I got the look !

So, what do you think jewelry designers do when they watch television? We keep one hand on the pause button of the remote control, and have a pencil in the other. Watching the golden globes, I tend to make quick sketches of what the stars are wearing, and then go through my jewelry inventory to see if I had anticipated what the look might be at an event like this. This year, I can't tell you how many women wore jewelry that was so similar to some of my creations.
For starters, we saw Angelina Jolie not win anything but she wore the most beautiful cream colored versace dress. Under her long hair were earrings that could very well be my 'pick a pear' cubic zirconia earrings, though I'm reasonably sure hers were diamond creations made or lent for the night. Next, I almost fell off the chair when I saw Eva Longoria Parker wearing an earring that was a dead ringer for my "rocky road" earring. I was delighetd when my favorite actress, Kate Winslet, comes out to accept her golden globe for 'the reader' wearing a drop earring that looked amazingly like my "Baby A's jewel earrings". They sure looked so great on her.

She wore an Yves Saint Laurent beatifully simple black dress (I'm always on the lookout for YSL, having worked for him for many years) which looked great when she held a golden globe in each hand! I also spotted Penelope Cruz wearing a stunning version of my "island pearl earrings".

It's apparent to so many women that you can get the look without having to spend the big bucks, visiting outlets and keeping an eye out for sales. It was apparent to the folks at Us Weekly that you could get the golden globe look without going broke. They put together a great spread in their Us Style section of this weeks issue, letting you enter to win a "star-inspired gown from Hollywood's big night". And, because the Us fashion editors are so fashion-savvy and know what readers want to see (and just maybe because I sent them a 'hint'), the star inspired gowns are paired with my jewelry.
So, you don't have to hope you are the winner, you can get the jewelry tomorrow from robertachiarella.com, and my sources tell me the dresses will be on sale in various stores soon. And to think, some people think the golden globes are boring ! Not me. Next up are the academy awards, if you want to have fun like I do, just bring a sketch pad and keep a firm grip on the remote. Have fun! Ciao.

My life in color(s)

Walking around Manhattan this time of year, it seems like everything is dull and gray. The sky is gray, the tree trunks are brown, and people are all wearing what seems like the same outfit: a dark coat, snow boots and various hats, scarves and gloves in muted dark tones. The picture is dull, dull, dull. Sure, every once in a while I see a bright pink ski jacket or a pair of colorful Ugg boots, but for the most part the colors of the season are muted and drab.

Color experts (yes, there are color experts and they consult to marketing firms and fashion designers) know that our color choices are influenced by the economy. When things are rough, americans get colorful! We like to buy brightly colored things in a down economy, its a form of retail therapy. Unconventional colors typically cost more, our researchers note that during bad economic times consumers spend less for everyday necessities but are likely to spend more for something "different" in order to feel better.

Retail analysts believe that people are willing to pay more for things that look special, in order to give themselves a psychological boost and allow people to feel some pride of ownership.

For instance, even though cars are not selling well right now, general motors has introduced new colors (bright blues and orange "solar flare") in the hope of sparking some demand. Kitchen appliance makers have jazzed up their lines, and showrooms tout today's kitchen with bright green appliances. I don't know about this part, they might be setting us up for buyers remorse. I did a lot of cooking on an avocado colored stove that my mom bought in the '70's, and trust me, a green stove does not age well. But, if you compare the date of the range's arrival to the dow jones average, it shows retail therapy was just as popular back then as a cure for the recession blues. Who says history doesn't repeat itself, take a look at these appliances from LG. I'm not going to rush out and redecorate my kitchen with these, but colorful clothes and jewels are another story!

For my jewelry line, we're looking at fashion trends for summer right now, as magazines have started planning their photo shoots for their summer issues. And, guess what, there is a lot of demand for brighter colors, the experts know we'll be looking for things that look exciting and fresh. I was asked to show some jewelry for a summer photo shoot where the model will carry new coach handbags, in their newest colors- teal and purple. Of course, our jewelry line for summer will complement colors like these. Color research is really interesting stuff, and very necessary when you want to sell things to shell-shocked consumers. We're not going to offer avocado crystals, but pink, turquoise and red jewelry is being designed right now. We've got some great, stimulating colors on deck for summer so we can do our part to make people feel better in a down economy.

Designers know they have to give consumers an added incentive to cross over the hesitation line and spend some money. And wearing some bright colors might actually be fun. I'm actually looking forward to this, as I was one of those people who wore only black outfits when the economy was flying, back then bright colored clothes didn't interest me too much. But, my new camera is pink! Hmmm. Maybe these researchers are on to something. Ciao.

what's in a name ?

Fancy a pave donut? How about a holly-go-lightly, or a hoop-dee-do ? One question my jewelry customers have is "where do you come up with the names?". Well, believe it or not, designing and making jewelry is hard work, but picking the names is the fun part. A lot of the names have meanings, the 'hoop dee do' refers to my mom, dorothy. Everyone around here knew her as dee, so it was a natural to get this name. If you look carefully at robertachiarella.com, you'll learn the names of my dogs, knicknames for some of the men in our lives, and which earring was designed at breakfast time.

But, sometimes things go in the other direction- one of the best-sellers in my line is the 'super sarah' which we named for sarah jessica parker. Her stylists requested samples of my jewelry for her, and they told me what she liked and what she actually wore. So, the super sarah's you see on my site got their name because she wore them. This is a photo of her wearing them, from a japanese website.

Now, we have introduced the gg xoxo necklace as a tribute to 'gossip girl' star, taylor momsen.

I watch Gossip Girl, and follow the blogs and various posts with great interest. We all have special feelings about the TV-show-next-door, they actually do a lot of the filming right here in my neighborhood. The ice-cream shop, the steps of the school, and the front door of the church (she goes to church !!) are places I walk by all the time. When they were filming some exterior shots earlier in the year, I walked the dogs about 16 times a day, to see who I could see and check out the action.

I'd read in teen vogue that Taylor Momsen doesn't have a stylist and usually does her own wardrobe, but I can't say I fully believed it. That is, until she walked into Henri Bendel and bought some jewelry. She even paid for it with her own credit card. She wore it on the show, and the wardrobe department came back to buy another necklace when they had to re-shoot a scene, it was Taylor's necklace so she had taken it home! You can tell she really liked wearing it around, more than a few people have sent me photos of 'jenny humphrey' wearing my bracelet and my necklace for photo shoots, at interviews, and on TV. So, once again we reversed the naming ritual and christened the necklace that taylor purchased the "gg xoxo". I'm not sure she knows I named it for her (or her show), but maybe she'll find out. Ciao !