Holiday Gift Guide 2009: Accessories and Bling

Jeanne:

Looking for some pretty shiny things to tuck into a little bag for your friends (or for yourself)? I know I have some jewelry coming my way, in that I picked out a piece or two I liked and that it will eventually find its way to me as a present. (That's how I got my full-sized L'Artisan perfume last year, too.) Still, can't say I don't love surprises!

- Ever have one of those days where you just want to say F@#! ? Wendy B. hears you with her legendary Wendy Brandes for Francis swear rings. (She also makes the convincing argument on her own blog, of course.) Or if you're a little bit more demure in your demeanor, there's the genteel but still sassy bowtie ring, also a Wendy Brandes for Francis piece. Still, you could buy your sailor-mouthed friend (you know you have one, and it is probably me) the cussin' rings. Just saying.

- Lately I've been going crazy for very small stud earrings; I have this paranoid fear of ripping my earlobes out by wearing heavy earrings. (I know, crazy, right? BUT IT HAPPENS.) Anyway, I've been wearing my pair of Dogeared Jewelry teeny tinies for... I want to say a few weeks now. I have the little Fearless skulls, to inspire myself to be, well, fearless. Roar. I also love the tiny anchors for Strength, too (plus they are tiny anchors, which is adorable and naughty-nautical).

- I also love the tiny alpha studs from Catbird NYC to itty bitty font-nerdy pieces. I want them so badly, I can't even tell you. They're just too rad. I don't even know what letters I want, I just know that I want them. (Updated with the correct link!)

- These lobelia bud earrings from Anthropologie remind me of the big rhinestone clip-on earrings I used to have in my dress-up jewelry box -- the screw-on kind. Ouch! But still, I love that aesthetic.

- I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that yellowgoat.etsy.com has gorgeous jewelry pieces, including a dapper gentleman shirt bangle (hey, wear it with the bow tie ring!) and the amazing taking off earrings. The bad news is that, as she's based in Hong Kong, she can no longer guarantee that items ordered to ship to the US can make it to you by Christmas. But that's okay -- presents are awesome at any time, right?

Karen:

A few years ago, I was in Japan with my grandmother and her youngest sister, my great-aunt Akemi. We were on an otherwise lame and embarrassing bus tour (embarrassing in that I was the youngest and only non-Japanese person on the bus), when we stopped for an afternoon at a local mountain plum festival. The path wound up the mountain, with stands manned by the community selling locally grown tea, snacks, and crafts. Besides the vats of umeboshi and dried salted plums, a stand with hand-dyed silk and felted wool scarves caught my eye. I bought one of those shorter pull-through scarves with the hole in it and I still wear it today, I still love it and get compliments on it. Since then, I always get and give scarves as gifts, handmade or otherwise! You know you know someone who either needs to wear more scarves in the winter (men!) or always knows how to accessorize beautifully with one (you and your lady-friends!). Like these:

-The value-added Nuno felted scarf from Moscow-based Etsy seller JaneBoFelt comes with rose brooch in grey. I love how you can wear these shorter scarves in various ways and mix up your winter jackets or coats with a faux-collar effect.

-According to my preliminary research on Etsy, these short felted/brooched scarves are popular overseas right now. I love how handcrafted and super high-fashion the Morning Clouds scarf is! So elegant!

-For a smaller gift for the fashion-forward person in your life, Pixie Market has this fabulously pricy oversized leather prize-winner ribbon brooch. I love the racks of "I'M A WINNER" shiny ribbons at the party store, plus they are hilarious/great on blazers in lieu of your regular brooch. Your favorite mustache aficionado might like this mustache prize ribbon, which is flipping awesome. Personalized prize ribbons are fairly easy to make--I made some last year for my mother, she loved it--with some ribbon, buttons, and fabric scraps!

-I recently treated myself to a new work tote/laptop satchel to save myself from having to carry my work laptop bag plus my purse. Now, I have only one bag to lug back and forth to the office every day. Everyone can use a great leather bag, because everyone always has to carry around just too much crap every day. We have a secret love for the professorial/schoolgirl aesthetic, so this black peccary grain leather messenger is appealing right now.

images from wendybrandes.com and yellowgoat.etsy.com