Over the weekend, I was reading one of my favorite stationary designer’s (Elie Fournier) blog. She reminiscing about “Breakfast At Tiffany’s” and the love of pearls that the beautiful Audrey Hepburn created for all women:
Elie Writes:
I’ve always loved the feel of a nice pearl necklace when I put it on. It makes me feel very girlie and that I belong to a movie from the Golden Age of Cinema.
One of my favorite images about pearls is that of Audrey Hepburn getting out of a cab in front of Tiffany on Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The necklace is made up of 5 strand of pearls with a diamond brooch on the front… Simply flawless!
So I suggest run to the video store, grab your favorite LBD and send all your friends a nice note about how nice it is to be a girl while you watch the movie.
The Vintage Couture line of jewelry made by 1928 has an amazing multiple pearl strand necklace, very similar to the pearls that Audrey wore. It not only accentuates the beauty of a black dress, but it also adds instant glamor to a simple tank top and jeans (make sure you wrap the necklace to create four strands).
On Thursday, I attended the Girls In Tech, Fashion & Beauty Summit with my bosses Marsha Benaron & the latest addition to the 1928 Jewelry crew, Sonia White. Marsha, Sonia & I were there to support Macala.
Macala, our Interactive Marketing Director, was a panelist on discussion of women who used social marketing to promote and build brand awareness for their companies online.
A brief synopsis: Social Marketing is what a company makes it. A fashion brand must consciously engage perspective customers online, they must add value to the forum and social sites that they participate in on a constant basis otherwise they will not reap the full rewards of social media. The top five things that all brands sould learn about are Twitter, Facebook, Viral Video (YouTube), Blogging & White Hat SEO. For more information, you can read Macala’s Retail Marketing Blog.
Before you can even start thinking about creating a wardrobe that is uniquely you, you need to know what’s in your closet and you have to be prepared to clean out that closet. According to the lovely, Genevieve Gorder, a good closet cleaning (or any home/life organization project) will yield a 30% reduction in what currently occupies it. Scary thought right?
Here are the first three things you must do in order to accomplish complete closet organization. Be prepared to spend about 1/2 a day doing this.
1. Start with what’s in you closet.
I want to know what’s in your closet. Is your closet the closet that every modern woman has? Is it filled with shoes, belts, robes, clothes and more than a few random boxes that contain “You Life For The Past Five Years”? If so, read on.
If your closet has anything in it aside from clothing and accessories, it needs to come out. Nothing should be in the closet but clothing. So your taxes, photo albums and yearbook from junior high need to go. Put them in your living room and get them out of the way, you are gonna need the space they occupy.
Note: If you live in a studio apartment, you may be exempt because of the limitation of space. But it’s still good to assess what you have in those boxes. To great ideas on how to organize what’s in those boxes, check out Real Simple’s archives for Organization Strategies.
Once you’ve pulled our all non-clothing related items, you are ready reassess and rediscover.
2. Dear Lady, Let’s Assess.
Okay, this is the scary part – assessment. I find the easiest way to assess what I have and what I need is to pull our what currently resides in my closet and spread it across my bedroom (and part of my bathroom and living room). I also take out what’s in dresser drawers and under the bed. This way, you can visually move around and see what you have. Assessment starts with the obvious – so what you need to toss out; things that must go are:
• Things that are too big
• Things that are too small
• Anything that is stained
• Anything that is tattered
• Anything that is worn-out
• Anything that is piling
• Anything that is really faded
• Anything that has lost it’s shape
If it’s too big or too small but in good condition, then donate it to a local women’s charity.
If it’s just “gone wrong,” into the trash bin it goes. Say your good-byes and toss it!
When in doubt, I don’t believe you should throw it out! If you have something in your closet that you are quite sure if it’s okay to wear, then take a second and try it on. If it’s too big or too small, then it’s gotta go. But if you put it on, and realize that you haven’t been wearing some fabulous article, then save it, put it back on the hanger and put it aside. You will later want to accessorize this fancy frock. Likewise, if it was really expensive, and it’s a piece that you could work into a few different clothing stories (outfits) then keep it. Quality always gets farther than quantity.
Next Steps
Once you have pilfered your closet like you pilfered the fridge for some Ciao Bella Cabernet Sorbeto last night, you should have a clearly defined pile of “Going to Goodwill” and a pile “Going To Clothing Heaven.” Load the bags into the car and remove all temptation to salvage that Snoopy t-shirt that your high school boyfriend gave you freshman year. You just don’t need it.
3. Closet Accessories
Let me start by saying, congratulations! You have just taken the first steps towards a more organized closet. It’s not easy, throwing out clothes, or getting rid of anything that may have sentimental value can take an emotional toll on the best of us. But it’s very liberating to let go of the past, and that is what New Year’s resolutions are all about – out with the old and in with the new.
Okay, before you can go any further with the inventory what is left and what it’s hanging on and stored in. Do you have crappy old plastic hangers that were 20 hangers for $2.00 at Target? Do you store shoes in a crate, in boxes or just randomly pile them in your closet? That’s not good.
You must remedy this quickly – and that entitles you to a trip to home organization heaven a.k.a. The Container Store. When you organize your closet, you have to keep it looking good, you have to have the right accessories – and The Container Store is the best mecca of creating a storage solution on any budget I can think of. Yes, you can also go to Target – they actually have really cheap, more than acceptable, wood hangers. What You Need
Wooden Hangers – Did you know the proper hangers can help you extent the life of your hanging clothes?
Drop-Front Shoe Boxes – Sturdy, attractive boxes allow you to keep your shoes protected. You can’t see through the original box they came in girls.
Fabric-Covered Boxes – This is where I put sweaters I don’t use, accessories that are out of season or just things I don’t need to grab every five minutes.
Wall hooks – need extra hooks to hand belts, bath robes or scarves, get our your drill and just do it yourself. A four pack costs about $8.00!
Once you have gotten these together, you are ready for Step Two. Stay Tuned For More!
The next video segments in our series are much more light-hearted, whimsical and fun. The girls were just being themselves. Sometimes, we were doing silly things and it was hard not to laugh.
Spring Jewelry Trends: We are seeing a lot of mixed metals, organic elements, blue and purple combinations. The Bohemian theme is still ever present also with filigree and flowers. Though the spring is casual and light, we still find classic refinement and upscale Heburn-esque glamour in most collections. So go the vintage BoHo chic route ladies.
About This Video: We used Amanda Coolong, the chief News Correspondent from TechZulu and showcased her heavily. The women that buy our jewelry are quite diverse, so we tried to use models that we felt represented them well. Amanda is a entrepreneurial woman who runs her own Public Relations firm in Los Angeles and also works in Technology Broadcasting. Like most professional women, her busy schedule don’t allow for over the top creativity in her clothing choices. Her wardrobe has to be versatile and go from day to night, without being completely boring and frumpy. The same went for her accessories.
Mission Accomplished: One of the goals of our shoot was to teach women how to use vintage inspiration to create a glamorous, elegant fashion style without breaking the bank. When I outfitted Amanda, that was main goal. I had to make keep everything under a certain price point. With the exception of the Alice & Olivia Dresses from Lindsay Lou’s Boutique, none of the outfits Amanda wore totaled more than $250.00 and could be worn multiple ways. Most of the items we used were from our local thrift store, Target (yes that’s how we roll) or H&M.
1928 Jewelry Fact: Did you know that all of the pieces in our collections cost under $100.00! Yeah – we may look super expensive, but we are actually very affordable – and we don’t compromise quality. Visit 1928.com to purchase a bit of happiness before the Holidays.
Every Woman Has A Story To Tell and we want to help her tell it.
Women are precarious creatures with complex emotions.
Longing, reflection, forlornness, expectancy and even a bit of anguish.
The story continues and we switch perspectives Our models are everyday women, not just beautiful figures in magazines. We asked them to show and act out the emotions that they felt the jewelry and clothing they wore conveyed – they held nothing back.
It’s said that clothes make the woman, but actually, it’s the woman who makes the clothes. Her confidence, she swagger, her sway – make her a magnet, a powerful force that people gravitate towards.
Every Woman Has A Story To Tell…and we want to help her tell it.
Women are precarious creatures with complex emotions.
They are graceful, sophisicated, refined and classic.
At the same time, they are playful, charismatic and funny.
These traits dance with each other, emerging at the right moment and the right situation.
Sometimes they bust out all at once in dramatic displays of passion.
1928 Jewelry launches its Winter and Spring Collections with new video & photography. The video series will reintroduce you to 1928, take you behind the scenes of our design house and let you discover what inspires our collections and a few other things. I would tell you, but I think it’s better for you to make your own conclusions.
So welcome to the new1928.com and to Jewelry Gal. We hope enjoy yourself and love our work, as much as you love our jewelry.
