Spring Into Color With Sapphires

To every thing there is a season. And to every fashion hound, there is the Pantone color report – the authority on what hues are hot each season. Yup. These are the folks who tell us “orange is the new black” or “fuschia is so fall 1995”. Seem a little nutty? There is method to their madness.

Each season, Pantone surveys the designers of New York Fashion Week to collect feedback on prominent colors used, their color inspiration and color philosophy. Fall 2008 is all about Blue Iris, Royal Lilac and Shady Glade, and Spring 2009 will feature Palace Blue, Lavender and Super Lemon.

Super Lemon? Got it.

But how do we bedazzle our studied wardrobes with jewelry the Pantone people would be proud of? Think Created Sapphires. Sapphires are not just blue; they come in a rainbow of colors. Maybe not Super Lemon or Salmon Rose – but certainly yellow, pink, purple - even green.

Created Sapphires have the same physical and chemical properties as the natural gem with the bonus of being nearly flawless. No joke. They are genuine sapphire stones just created in a lab rather then being mined from the earth, saving you thousands of dollars you can now spend on that off-the-shoulder cocktail dress.

Check out these created sapphire looks on Jewelry.com and for a look at the complete Pantone Spring 2009 color report, click here. It’s free!

SPRING 2009:



















PANTONE 18-2328 Fuchsia Red
PANTONE 15-1626 Salmon Rose
PANTONE 18-4043 Palace Blue
PANTONE 14-5714 Lucite Green
PANTONE 14-0754 Super Lemon
PANTONE 16-0435 Dark Citron
PANTONE 15-3817 Lavender
PANTONE 16-6339 Vibrant Green
PANTONE 16-5804 Slate Gray
PANTONE 14-1307 Rose Dust


FALL 2008:



















PANTONE 18-3943 Blue Iris
PANTONE 18-3531 Royal Lilac
PANTONE 18-5624 Shady Glade
PANTONE 18-4525 Caribbean Sea
PANTONE 18-1550 Aurora Red
PANTONE 18-1015 Shitake
PANTONE 18-1435 Withered Rose
PANTONE 19-3938 Twilight Blue
PANTONE 16-1448 Burnt Orange
PANTONE 14-1036 Ochre

Oscar, Oscar, Oscar!

Jewelry trends are often hard to spot at big runway events, like Fashion Week, since many designers fear the bling will take attention away from the clothes. Makes sense, but it's not much fun for us, is it? Thankfully, there are fashion icons, like Oscar de la Renta, who dare to make jewelry statements that are as creative and stunning as their clothing.

Mr. de la Renta's show is always a hot ticket, and this year was no exception. Jennifer Lopez got a front row look along with Barbara Walters and Vogue's ubiquitous duo, Anna Wintour and Leon Talley. What they witnessed was yet another display of design brilliance, with dresses that Hollywood's A list are surely earmarking for their acceptance speeches.

The jewelry was a glam-ed up interpretation of the season's 'big' trends: (yes, you've heard it all before) big necklaces, big earrings and big wrist-wear. We particularly liked his cereal bowl- sized hoop earrings - a style that hasn't seen the light of day since fashionistas sewed shoulder pads in their blazers. Bravo!

While most of us can only drool over such beautiful frocks and baubles, it's heartening to know that the Oscar's of the world are still making our fashion junkie hearts skip a beat and our dreams glitter just a little brighter. It's what Fashion Week is all about.

Fashion Week Mayhem - A Jewelry Trend Recap

Huge necklaces, bawdy brooches, layered chains and big cuffs are the trends spilling out of Fashion Week’s runways this week. The hottest designers are wowing critics with their spring ready-to-wear collections, and we’re happy to bring you a round up of the week’s best so far.

Marc Jacobs hit it out of the ballpark with his zany, suffragist, early Americana collection. His show was the talk of the town, yet editors and critics were clearly at a loss for words when trying to describe it. Style.com wins our vote with “Mary Poppins goes to Dubai” or “The King and I meets The Postman Always Rings Twice”. You just have to see it to believe it. Necklaces the size of small handbags were just one of many layers to each outfit, yet his little straw hats just might be the accessory to steal the show this year.

Donna Karan continued to take inspiration from the streets, as her DKNY collection featured the layered chain trend with her must-have basics. Justin Timberlake’s new company, William Rast, followed suit as his country girl meets rock and roll line used chains and big leather cuffs with their varied interpretations of T-shirts, cut-offs and boots.

Betsy Johnson’s flouncy, bouncy dresses were accented with a bow choker (another shape that is trending this season), statement necklaces or big bangles, and the Tory Burch show took the necklace-as-art look to a new level.

The hottest after party had to be for Marc Jacobs, as the likes of Kirsten Dunst, Anne Hathaway, Winona Ryder, Sofia Coppola and Jessica Simpson all jostled for his attention – and a seat at his exclusive 60-person sit-down steak dinner at Robert De Niro’s new Greenwich Hotel in Tribeca.

To grovel or not to grovel…it’s always the question at Fashion Week. And 'grovel' is always the answer.









Donna Karan























William Rast

















Betsy Johsnon








Tory Birch

Fashion Week Reveals Bigger Is, Indeed, Better

Jewelry hounds, it’s been a busy weekend. With Fashion Week kicking off in New York on Friday, and MTV’s Video Music Awards tonight, we’re suffering from a serious case of whiplash. The good news is - the party circuit and the red carpet are buzzing with THE jewelry look we’ve been tracking for you already.

Delicate chains and tasteful studs – move over! Big, beefy, gaudy, and loud are making their mark. The must-have fall trend is (of course) the statement costume necklace, and we caught the look all over the place.

Elie Tahari featured it on the runway for his Spring 2009 collection (hint: the trend has legs for next season), Charlize Theron rocked it at the Fashion Rocks event at Radio City Music Hall, Rachel Hunter wore it to Justin Timberlake’s highly anticipated William Rast show, and Blake Lively used it to make her unfortunate green jumpsuit feel like it made sense somehow at Miss Sixty.

But where to find this must-have for fall if you don’t have a tent pass or a personal stylist? Easy. Vintage and thrift stores should get a lot of traffic this season. So should your grandmother’s jewelry box. But don’t forget to track down local jewelry designers, who are using everything from beads and plastic to crystals and precious gemstones to put their unique stamp on the look.

Sorry, Anna and Leon. It looks like jewelry’s fashion forward belongs to the people this year!

Stay tuned for more runway reports and a VMA fashion round up! She’s baaaaccckkk.