The Magic of Accessories

May I say that accessories are the easiest and possibly most economical way to update your look.  They will go that extra mile for you, travel lightly, and have magical transformative powers.  A pair of earrings is nearly weightless and takes up no space in your handbag, so going from day to night is a cinch.

For those who are on a budget, or with little closet space, a well thought out collection of jewelry, scarves, and belts, is the way to go.  For me coats also count as accessories, although they take up more space than my scarves....  But in our climate, you wear coats practically year round, so wearing the same cover-up day in day out could get boring.

Certain jewelry styles will work extra hard for you.  In every collection I make sure I offer a few styles of long necklaces.  So versatile!  In fact, at every trunk show I get asked if I have some with me.  And I do!  I wear them looped around twice, three times, long, knotted, as a bracelet, or even a belt!

Whatever you do, fashion is a means of self expression so have fun with it!

"La Plage" long necklace worn looped twice

"High N'Low" long necklace in blue worn long and knotted

"High N'Low" in blue and "Zaza" in green and gold long necklaces worn as bracelets

"Zaza" long necklace in green and gold worn as a triple strand

A Fashion Dilemma and a Very Eco-Chic Solution

I was faced with an interesting fashion dilemma recently - we were invited to a festive, black tie-ish affair, and digging through my evening wear I realized that my wardrobe lacks a rather important piece, an accessory if you will. Every woman, I think, experienced something similar when going out - bare shoulders, and often back as well, are exposed to warm, hot, drafty, freezing, and hot again air at parties. Wearing a sweater is not an option, it doesn't really go. Pashminas are great, but it's a kinda been there done that idea. I concluded that our grandmothers had it all figured out already. A fur stole or a shrug solved a myriad of temperature problems, and added that certain seductive glamour. Unfortunately fur has become so expensive and politically incorrect, so I thought I had to cross it off my wish list straight away. What to do, what to do? As they say, necessity is a mother of invention. Thanks to my stylish grandmother I have inherited some very old, and very vintage items (one can only wonder how they made it through numerous wars and occupations). I suddenly recalled a couple of fur collars that were stored in the farthest corner of my closet. A trip to a fabric store for some silk ribbon and fabric, a couple of hours of sewing, and I became a proud owner of a very chic, one of a kind, socially conscious fur shrug/stole/wrap - a true feel-good moment. Here it is!

Trash to Treasure - Modern Heirlooms

A jumble of strings, beads, rhinestones, bunches of necklaces no longer worn, forgotten somewhere at the back of your closet... Some of it is sentimental, hard to throw out, with memories attached. Some of it looks like junk, broken pieces of something once fabulous now sitting in a sad little heap. But wait, don't throw it all out - not yet. What if it could be reworked and revived? In the spirit of saving our planet, and saving our individual style in the deluge of cookie cutter accessories, what if we could modernize, re-glamorize these old trinkets? This is what happened with my grandma's brooch - a very sparkly rhinestone affair, it was living in a forgotten box, never seeing the light of day (or night for that matter), and various attempts to work it into an outfit failed. And then there was a broken string of a big costume piece, a necklace, and a rhinestone clasp that came from something else altogether. One creative afternoon later, we gained a fab new choker style necklace which is gathering plantiful compliments. It not only looks good, but feels good as well - we did something great for ourselves, and for our planet.

If you'd like to redesign your old trinkets into new treasures contact me at Joanna@JoannaMorganDesigns.com!

Eco Chic - It is Easy Being Green If You Try

If I were asked to be on TV - LIVE TV - I would have to take a tranquilizer (ha, ha!).  Sara of SPUN just glided graciously through the entire Q13 morning program with Kaci Aitchinson, which aired on Monday, June 27th. 
SPUN is one of the first boutiques that has changed the notion that eco chic is an oxymoron.  Frequented by women who love fashion and are excited to discover new designers, the Capitol Hill store offers an edited modern collection of locally designed and made fashions: clothes, accessories, jewelry.  I was so happy my bracelet (on Sara's arm) and necklace (on the model next to Cameron) made it into the clip - thank you, Sara, for mentioning Joanna Morgan Designs!
Here is a short video from the show: