These jewels are big, dramatic, a combination of vintage stones and contemporary flair. Designer Alan Anderson, based in Toronto, gets his inspiration from royalty (especially the Duchess of Windsor), masters of haute couture, and the stones themselves. Interested in design since he was child, Alan recently left his career in retail display to follow his dream – working full-time at his own custom jewelry business.
Due to the limited availability of vintage stones and the settings you need to work with them, Alan’s pieces tend to be one of a kind. They are not for the faint of heart – but they do make an impact. Given the increasing scarcity of quality vintage pieces, and their rising prices, investing in contemporary design with a vintage flair just makes good sense. And good style. For more Alan Anderson pieces, please visit www.intotemptation.com
Do you wear your good jewelry? Do you wear much jewelry at all? A while ago, I was in a crowded restaurant with a stylish friend, the wife of a fashion designer. She asked me to look around and see how many women were wearing more than a wedding ring or a modest chain necklace. There were exactly two: me and her. I found it a little bit discouraging, to say the least.
And yet, when I’ve asked women who don’t wear jewelry why they don’t, they tell me (usually) that they really like it. But they have no clue how to accessorize with it. Or that their lives don’t really permit them to dress up as much as they would like. I understand that. When I had my son, I stopped wearing jewelry for a while. I felt it was for going out. And I soon realized that “out” was a nice place but with an infant, I didn’t get to visit it much anymore. And ultimately decided that being at home with a small child didn’t mean giving up jewelry and accessories. It just meant making them fit my life instead of removing them completely. Slowly, that did come to mean masses of bracelets, huge pins and lots of rhinestones. (Hey, winter here is long. I figure you may as well brighten it up if you can.)
And it made me wonder why we save our good things for such infrequent occasions. Why we don’t see each day as potentially special and wear our good things with abandon. So … try it. Just for one day. Take out that “good stuff” you think is too good to waste on an ordinary day. And make the ordinary extraordinary.
As I write this, it is sparkling outside – 15 cm of freshly fallen snow. I like my sparkling items somewhat less cold (diamonds excepted) and have spent the day putting things away. Jewelry, mostly (there’s a shock). So among my New Year’s resolutions (the others to remain resolutely private) is to mix it up more with jewelry and accessories. An early spring cleaning, if you like.
I have a lot of items in my rather large jewelry box. And I tend to wear it all, at some point in time. Some items just sit there until the right piece of clothing comes along. Some, well, I will probably never wear them but they are quirky or charming or unusual so I keep them.
Something I hear from a lot of women is that they like jewelry a lot – they just don’t know how to wear it.
If that’s you …. here’s a new year’s resolution for you. Go through your jewelry box. Play (remember dress up when you were a kid? I decimated the items in my mom’s jewelry box, something I now really regret!). Pair different pieces with different outfits. Get rid of things that no longer work. Retire others that you love but can’t quite give up. Check to see what’s fresh and new for spring and see if you own anything that will go with it, or if you need to find something that will.
Most of all …. have fun. Because unless you own the Krupp diamond, it should be fun. And hell, even Liz had fun with the Krupp.
Happy new year ….
