Manolo Jewelry

Okay, so this is the first time I’ve live-blogged anything, so please bear with me.

I won’t be blogging the ENTIRE Oscars, ’cause I just don’t stay up that late. But I will blog the red-carpet, and maybe a bit beyond.

Keeping with the theme of this blog, I’ll make a special point of noticing and commenting upon jewelry. However, I won’t be limiting myself to only jewelry, and may make the odd comment regarding anything else that catches my eye.

So, I hope you all have wine in hand, popcorn in bowl, and tongue firmly in cheek.

BTW: Am watching the ABC coverage, as it’s in HD. Just so you know.

8:00: Robin Roberts looks pretty. I see that she’s following the “big cocktail ring on index finger” trend that we’ve seen a lot lately.

8:04: I love you, Tim Gunn. Come live with me.

8:05: Maria Menounos is also doing the big cocktail ring.  I’m not sure if that gigantic sparkly thing on her wrist is a bracelet, or part of her dress.

8:05: Mila Kunis. I like the purple, but I’m not keen on the sheer. I love her earrings — a really different and pretty shape. Stand up straight, though. For someone who used to be a ballet dancer, her posture is crap.

8:07: Hailee Steinfeld. She’s so cute and poised and pretty. Not a BIT of jewelry on her, except for a tiny subtle ring, which is interesting and brave, but it works, considering that her dress is pretty sparkly.

Commercials: Cheese puffs, or popcorn? I can’t decide.

8:14: Amy Adams: That’s a pretty necklace, and a pretty dress, but I just would not have worn them together. That high neckline, calls more for earrings.  And the stones don’t contrast enough with the dress to look cool — just enough to look like they clash. Fail, Amy.

8:15: Jennifer Lawrence: Gold! Nice to see! I kind of wish she’d worn her hair up, so that we could have had a better view of those earrings.

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I am soooooooo sorry, February ladies! (Including my own mother, whose birthday was on the 18th — Hi Mom! Love you!)

It’s not that I forgot about YOU, it’s that I forgot that I’ve been doing birthstone posts. My only excuse is the short-term memory loss brought about by severe sleep deprivation (ref: “Pearly Whites”).

So, if you will forgive me and still love me, I will now do my best to bring you all sorts of lovely goodness.

The irony of it is that February’s birthstone, amethyst, is actually one of my favourite semi-precious stones. I definitely share Anne Shirley’s love for them:

“I think amethysts are just sweet. They are what I used to think diamonds were like. Long ago, before I had ever seen a diamond, I read about them and I tried to imagine what they would be like. I thought they would be lovely glimmering purple stones. When I saw a real diamond in a lady’s ring one day I was so disappointed I cried. Of course, it was very lovely but it wasn’t my idea of a diamond. Will you let me hold the brooch for one minute, Marilla? Do you think amethysts can be the souls of good violets?”

Anne wound up choosing a pearl as her engagement ring. She didn’t want a diamond, because she was forever reminded of her disappointment that they weren’t purple.  Pity she never saw this ring.

Gorgeous, no? I love the simple setting, letting the stone take centre stage.

Here are some other amethyst lovelies that would have turned Josie Pye a most unflattering shade of green.

I love the delicacy of this necklace and the contrasting chains. So pretty!

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These pyrite-and-amethyst earrings are so unusual, but so lovely.

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I also love the shape of these earrings with their amethyst drops.

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Of course, if our Anne really wanted to steal the show, and still wanted to incorporate pearls into her look, she could have worn this stunning bracelet:

Isn’t it all just so romantic, Marilla?

Bisous!

LPA

So the Grammys tend to be known more for wackitude and big upsets (who knew that Bieber fans were so bloodthirsty?) than for elegant, gorgeous accessorizing.

And much like the wackitude tends to upstage the elegant, the “big names” tend to upstage the lesser-known folks on the following day’s fashion pages.

So, in the spirit of celebrating (or in some cases, kicking) the underdog, let’s take a gander at some looks from people other than your JLos and your Rihannas and your Lady Gagas, shall we?

N’Dambi:

Smart girl. Her dress is already sequined up and her hair makes a big statement, so she kept it simple with the jewels. (In other pictures, I saw that she did Too Much with the shoes, so we’ll just ignore that and focus solely on this picture, m’kay?) I love the teeny little diamond helix piercing — it just adds that subtle bit of edginess. Don’t believe me? Put your thumb over it in the picture. Makes a difference, no? Now, let’s wipe our greasy thumbprints off of our monitors and keep on going.

Mya:

I’m not sure what to think about the dress. It looks a little bit too much like a Project Runway challenge, involving the use of remnants of 19th century bonnets for my liking. However, I love the earrings, and love that she wore her hair back to show them off.

Paz Vega:

I wouldn’t want MUCH bling with a dress like this, but a subtle pair of earrings would have gone a long way towards this look. As it stands, Paz looks like she’s wearing the world’s fanciest hospital gown. One stumble, and we’re talking MAJOR wardrobe malfunction here.

Alicia Arden:

Good lord, what in sweet Rose’s marmalade is this? The earrings don’t go with the necklace, which doesn’t go with the bracelets, which don’t go with each other. Not that everything has to matchy-matchy, but this looks like Alicia just decided to throw on everything in her jewelry box, just for s**ts and giggles.

India.Arie:

I love you. Don’t ever change.

And, just to leave you on a high (and squashed) note, I bring you Gramma Funk:

I guess that’s one good way to keep anybody from stealing your necklace: wedge it so tightly between your breasts that a thief would require a crowbar and some WD-40 to jimmy that sucker loose.

Bisous!

LPA

So it is morning, and your eyes are barely open.  The weekend is ALMOST here, but it still remains tantalizingly out of reach.

You have been operating on about 4 hours of sleep a night for the last week and a half, due to an evil force in your home.

This force is known as the One-Year Molar. It is also known as The Evil Teething Experience From Hell.  And your son currently has three molars coming in at the same time.

Last night, he started wailing at 2am. The “leaning-over-the-crib-and-rubbing-his-back” maneuver didn’t work.  Infant pain reliever did not work. Rocking did not work. Envisioning yourself far, far away at a spa in Martinique did not work.

3am saw you lying on a folded up duvet on the floor next to your son’s crib, with your arm jammed painfully between the slats on the crib so that you could massage his scalp while he finally drifted off.

You woke up at 4:30am, still in that position. Your son was finally asleep, but so was your arm. And your left hip felt like it had been kicked by a mule.  You limped back to bed, next to your peacefully snoring husband, to try to catch some more sleep before your alarm rang at 6am.

And as you slept, tiny, pearly little teeth danced in your dreams.

But, these days shall pass, and it will be only too soon before your pain will be financial as it is discovered that your son needs extensive orthodontics.

So in the meantime, why not get yourself some pearly whites, like this gorgeous ring, to help soothe your frazzled soul and distract onlookers from the alarmingly large set of Louis Vuitton carryalls you have perched under your eyes?

I think you deserve it.

Bisous,

LPA

Greetings my darlings!

Ah, it is delightful to be in awards season, where we can see the beautiful and bountiful baubles on display.

Jewelry and cinema have long gone hand-in-glove, have they not? We love to see the beautiful people wearing the glamorous, gorgeous gems and jewels.

The artisans creating these beautiful pieces are often inspired by a member of the Hollywood elite, but in some cases, they are inspired by the characters or the film itself.

With that, I bring you the talented and fragrant Wendy Brandes and her Black Swan ring:

“When Black Swan came out last month and people swooned over Natalie Portman’s performance, I thought, ‘I MUST do a black-diamond version of my Cleves swan ring!'”

And that she did:

This ring is a stunner. It was originally designed as the “Cleves Ring” with white diamonds, and “was inspired by Anne of Cleves, Henry VIII’s fourth wife, who was born in Schwanenburg Castle (Swan Castle). This black-diamond version is a tribute to the 2010 psychological thriller Black Swan, starring Natalie Portman as an unhinged ballerina.”

Black diamonds, ballet, and insanity? There might be something more glamorous out there, but I’m really not sure what it could be. These could make a great Christmas gifts for wife.

Oh, and don’t forget to check out Wendy’s blog.  She writes beautifully (and often, hilariously) about fashion, feminism, dogs, and many other delightful topics.

Yours en pointe,

LPA

Oh, I am SO tired of snow.

Today was another day spent working from home, due to the roads being impassable.

And I must say, nothing quite encapsulates the working-mother experience like being on the phone with a major client while your toddler repeatedly pokes you in the left butt cheek with a piece of Duplo.

However, one advantage of working from home is that while on said phone call, one can do some online jewelry browsing, without worrying about Mr. Boss Man suddenly appearing over one’s shoulder.

And due to a recent birthday, I actually have a tiny bit of spending money available. And what better way to get rid of the money that is burning a hole in my pocket, than by spending it on pretty sparkly things?

Currently on sale, we have the talented and delightful Kendra Scott.  Her work has been featured here before; I love her interesting use of colour and shape.

These earrings are just lovely. I love the earthy colour of the stones. And they’re marked down to less than $50:

These earrings are outfit-makers. So exotic and pretty. They’re great for completely changing the look of a basic top ‘n’ jeans ensemble.  AND, they’re $23 off!

I could fill this entire page with Scott’s earrings, but she also has some gorgeous necklaces, such as this feather necklace, now 20% off! With the necklaces, be sure to click on “Larger Images and Additional Views”. You’ll be able to click on a video showing a model wearing the necklace, which gives you a MUCH better idea as to its size and scale.  In the regular photos, the necklaces look smaller than they actually are.

We also have this gorgeous aqua necklace (I LOVE the colour aqua), at a third off!

And lastly, this pretty tassel necklace at a great price, (and there are only two left!)

Well…I guess my birthday money is spoken for, my darlings!

Bisous!

LPA

Good morning, my lovelies!

My apologies for the delay in publishing the answers to this particular quiz. Technical issues, blahbity-blahbity, software compatibility, yadda, yadda.

Anyway, yeah…so this was  a really tough quiz, no? And you thought that Manolo’s Whose Shoes Wednesday was tough. Seriously though, I won’t make it as blisteringly difficult next time.

And so, on to the answers!

1. Kim Kardashian

2. Camilla Belle

3. Tina Fey

4. Claire Danes

5. Jenna Ushkowitz

6. Catherine Zeta-Jones

7. Natalie Portman

I have to say, I really didn’t understand the hoo-ha over Claire Danes’ look.  I thought the dress made her look rather gaunt. But hey, in Hollywood, since when was that considered a BAD thing?

Bisous!

LPA

Greetings, my dears!

I hope that all is lovely and wonderful with each and every one of you.

Remember WAY back when, when I made mention of my mom’s charm bracelet, and how I didn’t want to tell her that I’d love to have it some day, for fear of appearing grasping?

I could kick myself right now.

She hocked it.

Don’t worry — she didn’t hock it because that was the only thing standing between her and a steady diet of ramen noodles. She simply figured that neither of us girls had ever shown any interest in it, and she hadn’t worn it in years and years, so why not be rid of it.

I could CRY. Seriously. She had charms on there from when my sister and I were born. She had a charm from when she graduated from nursing school. It was the ONE piece of jewelry of hers that I actually coveted.

So I’m a little bitter right now. But I’m also determined that I WILL have a charm bracelet, damn it. And if I can’t have my mom’s, I’ll just have to get my own.

One can always buy a pre-charmed (so to speak) charm bracelet, if you like the look, but don’t want the time, bother and expense of slowly filling up your bracelet with charms.  This one from Lily Pulitzer is rather adorable, and it does still have room for charms if you want to add something more personal. Plus, it’s on sale:

I also think this one is really neat. The Feng Shui of the charms is supposed to increase the energy in your life.  So it IS a little pricier than coffee, but it doesn’t have the diuretic effects…so it’s a toss-up, really. However the fact that it’s 77% off certainly sweetens the deal, no?

Or, you could do what I’m probably going to do, and get one that’s mostly blank, so that you can add on your own charms. I’m loving this David Yurman one. The fact that it’s silver AND gold makes it a lot more versatile with regards to what charms you pick for it, I’d say.

So what kind of charms would I put on there? Well, I’d want them to either have meaning, or be ones that I just think are delightful. This Eiffel Tower charm would be a must-buy, as it would remind me of the lovely 24 hours I once spent in Paris.

Of course, with charms, you can’t go wrong with Tiffany. They have got a broad selection of gorgeous things. How dinky is this oyster charm? It  opens up, to reveal a pearl inside! Swoon!

I’ll also be getting some sort of charm that reminds me of my son. I’m not sure yet what to get though…but that’s half the fun, isn’t it?

If you had a charm bracelet, what charms would you want on it?

Bisous,

LPA

Well, the Golden Globes was definitely an interesting show.

Between Helena Bonham Carter wearing two differently-coloured shoes on the red carpet (on PURPOSE!) and Ricky Gervaise hilariously introducing Bruce Willis as “Ashton Kutcher’s dad”, I was entertained the entire time.

So, to keep the entertainment going, I thought I would springboard off of the Manolo’s always-delightful “Whose Shoes Wednesday”, and present to you “Whose Golden Globes Bling?’

Can you guess who wore what beautiful accessory?

And my vote for best-accessorized of the night? Well, it’s a toss-up.  An alarming number of women wore no jewelry at all, or only very subtle baubles.  That’s why I was so thrilled to see Kyra Sedgwick and her bold colour combination:

My other vote for best-accessorized goes to Susan Downey, and not because of what’s around her neck.

Bisous,

LPA

Yes, I just made a bad pun based on a 1990’s-era dance tune.  I have no shame.

However, thinking back to 1993, I realize that there’s not too damn much that I wore back then that I would even consider putting on my body today (puffy poet shirt, I’m looking at you).  However, even back then, I loved hoop earrings.

Hoop earrings are one of those things that you either love, or you hate.  Smaller hoops rarely elicit a negative reaction. Larger hoops, however?  Well, there’s more than one Facebook group ranting about how trashy they look.  And consider this tidbit of information from a very knowledgeable acquaintance of mine:

“Cultural Difference Fun Fact: In many conservative  and/or old money families, particularly in the South, Nice Girls Don’t Wear Hoops. Small ones are considered merely low rent, but anything bigger than a quarter? You might as well be working the pole. They’re like lucite heels for your ears.”

I think hoops are one of those things that are extremely dependent on the wearer and on the  context. Yes, they ARE inherently more casual than studs or drops, but they don’t have to be lowbrow.

Big hoops with lots of cleavage, too much makeup, an equally big necklace and a Bumpit? Yeah, that’s lucite-heel territory.

Big hoops with an exotically patterned tunic over pale linen trousers and a low strappy sandal? Delightful.

When wearing hoops, keep in mind that while big hoops can be gypsy-esque and fun, smaller ones do tend to be more elegant.  The smallest of all, also known as “huggies”, would likely work in even the most conservative setting.

Fortunately, there are a LOT of choices out there.

Beautiful leaf hoop earrings:

Unusual and delicate citrine drop hoops:

Sparkly and elegant hoops for evening:

Of course, if you want to go full-on gypsy chick, these are a beautiful way to do so:

So to the hoop-haters, I say “You do NOT know what you’re missing, my friend!”

Bisous,

LPA