Pendant jewelry in fashion again

Look for decorative pieces to make a comeback

Remember Bakelite baubles from the '30s? Peace symbols from the '60s? Tricolor cutouts of Africa from the '90s?

Pendant jewelry -- decorative pieces suspended from a necklace, chain or cord -- seems to have been around forever. And pieces that make a strong statement are making a comeback this season.

"Pendants now have become really popular on leather or silk cords, or gold or silver link chains," says Julie Routenberg, owner of Potpourri. "But always, the interest is on the pendant."

The costume jewelry staple underwent style shifts in practically every decade of the 20th century, says Julia C. Carroll, author of "Collecting Costume Jewelry 101: The Basics of Starting, Building and Upgrading" (Collector Books, $24.95).

French jeweler Lalique popularized the use of horn and imitation glass in artistic pendants that dangled from delicate fancy link chains in the early 20th century, Carroll said. This art nouveau movement also included images of females with flowing hair rendered in gold-plated silver with semiprecious stones. Plant life, particularly scenes with dragonflies and bees, was popular during that period as well.

In the '20s, pendants remained a prominent part of women's wardrobes. Jewelers frequently set clear stones in filigreed metal. They also created plenty of Y-shaped necklaces and long tassel-style pendants.

Over the next two decades, Bakelite and other plastics became a popular alternative to hard metals, which were scarce during World War II. Zodiac signs and pendants -- made of earthy materials such as wood, feathers and shells -- were popular in the '60s, while the '70s ushered in sculptured designs and asymmetrical looks. Then the decadent '80s took us back to rhinestones as vintage and estate jewelry became the rage. Yves Saint Laurent pendants from the '80s have become some of the most highly collectible pendants, Carroll says.

Newer pieces often reflect classic styles from past decades. So look for pendants to be strong this fall, since much of the fall clothing shows vintage overtones, says Routenberg.

After show party

After show party

Elegant white jewelry

Elegant white jewelry

Cigarette ads in fashion magazines rile anti-smoking groups

Not long ago, fax machines and e-mail inboxes at Vogue, the world's premier fashion magazine, were briefly assaulted with thousands of angry letters. Not about the latest gorgeously photographed fashion trends or beauty products in its influential pages, but about a single, colorful ad: for Camel No. 9 cigarettes.

"If you draw income from the advertisement of tobacco," Heidi Thompson of Freeport, Ill., wrote in one letter, "you are as guilty as big tobacco companies in selling the health and future of so many of our youth in order to pad your bank accounts."

The letters were part of a grass-roots campaign by an anti-smoking group to get Vogue to drop ads for the new, prettily packaged Camels, which they and others feel are targeted to younger women and teenagers.

But it isn't just Vogue. Pick up nearly any fashion magazine this month — Glamour, Harper's Bazaar, Lucky — and you'll see a colorful cigarette ad mixed in with articles on beauty, fitness, nutrition and glowing skin.

You won't find them in a number of other countries. A European Union law, for example, bans tobacco print ads on grounds they glamorize smoking and promote it among young people.

But in the United States, where TV and radio ads were banned long ago and billboards more recently, print ads are the final frontier in tobacco advertising, aside from store displays and the like. And to anti-smoking groups, their presence, though waning, is especially tasteless in fashion magazines and others aimed at young women — at a time when lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women.

By JOCELYN NOVECK - AP

Riyo Mori, Miss Universe 2007

Riyo Mori: Miss Universe 2007

Beauty Paula Abdul

Beauty Paula Abdul

Cut the trendiness, fashion adviser tells women over 40

A department store holds so much promise when you're shopping with Brenda Kinsel.

Contrary to popular belief, 54-year-old Kinsel doesn't agree that retailers sell nothing aimed at women over 40. And she proves it every day as a nationally recognized wardrobe consultant and author of four useful books on shopping and style, including "40 Over 40: 40 Things Every Woman Over 40 Needs to Know About Getting Dressed."

"I have complete and total compassion for women who say, ‘I can't find anything,' " Kinsel says. "The brightest, wildest, wackiest things are the ones your eye goes to first. Many women walk into a store and walk back out."

But the building blocks are there, she insists, and walked me through Macy's in Minneapolis to prove it.

Kinsel has been a wardrobe consultant for more than 20 years. She lives and shops in northern California but maintains the Midwestern sensibility that comes from growing up in North Dakota.

She was in the Twin Cities last weekend to speak at the Association of Image Consultants International annual conference. Imagine the once-overs you'd get walking into that event.

"Actually, I got together last week with two of my colleagues to work on our outfits," Kinsel says. "Even image consultants need image consultants."

We met in the shoe department at Macy's, which, oddly enough, is where Kinsel often starts shopping with clients. "People have a lot of practice buying clothes but not a lot of practice finishing an outfit -- shoes, jewelry, handbag. Often, the accessories make the outfit."

Shoes in particular, she says, say a lot about a person. Take Kinsel's Aquatalia black platform wedge sandals. "They say that I'm trendy, edgy, a little more forward."

Kinsel paired her sandals with a slimming, all-black ensemble: a long microfiber skirt and bolero-style top accessorized with a skinny belt. "There's got to be a hard edge. We're getting softer, so you need to create structure."

One of the biggest fashion faux pas, Kinsel says, is wearing dependably forgiving apparel from Chico's or Eileen Fisher head to toe.

"That equals maternity. Take a flowy piece with a more tailored piece. Soft with hard."

For a cocktail event at the conference, Kinsel planned to wear that same long black skirt and swap the understated black top for a lacy Nanette Lepore jacket with puffy sleeves.

"Most (image consultants) showed up with a ton of luggage," she says. "I like to use a few pieces in multiple ways. That's the challenge of creating travel outfits."

An even bigger challenge for women over 40 is embracing a trend without going overboard. "If you're over 40, cut the trend by 50 percent," she says.

She mentions a mother and daughter team she recently saw dressed like twins in platform heels, cuffed pants and baby-doll tops. "When a woman does that, you don't get to see her relevance, her maturity," Kinsel says.

Which is not to say that a mom can't wear a baby-doll top. But she should uncuff the pants or, better yet, wear the top with crisp trousers -- something to show that she's not trying to look like one of her daughter's girlfriends.

Kinsel paused for an Eileen Fisher linen jacket. It was soft, as is the designer's signature, but had some defining lines and a slightly more fitted look. A mannequin in the Ralph Lauren department also caught her eye. Kinsel gave thumbs-up to the gauzy white blouse with ruffles down the center, cinched with a brown belt.

In the contemporary department, where louder music tells more mature shoppers they're not welcome, Kinsel pointed to a flowing gray Kenzie top as something a woman her age could pull off. It had the current loose look without being "so baby doll." "And I'd put a T-shirt under it," she said.

Kinsel also gave permission for women over 40 to try a brown Theory shirtdress on display. Rather than the matching belt that comes with the dress, Kinsel said she'd pair it with something more distinct, carry a great bag and wear dressy flip-flops.

Yes, women over 40 can pull off flip-flops, Kinsel says, as long as they are dressy. But dressy doesn't mean overly glitzy -- that would be in direct conflict with her cutting-the-trend-in-half rule.

It's complicated. That's why women pay her $250 an hour.

by St. Paul Pioneer Press - http://www.dailymail.com