‘Statement jewelry’…whatever that means…

The languid egret bird is a symbol of

determination and grace under fire

Traditional jewelry making is a lifelong apprenticeship in a multitude of different arts. At first you aspire to become proficient in the basics of fabrication: cutting, carving, casting and soldering. Then, there’s the ornamental finish work such as enameling, engraving, stoning and beading. Harnessing your abilities to produce an admirable piece of jewelry from a design sketch is a very un-glamorous proposition. You must wrestle with all the mechanical aspects of birthing a creation so that its finished form compels someone to wear it for its beauty or self-expression.

Gemstone beads are cut,shaped and polished.
Click to view our Blue Creek bracelet featuring
lapidary cutcabochons.

Much of the jewelry out there is a monotonous rehash of some theme, handed down by the trend gurus (whoever they are), mass produced overseas and marketed by every tier in retailing. A pink plastic geometric necklace plated in imitation gold, made in China is offered by a hundred small vendors on various websites for a couple of dollars and another couple of dollars for delivery to your door, 6,000 miles away. You can buy the very same “statement necklace” at a tony department store for >$100, labeled in the name of a celebrity “designer” whose offerings, from purses to bathroom towels, dubs them a “life-style brand” (whatever that is).

This gorgeous chunky double strand
 necklace is a fusion of gemstone
 beads and Swarovski crystal beads

Quality inspection of our Auturm
Haze necklace with frog knot closure.

The fundamental requirement for innovative design has been swapped for efficiently marketed private label goods.Modern technology has enabled the jettison of junk in mass quantities through all arteries of commerce with such speed and transparency that we can shop the same item online for 3 bucks or 30. 

Thankfully, more women are going negative on so-called fast fashion. They’re looking for items that show evidence of artistic expression and fine workmanship. The world of manufacturing is hovering on the brink of DIY 3-D printing of a thing-on-a-string necklace. I’m betting that true lovers of jewelry will instead print a dog toy; that they’ll continue to acquire jewelry from actual practitioners of the art such as myself and my talented staff at Sweet Romance. What’s your take?

Spring is in the air....

As the gloom of winter melts away, we find ourselves in sunnier days and new adventures!  Now is the time to assemble transitional spring outfits as one season melts into the next.

Florals and vintage inspired elements are the next big thing this season--quintessentially feminine color palettes mixed with silhouettes of yesteryear bring a fresh new perspective to your look.

Pictured below is our 1930's butterfly necklace-- its radiant jewel tones are an essential complementary accessory to spring 2014's demure neutral tones.  Incorporate a bold pop of color with delicate blush-colored knits to make a chic style statement!

Click here to shop the latest designs for this spring!

Art Deco: Angles and curves traveling at the speed of life

The decade of the 1920s, later known as the Art Deco era, was a defining line in fashion history. Frills, flourishes and the suffocating corset were left behind in haste to enter a new world influenced by automobiles, the radio, an eight hour work day and the right to vote. Women felt empowered and optimistic. 

Couture dress designs were translated into affordable, ready-to-wear fashions and replaced home sewing for the average woman. Stylish dresses went sleeveless, hemlines were shortened and waistlines dropped to the hip. Also popular and vampy was the revealing body-clinging, bias cut dress.  Jewelry was worn to soften and feminize one look and while accentuating the exotic heat of the other.  Chanel and Schiaparelli noted the relationship and both designers introduced “statement” jewelry to complement their apparel collections.  In explaining the importance of fashion jewelry, Chanel declared “It doesn’t matter if it looks real, as long as it is fake.” 

The “costume jewelry” industry exploded.  European workshops in Bohemia created glass stones, faceted and ornamented in a range of experimental styles and colors, from rhinestones to molded glass made to resemble jade. Production of synthetic stones in a consistent color palette and size range was begun by the young Bohemian glasscutter Daniel Swarovski. Exported to American jewelry factories, novelty jewels were used to embellish everything from bracelets to shoe clips.  In Japan, glassmakers formulated lustrous “indestructible pearls” which resulted in the fashion of wearing a long rope of faux pearls clutched together with a rhinestones pin. It was a swanky swinging necklace to wear in front and a daringly exotic accessory to wear down the back.

Sources inspiring jewelry design included the Paris International Exposition des Arts Decoratifs, the sets and costuming of the extravagant, colorful Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, the discovery of King Tut’s tomb and fascination with the Orient. Traditional motifs were interpreted in highly stylized and graphic forms using art glass, enameling, pave set crystal, beads and cabochon cut stones. 

Art Deco design took form in geometric lines and symmetry. Graduating, expanding, overlapping and cascading shapes conveyed the appearance of movement and speed.  It expressed the era of industry and quickly advancing mechanization. Cars, skyscrapers, neon signs, chrome toasters and jewelry all exhibited streamline geometric design. The sleek stylism of shooting stars and neon arrows seemed to point the way to the next decade, humming along at the speed of life.

Fashionable Flapper: Almost a 100 years later and still the bee’s knees

The era of the flapper began in 1920 at the close of WWI and it ended abruptly, with the Crash of 1929.  The period was a particularly restless, defiant and ultimately liberating time for women. As they began to vote and work and drive, they resisted the status quo, causing liberating changes in both fashion and self-expression.

Fashion was yielding to the modern era after decades of constricting and voluminous Victorian attire.  The sweeping fashion evolution of the era was brilliantly chronicled in the costuming of the television mini-series Downton Abbey. Stylish women abandoned corsets for a light chemise. Hemlines shortened, waistlines dropped and sleeveless, loose fitting dresses were the rage. Essential to the flapper style was the long necklace, especially pearls and stacks of bracelets.  Years of growing long hair were ended by the bobbed cut and Marcel wave, making dangle earrings indispensable. Trending cloche hats and oversize portrait hats brought attention to a heavily powdered face, sultry kohl-rimmed eyes and a deep red rosebud mouth. 

Hollywood movie studios publicized the glamour and sophistication of their stars to millions of women who wanted to emulate the modern clothes, hair and makeup of their screen idols. Legends such as Marlene Dietrich, Claudette Colbert, Josephine Baker, Clara Bow and Gloria Swanson portrayed the changing roles of women on and off screen. Up and coming designers Chanel, Schiaparelli and Lanvin, fueled the fashion boom during the prosperous period of the Roaring Twenties.  By her own economic means, a woman could drive herself to a department store, shop a wide selection of ready-to-wear dresses and purchase them on credit terms.

The emergence of seminal art and style movements in the 1920s is what kept this particular decade continuously influential through the century. The ebb and flow of 1920s fashion trends, from vampy false eyelashes and lipstick to statement jewelry and seamed stockings continues into the 21^st century.  The inspiration of the Flapper has never lapsed.  We’ve seen her reprise in dozens of movies set in the ‘20s, most recently The Great Gatsby and soon, Café Society.  Yet, her fashion innovations and artifacts are a mere reflection of the independent social role she pioneered for modern women.