Jewelry: Gemma Redux

When it comes to jewelry, I like things that are really elemental and almost primal-looking -- things decorated with the likes of chains, metals, thorns, whips and severed heads. (Okay, joking on the last two there.) I'm not sure where my penchant for chunky and heavy comes from; most "style" books say that I'm better-suited to small, delicate things, being a small-statured person. But you know what? Those style books can bite me! Because why would I pass up the designs of Gemma Redux, full of chains galore and lots of tough, sexy detail rendered in elegant, graceful proportions? Gemma Redux is designed by Rachel Dooley, who started making jewelry primarily as a way to blow off steam while studying for the New York bar exam. (How productive! Most people I know who did that just got really, really drunk periodically.) What I love about Gemma Redux's spring collection is that it successfully melds a penchant for cheerfully bright stones with plenty of chains, creating pieces that are artful, fun and a little tough -- kind of like a Palm Beach debutante gone CBGBs. It's guaranteed to draw attention and turn heads -- and help you defy the world, or at least defy the conventional nonsense of fashion orthodoxy.

Jewelry: Paul & Joe Lover Necklace

Talk about cute overload: your blood sugar levels will go all wack and you'll go into some sort of adorability coma if you wear this Paul & Joe necklace because it is that cute. And we mean cute in a good way, because it's nice and delicate and subtle and won't scream "I am an eccentric kindergartner!" when you walk down the street. (Although that's totally cool if that's your thing.) $449 is a little much for a dose of the crazy-adorable (even if it is 18k gold), but we're hoping some version of this shows up at cute emporium Forever 21.

Love: Virgins Saints & Angels Antiqua earrings

My favorite thing about making my first communion was getting my rosary beads, which I promptly slipped around my neck so I could look like Madonna on the cover of Rolling Stone when Desperately Seeking Susan first came out. My mom didn't think it was so cute, though, and I had to go back to wearing my pink plastic necklace decorated with charms won from the grocery store candy machine. (I did, however, keep up the Madonna imitation by wrapping my grandfather's neckties around my head in some hopeful reference to that big weird bow she wore in the "Lucky Star" video. Oh, and lots and lots of black jelly bracelets, also scored from the candy machines. And sometimes even a little fake mole, courtesy of my mom's mascara.)

The seven-year-old Catholic girl still living in my heart very much covets Virgins Saints & Angels' wildly ornate rosaries (such as the Paloma necklace available at Sidestreet Boutique), but my sort-of-grown-up self is more taken with designer Cheryl Finnegan's handcrafted Archangel Cuff (also fancied by Kat) and the fantastic new pieces from her Antiqua collection. Teardrop-shaped and heart-adorned, the earrings reveal Finnegan's trademark Frida Kahlo influence, no doubt one of the reasons why Madonna herself is so smitten with Virgins Saints & Angels. My two favorite pairs:

And just for kicks, 'cause it's been a while, here's the "Lucky Star" video:

Jewelry: Arms and Armory

I may be outing myself as a huge geek here, but any designer who cites science fiction author H.P. Lovecraft as an influence is completely awesome in my book. Arms and Armory is all about the dark: along with the aforementioned Lovecraft, designer Christina Rodriguez also mentions Edward Gorey as an artistic inspiration for her jewelry line, which blends the gothic with a wry pop-culture element. She often uses usually fussy motifs such as cameo lockets and fleur-de-lys in her necklaces and brooches -- but renders them in utilitarian materials and blows them out of proportion so that they go beyond old-lady into something almost bling-y. The result is something distinctive and flamboyant, and very, very fun. Arms and Armory is sold at places like Seven New York and DV, but you can buy some of it online at one of our favorite stores, Austin's own Factory People.

Jewelry + Music = fettY + Semi Precious Weapons

Everyone's a creative polymath these days, but no one does it with quite the flair as Justin Tranter does. Not only does he front Semi Precious Weapons, a garage-glam band with a debut record being produced by Toni Visconti (who has also produced Bowie and Morrissey, hello), but he makes jewelry under the name fettY. It's classic, tough rock 'n roll motifs, done up in materials ranging from brass and nickel to diamonds and 14K gold, and given awesome names like "Love Bites" and "Shot Through the Heart." It's both gritty and luxurious, and sold at places like Barneys and Urban Outfitters. Check out the entire line at thefetty.com, listen to the band at their Myspace or watch the podcast/documentary series on them at magneticbaby.com or iTunes, which was executive-produced by the great Barbara Kopple. You can pretend you're living inside Velvet Goldmine, especially when Justin gets fitted with this fabulous jacket that would have made an old-school David Bowie completely explode with excitement.

Octopus vs. Wolf: Kimberly Baker's gold rings

We hear octopi are the new owls. And if we're going to let those eight arms seduce us, we want it to happen with Kimberly Baker's Octopi Gold Ring. It's green-garnet-adorned gold vermeil over sterling silver, chunky yet delicate and probably a perfect example of the "hardcore glamour" aesthetic Kimberly claims to go for.

But even though we love us some scary sea creatures, we're more taken with Kimberly's Wolfette Gold ring. Wolves are just more our thing in general - Iggy Pop is sort of a wolf, and we can't think of any beloved rock-and-rollers who strike us as octopus-like. Plus, those engraved flowers are charming as hell.

Oh, and we also adore that Kimberly's Seattle shop (which we learned of at nwsource) has a taxidermy pheasant in the window and displays some of the designer's work under bell jars. There's nothing more hardcore/glamorous than that.

What Cher Can Teach Us

For reasons I'm not going to get into, I somehow ended up watching the video for Cher's 1973 hit "Half Breed" about half a dozen times yesterday. So much makes me uncomfortable: the questionable use of cultural imagery, the fact that she's straddling a horse while wearing a Bob Mackie-designed, spangled, severely slit skirt (or maybe this is actually really awesome - jury's still out).

But I can't help but be charmed by all those feathers. And now I want to wear feathers too, especially the feathers in Krystal Sullivan's handmade Roxy and Kenya earrings. They've been selling like hotcakes over at CUT + PASTE, so grab a pair fast, and then go get yourself an original "Half Breed" Cher Barbie doll.

Here's the video, by the way. That horse is a terrible actor.

Love: Danielle Petrosa's Serge & Jane necklace

We hereby nominate Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin for Coolest Couple In The History Of The Universe, and not just because their union begat the wonderfully ubiquitous Charlotte Gainsbourg (although that helps a lot). The best way to reveal our reverence would probably be with the Serge & Jane necklace by Danielle Petrosa, whose entire collection of jewelry we're obsessing over right now. Danielle takes images of pop icons like Edie Sedgwick and Sharon Tate, transfers them onto clay and fires them, then hangs them from vintage and/or new chains and adds adornments like stones and beads and butterflies. (The wing-shaped Gena Rowlands piece is particularly stunning.) You can get her stuff at Show Pony in L.A., Bona Drag in Encinitas (CA), Mahan Gallery in Columbus (Ohio), or by emailing Danielle herself.

We are also very fond of Danielle's Marianne Faithfull necklace (right) and are now trying to decide whether Marianne + Mick Jagger deserve the Second Coolest Couple title. Yeah, right?

P.S. We just had a really stupid moment in which we forgot that "Bonnie & Clyde" is a duet with Brigitte Bardot and not Jane Birkin. But, happily, that stupidity led us to the "Bonnie & Clyde" video, which is maybe the most fun you'll have this hour:

Love In Our Hearts & Doves In Our Hair

We can hardly wait to see beautiful Becky Stark (below right) dancing around in pink tights + pink dress + rollerskates in the video for "Open Your Heart," the first single off Lavender Diamond's upcoming debut album Imagine Our Love (due out next week). To tide us over: Becky's playing Echoplex in L.A. tonight with her side project, The Living Sisters (also featuring Inara George and Eleni Mandell, whom we're forever sweet on). Heidi's Night of Beauty (a "multi-media alternative to the fear-mongering & harsh judgments of conventional beauty zeitgeist," FYI) will be giving makeovers at the show, and a portion of ticket proceeds go to the Downtown Women's Center.

We very much covet the Sisters' dove headbands...

...and just discovered that one pretty way to get doves in our own hair is with Free People's Turtle Dove Feather Headbands (featured a little while back on NOTCOT). But for some more overtly lovey-dovey imagery, we like One Good Bumblebee's Bird Charm bracelet and Vintage Musings' Wings Of The Golden Dove necklace.

Tickets for tonight's show (with opening acts The Watson Twins and The Chapin Sisters) cost $10. Doors open at 8. And you should really download an mp3 of "Open Your Heart" at I'm Just Sayin' Is All... right now.

Cooler than Karen O: Leviticus Jewelry

When the first Yeah Yeah Yeahs EP came out, I experienced a brief obsession with cheap, metallic necklaces whose faux-silver letters spelled out stupid stuff like "STAR" or "LOVE" or, in direct tribute to Karen O, "MASTER":

But then time passed and my feelings about Karen O started to get a bit mixed, and I ended up losing those necklaces in between couch cushions or giving them away to boys I figured I probably wouldn't see again.

Now that it's 2006 and I'm basically completely over Karen O, I'm sort of falling for a much classier, more special, all-around-foxier version of those $3 chains from years back. Tara Levitin from Leviticus Jewelry designs bracelets and earrings and necklaces adorned with pretty little trinkets like vintage chandelier crystals, jade beads, red glass hearts, and - yay - antique brass letter charms, such as in this superhot piece:

Leviticus also does personalized necklaces, which aren't featured on the site (so you'll have to email Tara if you want one custom-made for yourself or someone you love very much). It might look something like this, and then we'll be very envious of you, but in a loving way: