The Best Costume Jewelry

Tom Binns is a jewelry designer from Ireland that has enjoyed a peak of popularity lately. He's been in the business for 25 years, since he received his degree in jewelry design from Middlesex Polytechnic in 1981. He started his own label in 2004 and immediately began attracting the attention of Hollywood celebrities like Drew Barrymore, Heide Klum, and Cate Blanchett. And now that he's a favorite of Michelle Obama, you can expect to see his jewelry everywhere.

Tom Binns Jewelry is cutting edge contemporary. Made with colorful enamels, Swarovski crystals, punkish style patterns, and asymmetrical shapes, his pieces are described a trash to treasure genre. They are definitely memorable with their layers and sparkle they add a show stopping quality to any fashion.

Betsey Johnson has been designing clothes and jewelry that are part of the International fashion scene since the 1960s. Her signature line of fashion was launched in 2003 and took off like a rocket. Her jewelry is full of embellishments and excitement, responding to the demand for youthful, over the top original designs.

One of her quotes is "Making clothes involves what I like. Color, pattern, shape and movement, I like the everyday process, the people, the pressure, the surprise of seeing the work come alive walking and dancing around on strangers. Like red lipstick on the mouth, my products wake up and brighten and bring the wearer to life, drawing attention to her beauty and specialness, her moods and movements, her dreams and fantasies." - Betsey Johnson

That philosophy carries over to her jewelry lines. Betsey Johnson jewelry pieces are whimsical, colorful, exuberant, and full of details. Many of her designs are built around a theme and include mix and match sets of necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and rings. Her jewelry can be coordinated to liven up any outfit, including her own fashions.

Juicy Couture offers a trendy contemporary line of jewelry. This company is relatively new to the jewelry scene but is already at the top of the wish list for young urban women. Juicy Couture was founded in 1994 by two friends in California who wanted casual yet stylish maternity clothes. They originally focused on clothing fashions which were an instant success. In 2003 the company was purchased by the Liz Caliborne company and the rest is history.

Juicy Couture jewelry is sparkly, bright, and all about the bling. It conveys a sense of fun and playfulness about the wearer. The brilliant glass stones, pave crusted surfaces, colorful enamel, and quality plated metal complement each other to make their jewelry creations spectacular.

A quote from their website "Juicy is all about feeling happy and comfy and gorgeous. Be happy wear Juicy is the Juicy philosophy."

SWAROVSKI CRYSTALLIZED jewelry

The name Swarovski means fine lead crystal. The Austrian company has been making quality glass crystal since 1895 when the Swarovski family invented their crystal cutting machine. The crystal gained popularity in the 1920s when they created a ribbon of fabric studded with crystal beads that could be sewn into clothing. During the 1940s one of the Swarovski family members worked with Christian Dior to design the exciting Aurora Borealis sparkling stones that were used in the jewelry of fashionable women of the era.

For over 100 years the Swarovski business has been a leader of innovation in the jewelry industry. From Cubic Zirconias, to Moodstones, to crystal tattoos that can be applied directly to the skin, Swarovski is on the "cutting edge" of new technologies and first to introduce new creations into the jewelry fashion world.

The company also has other crystal lines including animal figurines, Disney characters, gift items such as pen sets and picture frames, and traditional crystal candlesticks, goblets, and bowls. Trust Swarovski to create sparkling crystals that you will love for years to come.

Buy Swarovski Austrian Crystal Jewelry Directly From The Source Here

The Kenneth J Lane story as Wikipedia tells it -

"He was first a shoe designer for Delman and Christian Dior and he used his free time to create fun and flashy baubles. They were such an instant success that Saks Fifth Avenue sold its entire initial inventory in one day. He was one of the persons included for "high fashion" in the Andy Warhol Screen Tests and a guest at Truman Capote's Black And White Ball.

He has created unique designs for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Vreeland, and Audrey Hepburn. He is probably most well known for his three-strand faux pearl necklace worn by Barbara Bush to her husband's inaugural ball. Some say that Duchess of Windsor is buried in the jewelled belt he created for her.

His continued philosophy is that 'elegance, good taste and luxury never go out of style. Current stars wearing his jewelry include the Olsen twins, Sarah Jessica Parker, Mischa Barton, Jessica Simpson, Paris Hilton, and Britney Spears.

Many of the museum stores, including the Dallas Museum of Art, The Smithsonian, The Museum of Natural History, and the Bush Presidential Library carry his line of jewelry but his pieces can also be found on QVC. Other luxury stores carrying his baubles include Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales, Intermix, Beads by Mail, Net-a-Poter, Shopbop and PRET-A-BEAUTE.COM ."

The Brighton Company was formed in 1991 and began their signature line of fashions by creating high quality leather belts. As they expanded new items such as wallets and handbags, luggage, and other leather goods were added and quickly became popular accessories. Recent Brighton additions include sunglasses, shoes, and home accessories.

Brighton jewelry was a natural extension of the brand and the silver pendants, bracelets, and rings are some of the most popular items sold in the hundreds of Brighton stores today. Most of the jewelry is crafted of solid brass and then silver plated, and coated with a finishing lacquer. This helps reduce scratching and tarnishing.

One of the most popular lines are the Brighton Charms And Charm Beads. These can be mixed and match to create personalized bracelets that have special meaning to the wearer. The charm are organized into beads and spacers, clasps, and droplets. The beads and spacers are crusted with swarovski crystals or decorated with Brighton signature filigree designs. The clasps are dual lobster style which are clamped to the chains, and the droplets hang from a bead that clasps onto the chain. View the Brighton charm collection and learn how to build your own personalized charm bracelet. Then for discounted charms look on ecommerce websites for your choices in charms. Brighton charms are fun to collect and fun to wear.

You can find great vintage costume and fashion jewelry for sale on many internet sites and in antique shops. It's fun to purchase, whether you're planning to accessorize your wardrobe or buy as collectibles. There are some brands and designer styles that command a higher price and it's a good idea to do a little research before shelling out a large sum of money for pieces that aren't considered fine jewelry. Besides the brand name, other things to look for are condition, size, types of stones and settings, plating condition, and a whole host of other criteria. There are so many good books on collectible vintage jewelry and once you start looking at the beautiful photos it's hard not to succumb to the vintage jewelry addiction.