In 1985, I listened to British singer Belouis Some‘s song “Imagination” on repeat. Kids these days don’t appreciate the dedication it took to play a song obsessively back then! It was a delicate operation, what with lifting the turntable needle up from the vinyl record and moving it to that flat, grooveless space in between…
tiara
Practical Accessorizing: Tiaras and Shields
Quick! Look at your fingers right now. Are you wearing any rings? An engagement ring and/or wedding band? Take them off! To avoid the novel coronavirus, you should be washing your hands more than Lady MacBeth, and that kind of scrubbing isn’t good for your fine jewelry. I never wear my rings at home, and…
Wendy Brandes Jewelry X the Style Crone, Part 3
The rollout of my Immortal Style campaign continues! In this third image, 76-year-old model Judith Boyd — aka the Style Crone — wears the full suite of my Mary Queen of Scots snake designs: necklace, earrings, ring, and tiara. This collection was inspired by the term that the advisors of Elizabeth I used for Mary:…
Getting Introspective With 1stdibs
Thank you to writer Kareem Rashed for interviewing me for Introspective Magazine, the publication of online luxury marketplace 1stdibs! Kareem asked me and four other contemporary jewelry designers who sell on 1stdibs to pick a favorite antique piece from the site and talk about how that work inspires us. I chose this Art Nouveau tiara…
Wendy Brandes Jewelry in Paper Magazine
Paper Magazine’s summer publication is its first-ever “Sports” issue, and I’m so excited to see one of my pieces in it! Interestingly, the design is NOT my solid gold Virginia Woolf Whistle. Stylist Shannon Stokes went a less literal route — which I like! — and used my 18K gold Queen of Scots snake tiara…
Throwback Thursday: Even More Couture
I still have photos to share from the Couture jewelry show in Las Vegas at the beginning of the month. Last week, I promised pictures of people wearing my 18K gold Queen of Scots tiara; this week, I’m delivering! Who says only women can wear tiaras? Not I! The person who got the most wear…
2018 Met Gala: The Best of the Rest
I feel like I should do one of those “Previously on …” intros that new television episodes start with. Read this to yourself in an announcer-type voice: Previously, on this blog, Wendy Brandes bestowed her Best Dressed/Wear What You Want combo award for the 2018 Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art —…
The Week in Review
In case you missed it, here’s what was on the blog this week. Tuesday, May 1: Snakeskin is back, and I have to dig up a photo of my shiny snake-pattern pants from the late 1990s. Wednesday, May 2: In this week’s YouTube video, I talked about how I changed my career and what you…
Vote for My Rings (Because Safety First!)
In the early days of blogging, I had fun campaigning for online contests, but this time I’m conflicted. It’s been eight years since the vast reach and power of Poodle made that tech company my personal Voldemort. I never imagined that the social-media company that I will now refer to as Spacenook would become even…
Here Comes the Bride!
Woot! We’ve got the official photos of our beautiful bride, Alyssa Brownell, wearing my 18K gold snake tiara as her “something borrowed” at her wedding last month in Manhattan. These were taken by my own wedding photographer, Bill Fredericks, for Heathwood Photography. In addition to the tiara, Alyssa wore my Cleves swan earrings in 18K…