Thursday, July 7, 2011

Futuregems

Ideeen dress, necklace courtesy of Briel, blue cuff courtesy of Joomi Lim, spike earrings courtesy of Joshua Hall, Triskaidekaphobia multicolored gear cuff, Cara Croninger clear cuff, Acne Sandals, Peter Pilotto x Kipling backpack, Slow and Steady Wins the Race sunglasses.

I've been really into futuristic accessories lately. As a jewelry designer, I tend to gravitate towards designs that interest me from a technical standpoint--pieces that intrigue me with their unique construction, and things that I only have a vague understanding of how to make. Jewelry is an immense field with many different areas of specialty, and people seem surprised when they find out that most jewelry designers don't know how to set their own stones, or cast their own metal. I'll be the first to admit that there are a lot of techniques that I do not know, and there are a lot of areas that I could learn more about. I recently took a course in 3-D CAD for Jewelry Designers, and still I feel like it's only the beginning of all the emerging technical possibilities for designers.

I've been obsessed with the design of two particular pieces that I recently was given. The first is a necklace made by watch company Breil, which recently launched a jewelry line. All their pieces are meant to be worn multiple ways, with various built in tricks that allow for conversions from necklaces to bracelets, and complete changes in design. While all of their jewelry has a bit of a sleek techie sheen that hints at their watch-making roots, I really loved the stainless steel ball necklace that has rubber stoppers inside each of the bead, allowing you to adjust them into whatever positions you feel like. I personally like wearing them will the balls all bunched in the front like a silver amoeba, or the swinging balls of a Newton's cradle. I also really like the fact that you can adjust it to whatever length you like in the back with yet another rubber-filled bead.

After expressing my love for my friend Joomi Lim's titanium plated stainless steel cuff, Joomi was incredibly generous, and gave me one for my birthday. I was immediately fascinated by the vivid blue color, which is pretty uncommon in jewelry, and usually reserved for furniture or industrial design. I love how it makes me feel like Wonder Woman, even though most of the wondering I'm doing is thinking about what other crazy colors it could possibly be plated in.

Breil Necklace, Joshua Hall Earrings, Slow and Steady Wins the Race sunglasses

Joomi Lim cuff + DIY French manicure
-Tiffany

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Non-Bummer Summer

If you're stuck in the city for the rest of this sticky endless summer, there a couple of cute events to look forward to...

Tomorrow and Friday, VPL will be hosting a Rag Tag sale featuring vintage clothing and accessories from local clothes horses like Victoria Bartlett and Arden Wohl. Additionally, there will be a Rag Tag sale hosted by TAO, with proceeds benefiting Japan. I do not know if this means that there will be actual TAO merchandise on hand, but I have my fingers crossed!


Every summer, Adidas hosts a soccer tournament featuring downtown's finest, with teams from Opening Ceremony, Vice Magazine, The Smile, etcetera. There's free barbeque and beer, and probably cute boys too (not that I'm looking!).



Next weekend, recently launched Terrific Magazine will be hosting a Pool Supplies Sale, at Union Pool in Brooklyn featuring wares from local (and personal) favorites like Suzanne Rae, Timo Weiland, Dusen Dusen, Elizabeth Knight + many, many more.



-Tiffany

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Tiny Sculptures

All photos by Helveta Vyotlag

A while back, I met the jewelry designer of Helveta Vyotlag, Jocelyn Shipley, who obviously also shares with us a penchant for obscure and unpronounceable names. While ruminating over how exactly to pronounce the vaguely Swedish sounding "Vyotlag," I'm reminded of how tripped up everyone gets when I tell them that my jewelry line is called Triskaidekaphobia. Ah well, the jewelry is meant to speak for itself right? The collection, which mostly consists of hand carved wood pieces, look somewhat like children's building blocks or beads, restructured with architectural angles and exaggerated jewel facets to form chunky cuffs and jaw-breaker sized rings. Since I have no idea how to work with wood, and doubt I would have the patience to hand carve, sand, finish, and color a single piece, much less an entire collection, I am extra impressed. Each piece is obviously unique, and I would love to stack a dozen of the surprisingly lightweight wooden bangles on my arms in a bunch of different colors. You can find Helveta Vyotlag at International Playground, and on Jocelyn's Etsy store.






-Tiffany