LupRocks Gossip

Blog Entry Mania

There is so much going on here at Lup H.Q. but for some reason (maybe it's the excess candy I can't stop ingesting?  Thanks again, Ms. Woo!), I can't settle my brain down long enough to wrap my head around writing a proper blog entry.  So here goes my random assemblage of unformed blog entries:

We LOVED this piece by our most beloved Talya Cousins in today's "Spotlight" section of W.com!  It features several LupRocks.com designers and looks simply gorgeous! 

We got a sneak peak at the latest version of the redesign of LupRocks.com and we're absolutely busting with excitement!  The ever-talented team over at Ceci New York is working on it and we just know everyone will be thrilled with the new look (don't worry, the functionality will remain as smooth as ever!).

We had a great conversation with the folks over at Shopflick.com; we're always on the look-out for ways to provide added value to our designers! 

We got some great R.S.V.P.s to the Nolcha fashion event this Thursday and we're so excited for Bettylou Jewels to benefit from all of that media exposure! 

We started talking about our annual pilgrimege to Las Vegas....yep, it's that time of year again!

Typical conversation around Lup H.Q.:

Jessica-- "We are NOT using the glamour shots!"
Michelle-- "Why not?  Everybody loves the glamour shots!"
Jessica-- "You want to use the glamour shots?  Okay, fine, we can use the glamour shots." 

Hopefully something more succinct coming at you tomorrow (but I can't promise, Alex sent us SO MUCH CANDY!). 

 

I do...You do

In the most recent issue of W Magazine, writer Priya Rao talks about the new trend of creative engagement rings. I previously reported on the splash of color that made its way into bridal wear, and so the trend follows with bridal jewelry. While white solitaries will always be the traditional mainstay, a ring with focused on the rest of the color spectrum or a ring with a personal touch (either from a different era, a favorite stone, or in a unique setting) may be more the choice de jour.  The fast-developing trend for creative, unique, and more personal engagement rings seems related to both the current economic situation as well as the desire for personal expression.

As Wall St. seems to sink deeper and deeper into ruin, dragging the dollar down with it, the ability of most Americans to plunk down a huge chunk of change for an impressive rock has been severely diminished. However, it may be said that hard times breed creativity, and these financial restrictions have widened the field of engagement ring possibilities.  Note that W is showcasing some rings with out a huge center stone.

The point of a new trend is not to change your entire company or marketing angle, becasue trends are temporary for the majority of people who initially embrace the trend.  Instead, just know in the back of your mind, your colorful creations may be the ring of choice for some new brides.    The engagement ring is being reinterpreted as an opportunity for ingenuity, a refection of the special nature of the relationship itself. And whether the price for these stones remains high or not, the romance is certainly high for these new types of rings.

David and Golaith

In light of my recent reporting on the superhero craze that has taken front and center of the fashion buzzosphere these days, I wanted to offer this little bit of reinforcement data I found on Style.com.

And now on a different note…While I was perusing the aforementioned list of top comic book/superhero inspired must-haves on Style.com something very important came to mind.  Style.com is the Mecca of online fashion reporting, because it combines all the genius minds of the fashion focused Conde Nast family.   Therefore their list is bound to contain all the big names you would expect to find in a Vogue or W, with a few lesser-known wildcards thrown in for authenticity.

However as I read names like Marc Jacobs and Balenciaga, I found myself less covetous of these "it" items by these "it" designers, and thinking more about other sources to help me swing this trend. By the time I was done looking through this list I had come to the following conclusions:

1) I would much rather have a piece of jewelry or a handbag (or anything) designed by someone I know.  It makes it personal and special.

2) One-of-a-kinds, or one-of-a-hundred, are just as special whether they cost $100 or $1 million and whether they come from a big name or new up-and-coming name.

3) Starting a trend or wearing a new designer is much cooler than following a trend or wearing an already established designer.

4) Some of the designs cranked out by the über famous designers are actually impossible to wear if you are just a normal person, in a normal city.  Other designers who design based on the same inspiration have much more wearable designs that are just as fashion conscious, and are much more mainstream. (And usually cheaper.)

5) Whatever it is, I can find a reasonably close substitute for a lot less money (Superheroes is NOT a trend that will stand the test of time).

6) Products that have stories behind them are more authentic than items that are produced in mass as crowd pleasers.

7) I would rather have your take on the big trend, than theirs.

8) You are the David and they are the Golaith.  The David wins eventually in some way or another. 

Don't get me wrong, a Christian Louboutin shoe or a Chanel bag is special and something worth coveting.  But so is your collection!

Unload the backburner - A Perfect Weekend Agenda

As you all know, we here at Lup spend most waking hours glued to our desks in an attempt to get you the best exposure this town has to offer. As well as several other major towns across the country, world, universe…You get the point. Anyways, this weekend we are super excited to finally have some time to do/see/read/eat/wear/fill in the blank here, which we have had pushed to the backburner all week. At a closer look, it seems like we are going to need a back burner for our backburner. Here is what we have planned for the weekend…

Fashion weeks are finally winding down! Not that we’re complaining, but watching all the shows is a big time spender. We will look once more to confirm the emerging accessory trends. Yup – skinny belts and statement bracelets. Watch all the shows at style.com!

“Do good-ing” tends to get lost to all things work. So instead of just wearing a pink, yellow, or red ribbon this weekend, we also will be heading to stinkykids.com to buy an adorable tee whose sales are donated to autism research. Helping a good cause in just a few easy clicks is the exact type of good deed that a busy fashionista like me needs! Plus the little characters are super cute for you or your kids.

The stack of things to read is piled so high it is starting to wobble. We need to prioritize. Spring editions of Vogue and W are out. Those get read first, and any fashion addict knows that in this case size does matter. Spring issues are huge! (Huge – adj. 1) extraordinarily large in bulk or quantity, 2) of much or great significance.)

We categorize that as pleasure reading. Now for something educational…Look at this interesting article on the record prices of platinum. I guess all that glitters is not gold!

And you thought we wouldn’t leave time to shop. Don’t you know us by now?! The Intermix warehouse sale is so last year…instead hit up the Shop Caravan SoHo location this weekend. They are having a 90% blowout closing sale. We don’t discriminate against non-locals. Shop online!

Holiday Gift Guide Part I: Rock It

With Chanukah finally over, and Christmas looming on the horizon, shopping, gifts, and spending is all the buzz. However, what really concerns any real material girl during this Chrismakaha lapse is the age old question: Which gifts do I keep, which are on the fast express to returnville, and which will be re-gifted saving you time, money, and the bad publicly you’ll get if you keep it for yourself? So with all our Chanukah gifts already in and sorted, and all of our Christmas shopping completed (don’t be jealous, our OCD lead us to complete this inevitable task early this year), we here at Lup HQ are here to help you with those o’ so tough decisions. So today we bring you the first of three installments: Rock It, Bling Back, and Go Green. Check back each day this week for the remaining verdicts, and you’ll come out a big winner this holiday season!

Rock It: Seems you ditched the naughty fashionista in you, causing Santa or Bubbie to award your good behavior with these definite keepers:

1)Charm bracelets have reentered their long standing spotlight. So whether your mom gifted you with her vintage bracelet from childhood, (like the gold one I received for Chanukah), or you received more fashion forward bracelets, like ones from fresh LupRocks.com designers Gabriella Francesca's or Heather Moore, this holiday “present” is one you will want to rock out in the very near future.

2)April showers bring May flowers early this year causing florals to pop up all over the pages of our fave go to source for fashion gossip – duh! W Magazine. We especially loved the featured Nancy Hankin gold flower ring, but any floral adornment this Spring will prove you are envogue. Another way to bloom up on the fashion-conscious radar is by wearing delicate leaves like these Nicole Landaw gold leaf hoops, or the flowers and dragonflies Shaill ring available at Neminas.

Check in tomorrow to hear our list of Bling Backs – because it won’t be a season of ho, ho, ho if you are caught wearing or re-gifting these fashion no, no, no's.

Accessories Bring In the Green on Black Friday

                                        

                                                             image from jimlowney.com

Even though the weather was less than welcoming, shoppers came out in droves to partake in the Black Friday shopping mayhem.  According to Research group ShopperTrak RCT, sales rose 8.3% from last year to $10.3 billion.  Though the apparel industry was not among the most successful earning sectors, there was a spike in accessories sales.  In an interview for Women's Wear Daily, W Magazine's sister publication, Chairman and CEO of Bloomingdale's, Michael Gould cites dressy accessories, handbags and certain luxury brands as some of the biggest sellers so far this holiday season. Other luxury brands confirm the trend.  While those buying luxury goods may be more cautious, luxury goods were still selling strong, and some retailers have noticed a spike, especially in handbag and cold weather accessories sales. To find out more about Black Friday sales trends, check out this article at wwd.com

I see London, I see France

Every month, I anticipate the arrival of my W, which I read straight through snuggled in my bed with a cup of tea in hand, staring googly eyed at the pages of gorgeous threads and accessories that I hope to later find affordably reinvented. (That is my PC way of avoiding the nasty K word – knock-offs!) Then there is the excitement upon watching the always shocking, always enthralling, Karl Lagerfeld and Marc Jacobs run way shows which stream through my pod cast during various fashion weeks. So, with my December issue of W already read, and no shows till Feb, only one thing can fill this void – The Victoria Secret Fashion Show!

Call me a dork; call me fanatic, I don’t care. This show, airing Dec 4th on CBS 10/9c, is just one more thing to love about the magic time between Thanksgiving and New Years. The annual V.S. show taps into the inner promiscuity in all of us, showcasing the million dollar bra and offering other bright-colored ensembles that are perfectly dramatized. (Let’s face it, Jacobs and Lagerfeld have been known to go overboard.) Furthermore, while sexy JT graced the runway last year, reunited pop sensation Spice Girls, will join beautiful supermodels Heidi and Adriana this year.

This early combustion of excitement was brought on upon by the news of the delivered goods to their runway destination. I’ll check back in next month with the post-show gossip.

Sparkling Jewels - Hidden Gems

Of all the fashion books that pile up in our mailboxes, we have a special affinity for the ones that dedicate a large chunk of page space to jewelry and accessories. Especially, when we get expert insider tips, which we did when reading “Hidden Gems” in the December issue of W. Ok, so millions of people read W, but we still feel like we have a leg up on the competition after checking out W’s suggested collections by Arman, Nicole Landaw (yea LupRocks.com member!), Margaret, LFrank by Liseanne Franfurt, Michelle Fantaci, M.C.L Design, Sanalito, and Kazanjian by Patrick M. Of course with my wish list taste I couldn’t help but focus on the sparkling 18k white gold, citrine, and diamond cuff retailing for a whopping $68,000 (Kazanjianbros.com), but all the featured pieces and collections proved worthy of the W stamp of approval!

                                                          

Hickory Dicory Doc

We were shocked to find W reporting on Marc Jacob’s new line of enamel mice earrings and diamond encrusted mouse choker. We mean no disrespect W, you are our go to source for elite fashion reporting, and Marc Jacobs is “The prince of American fashion,” as reported on today’s cover of the New York Times style section, but we think that every New Yorker has seen enough mice with out having to adorn another one. Eeek!

(Dedicated to LupRocks.com owner/founder Michelle Orman whose gray haired tenant still owes her the cost of one vintage Chanel suit.)

                                        

Amgad's Colored Diamonds Featured in W Magazine

Growing up, everyone has been filled with excitement upon looking up and seeing an arch of colors across the usually blue sky, at which point we have all screamed, “I think I see a rainbow!” This is how I felt, when flipping through the November 2007 issue of W Magazine I came across an article entitled, “Color Wheel: How to Buy Rare Rainbow-Hued Diamonds,” accompanied by a picture of a swirl of colored diamonds in different cuts and sizes.

To make up this diamond color wheel, W used eight out of twelve diamonds from LupRocks.com member Amgad, one of the leading wholesalers and foremost experts on colored diamonds. Vice president of Amgad, Jordon Fine is quoted in the article regarding how the shape or cut of a colored diamond affects its natural color from shining, although the article also covers sizes of existing colored diamonds, the origin behind colored diamonds, and the color diamond coding system.

Run to the news stand today, and pick up W to read everything you need to know about the bright world of colored diamonds.

Check out Amgad’s Brochure on LupRocks.com to see amazing colored diamond jewelry!