On September 10, 11, and 12 Whitten’s Fine Jewelry will hold a Trollbeads Trunk Show. If you don’t know what Trollbeads are yet, you will soon! Modern Jeweler magazine names the beautiful Murano glass and sterling silver “personality” beads as one of the Top Trends of 2009 in their most recent issue.

Trunk Show Specials!

• First 15 people each day receive a free PAX bead with $50 purchase (retail value $28)
• Buy three beads, receive one free (bead of lesser value is free)
• Buy a 14-karat gold bead, receive a white diamond or black diamond bead free (retail value $52)

Visit Whitten’s Fine Jewelry at 4719 Kirkwood Highway in Wilmington, Delaware.

Hours:

• Thursday 10-6
• Friday 10-6
• Saturday 10-4

Susan McNeill is a wife, mother, author, fashion blogger

 and sales manager for the WHIMSY jewelry line. Susan

also writes for http://mcneilldesigns.wordpress.com and

http://successwontwaitinc

If you wear, own or even like Uggs, your name deserves to forever appear on every Worst Dressed list ever. I don’t care how you might defend this hideous excuse for a pair of boots—they are called Uggs for a reason, people. No woman should wear shapeless boots that make her look clubfooted unless she’s playing in the snow in her own—very private—backyard. (And, for the record, I feel the same way about Crocs.)

There are plenty of cute ways to keep your toes toasty when the chill kicks in this fall, and I’ve chosen a few very promising options below. (And none of them shall be worn with a ripped denim miniskirt and leggings. K, thanks.)

Ankle boots help ease the transition into fall, and they look hot with a minidress. I prefer a little red dress with a pair of black boots like these faux-suede ones. The metal buckle adds just enough detail to keep things exciting, and the wrapped look is trés chic!

These are probably the cutest fold-over ankle boots I’ve yet to find. The rounded toe keeps them semi-casual so you don’t feel over-dressed, and they make you look stylish-without-trying. They come in black and brown, and if you’re like me, you’ll buy a pair of each!

Knee-length skirts and dresses look fantastic with high boots, and this look will keep you cozy on chilly fall nights. These super-hot, knee-high black leather boots will slim your legs, and the tapered toe and shiny leather amps up the sexy. Every woman should own a pair!

These black suede zip-ups give a little “rocker” edge to any outfit. The flat heel gives your feet a break from other high-heeled options, and you won’t be afraid to traipse around town in them. Pair them with your favorite jeans and a cropped jacket for the perfect bonfire party outfit.

Despite the fact that my friends make fun of me for it, I tuck my skinny jeans into my boots because, well, the jeans just won’t stretch over top of them. Plus, I like showing my boots off! I bought these low-wedged boots last year and plan to wear them again this fall and winter because they held up so well and are super comfy! They’re also nice enough to wear when I go out and they don’t make my feet look big and clunky—the wedge heel actually makes me feel kind of snuggly-sexy!

I found all of the options above at Famous Footwear because they have great prices, but they’re also available elsewhere. Do a little shopping around to find the best deal!

-Keri

Keri, WHIMSY marketing director, is a 23-year-old

(soon to be 24-year-old!) lover of Chinese food and

Sex & the City. She desperately wants to move out of

her parents’ house and get a puppy!

I’ve been known to pin a fabric flower on my shirt a la Carrie Bradshaw from time to time, and even though it makes the most sense in spring and summer, it’s easy to carry the look into fall by selecting flowers in either muted neutrals or rich jewel tones.

In an online search for fabric flowers to adorn my fall wardrobe, I came across a New York company that specializes in creating them! M & S Schmalberg—whose designs are used by Calvin Klein, Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren and Carolina Herrara, among others—offers an extensive library of flowers in every style, color and fabric imagineable. Soft, feminine organza gardenias, bright silk orchids and black sequined and leather roses—a flower for every woman!

I loved so many in their online store that I couldn’t even begin to narrow down my list of favorites (and it was equally as difficult to choose which photos to put up)! I was even more ecstatic to read that their designs were used in Sex & the City, no doubt worn by the ever-fashionable Sarah Jessica Parker!

Try pinning a bright blue rose on your favorite little black dress for a splash of color or decorating the neckline of a neutral cardigan with pale pink chiffon peonies. You could even pin one on a clutch to give it an updated look.

The possibilities are truly endless and the chic accessories are sure to cheer you up on a chilly fall afternoon!

-Keri

When the heck did plaid come back in style? And WHY?!

I’ve never been a huge fan of plaid, unless it’s a very simple two-color print on a pair of shorts or a miniskirt, but I’ve been finding a lot of plaid dresses lately that are quite terrible. It reminds me of the Scottish “fling” in an episode of Sex & the City that Charlotte attends, wearing an entire gown made out of red tartan. Ick.

It’s one thing to wear plaid for a cultural reason, but wearing some of the hideous frocks I’ve found online is a totally different—and ugly—animal. And with cornea-burning fluorescent 80s colors apparently back “in”, plaid has catapulted to a whole new level of unsightliness.

I get that plaid walks hand-in-hand with punk-inspired fashion, but some of these dresses look like a lumberjack’s repurposed flannel (see photo to the left), while others appear to be a feeble attempt of making the pattern look more feminine and less preppy (see above photo).

The two dresses pictured here are by Charlotte Russe. I love shopping at Charlotte Russe, but they were off-point in creating these dresses. I suspect they’ll be hanging on the clearance rack by the end of the season.

-Keri

WHIMSY™ is now carrying a new line of personality beads called Carousel Beads! Made of recycled, reclaimed sterling silver and enamel, they reflect Carousel’s commitment to the environment. The beads have a totally different look than Murano glass beads, and they’re fully compatible with the WHIMSY™ rings, offering even MORE options for the bead enthusiast.

More Carousel Beads and bracelets will be added to the WHIMSY™ online store so your bracelet can match your ring! Visit the WHIMSY™ online store now!

One glance at this month’s issue of ELLE, and I thought I’d love it! Gwen Stefani is on the cover, looking gorgeous—as usual—despite her strange draped, printed skirt/pants thingy. I’m envious of her Marilyn Monroe looks, and I’m a longtime fan of No Doubt. So I eagerly flipped through, awaiting whatever inspiration I might find.

Givenchy studded white leather gloves. It's like Gene Simmons stole MJ's white glove and went crazy with a Bedazzler.

The whole issue is about women in music, which is totally awesome. But what’s with all the ridiculous punk-inspired fashions? I like a few metal studs on ONE accessory at a time, and I certainly believe that black is the absolute BEST color EVER—but a clutch with a leather motorcycle glove already attached? And all those darn zippers. And SAFETY PINS?! Really?!!? I thought those went the way of stovepipe jeans and Flock-of-Seagulls haircuts. 

Everything just seemed way too over-the-top (which I understand is a common practice in most fashion magazines, but jeez) and most of it was “rock” fashion, instead of a mix of fashions inspired by every music genre. I even struggled to find an article of clothing I would wear or an accessory I would buy, and usually I’m folding down the corners of pages and circling my favorite pieces with a huge Sharpie. I didn’t find a single bag or pair of shoes to obsess over—especially not the faded denim jacket with black goatskin sleeves featured on page 38. Or the Metalllica-logo-emblazoned Converse sneakers on page 42. Uhhh. No.

When I think of rock music, I think of the understated “fashions” of bands like the Deftones and Nine Inch Nails. I highly doubt any of the band members care about looking “hard rock” enough to wear something with more studs than fans in the audience.

I like the rock look that results from a love of black t-shirts and torn jeans, and it’s certainly more accessible—and comfortable—to the average concert-goer. So unless you’re a high-class groupie (is there such a thing?) or, say, Kate Moss, and you actually travel with the band because you’re “dating” one of the members, I don’t suggest sporting any of the rockstar biker styles in this month’s ELLE unless you want to be laughed at for looking too much like a member of KISS. Let’s face it—those four rockers finally took off their makeup and platform shoes for a reason.

-Keri

Have you been to InTouch Magazine’s web site?

I have become addicted to it, not only because of the great Hollywood gossip and fantastic photos of celebs (and their clothes!) but because I can try to win some of these same luxury items through their contests at MadBerries.

The other day I was perusing the jewelry section and found an amazing Heather Benjamin ring made of sterling silver and gold drusy. What an unexpected and gorgeous combination! Coincidentally, today I got my August issue of InStyle and what did I find? A gorgeous pair of drusy agate drop earrings from Marcia Moran. So, do I sense a trend here? And what exactly is drusy?

According to the folks at www.Dictionary.com drusy literally means “covered by a large number of minute crystals.” These spectacular gems offer a look that is radically different from either a traditional cut gem or smooth cabochon.

If you haven’t seen a piece made with drusy, the look is somewhat like looking at a flat surface covered with a mass of granulated sugar, sparkling in the light. Now imagine that the sugar is lemon yellow, acid green or shocking pink! Drusy’s textured look and rich, dramatic colors have quickly increased the popularity of the gems, which are fast becoming an accepted new genre of gemstones.

In addition, innovative designers like Benjamin have also increased use of platinum and gold drusy. Platinum drusy has been coated with platinum using a vapor deposition process. The look produced is a stunning coating of snowy, silver on the crystals, resembling thousands of tiny diamonds. Gold drusy usually has an agate host matrix underneath, which is then coated using gold deposited on the crystals (using the same vapor deposition process as platinum drusy). The result? Simply beautiful.

Hmmm…. it would be wonderful to update my fall wardrobe with some new jewelry incorporating this unique gemstone. Guess I’d better go back and win that ring!

–Susan

Samantha, Miranda, Carrie and Charlotte

Like most women I know, I’m quite jealous of their clothing, most notably Carrie’s. As Kiss & Tell discusses in depth, the fashion in SATC has influenced main stream fashion and has resulted in a ripple effect. After seeing Carrie strutting down the streets of Manhattan in them, more women started wearing aviators, fabric flowers (myself included on both of those), short shorts, nameplate necklaces and, of course, Manolo Blahniks. And, on another note, don’t forget how popular the Cosmopolitan became thanks to those four lovely ladies.

A number of the outfits seen on Carrie and Samantha tend toward outrageous, like Carrie’s pink and purple tie-dyed capris in Season 3 and her many midriff-baring or sheer tops, or Samantha’s bright pink cowgirl outfit complete with bright blue cowgirl hat. But somehow, they always seemed to pull off their crazy styles, and the clothes only looked outrageous out of context. Or, say, on me.

There is actually just one episode that I remember Carrie in (GASP!) flip flops rather than heels (the episode when Aidan proposed), but other than that memorable moment, she’s only ever seen in high high heels or barefoot. (Please correct me if I’m wrong!)

The fabulous foursome during an opening scene in Sex & the City: The Movie

I have no idea how Carrie could possibly afford so many pairs of $400 shoes on a writer’s salary, but that’s the nature of TV — not everything makes sense. And not everything has to, because that didn’t stop millions of women from becoming obsessed with the foursome from NYC and either their relationships or their clothes. Or both!

Even though we’ve been SATC-less for a few years now, women still pull ideas and inspiration from the reruns (and the full collection of episodes on DVD!) because the writers made the show great and the stylists made it amazing. The first Sex & the City movie gave us a much needed dose of Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda, complete with plenty of eye-candy to feed our hunger for SATC fashion.

Now we just have to get them to pump out a second Sex & the City movie!

The big Trollbead Trunk Show is this weekend, and we’re in the thick of it here at Whitten’s. We’ve already given away a few free WHIMSY ring to customers who spend over $250 in Trollbead purchases, on top of the other great specials we’re offering!

The first 25 customers through our doors who make a Trollbead purchase get a FREE bracelet! If you buy three Trollbeads, you get one for free. Who can resist FREE stuff?! I’m seriously considering adding to my own Trollbead bracelet, but I’m trying to be good and pay my bills instead! )

Here’s a picture of my Trollbead and Chamilia bracelets that I took with my phone (hence the blurriness). As you can tell, I opted for the black/white/red color scheme on my Trollbead bracelet (the lower bracelet, and yes, there’s one red Chamilia bead on it). The most popular glass Trollbeads tend to be the blue ones, from what I’ve seen, but there’s so many options, it’s hard not to build a bracelet in every color!

What is the color scheme or overall theme on your bracelet? Or do you have a random mix of everything on your bracelet?

Comments, please!

-Keri

Here at Whitten’s Fine Jewelry, we carry Trollbeads and Chamilia beads, so we have a great selection of looks for the WHIMSY ring. From my experience, bead customers tend to lean more toward one bead company than the other, and the beauty of the WHIMSY rings is that they accomodate both companies’ beautiful Murano glass beads.

Here’s a photo of me playing with the different beads in the store and a whole pile of WHIMSY rings to see what looks we can display in our jewelry cases that might entice the fashionable women who walk through our doors. And let me tell you—creating different looks is easy and addicting!

As Susan mentioned in her Bright, Sunshiny Day post on May 15, yellow is the color of the season! Unfortunately, neither Trollbead nor Chamilia have a large selection of yellow glass beads (there is Trollbeads’ Banana bead), but they do both have playful pastels that look great in the WHIMSY ring. Trollbeads’ newest flower glass beads are an obvious pick for spring, as are Chamilia’s Iridescent Collection, featured on the second page of “What’s New”.

Both new collections came out a little while back, so if you haven’t nabbed one or two (or five!) yet, put it on the To-Do List!

–Keri