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I have a lovely new pearl ring! I've been looking for something to go with my pearl necklaces for a while, and I've found some nice earrings but never the right ring - till this one. Sarah from JewelryArtDesigns.com (which also sells other things, such as pendants) was kind enough to mail me this beautiful piece of jewellery that I have fallen in love with.
It's currently stored in a giant clam shell on my dressing table, along with my other pearly things.
R e v i e w
When it comes to jewellery, I'm a fan of large, statement pieces. Smaller, delicate designs don't usually do it for me.
My philosophy: go large or go bare.
The Branch Wrapped Shell Pearl ring looks far prettier in person than it does on the website. Up close, the quality and craftsmanship are apparent, and I especially love how the pearl is embraced with graceful branches instead of traditional metal jewellery claws to keep it in place. It lends the design a more natural and organic feel while remaining a classic. If this were a fairy tale, the silver probably wrapped itself around your finger and sprouted branches with leaves like diamonds, within which a pearl bloomed.
W o r n
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I'm really in love with the new Bvlgari ads shot by Mert & Marcus.
Their old ads with Jessica Stam were beautiful, but Julianne Moore
lends a very different quality to the brand. In Bvlgari's previous ads,
I always felt like Stam's icy look had a very upper class, "don't touch
me" air - as if the ads were saying: "we're Bvlgari and we're probably
too expensive for you". Beautiful but wintry, aloof and distant; as if we
were not meant to connect with the product. It was just something to
be admired from afar. Nothing unusual for a luxury brand, of course.
Julianne's ads have a whole other feel. 'Feel' being the key word, I
think, because I actually feel something when I look at them. They
aren't cold and estranged. They have a mystique that tempts and
teases, and invites you in. The colours are richer, more exotic and
more luxuriant - jewel tones and lustre, textured with embroidery,
velvet and feathers. A friend of mine hated the birds. Apparently,
cockatoos are abundant where she lives, but I think it's all about
context. Her country is not one that luxury brand advertisements
target, and to its intended audience, these cockatoos allude to
an exotic tropical paradise. I just like them coz they're cute. Here,
Julianne has this otherworldly elegance. The class she exudes
is less WASP-ish and more effortless than Stam's - and also more
sensual. She's like a modern day Eve lounging around some luxury
version of paradise where the only woman ever created spends
her days befriending silky-feathered avians on beds of satin and
velvet. Instead of fig leaves, she's dripping in jewels.
...
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Lara Jade Photography
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Raise/Walk
By Chadwick Tyler
Chadwick's assistant, Delilah, was lovely enough to send over some pictures from a story he shot for GREY Magazine, featuring Constance Jablonski and styled by Valentina Illardi Martin.
"The series is gentle, yet edgy, exploring the often delicate boundary between feminine innocence and monstrosity. Constance embraces a role that is at once playful, dark, and even grotesque, intertwining the gracefulness and exploratory nature of youth with a piercing glare that suggests something far more ominous. The shoot draws upon Contance’s versatility and her willingness to defy conventions. The series also fuses seamlessly with Chadwick’s personal style, embracing bodily contortion and avant garde composition, while highlighting the destructive nature of beauty. The styling follows the same juxtapositions visible in Contance’s poses, contrasting the effervescence of light, flowing fabrics with Contance’s biting, yet vulnerable stare."
The last shot is my favourite.
I love how the entire series is at once fierce and delicate.
In April last year, I blogged about Chadwick's Tiberius exhibition, which I found incredibly haunting. He's quite the master of effortlessly finding the beauty in the gritty and grotesque.
More of his work can be found at chadwicktyler.com
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