Junk Jewelry

Looking sharp

2011-12-26T10:10:00.000-08:00

• TEM's tiara made out of safety pins—open safety pins!

• Article in the New York Times on repurposing all sorts of unusual things as food serving trays.

• Martin Haldimann's tape measure belt, (an idea we had a while ago).

What's The Schmatta With Kids Today?

2011-09-12T13:19:00.000-07:00

Recently I saw a demure, angelic-faced child wearing a T-shirt decorated with a huge, vicious skull – and immediately thought of those small animals that are able to appear frightening to predators by making themselves look large and alarming (such as frilled-necked lizards).

Then I saw Daniel Palillo's fun clothing designs for children. Bold, graphic designs, many with faces. (He also makes clothes for adults.)

And also Heather MacCrimmon's great idea: she brought to life the clothes drawn by children in their artwork. (Click on "enlarge this image" to see the costumes in all their glory.)

Iris Apfel now on the Home Shopping Network

2011-08-25T10:32:00.000-07:00

So happy to see that Iris Apfel's style "is about to meet Middle America" as the New York Times reports today. The article says "Her public appearances and book signings have drawn followers by the thousands." (I'm taking this as proof that my instinct was right: people are ready to dress creatively.)

The article concludes: "Women view her as a role model: "A lot of them have told me, 'Now that I've met you, I feel so liberated.'" Secret eccentrics, they have learned, Mrs. Apfel maintained, "that when you don't dress like everybody else, you don't have to think like everybody else."

Suits and suitability

2011-08-16T17:39:00.000-07:00

Maggie Alderson writes that it shouldn't matter what women politicians wear—but it does.

I agree.

Ms Alderson notes that the British Home Secretary Theresa May wore large costume-jewelry pearls at a press conference the day after the riots in London and comments: "There was just something jarring about the Home Secretary wearing oversized ‘fun’ beads on such a dark night in the history of Great Britain."

The issue isn't sartorial freedom, it's suitability. When you have to say serious things, you need to look as if you mean what you say.

Yes, We Ate No Bananas!

2011-07-13T17:36:00.000-07:00

I've been visiting The Lucky Country, where a certain yellow fruit is extremely expensive, hence the sign on the door of this restaurant...

The Nature of Reality

2011-07-10T07:52:00.000-07:00

Friend MM reports that she was wearing her pencil earrings (like the ones here, only pink) in a hospital emergency room, giving rise to the following conversation:

Nurse: Wow! Great earrings! Are those real?
MM: Yes! Real pencils!

Books: not just a message but a medium

2011-05-20T19:14:00.000-07:00

Years ago, in my thrift shop wanderings, I found an old book of hymns, a discard from a local church. It had a red linen cover, (much like the cover shown on the left) with just the words "FOR THE USE OF VISITORS" embossed in gold. It was much appreciated by my guests. (It's these little touches that make a house a home.)

So I'm no stranger to repurposing books. That's why I'm looking forward to getting inspiration from: "The Repurposed Library" by Lisa Occhipinti. All I know about it so far is what I read here.

And from the Etsy blog, more on using books for art and jewelry.

Yarn bombing aka grandma graffiti goes mainstream

2011-05-19T06:53:00.000-07:00

The New York Times has finally caught up with what they call "yarn bombing". This article says: "Yarn bombing takes that most matronly craft (knitting) and that most maternal of gestures (wrapping something cold in a warm blanket) and transfers it to the concrete and steel wilds of the urban streetscape. Hydrants, lampposts, mailboxes, bicycles, cars — even objects as big as buses and bridges — have all been bombed in recent years, ever so softly and usually at night."

And they mention Magda Sayeg, who has been covering things with wool since 2005, and for whom it is now a full-time job. An inspiration to all of us who try to make a living from our crazy creative impulses.

(We showed you a car cosied up with knitting years ago. Well, last year.)

Metaphor, poetry, and ...junk jewelry

2011-04-10T13:43:00.000-07:00

At left, a detail of a piece of sculpture in Ithaca, New York, made from assorted salvaged metal. I liked how the cog in the mouth says "teeth" -- a visual metaphor!

I've been seeing a lot about the importance of metaphor lately:

• The book Metaphors We Live By (George Lakoff and Mark Johnson): "Metaphor is as much a part of our functioning as our sense of touch..."

• A review of I is an Other: The Secret Life of Metaphor and How It Shapes the Way We See the World (James Geary): "...metaphors are a key to how we think and may often determine our thinking without our knowing it."

• Poet Robert Frost (from the essay Education by Poetry): "...unless you are at home in the metaphor, unless you have had your proper poetical education in the metaphor, you are not safe anywhere."

Maybe this explains the attraction of making things with found objects. And why I love the potential of junk jewelry to make visual metaphors.

Robert Frost: "Poetry begins in trivial metaphors, pretty metaphors, "grace" metaphors, and goes on to the profoundest thinking that we have. Poetry provides the one permissible way of saying one thing and meaning another. People say, "Why don’t you say what you mean?" We never do that, do we, being all of us too much poets."

Toys R Us

2011-03-22T16:55:00.000-07:00

A kind friend alerted me to this article on Margaux Lange who creates surreal jewelry from Barbie parts. I especially like the piece made of silver-colored Barbie shoes -- could be a Georg Jensen until you look carefully!

As the article says, "the most interesting part is that Margaux Lange uses only second hand dolls and accessories from donations, garage sales, thrift stores and of course eBay. It is important to her conceptually that the Barbies are already used and played with in the hands of a child."

Margaux has a blog and a web site.

Hardware wear

2011-03-12T16:45:00.000-08:00

I've been nattering on for years about the joys of re-purposing hardware, (and Anni Albers was doing it in the 1940s) and now comes...

• Tatty Devine's volume knob brooch.

• "Home from the Hardware Store: Transform Everyday Materials into Fabulous Home Furnishings" a book by Stephen Antonson and Kathleen Hackett (Rodale Books) From Amazon: "Antonson and Hackett cast their eyes on pedestrian materials — drain covers, cork matting, plumbing parts, light sockets, brass nails — and see lamps, wallpaper, table runners, side tables, even cuff links."

• A tutorial for an elegant Braided Hex Nut Bracelet.

Inspiration

2011-02-04T08:22:00.000-08:00

• Ari Seth Cohen writes a blog called Advanced Style that I first linked to in 2008. Recently he had an interview with Iris Apfel.

• Asprey sells a scarf/aligator belt combo for huge sums of money. But if one had an old scarf and an old belt ...

• The Greenie Dresses for Less blog has lots of Junk Jewelry type ideas, such as how-tos for shell earrings and rubber band and rubber O-ring jewelry.

The magic of reframing

2011-01-27T11:33:00.000-08:00

Shoveled snow today (I emerged from the house bundled up in a mismatched, cobbled-together snow outfit to be greeted with "I see you've been reading the Style Section again!") and made use of a reframing technique invented by Gretchen Rubin: recast a tedious activity as meditation.

As she says "If you’re impatient while waiting for the bus, tell yourself you’re doing “Bus waiting meditation.” If you’re standing in a slow line at the drugstore, you’re doing “Waiting in line meditation.” Just saying these words makes me feel very spiritual and high-minded and wise."

Works for me, too.

Conspicuous non consumption

2011-01-09T16:26:00.000-08:00

Ha! A canvas tote printed to look like a designer handbag -- from thufri.com

I love the idea more than the actual thing itself. Love the way it makes fun of status. It's the sartorial equivalent of one of those bumper stickers that read "My other car is a Porsche!"

(For an interesting exploration of the psychology of prestige I recommend the relevant chapter of "How the Mind Works" by Steven Pinker)

Haberdash! (that is, make a haberdashery fashion splash)

2011-01-02T14:12:00.000-08:00

• Add a red, star-shaped button to a fur hat.

• Create rings for your winter fingers by sewing buttons or beads onto yarn gloves.

• Make a zipper bracelet.

"If I could paint...

2010-12-27T15:06:00.000-08:00

I would, but I can't. But what I can do for visual expression is dress well."
-- Blake Lively, quoted in June 2010 US Vogue.

'Tis the season...

2010-12-21T13:49:00.000-08:00

... when neighbors decorate their lawns with uplifting symbols of holiday cheer...

Lessons from the crafty

2010-12-20T13:13:00.000-08:00

• You can turn anything into a chalkboard -- even a tote bag!

• You can make very unusual things out of rubber flip flops.

• Tape measures are not just for waists.

If we do not hang together...

2010-12-18T13:10:00.000-08:00

Again
with
the
hang
tags!

But I
found
one
renegade...

• Like Lisa Congdon, I love printed ephemera, vintage and modern. Each day, her web site documents a mini collection of things she likes -- ephemera and other things. Neat idea.

Your mind + creating

2010-10-22T10:21:00.000-07:00

The connections between psychology and creating really interest me. For example:

• Don't know whether I agree with this the idea that feeling sad makes us more creative. Jonah Lehrer says: "Why does a melancholy mood turn us into a better artist? The answer returns us to the intertwined nature of emotion and cognition. It turns out that states of sadness make us more attentive and detail oriented, more focused..."

• Illustrator James McMullan has a very nice series of blogs on drawing, called Line by Line. As he says, "When one is actively observing a subject in order to draw it, the mind is ping-ponging among different visual responses, shape-to-color-to-contour-to-shadow-to-proportion, and from those purely “eyeball” calculations to all the memory and psychological associations we have about our subject. This ability of the mind to intermingle all our different kinds of reactions enriches our response and strengthens each part of that response."

So simple, so clever

2010-10-08T08:30:00.000-07:00

• Love these pins in the shape of clouds by Paper Boat Press. (Thanks, Tricia!)

• Keep trying to find time to visit the Film Biz Prop Shop in Long Island City. Apparently it is a not-for-profit shop full of props that have been used in movies. Brilliant idea.

• I wrote about a designer who used real ice as decoration, but why didn't I take it one step further and experiment myself? Design duo 01Mathery did, and came up with do-it-yourself ice jewelry.

• Also via Ecouterre.com: salvaged fluorescent-light panel covers cut into the shape of chandelier earrings by The Opulent Project.

Deja vu all over again

2010-09-09T18:09:00.000-07:00

• Stefania Pia makes jewelry from found objects suspended from vintage lace or strips of fabric. In the Times magazine, her necklace of keys. (My version.)

• Updating pearls: From Tiny Sparkly Things, a how-to for a pearl and ribbon accordion necklace.

• From BlogHer, some good ideas for using the jewelry you have in new ways.

Lizard bling, part 2

2010-09-09T17:48:00.000-07:00

A gal just can't have enough lizard necklaces!

I already have this one, from a few years ago, but couldn't resist the lizards at left, from the dollar store.

Garb fest

2010-08-22T16:10:00.000-07:00

In today's New York Times T Magazine, an article by Lynn Yaeger on: "... an event I refer to (but not out loud) as a 'nutty-dressers' luncheon."

I would have liked a more in-depth article, and discussion about navigating that perilous dividing line between Brilliant Looking and Bag Lady...

Bits and pieces

2010-08-20T12:44:00.000-07:00

• Seen in September Vogue: a cuff bracelet by Tom Binns that looks as if it is made from a comb curved into a C-shape.

• From Cool Hunting, news of a book about unusual and interesting jewelry design: "Fashion Jewelry: Catwalk and Couture" Maia Adams, Laurence King Publishing.

• Nifty felt alphabet necklace at Inhabitots.

• From Craftzine, a recycled zipper bracelet tutorial.

Extreme crochet

2010-07-19T14:51:00.000-07:00

• An idea for when you have a lot of yarn you want to use up: the crochet-covered car. This is from Magda Sayeg, whose blog Knittaporfavor ("we knit graffiti") shows the things (street signs, crutches etc.) she's covered in knitting and crochet.)

• Arielle de Pinto crochets metal thread into jewelry.

• Knitted mohair necklaces from Outsapop.

I'm with the postmodernists

2010-07-12T13:39:00.000-07:00

The following is from the book "101 Things I Learned (TM) in Fashion School," by Alfredo Cabrera, Matthew Frederick.

• "Traditionally, fashion has served to enhance a person's real persona, while costume has served to transform the wearer to a persona different from his or her natural one. ... In recent years, with influence from postmodern theory, it has become more popular to posit that there is no real self, only facades and projections. All is costume, says this view, even the most conventional garb."

With a thong in my heart

2010-06-14T17:48:00.000-07:00

When I saw these key rings in my local dollar store, I just had to make them into a necklace so I could pair them with a thong-embroidered top that had been languishing in my wardrobe....

(These rubber sandals, known as flip-flops in the US, are called thongs in Australia and are so well-loved there that a giant thong was featured at the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympics in 2000.)

Teeth, airplane part and miniature book jewelry

2010-05-13T09:29:00.000-07:00

• Elle Magazine (May 2010, page 106) mentions designer Cem Cako who uses discarded electronic components as accessories. (The Relentless Culture Vulture shows some examples, plus a stole that looks as if it is made of what we used to call steel wool, back when -- way back when -- it was used for scouring pots and pans.)

• The same page of Elle mentions Lauren Manoogian and says that for fall she has made "pieces made from salvaged airplane parts." Here is her web site. I really wanted to see the airplane-part jewelry, but can't work out from the pictures what's an airplane part and what's not. (Call me a victim of last-century design schooling, but I was taught that Every Picture Must Have A Caption and I still believe it's a useful rule, even for electronic media.)

• The web site Ecouterre has jewelry posts that show various purveyors of upcycled and repurposed pieces, some of which I found a long time ago and listed on the right. But new to me was a silversmith who makes jewelry from human teeth. Her name is Polly van der Glas.

• Also via Ecouterre: necklaces from mini-books.

Wrapping and rolling

2010-04-14T18:20:00.000-07:00

• Alexander McQueen using soda cans as hair accessories. Another designer taking recycling perhaps a little too far? (More here.)

• Elizabeth Spiridakis gives directions for making a hemp chain necklace, similar to the Alexis Bittar necklace seen in the March issue of Vogue magazine.

• We've mentioned wrapped bangles before, here's a yarn version.

• Interesting idea from Naoko Ogawa: crush a sheet of metal into the fabric of the garment you are wearing.

Taste

2010-04-04T15:01:00.000-07:00

What are the elements that make something either beautiful or ugly to a particular person, let alone to people in general? What makes the difference between a beautiful crafted item and a depressing one? Why are most of the objects featured on Kraftomatic -- (or Regretsy, Homemade Hilarity and Craftastrophe -- brilliant names! found via the very informative blog Make and Do with Perri) -- weird or alarming rather than delightful?

An enigma and a puzzlement!

Bottom up, top down

2010-03-29T13:41:00.000-07:00

I have written about two ways of approaching the making of a piece of junk jewelry: you can either visualize the end product then set about making that vision reality, or you can be alert to the potential jewelry-worthiness of any small object you may happen to come across and be inspired by it.

Now, from my Psych 101 study, I see that this correlates with how scientists say our minds process the world: top down or bottom up.

This accounts for why, when you are thinking of buying, say, a pair of red shoes, every newspaper and magazine you pick up has pictures of red shoes, everyone you see is wearing red shoes, and your mind, in its top-down mode, is attuned to every example it comes across. Bottom up processing would be if you happened to see a great pair of say, slouchy buckled boots so unexpectedly wondrous that you decided to get them instead...

Loquacious clothes

2010-03-21T12:38:00.000-07:00

[Patti Smith] "combed shops for months in search of the striped linen trousers that evoked Mr. Lennon because, she said, “something in those pants spoke to me of myself.” (from an article in today's New York Times, my emphasis.)

Well put, Ms Smith! Sums up how we choose the stuff we wear.

Mend And Make Do

2010-03-19T18:33:00.000-07:00

Four ways to be a fashionable recessionista:

• No need to buy these two-in-one sunglasses from Dolce + Gabbana, do as I do and wear a large pair of sunnies over a tiny pair of regular spectacles!

• Transform a jacket or coat you already own with a new belt and buttons, see how at The Guardian's web site.

• You know those jeans and T-shirts you have with rips and holes? Just tear a whole lot more holes and wear them with pride -- could be a Balmain!

• Or patch those jeans -- Nancy shows a very pretty way of patching here with floral patches. She's researched the history of repairing denim and has several tutorials on how to patch jeans with designer style. (No need to buy the Ralph Lauren version!)

The eye of the beholder

2010-03-06T13:58:00.000-08:00

Katie, who used to post a photograph every day on her Blogtography blog, took a picture of a patchy painted wall and noted: "I LOVE it when businesses paint over graffiti with the wrong color, making a kind of abstract art of the buffs themselves."

Now, my Inner Neatnik has always disliked that very same thing -- I mean, why not re-paint the whole wall, while you're at it? -- so when I looked at her photo I had a kind of epiphany, because I see exactly what she means, and agree: it is abstract art.

And there I was, thinking of myself as someone with flexible mental schemas, someone able to easily re-frame something from negative to positive, someone open to seeing the visually interesting aspect of practically anything, the jewelry in the junk...

Play time

2010-02-28T15:38:00.000-08:00

Took out all my plastic doodads to use them up in a necklace but ended up making just a stretchy bracelet with elastic...

Various wondrous wearables

2010-02-23T15:27:00.000-08:00

• Luxirare's jacket made from fabric with chains sewn on. (Keep scrolling down.)

• "Invisible shoes" by Andreia Chaves

• Creepy jewelry by Jane Gowans made with prosthetic hands. (via Midge's Mind). Reminds me of a song by Tom Lehrer:

I hold your hand in mine, dear,
I press it to my lips.
I take a healthy bite
From your dainty fingertips.

My joy would be complete, dear,
If you were only here,
But still I keep your hand
As a precious souvenir.

The Sartorialist

2010-02-19T07:46:00.000-08:00

As a fan of The Sartorialist blog I've been looking forward to Scott Schuman's book and -- yippee! -- my library found it for me. (I love my library. I love the inter-library borrowing system. I love ALL libraries, the very foundation of civilization. Yes, still, even with the internet. Did I mention that I love libraries?)

Yes, well, back to the book, which is mainly photographs: like walking through the streets of New York, Milan, Paris, and London surrounded by stylish people but being able to stare at their outfits in a way that would be rude in person.

What makes the pictures interesting is that Scott Schuman can, as he says of New York Times street photographer Bill Cunningham, "... capture street style not with a photographer's eye but with a fashion editor's eye." But I like Schuman because he appreciates the fashion experiments of people who aren't conventionally good-looking. As he says: "In a world of fashion that celebrates a certain kind of beauty, I have so much respect for the people who don't let their non-fashion-world physique stand in the way of expressing the beautiful person that they know themselves to be. I find that type of inner strength the most captivating of all..."

And -- junk jewelry alert! -- there's even a double-page spread close-up of what looks like rubber bands around a wrist! (Below: posted here in November 2008, wide rubber bands marked with a chisel tip black Sharpie permanent marker.)

Trashbags, fine luggage, button pictures, and marker-dyed dresses

2010-02-16T07:10:00.000-08:00

• Thank you Refashinoso. This site is full of interesting recycled fashion items, including dresses colored with felt-tip markers by Fernando Brizio.

• Tiny Sparkly Things shows us an expensive bag that looks like a plastic trash bin liner -- the "Trashbag" by Louis Vuitton.

• On DIY City Mag: pointillist-type pictures on garments, made with buttons. (Maison Martin Margiela Artisanal handmade pieces.)

• And shown on Style Bubble, some rather unusual luggage.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T08:38:00.000-08:00

Delicious cookies (already eaten!) made by my talented friend Dee. Very impressive wielding of the icing bag nozzle to produce neat, well-placed script. Dee uses a kit from a professional baking supply place, but says Martha Stewart suggests a good alternative: small squeeze bottles with pointed spouts.

More snow!

2010-02-11T08:45:00.000-08:00

And the New York Times has collected some great shots from its readers here.

Handmade vs. bought?

2010-02-10T14:00:00.000-08:00

My parents considered commercial greeting cards the lazy alternative. Our hand-drawn (or -designed) cards were personal. They summed up how you felt about the holiday, or the birthday person, or whatever was being celebrated. As Clay Shirky says in his book "Here Comes Everybody": "I have a terrible singing voice, but my children would be offended if I played a well-sung version of 'Happy Birthday' on the stereo, as opposed to singing it myself, badly."

Some people, of course, hold exactly the opposite opinion: they see handmade cards as the cheapskate alternative. You care so little that you couldn't be bothered to go out and find the perfect, pristine, printed card! You care less about the recipient than about saving money!

For a long time I tried to figure out which attitude was the "correct" one.

It has taken me many, many years to reach the glorious, liberating conclusion that there is no correct attitude!

Obeying my clothing

2010-02-08T14:40:00.000-08:00

As instructed, I removed this woven tag before wearing the garment to which it was attached.

But -- aha! -- now I'm going to draw attention to this Zen-flavored statement by incorporating it into another garment...!

Getting beyond the cliche

2010-02-06T08:05:00.000-08:00

Snow sugared everything with Christmas card cuteness this morning -- such a cliche! And I was wondering how one would push past that, if attempting to depict the landscape in an original way, when I happened to see this quote that I'd torn out of the New York Times:

"... art is always about relationship — to the material, to the self, and to the world in all its chaos and intrusion, its terror and its glory."

(book review by Jeanette Winterson, Dec 16, 2009)

Interesting ideas...

2010-02-01T15:18:00.000-08:00

• A size 12 suit made from photographs... but not for wearing, surely?

• A new punctuation mark, the Sark Mark, to indicate when a statement should be understood as being sarcastic in tone...

• A bowl made from melted model soldiers.

• Deck chairs and other products adorned with book titles from classic Penguin editions.

Making a spectacle of yourself!

2010-01-28T10:28:00.000-08:00

Wear glasses? I recommend this not-too-expensive way of creating an eyeglass wardrobe:

Step 1: Find fun, cheap frames. (Try online, or in drugstores -- check out their displays of "readers" -- or dollar stores or yard sales. Just make sure the frames are not too flimsy, or you won't be able to get anyone to do step 2.)

Step 2: Send the frames, along with your prescription, to an online company that specializes in replacing existing lenses with new ones, at a reasonable price. (Google "eyeglasses online".)

Step 3: Waste countless fun-filled hours mixing and matching eyeglasses and outfits!

Necklace from champagne tops

2010-01-26T09:21:00.000-08:00

... made by MM who was inspired by the version in my book!

Tiny chairs, keyboard jewelry, and shell cuffs

2010-01-24T11:22:00.000-08:00

• Jewelry in the form of tiny little chairs. (Bruxe Design)

• Keyboard keys trapped in resin. (Sobral)

• The jewelry of Emily Miranda: large cuffs with shells, claws, quartz crystals. Difficult to make this kind of thing work, but the pieces on her web site look very striking. (She also makes cakes, one with an all-too-realistic snake on top!)

Seeing faces in inanimate objects

2010-01-19T08:43:00.000-08:00

Practically the only ad on TV that I enjoy looking at is one for American Express that uses pictures of inanimate items taken in such a way that it is possible to perceive faces in them. Steven Heller in a New York Times blog, mentions a book on the same subject and says because of it he now sees faces everywhere "on bathroom floor tiles, in the shag of shag rugs, in wood patterns and torn billboards..."

And I even found a fun blog full of photos of "faces" called Faces in Places. You can submit your own.

Why is it that we get pleasure from finding these faces?
Daniel Gilbert, a professor of psychology at Harvard University has written that the human brain is highly evolved for social behavior (“that’s why we see faces in clouds, not clouds in faces,” he says.)

I think our brains actually get a little hit of pleasure as they make sense of what they see. Discovering the faces -- that Aha! moment when the brain registers the round objects as eyes and the line as a mouth -- makes us smile in the same way we do when we "see" the point of a joke. And also -- maybe? -- when we realize that those earrings a friend is wearing are actually pencils, or that the necklace on the person opposite is made of rubber bands.

Read My Pins

2010-01-13T12:11:00.000-08:00

Took out from the library: "Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat's Jewel Box" by Madeleine Albright. This is one of the few books (in mainstream bookshops) that talk about the symbolic meaning of what we wear.

Lots of pictures, and of course I liked the crazy stuff best (the vegetable pin, the spider with web, the kitschy pieces). But there's also Breaking The Glass Ceiling, and pins made of found bits and pieces, a sunburst by Herve van der Straeten and a Statue of Liberty with watches for eyes by Gijs Bakker.

From the introduction: "In addition to conveying information about the wearer -- his or her status, finances, affinities -- jewelry has an impressive power to establish links among people, places and events." (David Revere McFadden, Chief Curator, Museum of Arts and Design, New York.)

Ideas from the book:

• Placement of pins: "...as I traveled the world as a diplomat, I wanted people to look at my pins without embarrassing either the observers or me. So I wore the pins higher and higher up." There's a photo of Albright with Nelson Mandela in which she is wearing a zebra over her left shoulder. Looks very effective!

Albright also has a set of four separate pins, three bees and a flower, which can be placed in different formations.

• Meaning of her pins: "Albright used pins to emphasize the importance of a negotiation, signify high hopes, protest the absence of progress, and show pride in representing America, among other purposes." (from jacket flap copy)

And a reminder for those of us who are not diplomats: pins can also be used to celebrate a bit of graphic material we like (this pin was made by trapping a label in resin)

or add that bit of whimsical je ne sais quoi that your outfit may need... (plastic badge from a kid's dress up kit)

Snappy dressers: Diana Vreeland

2010-01-10T11:44:00.000-08:00

One in a series of posts on style hints from eccentric fashionistas.

Much has been written about legendary Harper's Bazaar and Vogue editor Diana Vreeland, (1903-1989) but I wanted to gather together descriptions of her sartorial style and her thoughts on dressing oneself. Here's what I found:
(From Diana Vreeland by Eleanor Dwight):
• She made a startling first impression, wearing bold yet simple clothes from Paris, which ... were always beautifully cut with a classical and conservative line. ... She had a great color sense, loving red and black, white and "greige," plus originality and whimsy in using objects as accessories. ... The look was that of an impersonal mannequin -- an abstract form that showed off the clothes. At the same time she projected a vibrant and elegant presence...
• ...dressed in her usual head-to-foot black -- cashmere sweater, black wrap skirt, the pointed shoes, now famous, that were polished on the bottoms...
• The theme repeated over and over in Diana's column was the personal credo of its creator: Don't just be your ordinary dull self. Why Don't You be ingenious and make yourself into something else? Vreeland's limitless imagination was at work here, suggesting to readers that they stretch themselves beyond the banal and ordinary.
• Although Vreeland admitted to spending hours on dressing, putting on jewelry, making sure the rouge on her cheeks, elbows and earlobes was perfect, her fingernails long and red, and every hair in the snood, when asked what was the secret to looking great, she answered earnestly, "Simplicity."
• ...the conversation turned to what was chic. ... "Diana announced that 'the whole thing depends on having a really smashing bag.'"
• Vreeland's style might not appeal to everyone -- as she said, "If you want the girl next door, go next door."
• Richard Martin: "She was constantly thinking about fashion in a very fresh and new way ... her own style changed, and her openness to style changed all the time."
• "There are a lot worse things in this world than bad taste." -- Diana Vreeland

Some of Vreeland's fashion pronouncements: (from Diana Vreeland: Bazaar Years by John Esten)
• Why don't you...
...find one dress that you like and have it copied many times? You will be much more successful than if you try to produce new effects each evening.
...consider the chic of wearing bracelets high on the arm...
...wear a bowler?

Accessorizing with hang tags

2010-01-06T12:35:00.000-08:00

I've always liked hang tags, whether imprinted or blank. (The circular ones with metal around the edge, especially, have lots of potential.)

And now, in the Vogue, January 2010 issue, a photos wherein the hang tags have been left on the jewelry deliberately...

Wearing clothes that make you happy

2010-01-04T07:34:00.000-08:00

Susie Bubble has a post replying to a reader who seems to dislike "dramatic fashion." I've excerpted a bit of it here:

"My ultimate answer … to [his] protestations against 'colourful outfits', … 'dramatic fashion' and general eccentricity, is a burning question... has he asked each offending individual "Are you happy? … Because that's a pretty important question to ask myself everyday when I get dressed. To put it childishly and bluntly, if there's no outfit mojo, I'm not going to be walking out. This doesn't necessarily translate to purposely loud and colourful outfits but something there has to be making me happy somehow. Otherwise, I'm just a grouch feeling exceptionally dreary all day long and pulling moo-faces at everyone. Who wants to be looking at a grouchy person? I certainly don't. … the very vital component of personal satisfaction and happiness … is a mighty big deal to me."

Totally agree, Susie!

Interesting visuals

2010-01-02T11:28:00.000-08:00

• A mural that includes you as part of the visual landscape when you press the elevator button. (From Boing Boing)

• Brilliant idea: students in Stockholm turned a stairway into a piano in order to get people to use the stairs rather than take the escalator. (From Science blogs)

• Dolce & Gabbana's suede "face" shoes (From Shoeper Woman)

• A scarf that gives you a hug (From Kate Spade)

The "Ah!-ness" of things

2009-12-28T06:46:00.000-08:00

Just discovered another of those great Japanese expressions that pack a whole heap more meaning into a few words in a way that English doesn't.

I already knew about the phrase wabi sabi: the beauty of imperfection and age.

But there's also mono no aware which can be translated as the "ah!-ness" of things. It implies intense, nostalgic sadness... beauty as a transient experience.

According to this site mono no aware signifies how "a falling or wilting autumn flower is more beautiful than one in full bloom; a fading sound is more beautiful than one clearly heard; a partially obscured moon is more appealing than a full moon. ... "

And a snowman slowly melting away is more appealing than a pristine, newly made one!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-23T01:00:00.000-08:00

"Pleased with my tuxedo-clad reflection, I added a small sprig of berry-ripe holly to my lapel. For a moment I hesitated: was the sprig too much? Was I suddenly one of those matronly big-box store cashiers who overdo their snowflaked holiday cardigans by adding a plastic, battery-powered brooch of a reindeer's head, where, when a small string is pulled, the tiny bulb at the end of Rudolph's nose lights up?

No. The sprig was perfect, as it gave the offhand impression, "Merry Christmas, but not that much."

-- from "I Shudder And Other Reactions to Life, Death and New Jersey" by Paul Rudnick, Harper Collins, 2009

Snappy dressers: Vivienne Westwood

2009-12-20T11:54:00.000-08:00

One in a series of posts on style hints from eccentric fashionistas.

"Dame Vivienne Westwood, DBE, RDI (born 8 April 1941) is a British fashion designer largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream. ... The "punk style" included BDSM fashion, bondage gear, safety pins, razor blades, bicycle or lavatory chains on clothing and spiked dog collars for jewelry, as well as outrageous make-up and hair." (From Wikipedia.)

A handwritten page of Vivienne Westwood's DIY suggestions.

Homemade for the holidays

2009-12-16T11:23:00.000-08:00

Way back at the dawn of time, before anyone used terms like upcycling or eco chic, my mother made a Christmas tree out of heavy, white, industrial wire. It looked something like this.

How was she able to attach the wire to the central pole? That knowledge is lost in the mists of time. Maybe she used the chassis of a fake tree and inserted graduated lengths of white wire with curled ends instead of the original furry green rods.

Anyway, I was acutely embarrassed by it. Every year I'd groan when it was hauled out. No one else in the entire universe had a tree that was homemade! Everyone was laughing at us behind our backs! How could I possibly face any friend that might visit, with this freaky thing in the living room?

Fast forward -- lo! these many years hence -- and I am now so proud of her. Viewed in the mind's eye, that tree is elegant and post modern, chic and practical. Yet more evidence that the woman was way ahead of her time (and that I was a tiresome little hidebound traditionalist.)

Further inspiration for creating your own tree is in this article from the Wall Street Journal.

Tea party jewelry, medication earrings and the spaghetti look

2009-12-14T14:17:00.000-08:00

• Tom Binns is doing Alice in Wonderland-inspired jewelry for Disney (tiny cups, saucers and teapots: very Mad Hatter Teaparty-ish). And Maegan has a how-to for a multi-strand necklace inspired by him.

• Earrings that look like capsules for headaches.

• Spaghetti necklace from strips of jersey fabric.

Necklace from lamb bones

2009-12-11T10:34:00.000-08:00

Why is it that jewelry from bones is quite acceptable, while jewelry from taxidermy is disgusting?

Anyway, here is a great necklace that my dear friend MM made from the remains of a meal. She writes:

"I soaked bones in bleach, several times, left them in the sun/weather for about 3 weeks; one lot I soaked in a bleach alternative for washing clothes (I guess it contains baking soda -- that worked quite well). It seems to be important to use young lamb for whiter bones. I sliced through them with a bandsaw, buffed the sharp edges with a Dremel then drilled holes with 1.5mm drill bit.

I still worry a bit that they may smell... I think I'll put a couple of drops of clear essential oil on each one..."

Making whining amusing

2009-12-10T12:46:00.000-08:00

Okay, this post is off-topic. But I love the idea and it is very much in the spirit of junk jewelry in that transforming complaints into song is a way of taking something negative and turning it into a positive: always worthy of applause.

It started, apparently "in Finland, where there is a word for people who complain simultaneously, valituskuoro, which translates as complaints choir." (New York Times) The idea has grown, and there are now complaint choirs in England and Tokyo and elsewhere. The article notes how people of different countries complain of different types of things, and how people say singing their complaints makes them feel better.

(After reading the article I considered singing my complaints by myself, without the benefit of kindred voices, but it is probably kinder to the people around me that I continue muttering them under my breath, as I usually do.)

And in a similar vein, Garrison Keillor, of A Prairie Home Companion, has a Thanksgiving Cantata where he sings a selection of things that different people have said they are grateful for, such as

"I'm grateful for Jay getting through football season with no injuries
That Beth does not have a beer belly
That I look 10 years younger than I am..." (etc.)

Snappy dressers: Isabella Blow

2009-12-08T07:11:00.000-08:00

One in a series of posts on style hints from eccentric fashionistas.

According to Wikipedia: "Isabella Blow (19 November 1958 – 7 May 2007) was an English magazine editor and international style icon. The muse of hat designer Philip Treacy, she is credited with discovering the models Stella Tennant and Sophie Dahl as well as the fashion designer Alexander McQueen."

Isabella Blow was known for her love of hats, which she called "a cheaper and less painful form of plastic surgery." UK Vogue says "Convinced she was ugly, she almost always wore a Treacy hat that would obscure her face, accessorized with her famous slash of red lipstick -- MAC designed one in homage to her." Isabella has been quoted as saying: "If you don't wear lipstick I can't talk to you. You need to have lips. They are very important for getting men."

Here are some of the ways she would put her look together:

• "... She delighted in flouting convention and personal comfort, appearing in one-legged trouser suits, outfits of chain mail or a Japanese designer’s version of a burqa." Guy Trebay, New York Times, May 8, 2007

• “She was aristocratic, in the old bohemian sense of anything is possible, yet she could talk about fashion with complete rigor in terms of silhouette, shape and historical context,” said Mr. Greig, the editor of Tatler. “She was an academic with a punk rocker’s anarchic sense.” Guy Trebay, New York Times, May 8, 2007

• [One of her ambitions was] “to better people’s lives by exposing them to creativity,” [designer Zac Posen] said. Guy Trebay, New York Times, May 8, 2007

• "Isabella habitually flaunted herself in Treacy's most improbable creations, giving the impression to the outside world that she was full of brazen confidence: hats fashioned like crocodiles' teeth, lobsters, flying saucers, a mourning hat with 100 veils designed to absorb the tears, and a hat like a pheasant, which she liked so much she always said she planned to be buried in it." Daily Mail UK

• “My style icon is anyone who makes a bloody effort,” said the absolutely fabulous, always intriguing, eccentric British beauty Isabella Blow. … Her frequent dress code? Classic couture with a zany twist – a pair of sophisticated Manolos, a form-fitting, fine fabric gown, haphazardly applied cardinal red lipstick, bright aqua eyeshadow, and an extraordinary hat." Annie Morrison, ModCloth.com

• "It is rumored that Warhol, as a former shoe illustrator, approached Blow because she was wearing a pair of mismatched Manolos, which he found to be downright darling." Annie Morrison, ModCloth.com

• "...Blow became Wintour’s assistant at Vogue. She took the respected magazine by storm with her love of “costume” outfits, and her ability to dress for nearly every occasion, as long as it was fabulous. “I loved coming to the office,” Wintour said, “because I never knew what to expect. One day she’d be a maharaja, the next day a punk, and then she’d turn up as a corporate secretary in a proper little suit and gloves.” Annie Morrison, ModCloth.com

• "Granted, she wore daring, flashy clothes, but they were always tasteful, refined, and oozing with high culture. Her natural sense of style showcased an adoration for extreme beauty, detail, interesting silhouettes, and fun proportions, especially in regards to headgear. However, her extreme clothing and accessory choices were often used to distract others from herself, a sad but true physical manifestation of her incredibly low self-esteem and disabling depression. “I don’t use a hat as a prop,” Blow once said. “I use it as a part of me. If I am feeling really low, I go and see Philip, cover my face, and feel fantastic. Although, if I’m on a real low, it requires going to the doctor for a prescription.” Annie Morrison, ModCloth.com

• Isabella Blow: “I think thinking is stylish. Looking is stylish. Culture is stylish. I think you need to be inspired by something in order to look good. A poem, a picture of Wallis Simpson, tailoring… I have an obsession with Wallis Simpson. When people talk about ‘style’ and ‘stylish’, they’re talking about trends. She didn’t have a trend. She wore clothes that looked good on her. I think style is about a person recognising what their best features are. And if your best feature is a waist, wear a f****** waist. If you’ve got a good bust, go empire. I think it’s about finding a mood that you keep to. Then everyone can identify with that style. I think that’s unstylish is, as celebrities do nowadays, to borrow things from the PRs. They borrow, and it’s so clear that the dress has just been sent. You can feel the bike delivery.” Galadarling.com

Candy rings

2009-12-07T07:44:00.000-08:00

Love this idea! Rings made out of candy! As the article says, they look like something made by a glass-blower.

In New York a shop called Papabubble sells similar rings...

Recycled black and white plastic necklace

2009-12-05T13:41:00.000-08:00

Plastic bits from sock packaging, the top of a herb jar, and curtain rings used here, plus other junk! Similar to others I've made... I do like the crispness of black and white plastic.

Lace and lipsticks

2009-12-03T11:46:00.000-08:00

• Necklaces and cuffs from lace and other haberdashery, such as fringe, here, from Malin Nyman-Smallcombe who makes "eco-chic" jewelry.

• Designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac's lipstick necklace. A couple of years ago I found a pen in the shape of a lipstick and wore it as a pendant for a while...

Kiss of the spider woman

2009-11-30T07:55:00.000-08:00

Delfina Delettrez's earrings seem to be inspired by Salvador Dali's lip pin. More about her unusual designs here.

I like her ways of jazzing up eyeglasses -- adding a tiny plastic spider to the frames, for example. But you'd have to put up with everyone trying to brush it off...

Accessorizing with taxidermy

2009-11-28T12:28:00.000-08:00

Ugh! "Real squirrel feet earrings or necklace"!

And recently a friend suggeted I Google 'taxidermy supples' -- but I can't bring myself to do that. However, on second thought, using glass eyes as buttons might be kind of interestingly surreal, if there's a way to sew them on to a jacket...

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T09:12:00.000-08:00

Snappy dressers: Iris Apfel

2009-11-24T08:51:00.000-08:00

One in a series of posts on style hints from eccentric fashionistas.

Iris Barrel Apfel has been described by Ruth La Ferla as "a bird of paradise with a magpie eye for sorting and gathering" and "a mistress of the disjunctive effect." The octogenarian stylesetter has been celebrated by the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in an exhibition called ‘Rara Avis’ and there is a book about her: "Rare Bird of Fashion: The Irreverent Iris Apfel." (The product description on Amazon describes some of her jewelry: "... a giant necklace made of bear claws, a turn-of-the-century Indian horse ornament worn as a necklace, a parrot's-head brooch in colored glass and rhinestones.")

Here are some of the ways she puts her look together:

• "She has a sort of controlled flamboyance," said Lisa Koenigsberg, the director of programs in the arts at the New York University School of Continuing Education, "control" being the operative word. ... The Apfel style, she said, is a paradox, both quiet and clamorous, her tailored coats and immaculate cashmeres providing a subtle backdrop against which "the baroque statement stands out." (New York Times)

• "To dress this way, there has to be an educated visual sense," [Harold Koda, the Costume Institute curator] said. "It requires courage."  (New York Times)

• "…I am a very disorganized abnormal buyer. I don’t go out when I need something, I haven’t got much time to shop so every once in a while when I get the call, I go dashing and then anything that I see and like, whether I need it or not, I buy. Most of the time it doesn’t go with anything else, and I hang it in the closet until it does." (Interview with Marilyn Kirschner the Editor-in-Chief of LookOnline.com Jan 18, 2006)

• "I don’t care what people think…I’ll do my own thing. And if the public doesn’t like it, it’s their problem, not mine. " (LookOnline.com)

• "I love wild imagination that’s under control." (LookOnline.com)

• “I think dressing up or down should be a creative experience. Exciting. Fun. Whenever possible, it’s really great to start with a marvelously cut designer piece and build on it. For me the key to personal style lies in accessories. ... I love objects from different worlds, different eras, combined my way. Never uptight, achieving – hopefully – a kind of throwaway chic.” (Interview with Diana Mehl, Pinache Privee)

• “I can mix something I bought last week with something I’ve hoarded for 30 years. I don’t follow trends or the hottest fashion. I buy what I like and my tastes are quite catholic – haute couture to street fashion. Pieces that are Zen-simple or madly baroque. I love ethnic as well as contemporary. I’m fond of serious and adore amusing. I try to make all these things work together.” (Pinache Privee)

• "I do have a dominant shopping gene but, unlike a reasonable person, I never plan for what I need each season. I enjoy the thrill of the hunt, the discovery and the endless search. In another creation I was, perhaps, a hunter/gatherer. After all these years, I've learned that it's not the end result or finished product but the process I most enjoy. If my experimenting, searching and juxtaposing turns into an exciting outfit well, it's just a big fat bonus!"  (Pinache Privee)

• "At first people thought I was mad to spend the money I did on what they considered junk. But I thought the pieces were very artistic and beautifully made. Now they are highly prized. I'm not too fond of real jewelry. I know it's very beautiful and very valuable but I never had a yen for it. (What a lucky man my husband is!) My stuff is much more dramatic and much more fun."  (Pinache Privee)

• “I’m a hopeless romantic. I buy things because I fall in love with them. I never buy anything just because it’s valuable. ... It tells me a story. It sings me a song. I have to get a physical reaction when I buy something. A coup de foudre – a bolt of lightning. It’s fun to get knocked out that way!”  (Pinache Privee)

• Elements of Style According to Iris Apfel:
1. Never take yourself or an outfit too seriously.
2. Visit the animal kingdom.
3. Consider the clergy.
4. Travel widely.
5. Go high and low.
6. Don’t fret about your age.
7. Don’t be afraid to stop traffic.
(From Art Knowledge News)

Color crazy

2009-11-21T13:44:00.000-08:00

Colored plastic paper clips from the store at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. (But that was a few years ago, as far as I can tell, they no longer sell them.)

And for those of us who love color, a colorful site.

Wearing numbers

2009-11-18T09:22:00.000-08:00

Lulu Frost has created jewelry from discarded metal numerals that were once attached to doors at the Plaza Hotel. Without the history, but for a similar look: brass numerals from your local hardware store...

Proceed with...

2009-11-15T12:46:00.000-08:00

...caution tape. On page 262 of the December 09 issue of Glamour magazine there is a picture of Miranda Kerr wearing bright yellow caution tape as an accessory. Lots of people have seen the possibilities of using this stuff -- especially for dresses, as here.

Electronics, spent bullets and embroidering on gold

2009-11-13T15:03:00.000-08:00

• The lighting company Philips is working on wireless electronic jewelry that use stick-on body sensors... the web page about it says it will "re-define traditional body adornment."

• Via Oprah magazine: Lovetta Conto's jewelry from spent bullets.

• The New York shop Auto is selling as a necklace a 24-k gold plated canvas on which one can embroider one's own design. They say "In contemporary consumer culture, we are constantly confronted with brands and branding. ... This collection provides individuals with an opportunity to collectively create their own branding."

(True, but why does the canvas have to be 24-k gold plated?)

Super-simple bead necklace

2009-11-11T10:02:00.000-08:00

Found these large wooden beads at a thrift store -- only 50 cents! -- in "housewares" rather than "jewelry". They had large holes drilled through: easy to string on ribbon. (In fact I used 4 thicknesses of ribbon so that the knots between the beads would be hefty enough.)

Who's your fashion inspiration?

2009-11-04T13:25:00.000-08:00

I love the whole clothing self-expression thing that has been made possible by the internet. Sites like Tricia Royal's wardrobe_remix ("a DIY street fashion community") for example, where people post pictures of their outfits. And street fashion blogs such as the Sartorialist. And the blogs of fashionistas like Susie Bubble who record what they wear and link to the latest outrageous fashions.

People are realizing -- and I think this is so great -- that they can express themselves without having to buy expensive "designer" products. That they can dress to reflect their individuality, and look so much more interesting than when, in those decades not so long past, everyone felt compelled to try to match the current ideal of feminine beauty or keep rigidly to a daily corporate uniform.

However, as I've often noted, when expressing oneself through clothing the line between wonderful and uh-oh is very fine and wobbly. All too easy, especially as the years accumulate, to look more crazy-woman than cutting-edge. So, for the edification of myself, mainly, I thought I would attempt some research to discover the secrets of the snappy dressers whom I admire. Women like Iris Apfel. And... well, that needs some research too. Do you have any style icons, fashion gurus or role models who are a bit more iconoclastic than usual? Who dress with more dash than cash? Fashionistas who put together outfits that are eccentric but classy?

Wearing trash and walking in sculpture

2009-11-02T08:47:00.000-08:00

• Some ideas for wearing trash from the website Ecoble ("stuff for the green consumer, reader and thinker")

• Look at these beautifully sculptural shoes. Trying to imagine what it would feel like to walk in them -- probably difficult...

• New ways to use safety pins from the blog Tiny Sparkly Things. Also, a post about Dangerous Jewelry.

Coffee cup lace

2009-10-30T08:16:00.000-07:00

"The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera." -- Dorothea Lange (Los Angeles Times, August 13, 1978.)

More lazy crafting

2009-10-29T06:16:00.000-07:00

Took a small silver picture frame and attached it to a neck ring!

Bits and pieces

2009-10-27T08:15:00.000-07:00

• Is it heresy to say that architect Frank Gehry's star-shaped bangles for Tiffany remind me of star-shaped metal cookie cutters? (And from there I started reminiscing about the kangaroo-shaped cookie cutter my mother once made by buying a large circular cookie cutter and bending it to her will...)

• I've discovered the elegant paper jewelry of Rely Designs. On her blog she links to other makers of paper jewelry. Look at the beautiful, intricate work of Nel Linssen and Kiwon Wang.

Seeing things

2009-10-24T17:03:00.000-07:00

Saw an unusual necklace recently. Looked as if the sides and lenses had been removed from a pair of glasses, then what remained wrapped with twine or ribbon or fabric strips or yarn. Chain attached where the side arm pieces had been and, like, voila!

The artwork of Bruce Houston

2009-10-21T11:35:00.000-07:00

Pictured here: some of the work of Bruce Houston. (Gallery representation here.) I love these pieces.

"Using plastic toys, cake decorations, colored candies, mirrors, kids' treasures, party prizes and all manner of miniature kitsch, Houston builds assemblages on wooden pedestals or platforms. His sculptures usually measure only a few inches in any direction, but their presence extends far beyond their size." ( -- from an article by art critic Suzanne Muchnic.)

Houston uses quirky found objects not just to construct something amusing but to make a point. For example, Mac McCloud writes: "My favorite is a six-gun buckeroo … whose drawn weapons shoot huge exploded roses into the air. A one-liner, to be sure, itching with Surrealist overtones but also quietly evocative, in my eyes, of the common yearning for peace and the touch of nature's beauty instead of defensiveness and executionary aggressiveness." ( -- from a 1983 exhibition catalog.)

I like to think that this kind of dual impact can be made with junk jewelry, too. (It's what I strive for and aspire to, anyway!)

Punk post

2009-10-18T11:03:00.000-07:00

1. Saw this at a friend's place and immediately thought it was some sort of "weapon as accessory" and was reminded of Calder's "Jealous Husband" necklace. And in fact it is a weapon as accessory, but made for dogs, not humans. It's a Turkish dog collar, designed to protect sheep dogs from wild animals. As I learned from the web site Turkishdogcollars.com (who knew?) this is a traditional folk art -- each blacksmith hammers out his own design.

2. Still punk at age 68: [Fashion designer Vivienne] "...Westwood would have out-bedazzled anyone, in her white shirtdress and array of delicate gold necklaces, including one made of safety pins. On her head was a neat khaki cap, set at an angle and trimmed with a small black brooch of a ladies hat. Two tiny red balls swung from it.

‘‘My fashion advice is to have a flattering mirror at home and then forget about it,’’ she said."

(From an article by Cathy Horyn in today's New York Times Style magazine.]

I have been trying to follow that advice for years, Ms Westwood, but those rogue unflattering mirrors will keep ambushing me at the most inopportune moments...

53 different types of recycled jewelry... and that's only the beginning

2009-10-13T07:41:00.000-07:00

Just added 4 new links to the list at right, bringing the total to about 53. Had no idea when I started it that I would find so many examples of what I call junk jewelry. (No disrespect meant to the artists who make these beautiful things. Just the opposite, in fact!)

And I'm sure there are whole lot more great examples on Etsy.com that I haven't even begun to list.

Wearable technology

2009-10-09T12:01:00.000-07:00

This flower is actually a ball point pen. I had the idea of always wearing a cute pen around my neck, so as to never be without one. (Low-tech wearable technology!) I think I got the idea from a nurse in a clinic connected with bones -- she wore a pen that looked like a miniature bone around her neck, and she was pleased that I noticed it.

The habit of wearing pens didn't take, though. And reading glasses on a necklace make me feel ancient and dowdy, to say nothing of collecting crumbs from lunch!

However, I have been known to wear a USB flash drive. And now they make them as bracelets. I believe the wearable technology idea will slowly gain momentum!

The glamourai

2009-10-06T14:25:00.000-07:00

...is an interesting blog with great how-tos (there is a link to Elle.com showing how to make paper-chain style necklaces, similar to those of Louis Vuitton; and I like the half-sunglass idea, too) -- find them by scrolling down this page.

Less is more. More or less.

2009-10-04T13:36:00.000-07:00

This is what I started with...

... and I've just kept piling on more stuff as I found it.

Now it is all excess and abundance, a cheerful mass of junk. Before it was individual quirkiness, each item presented separately for the eye to consider.

In adding to it, have I added to it, or taken something away?

Read my pins

2009-10-02T08:40:00.000-07:00

More on Madeleine Albright's Pin Diplomacy here.

And here.

"I love being a woman and I was not one of these women who rose through professional life by wearing men's clothes or looking masculine. I loved wearing bright colors and being who I am." (Madeleine Albright)

I love people who love being who they are!

Recycled news

2009-09-28T18:40:00.000-07:00

• Bags made from keys from computer keyboards! Designed by Joao Sabino. Not sure how they are constructed, but they look very cool -- especially the orange one.

• Jewelry from hardware by Von Kottwitz.

• Light made from a cheese grater at The Conran Shop.

• Tom Binns has opened a new store in Manhattan. Here's his web site -- click through to his collections. I like the Archive Collection with a fork bracelet called Feeding Frenzy. Also the tangled chains -- thin chains so easily get tangled anyway, I love that he actually makes a feature of this fact.

Unconditional appreciation

2009-09-25T08:30:00.000-07:00

Thinking yesterday about how when you make something it is necessary to be very judgmental ("This soup is too salty!" "It doesn't hang properly." "The babies in the drawings need to be cuter.")

And yet, and yet... the critical frame of mind can spill over into all areas of life, to the detriment of that life. Judgmental is an ugly way to be when focused on other people and a depressing way to be when focused on oneself...

It's a dilemma and a puzzlement. Maybe the antidote is to try to do a lot of unconditional appreciating and noticing of nice things. (I liked the grain in this wood that is boarding up a run-down old house.)

The medium is critical to the message

2009-09-21T08:23:00.000-07:00

This roadside sign reminded me of a lecture I went to years ago. Ad agency writer Jeremy Bullmore made the point that in any artistic endeavor, the content/style choice is critical. When the two are perfectly in sync you get something that works really well. His example: travelling down a country lane you see a hand-painted sign -- "Fresh eggs" -- propped up against a farmyard fence. It is hand lettered, no doubt by the farmer's wife. The words plus the way they are written promise just that -- fresh eggs. You travel further and see an airstrip with a similarly lettered sign. This one says "Flying Lessons."

Recently seen II

2009-09-14T11:55:00.000-07:00

• Articles on creativity from Psychology Today magazine.

• "Time-less" jewelry from watch parts.

• I once saw nice bracelets made from different colored zipper pull tags at Pylones, but they don't seem to have them now. But I love this wonderful chicken bag.

Walter's wonderful window

2009-09-08T12:00:00.000-07:00

Love this! Friends of mine sent these photos of the view looking out their kitchen window. Wonderful way of salvaging a beloved piece of crockery that you really regret breaking. (Or you could use quirky thrift store one-of-a-kind cups and plates.)

I'm told it's a work in progress, that it keeps growing. It would make washing up much more fun -- planning what to add where instead of scrubbing...

How to do it? A hot glue gun for the initial placement and then plaster to cement them in place.

How to make a necklace from practically anything...

2009-09-05T07:22:00.000-07:00

... attach it to a circular neck ring, available from places that sell jewelry findings. (Or make your own from thick wire.) So easy!

"People ... went to infinite lengths to assemble bits of themselves."

2009-08-28T08:12:00.000-07:00

From “Collected Impressions” by Elizabeth Bowen, (Knopf, 1950), from an essay in which she is writing about her experiences of living in London during World War II:

“To survive, not only physically but spiritually, was essential. People whose homes had been blown up went to infinite lengths to assemble bits of themselves -- broken ornaments, odd shoes, torn scraps of the curtains that had hung in a room -- from the wreckage. In the same way, they assembled and checked themselves from stories and poems, from their memories, from one another’s talk. Outwardly, we accepted that at this time individual destiny had to count for nothing; inwardly, individual destiny became an obsession in every heart. You cannot depersonalize persons. Every writer during this time was aware of the passionate attachment of men and women to every object or image or place or love or fragment of memory with which his or her destiny seemed to be identified, and by which the destiny seemed to be assured.”

Recycled accessory news from all over

2009-08-23T11:22:00.000-07:00

• Love the Outsapop blog... here's her post describing how to make hats from pictures, inspired by hatmaker Philip Treacy.

• Louise Buchan makes cute jewelry from tiny tea sets.

• Elegant recycled jewelry from Ann Ellis.

Time will tell

2009-08-22T09:12:00.000-07:00

When my plastic Mickey Mouse alarm clock died a few years ago I took it apart and saved the face and the hands. Glued the hands in the classic "smiley face" position of ten past ten. Then glued a pin back finding to the top of the back. Easy!

And in other news, have you seen these cartoony shoes from Nina Ricci? No running to catch a bus in these!

Self-expression through accessories, then and now

2009-08-16T12:40:00.000-07:00

Then: "The craze for the hat as riddle, allegory, social comment or celebration, started in 1775 ... the Queen [Marie Antoinette]'s hairdresser described what he called the 'menagerie' at court. 'Frivolous women,' he wrote, 'covered their heads with butterflies, sentimental women nestled swarms of cupids in their hair; the wives of general officers wore squadrons perched on their forehead; melancholic women put a sarcophagus and cinerary urns.'" (From Dancing to the Precipice: The Life of Lucie de la Tour du Pin, Eyewitness to an Era, by Caroline Moorehead, Harper)

Now: "Madeleine Albright was the first woman to be named secretary of state, and it's a safe bet that she was the first American cabinet member to use jewelry as diplomatic sign language. ... If Albright displayed a sun or ladybug, you could breathe easy; a crab or wasp meant 'watch out'." (from the New York Times T magazine, fall 2009 issue. See the article here. There's an exhibition and book about it, too.)

Recently seen

2009-08-11T06:40:00.000-07:00

• Glamour magazine article on weapons as accessories!

• Malou Paul's jewelry from cotton swabs, foam samples and tea strainers! (Look at all the pictures in her Flickr gallery called Price Less -- great photographs and a great feeling for design.)

• Jewelry made from recycled piano keys!

Statement necklaces

2009-08-08T10:56:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems junk jewelry's fashion moment has arrived -- I kept seeing the phrase "statement necklaces" everywhere a few months ago, and now it is even more prevalent. Scroll down this page for looks that a crafty trashionista could take as inspiration. The Michael Kors necklace, for example, looks to me as if it is made from silver bracelets, key rings and chain. And the Lacroix looks like a shape cut from black plastic.

You can even approximate a big necklace look from stuff you already have -- Glamour Magazine has how-tos here and here: pile on a few necklaces then use a pretty pin to gather them all together at one point on the right or left.

And this is the statement I've been making a lot this summer -- or maybe it's a qustion, since it has a question mark at the end!

Ducks and pate

2009-08-04T07:14:00.000-07:00

A paragraph from Elizabeth Berg's novel "Home Safe" (Random House, 2009) wherein a writer travels to Maine to visit the house of her favorite author, E. B. White.

“As she stood in White's work space that day, it occurred to her that she was grasping at straws when it came to really understanding anything about the man; you could read his work, even biographies about him, and imagine a certain kind of person; but the reality of him would forever be a mystery. She thought this was probably true of anyone who made any kind of art: the work did not necessarily represent the person. She thinks it was Margaret Atwood who said that wanting to meet a writer because you like their work was like wanting to meet a duck because you like pate.”

No, no, I can't go along with that -- surely the type of pate tells you something about the duck. Yet I agree with Ms Atwood that wanting to meet a writer because you like his or her work is useless and beside the point. Some of my favorite authors are (or were) probably intensely neurotic and difficult in person -- their neurosis being precisely the reason they write so well.

But what exactly does the pate tell you about the duck? That’s what I keep trying to sort out for myself. The content an artist chooses tells you something. The style or medium an artist chooses tells you something. (Junk into junk jewelry: those who make it hate waste!)

My tentative conclusion is that artwork shows you what artists are drawn to, what they feel compelled to focus on and how they attempt to make sense of that subject for themselves. Often, this is similar to the way they attempt to make sense of the rest of the world as well.