Friday, February 3, 2012
Celebrity manicurist Tracylee Percival came up with a Minx manicure for me that’s so heavenly we named it “The Divine.” She layered gold lace-patterned Minx — designed by her manicurist friend Naja — over a burgundy layer for a stained-glass effect.
Stained glass made us think of cathedrals, which made me think of one of my favorite cathedrals — New York City’s St. John the Divine. Hence, “The Divine.”
Because I like to mix metals, I wore my silver emoticon heart ring with the gold-patterned nails yesterday.
The emoticon heart ring is my Valentine’s Day suggestion for the day.
$150. Click to shop.
I’ve been selling a lot of these and today I just have one size 6 (non-adjustable) in stock. I’ll have six more adjustable ones by February 9 — you’ll still have time to buy it for Valentine’s Day if you live in the U.S. Email me at wbjewelry at hotmail dot come if you want to reserve one of the six.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
If you’re in the Los Angeles area, you’re in luck! You can go to Broken English Jewelry in Santa Monica and try on the one and only gold Vampire Diana heart ring I’ve made so far.
18K gold and sterling silver. $7,000. Click to shop.
The design of the heart pierced by a “wooden” stake was inspired by my love for the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Look how detailed it is! In the photo above you can even see “tree rings” on the top of the stake.
Another view.
And, as with a lot of my designs, there’s a special surprise. The stake pulls out.
Bet you didn't expect that!
If love sometimes makes you feel stabby, you’ll have lots of fun with this ring.
Gorgeous blogger/designer Stacy Lomman modeled it for me once, so you can see how it looks on.
Click to shop.
There’s also a less expensive silver version of the Vampire Diana ring on my site.
$600. Click to shop.
The stake isn’t removable, but it’s still a hot ring, as you can see on gorgeous blogger/customer Beautifully Invisible.
The ring on Beautifully Invisible.
If you’re a guy looking for the perfect gift for the True Blood/Twilight/Vampire Diaries/Buffy fan in your life, this is it. I’m always encouraging men to get away from safe jewelry gift choices and go for something that reflects the woman’s personality. Trust me: if she’s a vamp slayer or fang banger, you can’t go wrong with this.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Valentine’s Day is coming right up. Time to buy something for your Valentine, email your Valentine a very specific “hint,” or just treat yourself! (That last option is very popular among my independent-minded customers.)
Pink gems are romantic, so my first Valentine’s suggestion is a luxurious pair of shoulder-brushing earrings featuring pink opal drops and 1.26 carats of diamonds. They’re named after Helen of Troy and are perfect for a black-tie gala … or the upcoming Grammys or Oscars.
Normally $13,000. Now $8,000 for Valentine's Day. Click to shop.
I found the opals at a gem show and was so entranced by the color that I had to have them for a one-of-a-kind design. Anyone who gets these should feel very special indeed!
If you need help with this or any other Valentine’s Day purchase, email me at wbjewelry at hotmail dot com.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
I unofficially revealed February’s Jewel of the Month over the weekend. I just couldn’t resist posting this photo of the WTF ring set — worn by model Tina J for my lookbook shoot — as soon as I got it.
WTF rings are on the right side. Photo by Shane LaVancher. Click for original post.
Here’s a closer look at the rings.
Click to view on my website.
These rings are sterling silver with adjustable bands so they can fit a range of finger sizes. They can also be custom-made in specific sizes with closed bands. The standard, adjustable set costs $345 for all three rings and I’m taking pre-orders on my website.
Speaking of model Tina J, I was excited to see her on the cover of WWD yesterday.
There were 14 more images inside. They were all very cute and “girl next door.”
One of the inside photos.
I was amused, seeing as I hired Tina specifically because I thought she was much more than “girl next door.” It’s good for Tina to show how versatile she is, of course. But I like her better styled my way (with the help of stylist Caitlin Burke).
Tina wearing my original swear rings. Photo by Shane LaVancher. Click to shop.
Good girl gone bad!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
I’ve decided it’s time for another one of my fashion-blogger trend slideshows on the Huffington Post. My previous ones are:
- Red legs
- Leopard print
- Maxis
- Mullet (high/low) hemlines
- Snake print and color blocking
- Houndstooth
- Peplums
My new theme is button-down denim shirts. I’m seeing them on all of you!
Sharon of MyStyle-Fashion, Vintage and Me has a denim shirt. Click for her post.
If you want your picture to appear in my Huffington Post story, email it to me at wbjewelry at hotmail dot com. I’ll also need to know how you want to be listed. Your choices are “first name, last name, blog” or “first name, blog.” Deadline is next Monday.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
When I saw a mesh-topped Hervé L. Leroux dress in US Magazine, I flashed back to a bodysuit I wore in the summer of 1993.
Now.
Then.
Check out those mom jeans! That’s how we rolled back then. I also had no knowledge of flat irons, as you can tell from my hair. Flat irons are very important to me now.
Monday, January 30, 2012
I started watching the red-carpet coverage of the Screen Actors Guild Awards yesterday, but nothing caught my eye, so I moved on. Too many of the same pale shades we saw at the Golden Globes for me. I did see actress Rose Byrne being interviewed, but close-up only, so I just gave her bangs the side-eye because I thought they looked costume-y. I didn’t see till later that she was wearing a daring jumpsuit and that the bangs were part of a whole Michelle-Pfeiffer-in-Scarface vibe. To me, costume-y is bad. An actual costume is awesome. Rose Byrne gets my Best Dressed/Wear What You Want combo award for the event. I’m sure she’s thrilled! Who needs a SAG Award when you can get a made-up award from me?
Photo via the Los Angeles Times. Click for source.
Michelle Pfeiffer in Scarface.
UPDATED TO ADD: Dlisted’s post on this outfit is highlarious.
Monday, January 30, 2012
I know lot of people aren’t online on the weekends. So, now that you’re all back at work and looking to be unproductive, I figured I’d do a recap of my weekend posts.
- If you followed my tweets about my lookbook shoot last Wednesday, you can’t miss the first of photographer Shane LaVancher’s stunning pictures of model Tina J and my jewelry.
- I posted more photos related to Fashion Group International’s Rising Star Awards.
- I added links to Rising Star news coverage at the bottom of this post.
- Rising Star accessories finalist Michelle Vale featured my Empress Wu dragon earrings on her blog. You can check out her handbag line here.
- Chic.tv interviewed all the Rising Star finalists. In the video below, Stacy Lomman comes at 42 seconds and I’m at 6:19.
Also, following up on my Huffington Post story about the agony and ecstasy of being a small business owner, I gave a business tip to byAimee.com.
Incidentally, after I wrote the Huffington Post piece but before it was published, the New York Times ran a great story about why Apple manufactures overseas. It’s not just about labor costs for a ginormous company like Apple; it’s about access to suppliers and manufacturing capacity as well.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
My photographer Shane LaVancher just shared this incredible picture from my lookbook shoot. I can’t resist publishing it right this second, even though it gives away February’s Jewel of the Month — the WTF ring set — before that post is ready.
Model: Tina J of Fusion. Photographer: Shane LaVancher. Jewelry: Wendy Brandes. Stylist: Caitlin Burke.
I’ll write more about the new WTF rings next week. In addition to those rings and the OMG rings, this picture features my Memento Mori skull and bones necklace and my vampire stake necklace.
The pose with the dumbbells was all Shane’s idea.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
As promised, here are a few more photos from the Fashion Group International Rising Star Awards. My guests for the awards lunch, which was at the midtown Cipriani, were my husband, MrB; my father, GeorgeB; and my gorgeous client Christine. Christine is the client who ordered a special tiger ring and, not long after receiving it, generously loaned it back to me so that I could enter it in the awards voting.
Click for my original post on this ring.
Of course, I didn’t need to invite my gorgeous friend Stacy Lomman because she was a finalist in the women’s ready-to-wear category and got her own invitation from FGI. Here are (from the left) Stacy, Christine, me and GeorgeB before the awards started.
Does the background person between Christine and me count as a photobomber?
We had a celebratory dinner at Blue Water Grill that night, and MrB showed off his Wendy Brandes cufflinks.
He's wearing the Medici poison cufflinks.
Stacy was still wearing my Empress Wu dragon ring; the lapis lazuli in it was a good match for her self-designed top.
Nose in the air!
While at the restaurant, we took some photos of the back of my Stacy Lomman-designed dress. Unfortunately, none of model Tina J’s posing skills rubbed off on me during this week’s lookbook shoot, and I wasn’t content with any of the photos. (But Stacy will post them, so keep an eye on her blog.) I have another chance, though: I love the dress so much I’m wearing it to an event next weekend.
Today, I posed Gigi the dog with my award in the style of my “dogs with purses” photo.
The only reason she looks a little enthusiastic is because it was breakfast time and she was expecting her kibble!
