Studded, fierce and fancy. Kerin Rose models her yet-to-be-named studded frames, retail $310.

Love this lady. Perhaps one of my favorite people, which would make sense as I met her through some of my other favorite people…my girls roll deep and in the most excellent of company, TRUST. And when you roll with such style and grace, please believe that the pool of creativity runs deep. You’ll remember Kerin Rose from our Women’s Making History interview series this past March. Piece by piece this lady creates everything by hand, atttention to detail and quality craftswomanship have gotten her noticed by the likes of Katy Perry and Cassie and others who I can not mention at this time (but know they are real, real good!!!). On my recent trip to NYC I had the chance to hang with my lady at her HQ, her home, the place it all happens. We did our girl thang: ate waffles and burgers followed by cake, talked about men NOT BOYS, squealed over vintage hooker heels, toured her home/workspace and of course checked out the “new new” from A-Morir.

Where the magic happens: A-Morir's work station.

Kerin models the Love/Hate Convertible Chain sunglasses.

Kerin could probably glue anything to a pair of sunglasses, I’m really starting to believe that. From heavy chain on her Love/Hate Convertible Chain Sunglasses, as worn by Cassie, Jazmine Sullivan and MTV’s Erin Lucas to killer studs on the most vicious and fierce frames ever (Lady Gaga you kinda NEED THESE), the lady Rose is making a life of what she loves, one Swarovski crystal at a time (only the finest). Her world famous Schubert Heart Shaped Sunglasses, as worn by Katy Perry, are being jeweled up in orange and a lighter shade of pink these days. AND she’s adding fancy fringed arm adornments to her offerings too…so MAJOR.

A-Morir's latest addition...her "MAJOR" fringed fingerless opera gloves.

Stay posted, Kerin Rose is on the up and up and one to watch…TRUST that.

Bond No.9 Swarovski Stars

Here at M.I.S.S. we’re all about taking time to honor the women in our lives who’ve made a difference, and who’s more special than your own mother? Plus, you already know that we’ve got the scoop on the hottest products about to hit the market, so if you’ve been wondering how to show your appreciation to Mom this Mother’s Day, read on.

New York City’s own luxury fragrance brand Bond No. 9 is stepping it up double time this holiday. To start off, Bond No. 9 is offering a year’s supply of its fabulous perfumes for the very lucky winner of its Mother’s Day Raffle. To make the deal even sweeter, the winner of the drawing will get to select which Bond No. 9 fragrances she’d like to receive. The contest has already started (on Sunday, May 3rd), so if you’re interested, grab a pen and paper so you can jot down the details and make some moves ASAP!

Bond No. 9 Mother's Day

Participating in the drawing is easy: you’ll need to supply the name and contact information of the lady you’re entering. To do so, stop by any of Bond No. 9’s NYC locations - that’s 9 Bond Street, 680 Madison Avenue, 897 Madison Avenue, or 399 Bleecker Street. Don’t reside in NYC? No reason to worry. You can enter via any Bond No. 9 counter at Saks Fifth Avenue. (And remember, don’t rule yourself out - any Bond No. 9 customer is eligible, no purchase necessary! You and Mom can share, right?) Drawings will be entered into a hatbox, where the winner will be selected on the evening of Saturday, May 9th - literally, just in time for Mother’s Day. The winner will be informed of her good fortune on the same night as well. If your entry’s not selected as the winning ticket, still consider gifting Mom (or any other lady you wish to impart) with these fabulous scents: for a limited time, Bond No. 9 will offer 12 bottles for the price of 10, mailing one monthly to the recipient of your choice.

If you’re someone who’s all about planning ahead - and you’d rather not wait until Saturday night to find out whether you’re Bond No. 9’s lucky winner - there’s another gift option you should consider. Bond No. 9 understands that diamonds are a girl’s best friend, and why shouldn’t a perfume’s packaging shine as brightly as Mom’s personality? The perfumer has partnered with Swarovski to deck out three of its best-selling scents to create Swarovski Stars: your favorite Bond No. 9 fragrances encrusted (completely!)  in Swarovski crystals. The glammed up editions include Nuits de Noho (sapphire), The Scent of Peace (amethyst), and Chelsea Flowers (topaz). The fragrances, available for a limited time only, will be sold in 50ml bottles and will retail for $550. Swarovski Stars launched just this month - brand new, but don’t sleep on them - we doubt it’ll be long before they’re sold out.

For more information, check out Bond No. 9’s official Web site, and act fast! Mother’s Day is rapidly approaching, and you won’t want to be left in the dust come Sunday.

The fourth couture collection for JANTAMINIAU, his SS09 collection consists of 6 silhouettes drawing inspiration form Dutch folklore and “garnished with details of the armor of a post-apocalyptic warrior”. The collection entitled “Check, Check Mate!” uses a red, white and blue checked plaid fabric that is an antique Chines fabric, fringed with Swarovskl crystals and embellished with traditional embroidery. Each garment features the application of metal press buttons that allow the garments to be worn in many ways while letting the wearer manipulate the shape. Jan Taminiau draws on the mix of cultures that is influential to the Dutch heritage, thus creating an offering of dynamic creations of wearable art.  

Video under the creative direction of Petrovsky & Ramone and Joost van Gorsel.

Photos: Petrovsky & Ramone

Read more to view the full collection.

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One of the most distinctive landmarks in NYC is the black cube, teetering on an angle, in the middle of Astor Place. In fact, the Alamo by Tony Rosenthal has become synonymous with Astor Place. Located in downtown NY, Astor Place is a place where worlds collide - students from neighboring schools like NYU and Cooper Union interact with skateboarders and theater folks. In it’s latest homage to NY, Bond No.9 has chosen Astor Place as its inspiration.

The floral scent consists of a “seductive freesia-poppy-violet leaf composition and then simmers down into the smooth, steady notes of teakwood and musk.”  The flacon in the trademark Bond No 9 shape is decorated in a pattern of angles and cubes, reminiscent of the Rosenthal sculpture. The rainbow of colors hearkens back to the colorful personalities that inhabit and frequent Astor Place.  For Mother’s Day, Bond No. 9 is offering the fragrance in a limited edition, complete with Swarovski Crystals.

Read on for pricing and details.

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Dolce & Gabbana have released a book of photographs that highlight the art of embroidery called Diamonds and Pearls.  The collection of ornamental needle work is breath-taking, especially when the items embroidered onto the selected items are diamonds and pearls.  All of the clothing and accessories in the book were personally hand-picked by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana.  Though there are lots of gems, there are also plenty of other shiny pretty things including gemstones, sequins of all sizes, gold leaves and Swarovski crystals.  The Italian duo stated, “Glamour and luxury.  The essence and the evolution of our fashion are reflected in the pictures in this book.”  One of the really interesting facets of the book is that the pieces are modeled by “real dolls,” rather than human models to create a “timeless” beauty.  It really helps to highlight the items - sometimes the model can be distracting and become the focus - but I do admit that the lack of hair is a bit distracting.  The photographs were taken by Guenter Parth and features shots in nature, as well as the studio.  Diamonds and Pearls retails for $270 and benefits the Butterfly Foundation’s Écoles sans Frontières, a non-profit organization committed to building primary schools for children in disadvantaged countries.  In the U.S., the book is only available at four locations:  Rizzoli Bookstore (NY), Ursus Books (NY), William Stout (SF) and Peter Miller (SEA).

Most of the images are from the website.  All others are from NYMag.

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The Crystallized Amphora, $3,500

Every year, Bond No.9 gives certain bottles the “Swarovski Treatment,” that is, they bejewel and bedazzle some of their most popular scents in Swarovski-covered flacons.  This holiday season the bottles are more beautiful than ever. First, the scent that got the annual “Swarovski Treatment” is Bleeker Street (a gourmand oriental mingling of patchouli, cassis, caramel, woods, and musk). The limited-edition 100ml lime green-chartreuse-amethyst-gold starburst watercolor flacon is studded, back and front, with a harlequinesque pattern of matching crystals with an extra-large green crystal front and center (photo below).

The second set of shiny, pretty things are the Swarovski “All Stars” - three favorite scents with the tiniest and most reflective of all the Swarovski stones—five thousand of them per 50ml bottle! The pearlized milk glass Eau de New York bottle (citruses-cyclamen-jasmine-vetiver) is studded with diamond-colored aurora borealis stones. Chelsea Flowers (peonies-magnolia-rose) is decked with emerald-colored stones. Chinatown (peach-gardenia-tuberose-sandalwood) features ruby-colored stones. These bottle are gorgeous and you can view the picture below.

The most stunning and breath-taking of the Bond No.9 Swarovski set is The Crystallized Amphora, an outsized 42 oz amphora vitrine, breathtakingly covered with 16,500 hand-applied platinum Swarovski stones. The Amphora’s crowning glory is an elliptical mirror with honeycomb base, and it wouldn’t be complete without the golden spigot. The best part is that you can fill The Crystalized Amphora with your choice among Bond No.9’s 32 scents. This bejeweled beauty comes in a white patent leather gift case, also adorned with crystals.

Fragrance, by definition is luxurious, but I love how Bond No.9 continues to take decadence to new heights. These flacons are gorgeous and are works of art themselves, as much as the mesmerizing scents they contain. They make beautiful gifts or wonderful splurges for oneself. View the other bejeweled bottles after the jump.

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What girl doesn’t need a reliable pair of tweezers?  Anastasia has created a special edition tweezer decorated with a pink ribbon made up of Swarovski crystals.  The tweezer is professional grade, made in Italy using “the highest-quality steel with custom-slanted tip and calibrated tension.”  All tweezers are not created equal, and I’ve tried my share of budget tweezers.  A good tweezer will take you a long way and is a great weapon in your beauty arsenal.  The Anastasia Pink Ribbon Tweezer retails for $33, with 50% of the proceeds are donated The Entertainment Industry Foundation - Women’s Cancer Research Fund and can be found exclusively at Nordstrom.

There was no Yellow Carpet at the entrance but we were happy to find out that there was a Yellow Brick Road set up around the shoe department at Saks that led you around to view all of the Ruby Slippers. I couldn’t help but don red shoes to the event in the spirit of the occasion.  Check out photos of the scene and the Saks store windows after the jump . . .

From left to right:  Michelle wearing a Red Bootie by Paolo, Liz in purple Dolce & Gabbana and me in Red Satin Bruno Magli from The Goods!

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Here’s the last installment of the lovely Ruby Slippers we saw at the Ruby Slipper Event at Saks last Thursday.  Each pair was lovelier than the other, I definitely have my favorites but they really are truly beautiful in their own way and you can really see each designer’s signatures and themes come through in their Ruby Slipper interpretations.  Today’s designer’s include:  Stewart Weitzman, Rupert Sanderson, Sergio Rossi, Tibi, Tuleh, Valentino, Vivier, YSL.  Check back for pics of the scene at the party, the O.G. shoes and the Saks Fifth Avenue windows.

Stewart Weitzman

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More shoes from the Swarovski Wizard of Oz Ruby Slipper Event at Saks. The shoes are gorgeous - they can speak for themselves. Check out shoes from the following designers: Miu Miu, A. Testoni, Jimmy Choo, Gwen Stefani for L.A.M.B., Christian Louboutin, and Manolo Blahnik.  We also had a chance to speak with Enzo Vaccari from A. Testoni to learn a bit more about the inspiration and thoughts behind the design.  And, there are still more shoes so check back tomorrow!

Miu Miu

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