Halloween: WTF?

Halloween is a rather controversial holiday in my book. Not because it's for devil worship or because crazy people put razors in the apples they give to kids (seriously kids, why would you want an apple anyway?!? I did have a dentist neighbor growing up that gave out mini toothpastes though, so...).

It gets kind of tiresome when you see girl after girl wearing a nurse or firefighter or whatever costume was at Halloween Depot. To each their own, I guess... but shouldn't Halloween be an excuse to be creative and make people say WTF?! (And less of an excuse to objectify women?)

I kind of re-heated an old costume, but I decided to be Eve. You know... from the Bible? I see a tiny bit of humor in it considering I attend a Christian school. It required a lot of hot glue and the butchering of a fake plant. My darling friend in the photo below is an amazon woman, sporting a wonderful $1 mesh-y dress and some vines (which also needed some hot glue, turns out it's difficult to hot-glue fake leaves to a mesh dress without burning the person wearing it. bummer.).

Gotta love the awkward butt leafs.

What were YOU for Halloween?!

-B

P.S. Happy November? How did it get here so fast?! I guess it's time to put out the roomie's LED-lit Christmas tree that is in fact in Hanukkah colors. His name is Shalomo.

Happy Halloween~

BOO!

Halloween is the single best holiday for makeup!

Have fun and play around-

I will post pictures of my creations soon!

<3

Claire

Mourning Jewelry – Cool or Creepy?

(This is a popular older post that seemed appropriate to share again before the Halloween weekend. Be safe and bedazzle, jewelry hounds!)

Most of us associate jewelry with happy occasions like weddings, birthdays and Valentine’s Day. But many folks are wearing jewels these days that symbolize quite the opposite.

Mourning jewelry is apparently all the rage right now, according to TrendHunter, and with vampire chic taking over our pop culture – from Twilight to True Blood - it’s no wonder.

So what is mourning jewelry exactly?

The earliest examples of mourning jewelry were found in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries. Black and white enameled heads or skulls were often set into both rings and brooches and worn to signify a period of mourning after the death of a loved one.

The jewelry category reached its height of popularity in England with Queen Victoria after the premature death of Prince Albert in December 1861. Black jewelry soon became a must-have accessory, as thousands of Brits sympathized with their grieving Queen.


In the United States the use of mourning jewelry increased with the outbreak of the Civil War, which included the emergence of hair jewelry – lopped off locks given to loved ones by soldiers who went off to war, often worn as pendants or in closed lockets.


Today, mourning jewelry is making a comeback, with young designers like Anna Schwamborn from London designing a range of styles made with the hair and cremated ashes of loved ones mixed with black bone china. Her “Mourning Objects” collection includes a rosary, necklace and a watch chain tear catcher, among other styles.

So what do you think about this ‘trendy’ jewelry category? Would you wear the remains of your loved one around your neck, for example, or in the form of a ring? Or is the thought of it too morbid to even consider?

I'm curious. Has anyone out there worn mourning jewelry before? Share your story!

Twisted Baseball Necklace Ropes In Players

With the 2010 World Series underway (GO GIANTS!), I had to get an answer to a question many of my guy-friends have asked me this year:

"What's with those weird rope necklaces?"

I have to admit, while I am thrilled to see the menfolk embrace a jewelry tradition, these things look about as appealing as a twisted chain of sea slugs. And neck ropes? They don't really conjure up the warm/fuzzies, if you get my drift...

But apparently there is method to the rope-filled madness (and I mean 'madness' literally).

Phiten, maker of the official "Phiten rope necklace"explains it this way on MLB.com:

"We have a really unique product. It has the effect to stabilize your electric current inside the body. Every single product has been permeated with what we call the aqua titanium. We have technology to dissolve the metal into the water. That specially treated titanium allows the flow of energy."

"So many players believe in our technology, and at the same time, some players wear [them] as a fashion statement, some as a lucky charm. It all depends. There is a reason why they're wearing it -- that special water we permeate into the fabric."

Special water? Electric currents? Aqua titanium? And I thought we women were the only suckers for jewelry marketing. It's never dull in Mudville.

Baseball players may use twisted logic to rock the Phiten rope, but the Los Angeles Lakers don't need ANY excuse to sparkle in one of these little beauties... See Jewelry.com today for more on what folks are calling the most extravagant championship ring in the history of sports!

Here, Have Some Tim Walker to Brighten Your Lumpy Wednesday!

I promise that very soon I'll write some posts with, you know, real creative thoughts from my brain.

-B

P.S. For those of you who don't know who Tim Walker is, he's an amazing photographer who does a lot of fashion photography. He makes it art. You've probably seen his work in the Miss Dior Cherie and Juicy Couture ads- he's got a very distinct style!

"Unstoppable" Jewelry: Glam, Gauche & Gawdawful

Red carpet jewelry hunting season is in full swing, and last night's Unstoppable premiere in Los Angeles brought out some A-list lovelinesss and some D-list dregs.

The Glam:

Rosario Dawson's dusty blue Stella McCartney gown was a hands-down winner, and her Vhernier jewelry added just the right amount of sparkle. Loving the shoulder-duster earrings -a trend I think we'll see a lot more of in the months to come. (See why here).

The Gauche:

Why was Real Housewife of Orange County, Gretchen Rossi, at the Unstoppable premiere? Perhaps the better question is: What was she thinking when she put on that outfit? Nevermind. I don't want to know.

Look, the statement necklace could have rocked - but the lace bustier and piled on gems pushed the look to the wrong side of 'street walker chic' in my humble opinion.  Sorry.

The Gaudy:

Bless her, Cloris Leachman is having as huge a heydey as Betty White. And she's just as saucy - so leopard and layers are working for her in a Mrs. Roper kindof way (look her up, youngsters).

Can I just say, though, that I'm kinda tired of the over-the-top octogenarian fashion statement? These women look great for their age. Being funny doesn't mean you have to 'dress funny'. You know?

Here are some other shots from the carpet. Anything strike you?

Cushion-Cut Craze Goes Courtside

Maria Sharapova's diamond engagement ring photos are making the rounds this week, and it looks like we've got another cushion-cut cutie on our hands.

US Weekly reports the tennis phenom is wearing a 7 or 8-carat cushion-cut stone in a platinum setting with a price tag of approximately $250,000. Her Los Angeles Laker fiance, Sasha Vujacic popped the question in his Manhattan Beach home a while ago, but the ring is making its first appearance in shots like these taken during an afternoon stroll in Los Angeles last Sunday.

So why are celebs like Ivanka Trump, Anna Paquin, Alyssa Milano and Ashlee Simpson opting for the cushion-cut over, say, the more popular round-cut diamond engagement ring?

The cushion cut dates back to the 1800s and derived its shape from the fact that back then cutters were not capable of making a perfectly round stone, according to Jewelry.com. 

Today, the square shape is marked by a more affordable price point than the traditional and more frequently seen round stones - unless you're going for a whopper like those seen on Hollywood ring fingers.  Once we're in the 7-8-carat range, folks, saving money is clearly not on the agenda.

I think it's because the cushion offers more of a vintage-y feel over the sleek lines of the traditional (read: boring) round stone?

Here are a few of my favorite cushion-cuts here for your browsing pleasure. The good news is: You don't have to walk down the aisle to wear one - and they come in a variety of stone variations outside of the diamond category.

You like?

Quinoa Pumpkin Pancakes, Get In My Belly!

Even the weather in California has been fall-like lately and it's got me thinking about holiday food!

Quinoa (keen-wah) is kind of a weird looking grain that is gluten free, high in fiber, packed with amino acids, and offers whole proteins! And I'm a sucker for anything pumpkin during this time of year so I'll definitely be making these in the near future :)

The recipe can be found here!

What are your favorite fall foods?

-B

Diamonds Get Saucy at the Millionaire Fair

So you're a Russian billionaire on a lazy Sunday afternoon. You've already polished the Ferrari, fluffed up the fur coat collection, and toured the indoor football stadium. Sigh. Now what?

How about a trip to the local 'flea market' to pick up a trinket or two for the kitchen?

Enter: The Millionaire Fair - an annual celebration of conspicuous consumption that's targeted right at the Russian billionaire demographic (all 62 of you!). And wouldn't you know it? They've got that must-have kitchen item you can't live without - a diamond-encrusted saucepan!

The saucepan has a handle and lid studded with a whopping 270 diamonds over 18-carat gold. Made by German cookware brand Fissler, the utensil is not really suitable for cooking (whatever that is).

"It is for serving food beautifully," the Fissler brand manager, Natalya Oreshikina, explained to The Daily Telegraph.

And at a measly $210,000, the pan costs roughly the same as, oh, a Porsche Cayenne SUV. BUT! It's a better value, Oreshkina pitched.

"A Porsche Cayenne turns into a pile of metal once it leaves the showroom. This is an investment."

Throw in a set of steak knives, and I'm in!

Spotlight on Spooky Jewelry

So you weren't invited to Heidi Klum's famous Halloween party. Again. That doesn't mean you have to throw out the bling with the bathwater! 

I'm still working on my Kanye West/diamond teeth costume (Heidi? Your loss, sister.), but I hunted down these fun finds to throw in the spooky style rotation in the meantime:

Gemstones Meet 'The Great Pumpkin':

Add a splash of orange spice to go with your little black dress - like this Great Pumpkin-esque cocktail ring that could work with many a fall ensemble. 

Get Back in Black:

Get in touch with your dark side with some sleek onyx jewelry in any incarnation. And one of those Darth Vader voice boxes.

Kitty Cat Couture:

I've had my eye on this cat pendant for a while now. Love the price. Love the chocolate diamonds. Love that it will satisfy my maternal instincts without making too many demands on my personal time.


Skeletal Chic:

You know you have some skull jewelry lying around from your Morrissey-loving goth girl past.  Taylor Momsen didn't invent this wheel!


P.S. Click here for a fun find you can grab if you had Heidi's accessory budget. And the stomach to wear possum bones.

One more week 'til Halloween! Got some costume ideas you'd like to share?  Weigh in!

Gloomy Rainy Day Outfit: Awkward As Usual

Lately the weather in SoCal has been crap. And I'm not being whiny! All week the sun's been obscured by clouds and it's been raining on and off... making me a little homesick, to be honest!

So I took the cool temperature as an opportunity to layer up! Forgive the awkward hips-out pose... I don't know what happened there...

(Faux leather moto jacket, Goodwill; skirt layered over dress, Salvation Army; dress, Laguna Beach boutique; belt, thrifted; boots, GeeWaWa)

Check out this sweet pimp cup my roomate got for her birthday!

Hope you all had a good week! The weekend is almost here!

-B

Blue Diamond Rocks The Auction Block

Huge diamond alert! Christie's held their "Jewels: The New York Sale" yesterday, and the famous Bvlgari Blue Diamond wasn't just their top seller at a whopping $15.7 million - it broke the price-per- carat barrier to boot!

What a little over-achievor...

"A world record price was achieved on Oct. 20 for The Bulgari Blue, a much-celebrated stone that came up for sale at Christie's for the first time in almost 40 years," said Rahul Kadakia, head of jewelry for Christie's Americas in a release.

The jewel was purchased in Rome in 1972 for $1 million and was given as a gift from the collector to his wife to celebrate their first son's birth, according to Christie's.

How could I have left $15 million diamonds off my Jewelry Gift Guide for New Moms? The horror.
 
Do ridiculous diamonds give you 'the giddys' too? Scratch the itch with me by gawking at yet another blue beauty - this one fetched more money than any stone at auction. Ever!

Hyperventilating. It's the world's worst cologne.

Steady my heart

<3

Claire

MORE discount stuff!

Here I am back from midterms and I survived!

In light of Berit's post on Hautelook (where I have gotten some awesome possum stuff!)

There is this awesome little website called

Beflurt

they sell all the best brands at a discount! It's great!

I doodled a little bit on friday night:

it started out like this

then turned into this:

(check my sick shirt lol)

Also, here is a little random to brighten your day:

LIKE LIKE LIKE!

(the picture has white edges, thats why this font is so low, chill)

If you haven't seen the lebanese movie Caramel, get on that.

Its one of my favorite films.

I know how you feel jacob,

I wish we were doing the naughty right now too :(

The first part of HP is coming out in a MONTH

EAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAK!

and this AMAZING picture

...

<3

Claire