FASHION AS ART

The Spring 2012 fashion shows that showed this past September offered a lot more to the industry than neon trends and color blocking. I know this since I have spent too many hours scouring Style.com and even more hours writing my art history papers, but I found a compromise! 
I pulled together my favorite runway looks and favorite paintings that I learned this past semester and developed a paper combining my two passions. These pairs that I have put together are a mix of whimsy and imagination, but other suggestions are welcome. Enjoy!


The first pair is inspired by my favorite designers', the Mulleavy sister of Rodarte and thier rendition of Van Gogh's The Starry Night, (which happens to be the cover of my 15 lb. textbook!)

 And another Rodarte dress inspired by Van Gogh's other masterpiece Sunflowers.

This magical photograph is from this month's Vogue, The Cult of Beauty, shot by Stephen Meisel. 

Below is the original painting of Ophelia, by John Everett Millais, a Pre- Raphaelite painter.

 This pair doesnt need any explanation! The Dolce & Gabbana collection was a mix of sexy,fun, and healthy, that  made me think of Gustave Caillebott's Fruit Displayed on a Stand. The entire D&G collection had prints including something from the stand, with additions of hot chile peppers, eggplants and cucumbers!
 

This dress designed by master Oscar de la Renta is breathtaking in cream tulle and a red silk ribbon, very reminiscent of Eugene Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People.

(Which also happens to be the album cover of Coldplay's Viva La VIda)

 

Here, Florence from Florence and the Machine sings at the Chanel SS 2012 show in a seashell, one that inspired my post, Under the Sea! At right is what I assume is the inspiration for her look, the spectacular painting by Sandro Bottecelli of Birth of Venus. Both the singer and the artist are my absolute favorites!

And now I MUST get back to studying for my Art History final! Wish me luck!!

UNDER THE SEA

The spring summer shows ended last week in Paris, concluding the bi-annual fashion month frenzy. As much as it is a drag to scroll through all the shows I possible can, I love it. I love seeing the clothes up close in details, I love the behind the scenes beauty shots and I love the trends that I can prepare my self for, for the coming Spring months. The absolutely BEST trend, is the Under the Sea spectacle, reminding me that The Little Mermaid was and still is my favorite Disney movie. 

I put together my favorite looks of the trend and pulled pieces from the Dweck archive. I will definitely be looking for inspiration for this spring, so charming! All fashion show looks from style.com

The Chanel spectacle, so lovely in white and pastels

A Chanel look with a very cool seashell purse

An iridescent, fish scale looking Chanel

A gorgeous metallic Giles piece

As usual, a gorgeous Mcqueen closing look

And Dweck pieces, some brand new and some from the 80's!

Varieties of shell earrings

Pearl and aquamarine chokers, the right my mother wore at her wedding!

Very literal under the sea pieces

A statement Mother of Pearl piece

NEW YORK, I LOVE YOU

Today is the 10th anniversary of September 11th, 2001, but instead of writing about the horror and grieve of the day, I would like to post something more uplifting. New York has always been a place of hope and dreams. Although some have been destroyed that fateful day, the city was never disheartened, and now 10 years later, we are stronger and safer.

On a lighter note, the city just celebrated the third annual Fashions Night Out, on Thursday night, September 8th. The initiative which began only in New York and after the recession, has grown and was celebrated by thousands all around the world. I spent the night with my father and brother Ralph, like I did in the past. We walked along 5th avenue, and went into many shops along the way. Some highlights include, meeting the creator of Hello Kitty in Sephora, trying on heels in Miu Miu, seeing the crowd surrounding Nicki Minaj outside YSL and sadly, missing Rachel Zoe by mere minutes inside Bloomingdales. Never the less, it was a fabulous night filled with high spirits about fashion, fun and most importantly New York.

The iconic BG

One of the things Bergdorf Goodman is known for, besides their amazing shoe salon on 2, is their iconic windows. Each season they put on dazzling spectacles inside their 5th ave windows. From memory, the windows have referenced everything from children stories (princess and the pea, red riding hood) to Marie Antoinette (filled with hundreds of French Patisserie) and everything beyond boundaries and imagination. Each year they continue to inspire me, its like a real-life 'I Spy'!


For Fashions Night Out, Bergdorf had real performers inside the windows. One window was a woman talking to taxidermy animals, another was men cutting down trees in a forest, and another was a 50's band performing from inside, but my favorite window was of two french maids decorating the window with hundreds of tiny doll clothes. So adorable!!

One of the several cheeky windows at BG.
These girls were inside the window for hours decorating and hanging up doll clothes!

THE shoes of the season. MUST HAVE ASAP

My father with Roopal Patel and Ken Downing of Neiman Marcus.
Standing in Bergdorfs by the SD counter

Standing in front of Theory on Madison with the FNO window. My outfit breakdown below

Skirt: Pleasure Doing Business. Sweater: Topshop. Jacket: Gap.
Flats: Rock and Republic. Tote bag. BookMarc (from MJ)

 And now the jewelry....

Stephen Dweck coral bead necklace, mix of SD rings,
 mix of SD bronze and turquoise bracelets, Casio watch

The best picture of the night...

Me and my brother Ralph tweeting/facebooking in style

Did you celebrated FNO in NYC or anywhere else around the world. I would LOVE to know, and until then I cant wait for next year!

QVC DWECK DIAMONDS TO END OFF SUMMER

I must apologize for being such a neglectful blogger this past summer. Although the summer was very pleasant with only one heat wave, I along with many others in New York have been busy with floods, an earthquake and a hurricane, all in one week!

With all the drama on the east coast aside, its time to shop again! To close off the summer, my father is introducing gorgeous new pieces on QVC. His line for the Q includes unique pieces that are covered in 14k gold, diamonds and other precious jewels. In other words, do not miss out!!

Both shows air tomorrow, August 30, with the first show airing from 2 -3 a.m EST and another show that night 9 -10 p.m EST. Also be sure to check out the QVC website for more news and a live broadcast.

Happy shopping and enjoy the rest of summer!!!

xoxo,

Caroline

REDBOOK, THEN AND NOW

One can only imagine how many Dweck Jewelry press articles there are from over the years. There are binders full of newspaper articles and photos of all the vintage Dweck jewels, leather painted belts and the Dweck collaborations, with Geoffrey Beene, Oscar de la Renta and others. 

I find the old magazines and advertisements from the 80's and 90's so amusing. How different the styling, fashions and even the font is!?

In the June 2011 issue of Redbook Magazine, Shania Twain wears Dweck Jewelry on the cover and throughout the story. I also recently came across two vintage Redbook covers both from 1983 (the first year Dweck jewelry was started), and 28 years later the jewelry graces the cover again!! 

June 1983, vintage Dweck earrings

July 1983, vintage Dweck earrings

 After seeing these covers I mentioned to my father how big earrings were, in size and popularity!!!

A Dweck Bronze engraved bangle on the June 2011 cover

Bronze and mother of pearl hoop earrings

A bronze and topaz ring

On a side note, today August 10th, is my fathers birthday!!! 

Happy Birthday and thank you for all the love, advice and jewelry you've given me!

xoxo,

Caroline

THE BLOCK MAGAZINE. SUMMER 2011

Upon seeing this story in the spring-summer issue of The Block Magazine, I immediately fell in love with the title. The spread features model Caroline Winberg (hence the story name Sweet Caroline!!) in neutral, minimalist clothing and bronze vintage jewelry. The simplicity of the clothing, hair and makeup is a brilliant backdrop for the bold Dweck pieces. LOVE!!!

One of the many amber rings shot throughout!

VIntage bronze charm earrings and a silver and topaz ring.

The same earrings as in the previous photo. Gorgeous shot.

Vintage bronze and buffalo horn earrings and a silver and jasper ring

Caroline Winberg shot for The Block Magazine story, “Sweet Caroline” for the Spring – Summer 2011 issue. Photographed by David Roemer, Makeup by Frankreps Makeup Artist Chiho Omae, styled by Yuki James 

-Caroline

VINTAGE POSTERS+FACES

The decor of my family home can be summed up into the statement "more is always more." Every single square inch of my house in Allenhurst, New Jersey is covered in upholstery, furniture, antiques, or all three. My parents treasures from early-morning flea markets have become their most prized and precious possessions. And to them, more is always more! 

When my parents first began decorating our home, they knew that no wall would be left bare. The pictures below is of one of the little corners in the kitchen is covered entirely in vintage posters and the facing wall, antique faces. Although never photographed in Elle Decor a few years back, this little corner is my favorite spot of the house. 

The entire wall covered in vintage posters.
Since its in the kitchen, all the posters are of food and kitchen products! 

Just a small peek at the wall filled with antiques and faces.
In total there are 22 faces, and counting!

This BEYOND amazing Dweck necklace, has every single color, stone and charm that mixes together perfectly! This necklace reminds me of the wall above because of the way the colors and textures blend into each other, resulting in a gorgeous necklace.

The ultimate collector's necklace. The best of everything Dweck!!

My matching pastels.
Shirt: J Crew. Shorts: American Apparel. Belt: Uniqlo. All Jewelry: Stephen Dweck

SD SUPPORTS THE JAPAN RELIEF FUND

Back in March, an enormous earthquake and tsunami hit Eastern Japan, leaving the island and it's surrounding areas in turmoil. The aftershocks continued for days and soon the entire world was praying for Japan. As soon as the news was known worldwide, the Japan Society established the Japan Relief Fund, which supports organizations providing aid and relief to victims. 


The world is still praying for Japan, which is why Stephen Dweck Japan, as well as thousands of others, donated to the fund. The team at Dweck wanted to create something useful and relevant as well as beautiful. They developed a whistle with the thoughts that if any case of emergency might happen, a whistle can be heard in a crowd. The whistles were donated to the fund to be sold, with 100% of the proceeds to go directly to helping the victims. 

The brass whistle with the trademark Dweck beetle

To date, Dweck Jewelry has helped raise over $12,500 USD for this cause.

We pray that the people of Japan are safe, healthy and together with their families. 


For more information about the whistles sold, visit the Stephen Dweck boutiques in Tokyo and Osaka. The complete addresses are below.

Stephen Dweck Boutique                                              
2F Exa Space,
5-18-10 Jingumae,
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001, Japan

Stephen Dweck Boutique
B2F HERBIS ENT
2-2-22 Umeda Kitaku Osaka
Osaka , Japan 530-0001    

VOGUE MEXICO

Vogue Mexico has been a fan of Dweck Jewelry for years. Each month's pages are filled with gorgeous, decadent jewels, most being vintage and one of a kind pieces. I am actually biased to all the international Vogues, for they are more daring with their spreads and produce a more avant- garde magazine.

Although my paternal grandmother is from Cuba and speaks fluent Spanish with my father, Im ashamed to admit that my Spanish is very inadequate and quite lousy. Despite the entire magazine being in Spanish, anyone can appreciate stunning photos and jewels, without speaking the language!

Below are some of my findings from Vogue Mexico from the past three months. Each cover is more gorgeous than the next. Enjoy!

Crystal Renn covers Vogue Mexico's April cover. I love her. Last year I read her biography Hungry, where she shared her personal struggle of the pressures of becoming a young supermodel, I absolutely recommend it.

The photos below, were inspired by the artist Frida Kahlo. The colors are spectacular.

A multi-link bronze chain collar 

A smoky quartz and bronze ring

Vintage bronze charm earrings

A gorgeous bronze charm and raw turquoise necklace

Vogue Mexico May 2011, starring supermodel Cindy Crawford.

Love the color combo of pale pink and leopard
A leather knotted and brass necklace

Kim Noorda on the June cover, looking perfectly fresh and stunning for summer.

An unbelievable vintage necklace made of orange feathers and charms