Gold Foil Wonderland

Scooping up the perfect Christmas present can be kind of overwhelming, so very much so on these last all consuming-of-consumer weekends.  Perusing the web in the hopes of avoiding the crazed 'Black Friday' shopper spray of pepper, I was overcome in a quite different way - by stunning, stunning jewels.

The oldest form of jewelry making in India, kundan (pure gold) is a method of stone setting in which gold foils or detailed enamel designs are placed behind the gem prior to mounting.  The result is a bewitching, extravagant affair, with pieces more glittery and grandiose than the next. 

Type in 'kundan' on EBay alone, and find an assortment of ornate treasures.

Oddly enough, I ended up snatching up the least ostentatious of items for my grams - a collector of elephants, I couldn't say no to this burnished gold elephant bangle for her.

And, ok, maybe an ounce of glamour for myself in the process...

Necklace & earring set, EBay.com; seller artjewels1954

Bracelet, EBay.com; seller aria.jewels

Earrings, EBay.com; seller thethirdi

Necklace & earring set, EBay.com; seller indiatrend

Earrings, EBay.com; seller teriot_diva_fashions

Necklace & earring set, EBay.com; seller aria.jewels

Bracelet, Bombayjewelry.com

Earrings, Bombayjewelry.com



The Newest Covet: November 21, 2011

Fashion has always been a very fanciful realm for me.  In a long meeting?  I’ll dream of the latest Mackage winter coat showings.  Can’t seem to fall asleep?  I count outfits in my head, not sheep.

My latest faux excess?  The very appropriately named silver snake embossed covet bag from Rebecca Minkoff.

Always a fan of her designs, I recently started taking note of them again after one of my favorite people acquired a riff on her circle quilt swing purse (shown here in raspberry).  I loved the beribboned chain handles, and the clever use of studs to update such an iconic design.

The covet bag is similarly vintage inspired, with a wonderfully ladylike structure.  And the gorgeous metallic sheen is so well done – snakeskin can be so very hard to duplicate realistically, but Minkoff’s interpretation is Devi Kroell perfect at a fraction of the price (and more environmentally conscious to boot).

At $450, it’s a splurge.  Perhaps Santa will be especially kind to me this year.

A girl can dream, can’t she?

Bags, rebeccaminkoff.com

Your Peepers Will Thank You, You Half-Blind Hipster

I've been slightly obsessed with Warby Parker, the vintage-chic online glasses emporium, for some time.  Because where else in the world can you get unique, fun glasses, including prescription lenses, for $95? 

I snatched up the Fillmore in Tennessee Whiskey about a year ago, and have gotten an outrageous number of compliments on them.


 

(yes, that is a red velvet twinkie sundae, courtesy of Farmacy, Brooklyn, NY)

They recently reimagined their entire website, offering a new sunglasses line, some crazy new models, and, best of all, allowing you to try on up to five pairs in the privacy of your own home.  For free.  At home.   

Also ridiculously neat: if you can't find five pairs and, say, are only curious about 2 specs, the company will send you another 3 selections they think might tickle your fancy.

Is this the new wave of [im]personal shopping?

Eager to test this out, I just 'ordered' a few pairs for my friends and I to have a lady living room fashion party [of course, I just had a similar type of slumber party last week at which we tried on baubles and played with makeup until 4AM - let me tell you, it proved to be an excellent regressive exercise].

The Griffin in revolver black intrigues me, as do the Begley whiskey tortoise frames.

Griffin, in revolver black

Begley, in midnight blue

My choices are set to come in a few days.  So hooked!

Glasses, warbyparker.com



The Newest Covet: November 1, 2011

I recently grabbed drinks after work with an old friend who had just returned from a trip to Paris.  Ever the Francophile, I could not stop gasping over all her accoutrements.

"Your shoes are so pretty!"

"Oh, they're from Paris."

"GREAT accessories!!!"

"Thanks, I got them in Paris."

There was one item, though, that I've been lusting after ever since our night out on the town - a crazy long, gorgeous dark brown leopard print scarf.

As I've mentioned, I don't own anything in leopard.  It seems bold (which I love) but, at times, garish - or at least more so for me than, say, rocking a bright pink shoe.  Ok, so I'm weirdly timid about leopard.

On the shopping prowl since for the perfect-but-not-$400 selection (yes, Alexander McQueen, I'm talking about you and your overpriced scarves), I think I've found it.

Light and frothy, but oh so long - I want to nest in it, draping it around and around to be coyly tucked into my ruffle collared trench coat.

Best of all - $18 and free shipping.

I'm sold.

Scarf, nordstrom.com