeans: Mavi
Belt: Old Navy
Necklace: Bree (by way of Santa Fe)
Bracelet: Street vendor in Victoria, BC
Ring: Store in Brooklyn
Shoes: BCBGirls

I like that Cheryl traveled to three corners of the continent (the Pacific Northwest – Victoria; the Southwest – Santa Fe; the East Coast – Brooklyn) to get her accessories. Perhaps that’s not the only reason she traveled, but it’s certainly a fun way to bring back trip reminders.

Her Una top is a new acquisition from the trunk show at Velouria that Cheryl and I attended last week.

4 Comments

Filed under Fashion, Street Style

Tagged as Bree, fashion, jewelry, skinny jeans, street style, style, Una

August 2, 2011 · 5:48 am

Cool Blue Summer Style

I call this my Urban Craft Uprising outfit because my earrings, skirt, and bag are from my recent adventures at the UCU show. This is a great travel outfit (rollable, packable, wrinkle-free) and it’s so comfortable.

Top: Papaya
Skirt: Erin MacLeod
Shoes: Timberland
Earrings: Designated Dryden
Bag: Crystalyn Kae

The one-size skirt is by Portland designer Erin MacLeod. I have a couple of other skirts by her. They have a row of snaps as a waistband and are fully adjustable.

The bag is my latest Crystalyn Kae, a design collection made right here in Seattle. It holds my laptop but will be a great carry-on piece when I fly. My friends with children thought it would make a stylish diaper bag too.

The earrings are from Designated Dryden, another Portland-area designer. Dryden makes affordable, fun jewelry. I plan to visit her Etsy site soon.

I really enjoy supporting local designers and merchants. I love how these pieces are high-quality, handmade, and one-of-a-kind. Do you have locally made items? What are your favorite local shops?

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Filed under Crafts, Fashion

Tagged as crafts, Crystalyn Kae, Designated Drysden, Erin MacLeod, fashion, jewelry, local, style

July 24, 2011 · 6:50 am

Upcycled Sari and Repurposed Wedding Jewelry

My friend Karthik recently attended a wedding vow renewal wearing fabulous upcycled items, including some of her own wedding jewelry. I love the story behind each piece and how they’re all so ingeniously reused, so I’m sharing it with you. Karthik’s vintage dress was originally a South Indian silk sari that was turned into a great cocktail dress. She found it at a Seattle vintage shop.

Vintage dress: Red Light Vintage
Vegan clutch: DSW
Vegan shoes: Bandolino
Earrings: Sukra
Right-hand bangles: Vintage family heirlooms
Left-hand bangles: Repurposed vintage family heirloom
Ring: Repurposed vintage family heirloom

Karthik accessorized with fantastic pieces. See the ring on her right hand? The ruby was originally part of a long necklace that belonged to her great great grandmother. Karthik’s family worked with a jeweler to have the pendant removed and remade into a ring. They added a new pendant to the necklace and had it made into a choker. Karthik wore the choker, ring, and earrings at her own wedding this past winter. Her look then was much more traditional and elaborate, but she shows how even the most formal pieces can be dressed up and down.

The vintage necklace had other rubies too, and they were removed and turned into a watch band. Later, Karthik had the watch band converted into a bracelet. She wore the bracelet at her wedding and also at her friend’s ceremony.

Karthik proves you can be eco-friendly in vintage, honor your heritage, and stay true to your values (in this case, animal-free accessories)—all while looking great! Thanks, Karthik, for sharing your story.

8 Comments

Filed under Fashion, Street Style

Tagged as dress, fashion, jewelry, ruby, style, upcycling, vegan, vintage

July 9, 2011 · 6:06 am

Organizing my Jewelry

I like buying and making jewelry. Add to that equation, the fact that I rarely get rid of pieces and you would be correct in assuming I have quite the collection. I’ve recently started getting organized so I can use all my pieces and not forget about them. Here’s what I’ve done so far:

I displayed all my hook-back earrings on a picture frame with screen behind it. It’s really convenient, hangs on my bathroom wall, and looks nice too. You can have your very own by shopping at Sadie Sewbaggin’s Etsy page. She’s a friend of mine, so tell her I sent you.

For all my studs (and other post-back earrings), I found this display rack on eBay. Yes, it’s probably for a retail display, but it works for personal use too.

I didn’t get fancy with my necklaces. I simply hammered a few nails into the wall at various heights and display them that way.

My loose pendants are in this beautiful wooden box that my friend Tom made. He made it! Isn’t that crazy? When it comes to woodworking, I’m all thumbs, but at least I still have them!

I’m still devising a plan for my bracelets and rings. I might buy a retail bracelet display that I saw at a craft store. It’s all velvety and elegant. I’d like to make a ring pillow but I don’t exactly know how. Any ideas? Maybe I’ll ask Tom.

3 Comments

Filed under Decor, DIY, Fashion

Tagged as decor, DIY, jewelry, organized, style

June 22, 2011 · 6:33 am

Upcycling a Necklace

I bought a cheapie necklace on sale a few years ago and wore it only once. It was the wrong length, the charms weren’t in the right places, it just didn’t work. So, I thought about ways to change it. I like sculptural, asymmetrical pieces and figured I had nothing to lose by trying to change this long strand into something different. I grabbed a pair of needle-nose pliers and off I went.

Before

After

Here’s the necklace on me so you can see how it lies. I also wore it on Day 6 of the 30 for 30 challenge.

I hadn’t planned on making earrings but I had extra chain and charms when I’d finished the necklace so I grabbed a few hook backs from my craft supplies and ended up with three new pairs!

If you have a before-and-after story to share, tell me in the comment and link to your post if you have one.

6 Comments

Filed under Crafts, DIY, Fashion, Thrifty

Tagged as DIY, earrings, fashion, jewelry, necklace, style, thrifty fashion, upcycling

May 31, 2011 · 8:04 am

Show Me the Monkey

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Today I started with an accessory—an amazing red monkey-head necklace from my friend Angie—and picked out my clothes afterward. I was so happy when Angie gave me the necklace. It was totally out of the blue. She made it for me because she knew I liked fashion (and monkeys).

It’s still feeling cool in the Pacific Northwest, so I wore a long-sleeved T and baggy cargo pants.

Top: Old Navy
Pants: Macy’s
Necklace: DIY by Angie
Shoes: Timberland

Sometimes the cuff on my pants unrolls—it seems like the buttoned tabs that holds them up are not evenly placed. What do you expect for $11? I might tack them with a couple of stitches so they don’t unroll. I will lose the option of wearing these unrolled, but I haven’t worn them that way yet, so I don’t have a lot to lose.

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Filed under DIY, Fashion

Tagged as cargo pants, DIY, fashion, jewelry, style

May 25, 2011 · 12:04 am

Thrifty Thursday: Mustard and Orange

Something’s gotten into me lately. In the past couple of months I’ve purchased a yellow dress, yellow tote bag, and now these yellow skinny jeans. I like yellow. I never really used to. This time last year, I didn’t own a single yellow thing.

I had a pair of skinny yellow jeans in the 80s, and these reminded me of good times in middle school, senior public, junior high, or whatever you call it. I found this pair online. They’re See by Chloe and were close to $200 before they went on sale. As luck would have it, only my size was available—and they were reduced to $30.

They were on my doorstep when I returned from Santa Fe. So with sunshine on my mind, I assembled this get-up.

Top: Old Navy ($10)
Pants: See by Chloe ($30)
Shoes: Target ($15)
Scarf: Street vendor in NYC ($5)
Sunglasses: Target ($10)
Bracelet and Necklace: Street artist in Santa Fe ($25 each)

To qualify for a thrifty outfit, the total has to come in at under $100. This outfit does—if you don’t count the jewelry. And jewelry is optional (compared to, say, a shirt), so I’m going to let this slide.

I got to try a couple of turquoise pieces that I bought in Santa Fe. I think the necklace and bracelet work well with yellow and orange (complimentary colors and all). Just for fun, I added animal print ballet flats. How do you wear animal prints? Are there certain colors you stay away from?

3 Comments

Filed under Fashion, Thrifty

Tagged as fashion, jewelry, skinny jeans, style, turquoise, yellow

May 20, 2011 · 12:39 am

Leaving Santa Fe

All good things must end. And so my trip to Santa Fe came to a close. It was a fabulous city, and a great location for a long weekend of art, shopping, food, and friends.

The day before we left, my friends and I tallied up the jewelry we’d purchased during our stay. It was impressive.

We found great pieces by local designers. Turquoise was the big hit, but we snapped up pieces in amethyst and other materials too. The morning of our departure, Cheryl and I wandered from our hotel, the Inn at Loretto, to the open-air artist market next door and bought even more jewelry.

We met two artists who collect semi precious stones and polish and refine them. They will wrap any piece in silver and create a ring or a pendent. Cheryl had a turquoise ring made. They made me a pendent. Here’s my pendant, and a trilobite fossil pendant I picked up from them as well.

The jewelry shops are pricier than the street vendors, but even by street vendors prices, these guys were reasonable. The pendants were $30 each.

In my rush to get authentic Southwest jewelry while I could, I snapped up a few pieces of Native American jewelry from another artist. His prices were terrific too, and all the pieces are made by him. I bought a bracelet, two necklaces, and three pair of earrings. Their style was similar to a bracelet (also in the following picture, in the upper-right corner) I bought earlier at the Farmers’ Market.

While browsing the outdoor market, I met Takako, a Japanese expat living and designing in Santa Fe. I bought one of her fantastic silver and amethyst rings.

My other pieces, that I’d purchased earlier in the trip, include a fair-trade, hand-woven bracelet by Lilybead…

And an enameled metal necklace from Dancing Turtle Studios. I found their booth at the Farmer’s Market too.

I really enjoyed meeting the artists who created these pieces. The jewelry is a souvenir of my trip and will always be special to me because each piece has a story behind it.

The end of our trip wasn’t all about bling. Before we left Santa Fe, Autumn made delicious, refreshing drinks for the four of us. We named it The Blue Loretto. Here’s how to make it:

Four parts Trader Joe’s Sparkling Blueberry Flavored Juice Beverage
One part Vodka
Fresh blueberries
Ice

Directions: Throw all the ingredients in a glass and enjoy. Simple!

I miss Santa Fe. The sun, the art, the adobe architecture, the friendly people. All of what the city offers makes me want to go back. I hope you get to visit too.

1 Comment

Filed under Art, Crafts, Fashion

Tagged as bracelet, earrings, fashion, jewelry, necklace, Santa Fe, style, travel, turquoise

April 4, 2011 · 12:20 am

Imani Necklaces: From Uganda to Me

While reading posts at The Compassion Fashion Project, I found out about an inspiring group of women in Uganda and how they are changing their lives by making and selling jewelry.

The tough part: Their pasts. The women, often victims of war and rape, were forced into the sex industry.

The good news: They are now involved in a community where they receive counselling, education, and job skills. As the Imani website says, the women “are paid fair Ugandan wages for each accessory they produce, are enrolled in a savings program to support their children in school, and receive help with medical issues.”

In my sheltered, privileged life, I haven’t ever had to think in terms of survival. To me, fashion has been fun, even trivial. Now, I can put my money toward items that literally help free a woman from forced prostitution. She can now earn as much money making a necklace as she used to make selling her body.

The necklaces are beautiful. They’re made from recycled magazines, meticulously rolled into beads, and lacquered. Each bead is unique, just like the women who made them. And the women, who were once discarded, give discarded materials new life as something precious and beautiful.

There are many different styles to choose from. Both of mine are colorful and bold. You’ll see me wearing them in upcoming outfit posts. Now you have a reason to shop. Check out the store and buy some jewelry today! The prices are reasonable, and you can’t find a better cause.