Built-in accessories

Erin Dolan — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:49:00 GMT

Does anyone find it difficult to pair the right jewelry with the right clothes? Sometimes I literally stand in front of my dresser, staring into my jewelry box, willing the perfect piece to pop out and assign itself to my outfit. Sadly, this never works out, and in the end I usually give up and go with my basic silver charm necklace. This problem also might have something to do with the fact that I am always running late in the morning...

It seems as though some fashion designers feel my pain and are creating clothing with jewelry built-in!

The concept first caught my attention Wednesday night, when I was watching the season finale of Project Runway.

This gorgeous necklace acts as the halter for Project Runway runner-up Korto Momolu's flirty green dress. Momolu incorporated her jewelry design into her final collection, shown during New York Fashion Week this fall.

Other designers' pieces are below. Even retailers like Express have fashionable, more affordable built-in jewelry items. What a perfect solution for an I-have-nothing-to-wear morning!

Designer Yaya Aflalo used fabric-covered beads as a trim on this pale lavender and ivory summer dress.

Prada featured this dress in their 2009 Resort line.

Fashion week

Jane Konkel — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:36:00 GMT

Fashion week took place last week in some large cities around the world. There are actually two fashion weeks each year. One in Spring which features future Fall fashion, and the other in Fall which features future Spring fashions. So last week the runways were full of clothing for the Spring 2009 season. It was a lot easier to find images of clothing than it was to find jewelry. While some designers opt to simply show their clothing lines, others pair their clothing with jewelry. Tory Burch, Marc Jacobs, Betsey Johnson, Donna Karan, William Rast (Justin Timberlake's new company), and Anna Sui belong to the latter group of designers. Sui's collection, for example, features embroidery, floral patterns and brightly colored Erickson Beamon jewelry. It was easier for me to find jewelry worn by spectators than it was to see jewelry on the runway. Some of my favorite pieces were worn by Rachel Hunter, Venus Williams, Bette Midler, Charlize Theron, and Blake Lively. I suppose the designers whose lines are accessory deficient are concerned that jewelry would detract from the clothing. What other reason could there be for not having the runway models wear jewelry?

BeadStyle : fashion week

Built-in accessories

Fashion week