HAVE FUN WITH FASHION

I was stopped dead in my tracks, so to speak, when I came across the article and pictures on the front page of the Times’ Sunday Style section. My roving eye for color and for jewelry fixed on the images of women wearing huge pieces of jewelry. I wished the article contained more information and so was surprised and delighted when I went online and found a narrated video version of it by Bill Cunningham, the Times’ On the Street Photographer, entitled “Fashion Fireworks”
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/07/02/fashion/20090705-street-feature/index.html?ref=fashion# .

The narrative was delightful and there were more pictures in the video then in the newspaper. Cunningham tells about the gigantic fake stone necklaces made of light weight plastic that he found perfect for this holiday, hence “Fashion Fireworks.” The flash of the jewelry complemented the fireworks in the sky and I couldn’t agree more.

Cunningham points out that in the current economic climate women are not buying clothes as they used to but are adding sparkle to what they have with this big jewelry. He further urges women to put on all their jewelry at once, as shown in a few of his photos. His message is that, despite the poor economy, women should nevertheless have fun with dressing, not be inhibited about it and not think such pieces are too much. YES!!

While the pieces I make cannot be completed with old spare jewelry parts while sitting on a beach as Cunningham suggests, I definitely “do” gigantic and sparkle. I’m currently working on a new line of pieces featuring rough stone medallions and more rough cut beads, pearls and colored stones. I’m very excited about them and can’t wait to complete them, have them photographed and put up for sale on www.msturman.com.

So I definitely agree with Cunningham that women should update their wardrobe with jewelry, new or repurposed. How do you have fun with fashion these days?

Why Color?

I’m a visual person, my husband is an audio person. Like Jack and Jill, together we make a great team: when we went to a Broadway production of La Boheme a few years ago, he raved about the music of this classic opera. I responded “what music?” because the production was staged by Baz Luhrmann and was so resplendent in colorful imagery that I was completely, visually, enchanted. He hadn't noticed!

Likewise, the striking opening images of the film “Frida”, the purple/pink hues of the mesas in the morning in Tucson, the shades and shapes of Dale Chihuly‘s glass installation at the Phoenix Botanic Gardens – all of these get me to raving about the overwhelming magnificence of color.

I could never understand women in my early beadwork classes wanting someone else to pick the colors of beads for their projects for them – they felt incapable. We were clearly in different places! Maybe this is because early on, in one of my early careers learning flower design and arrangement, I was required to take a class in color theory. I was so turned on by this class - when we had to make our own color wheel for credit, I nailed it! Likewise, when I tried my hand at oil painting, I had the best time mixing the tints and hues of the paints to achieve the exact shades of the still life set up by the teacher.

A friend of mine has always said that any color of flowers look good together, no matter their color. While that may be true, why not play with the colors for sensational effects? The colors available in nature are always spectacular and all wonderful. Natural, untreated colored stones and iridescent natural pearls offer amazing potential for combination and the flash in Swarovski crystals offers innumerable possibilities for stunning colorways. How can one go wrong? – the possibilities are infinite and deliciously challenging.

I have my favorite colors and color combinations: sometimes I love neutral palettes or sometimes I’ll pick up a hint of blue in a rough stone; I love pairing oranges and purples, browns and blues; I always love greens, but I’ve never appreciated yellows.

What colors do you love?