It's my lucky day

Friday the 13th. I was born on Friday the 13th, so it's not unlucky for me. But for lots of people it is a day to worry about. I went to a meeting today, the office building I visited did not have a 13th floor. At my brother's hospital, there are no rooms with #13. In Paris, if you are at a dinner party in a restaurant, the place will supply (for a fee, I suppose) a 14th guest!

I checked and checked our website, robertachiarella.com to make sure no jewelry is priced at $13. We haven't checked all the inventory, but if you have concerns, Elizabeth or Jose will be happy to count the number of Swarovski crystals on whatever you've ordered, if there are 13 we can always change to a different style. Our Flower Bud bracelet is in Bridal Guide (on the cover no less!!) and has 28 beautiful crystals, so it' safe.

So don't worry too much about the day, it's the third friday the 13th this year, which is unusual. We were too busy laughing to be afraid of the day once we saw what you call people who have a fear of friday the 13th. It's called friggatriskaidekaphobia! Ciao!

Hug a Veteran today!

Awww, go ahead! On Veteran's day, there are parades, celebrations and memorial services, to honor and give thanks to the men and women who have served our country. I know a few veterans, and sincerely and honestly thank them for volunteering to be part of our military forces.

It's not an easy decision to join the army or navy, the commitment is intense, there is always the danger of going to war. But, some people find it in themselves to make the sacrifice and volunteer, and we are all thankful.

And of course, to celebrate veterans, New York City has a parade! It's one of our grandest parades, marching north on 5th Avenue past all the shops and St. Patricks cathedral. There are over 20,000 marchers, countless floats and bands, and it's a work day for many, so the city will be crowded. If you are in town, come on over, try to stand just north of St. Patricks, on the west side.

This will put you in the vicinity of Henri Bendel, so you can come in and check out the jewelry! We've got some cool new pieces, including Mi Prima bangle bracelet. This one is a faithful re-creation of one of my very first pieces and is brought back in some great colors. The originals were "bakelite" an early plastic, these are a newer, lighter plastic with a rich color and shine. The crystals are beautiful, and gigantic! If you've got a veteran who wears jewelry in your family, they would sure make a nice present. Ciao!

mo'nique, you're a star!

I'm back from Florida, where I had a great time promoting my jewelry line, Roberta Chiarella for HSN. We had two live shows, and as usual, it was a great experience, with the lights, the sets, and most of all, the call-in segments. Viewers call in not only to inquire about the jewelry, but to say 'hi' or to say how they like the products, or that they've visited the store in NY (henri bendel) to see if I was there.

It is fun interacting with customers, and oftentimes people who live in NYC or are visiting want to come up to the studio and meet us. We enjoy helping people get the look they want for an event like a wedding, or just to pick the right jewelry for a job interview or to go with a particular outfit. Elizabeth and I love it so much, we're going to put some additional time on our schedules to do these style consultations, so visit robertachiarella.com to look for the announcement. And we always love to see pictures of people wearing our jewelry, so if you have a nice photo, don't be shy, send it to us at the website or here at the blog.

Sometimes, we get pictures when real live stars are wearing Roberta Chiarella jewelry, I am thrilled to share this- Actress-Mo'Nique walked the red carpet at Grauman's Chinese Theater on Sunday, November 1 wearing my Crystal Flute Earrings.

She's starring in the film “Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire” which opens nationwide November 6. It's a real honor when people (especially famous people) choose my jewelry and then wear it for a special occasion. You can be sure I'll go see this movie when it opens in NY later in the week.

The only thing cooler than seeing this was the sight of thousands of runners going by my house on 1st avenue yesterday, and seeing an american win the NY City Marathon. It's a crazy day cause you are literally trapped in the neighborhood, but at least it was a nice day to go down to the corner and watch the runners. It's inspirational seeing all those people running, I always say maybe I'll start training for next year. Yeah, right. Ciao!

honeymoon in, Tampa?

I'm on my way to Tampa, getting ready for two great shows on HSN. The first is scheduled for Tuesday morning at 1:00 am EST, which is actually geared towards west coast audiences, where it'll be Monday night at 10:00 pm. Then, there is another show at 1:00 PM est, or 10 AM on the west coast.

It's been a whirlwind weekend, having started with a wedding! My husband, Brian and I have renewed our wedding vows, and went before the preacher, family and friends and say "I do" once again. It was not picked up on the evening news or anything, so you'll only read it here. We had a wonderful ceremony by the pastor of "the church on the hill" in Douglaston, Queens, and then off to a great cocktail party followed by a dinner at our favorite italian restaurant, La Grotta di Marcello.

We were so happy, it is a really nice thing to take that step, make that committment, renew our wedding vows to be faithful partners, in sickness and health, through good times and bad, and wherever our life takes us. In this case, it's taking us to Tampa, the headquarters of HSN and our honeymoon II. And it's not a bad time to go to Florida, as it is absolutely dismal in NY with cold drizzle and rain, and florida is in a nice warm spell right now- should be in the 70's, a welcome change from the last few days in New York.

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So, it's a honeymoon in Tampa. We always have a good time at HSN, the folks are nice to us, the studios are high tech (It'll be my first appearance in their HDTV studio) and the hosts are knowledgeable and friendly. I love working with them, we've got a few great new pieces to show, and they've re-ordered some favorites and put them on the HSN website at special prices. I was so happy my jewelry is well received, there are 4 and 5 star ratings on the HSN website, and this can be a choosy crowd, so this is great news to me.

On another topic, our website is selling all of the great jewelry that was featured in Us Magazine's piece on the Emmy Awards, the Senorita Freida and the Little Fig Leaf earrings are selling like hotcakes! It's amazing to see the reaction of the public when magazines like US show how to literally get an emmy award look that is affordable, and I'm honored they chose to work with me for this issue of the magazine.

Life and Style magazine also did a great fashion spread this week that showcases my unbelievable square necklace, a beautiful CZ piece that is fun to wear. Check out the new items on the website, and if you don't get my emails, there is a place to sign up, we have some new jewelry that is introduced first via our e-list, and special sales and contests all available to folks who have signed up. So, my husband and I are going to celebrate in Tampa, then it's off to the TV studios. Ciao!

call me irv

Irving Penn, one of the 20th century’s most prolific and influential photographers of fashion,the famous and the undiscovered, whose signature blend of classical elegance and cool minimalism was recognizable to magazine readers and museum goers worldwide, died yesterday at his home in Manhattan at age 92.

I was privileged to work with him for many years-I was fresh of out of Parson's School of Design and got what I thought was the best job ever-as the associate Art Director at Clinique Cosmetics . Working at Clinique for 8 years was an amazing start to my career but I can say one of the highlights of my job was spending time with a man who took the time to talk to me and insisted I call him "IRV".

As the associate art director (which I used to joke was like being the friend of the art director's friend) I did the grunt work. Irving Penn did all of our still life photography for Clinique at the time, it was amazing and truly groundbreaking, being simple, graceful and very, very classy- fitting the brand perfectly.

As the associate I would do all the preliminary layouts in my office and polaroid the setups.
Once the art director approved them -the next step was "Penn" as we lovingly called him.

I would then proceed to the studio and deliver the layouts -products and props. It was a job that most people would complain about except- it had a big plus, Every time I went to the studio I would sit and talk with "Penn" for hours. He was approachable and friendly to me, gave me tips and pointers, showed me the look he was trying to get with his photographs, which gave Clinique the beautifully polished look that sold the product like crazy.

this is my favorite photo of Irving Penn's from his beautiful book "Flowers", It's called called Blue Moon (it always reminded me of myself as a party girl

after a great night out). Lilies is another one of my favorites, but in addition to still life he photographed important figures of the era, like Picasso, Le Corbusier, and the cleaning ladies in his studio. He had a great eye, and shared his knowledge with me and other young artists. I owe a lot to Irving Penn, he was a teacher and a friend. He will be missed. Ciao.

emmy and me

Did you see the emmy awards last week? You know I did, it's like religion to me, watching the stars march down the red carpet, waving to the crowds, stopping for a quick interview, seeing the crowds wish their favorite stars good luck. The emmys are always the place to see superstar fashion, with some of the coolest gowns, hair and accessories. I also like to see if TV shows I like win an award or two, my favorite, Mad Med won!!! You also get to see what everyone's wearing, and this year had lots of great outfits and jewelry. It's my job, as your jewelry expert, to examine all the girls jewelry and see if what they wore is represented in my jewelry line.

This year, JACKPOT! I sketched some of what the stars wore and went back into the catalog and the websites, to see if we had baubles similar to what the stars were wearing. I do this cause it's a given that the TV shows and magazines will always show the affordable, lookalike collections that enable you and me to dress like an emmy winner for less.

Us magazine picked up my reports, and when this weeks issue came out, with 'knock off' gowns and accessories, I was proud to have 4 pieces chosen by the Us style editors for their 'emmy looks for less section. The pieces are on the website and select retailers, so check them out. The emmys were great television theatre, with Mad Men and 30 Rock winning as best TV comedy and drama. I'm glad Glenn Close won for the FX show Damages, though I didn't see an episode till after it was nominated.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus didn't win an Emmy, but she did look great, and her earrings were unbelievably close to my senorita frieda earrings. The Little fig leaf earring is just about an identical twin to Debra Messing's earring- of course hers probably cost thousands, but my crystallized swarovski elements come pretty close to giving you that look for a lot less.

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All in all, I had a great time watching the emmys, and am thrilled Us Magazine used so many of my pieces in their red carpet emmy look issue. It's a blast to see your jewelry in print, and at these prices. Even though some lucky people will win the look, it's not hard to acquire your own, they're all specially priced at my site. Ciao!