Happy Stories From our customers

No, I didn’t catch it. But catching up on it this morning. Kanye West interrupts another acceptance speech (as a joke apparently, ha, ha), Hozier and Annie Lennox teamed up for an interesting musical duet…and the fashion? Well here’s a few of our faves.

Ariana Grande in Atelier Versace

Whoa…Rihanna in Giambattista Valli Haute Couture

Gwen Stefani in Atelier Versace

Sia in Giorgio Armani

Ciara, in Alexandre Vauthier Haute Couture

And our personal favorite look from last night’s Grammy’s:

Este Haim in Chloé, Danielle Haim in Stella McCartney, and Alana Haim in Stella McCartney

See our Scroll Solitaire with Surprise Diamond here:

Brooches…not just your mother’s jewelry anymore. Check out some of these whimsical and eye-catching brooches we found at Vogue:

Chanel Jewelry Contrasting Cammelia Brooch Contraste de Camélia white gold brooch, set with 95 brilliant cut diamonds with a combined 2.1 carats, 108 brilliant cut grey sapphires with a combined 4 carats, coral and onyx.

Cartier panther brooch Platinum panther brooch, set with 535 diamonds, emerald eyes and 82 cabochon sapphires.

Tiffany & Co. dragonfly brooch Gold Dragonfly brooch, set with diamonds and pink sapphires.

Cindy Chao brooch Florale The Art Jewel 2015 Blacklabel Masterpiece n°5 white gold brooch, with two pearls, white diamonds (pear cut, oval cut, rose cut and brillant cut), yellow diamonds, brown diamonds, rhodolites and a 17.25 carat heart cut yellow diamond.

Less is more. We’ve all heard it but rarely believe it. So we often overbuy and fill our closets and drawers to the brim. Then we moan, “But I have nothing to wear!”

This article points out that we often bury our best pieces with articles of clothing and jewelry that don’t mean as much to us, leaving us still feeling incomplete. So get de-stuffacting and uncover your favorite things!

Tip 1: Give up the guilt (if you have any)
It is not your fault and there is nothing wrong with you for buying so many things. From the earliest age, we are taught to be consumers – to look, buy, gather, hoard. Also, we get a very addictive chemical thrill every time we buy something – you know the feeling – even if the high doesn’t last.
Don’t worry though; handled right, you’ll get a similar feel-good feeling once you’ve lightened your wardrobe.

Tip 2: De-stuffocate with friends
Overturning millennia of training in gathering is hard. Just as we are hard-wired, as evolutionary psychologists believe, to love sweet, salty, fatty foods, so are we hard-wired to want and value material things. If you do it with a friend or friends it’ll make it so much easier. You know how it’s much easier to tell a girlfriend that something looks good or bad on them, than it is to know if something looks good or bad on you? Well, it’s the same with things in the wardrobe. Throughout, compare and compete: if your friend has got rid of 30 things, see if you can get rid of 31.

Tip 3: Minimalism in a minute: the bin-bag experiment
This is the extreme version for brave (or desperate) people seeking instant change. Ideally with a friend, put everything – yes, everything – in black bin bags so your wardrobes are bare. Then, each day, as you need something, take it back out again. This way, you’ll find out what you actually need.

Tip 4: Minimalism in a month
If that feels too much or too weird, start small. Find one thing you really don’t want, need, have never worn, and get rid of it. The next day, find two things. The next, three things, and so on, for a month. (It’s best to start this on the first of the month, so the number of things you throw out is the same as the day on the calendar.) This game was created by The Minimalists, Ryan Nicodemus and Joshua Fields Milburn. They call it the Minimalism Game.

Tip 5: You don’t need to be, or want to be, a minimalist to benefit
You can also de-stuffocate by going through your wardrobe, taking things out, and making piles:

(i) Things you’ve never worn – you can tell because the label’s still on, and they’re still shop pressed
(ii) Things you haven’t worn for a year
(iii) Things that are uncomfortable
(iv) Things you have worn but you’ve grown out of
(v) Things you hope to wear again some day

If you’re taking your time, put them in separate bags, and put them in the loft. If you haven’t missed them in a month – or three months time – they have to go (or else, what’s the point in keeping them?).

Read more at Telegraph!

 

 

http://youtu.be/V9u-vituGkg

As we’re seeing more and more, jewelry is no longer just mere adornment in the 21st century. Not only is smart jewelry expanding out into the market but one woman decided that jewelry can also be a perfect weapon for self-defense. Read on.

YASMINE MUSTAFA, 32, of University City, Philadelphia, and Anthony Gold, 49, of West Chester, co-founded Roar for Good, a University City firm aimed at empowering women with fashionable safety accessories and educational programs. The startup is part of DreamIt Athena, a female-focused entrepreneur program by DreamIt Ventures. I spoke with Mustafa, the CEO.

Q: How’d you come up with the idea for Roar?

A: A woman was raped a block from my apartment shortly after I came back from a trip to South America last year. The original idea was a wearable bracelet called the Macelet, which had Mace in it. I started talking to women and they were afraid of self-defense tools that an attacker might use against them. So I pivoted to a device that’s fashionable and easy to use that has a loud alarm and light to distract a would-be attacker and message friends and family.

Q: The startup money?

A: I conceived a functional prototype and found a hardware person, who’s still an adviser, to help me build it. We bootstrapped it and it cost about $5,000, and then we designed it.

Q: The biz model?

A: The device, which will be priced around $100, can be worn as a necklace, charm or key fob. It also has a magnet so you can put it on clothing. After we developed the prototype, some women wondered: Why not teach men not to attack women? We decided the wearable had a safety purpose but we could use part of our revenues to support nonprofits teaching nonviolence and promoting a culture of consent and respect.

Read more at Philly.com

Customized version of our Beverly K style 102059.