Why do we wear green on St. Patrick’s Day?

Have you ever wondered why people wear green on St. Patrick’s Day? It has nothing to do with the fact that Ireland is sometimes referred to as the “Emerald Isle.” It also has nothing to do with green being St. Patrick’s favorite color  Green is worn on St. Patrick’s Day in order to honor an ancient Irish custom. The custom originated hundreds of years ago when the Irish burned leaves and boughs in the spring. After burning the leaves and boughs, they would spread the ashes on the fields in order to make the land richer. By wearing green, people are honoring this ancient custom.

It would be fabulous if this custom actually made the land richer in wealth as oppose to fertile. If the land was rich in wealth, we could grow our money in the backyard! A girl can dream. . .

Source: Cantwell, Mary; St. Patrick’s Day; Thomas Y. Crowell Company New York, 1967

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Photo: Getty Images

 

Paris Fashion Week fall winter 2011/2012 recap

Paris Fashion Week ended on Wednesday and left fashion fans sad and happy at the same time. Sad because we have run out of runway shows to watch, and happy because we now have a glimpse of which trends from spring are continuing into fall. We also now have insight into new, up and coming trends.

New York and Milan visited past decades from the Art Deco era, the Depression era, the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s. In Paris, the tone was more sedate and although designers took their inspiration from the same time periods that were shown in New York and Milan, the tone was dark and serious.

Louis Vuitton took visitors on a train ride in the 1940’s with a serious yet classic tone. The music was deliberate and the silhouettes were ladylike and tailored. Chanel sent their collection down a runway that seemed as if it had been bombed out and dressed models as if they were walking on the city streets; not showing Chanel’s collection to buyers, editors and clients.

The overall vibe of Paris Fashion Week was tailored; long hemlines, dark colors, luxurious fabrics and a return to ladylike dressing. Black was a dominant color with spots of red, burgundy, mustard, forest green and shades of grey. Winter white also made an appearance on the runway either alone or paired with black.

The shoes shown on the runway varied between high heel booties, lace ups and menswear inspired tie shoes. Paris showed a handbag collection that mirrored what was seen in Milan with a large amount of top handle satchels, shoulder bags and daytime clutches.

It should be interesting to see which styles hit city streets and which trends remain on the runway and in the archives. Will we be seeing a large amount of red? Will everyone dress in black and grey? Will worn jeans make a comeback paired with luxury aka Chanel? Will Art Deco and the Depression push the 1970’s out of 2012? It should be interesting to which trends store buyers gravitate towards, and which ones are left without any orders for fall.

To view a video of the Louis Vuitton show, please click here.

To see fifty photos from Chanel, please click here. 

Jewelry trends: Layered Necklaces

The spring 2011 runway collections showed bold sized jewelry that looks amazing on stage, but when the bold pieces arrived on store shelves, they had a hard time making onto city streets. The idea of Chanel’s shoulder dusting earrings from the runway seemed fabulous at the time they were first spotted, but very few people actually buy and wear earrings that are the same size as the ones seen on the runway. Many jewelry trends start on the streets, because jewelry needs to be functional and fashionable at the same time.

Fashion-savvy jewelry lovers look at what was shown on the runways and then they look insides their jewelry boxes to see what looks similar, or can be mixed together, to create the same vibe as the one from the runways. When a trend or look is not already in one’s jewelry box, then a Fashionista will run to the stores and find something that is similar and fits into the runway trends without being too over-the-top. There is nothing more annoying than wearing jewelry that gets in the way.

The necklaces that were shown on the New York, Paris and Milan spring 2011 runways were bold and large. On most people, these types of necklaces appear overbearing, not to mention overdone. In order to create the same, neck-filled look as seen on the runway, Fashionistas everywhere are layering necklaces.  

Here are three trends which have been spotted on the street as well as on Paparazzi shots of celebrities out and about:

1)      Mix three or four dainty necklaces together. This fills up the neck and collar bone area while remaining understated.

2)      Wear a pendant necklace under a rough or artistic gemstone necklace. This creates texture and can be customized to fill space left open from any neckline.

3)      Bold on Bold. Mix a chunky chain with a chunky pendant. This creates the look of the large bold necklaces from the runway without being huge and clunky. You can mix any amount of necklaces you want; two, four six or even eight! Fabulous!

Necklaces can easily be layered using fine jewelry, silver jewelry or costume jewelry. Jewelry can easily be layered with or without gemstones. There are so many possibilities when you layer necklaces.

The layered necklace trend is the perfect opportunity for shopping your jewelry box and re-inventing necklaces you have not worn in a few years. An out of date piece can instantly be updated when layered with other necklaces.

You may find you have a necklace in your jewelry box that is begging to be layered yet you do not have the proper necklace for layering. Never fear! Fabulous shops are near  Great online shops, which stock necklaces that are perfect for layering include; Twisted Silver at twisted-silver.com (use code INSIDERS for a 15% discount) and Fablogue.com.  Happy shopping and stay fabulous 

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Twisted Silver necklaces: Contessa Necklace with specia, one-of-a-kind Twisted Silver necklace. Photo: Jefra Starr Linn for Twisted Silver