Fashion Orbit

Dear FO Personal Stylist: Find Gwen’s Earrings!

I love all things Gwen Stefani, I love her music, but mostly her style. She has these gold stud earnings that she wears often in photos and they are on her L.A.M.B. website main picture. I love them because they are small and stylish but have a little bit of punk flair, my favorite style.

I have looked everywhere and searched the internet but have not been able to find ones that are similar. Can you help? You seem to have a great way of finding wonderful styles.

Thanks,

Allison C., San Francisco, CA

Dear Allison,

I have to agree with you: Gwen Stefani is one of the very few celebrities who has managed to successfully transition into fashion. L.A.M.B. has not only invoked Gwen’s enviable style, but transcended it. Remember these heels? And this jacket? And basically everything that she wears in this video? Drooooooooool. But I digress.

Gwen’s earrings in that photo are commonly referred to as pyramid studs, and they have a nice punky yet rich look (especially since they bring to mind Hermes’ Medor pieces, which are synonymous with the pyramid stud).

I am fairly certain that the particular earrings that Gwen is wearing are the work of Bing Bang/Anna Sheffield (she also does an amazing oversized version). Since it never hurts to have choices in fashion, I’ve also included a few other similar styles. Hopefully one of them is just what you’re looking for!

Bing Bang’s Vivienne Stud Earrings, $85

Bop Bijoux’s Pyramid Stud Earrings, $60

Urban Outfitters’ Pyramid Stud Earrings, $16

Lena Wald’s Small Spike Earrings, $242

Have a fashion emergency, or just looking for a helpful hint or two? Email Fashion Orbit’s Personal Stylist!

Remnants

Are Balmain’s pointy shoulders wearable? (The Guardian)
Hussein Chalayan: a life story told through folds, tucks, and trims (NY Times)
Swine flu masks get fashionable (Fox News)
Madonna to stay on as face of Louis Vuitton (StyleWatch)
More plus-size teen lines launched (CNN)
Make Me A Supermodel contestants forced to exercise (BravoFan)
The most stylist eight-year old EVER (GQ)
Five fashion model blogs that are actually interesting (Jezebel)

Remnants

Art collector sues Louis Vuitton for fraud (Jezebel)
Down and out in Beverly Hills: store closings spread in L.A. (WWD)
Is high fashion the best disguise for our imperfections? (The Toronto Star)
Denim proves to be a tough opponent for Serena Williams (NY Times)
From dowdy to divine: retrofitting fashion for a good cause (LA Times)
Interpreting Hillary’s brooches (Huffington Post)
Otis students compete for future in fashion a la Project Runway (LA Times)
Model Liya Kebede notices an “Obama effect” on fashion (NY Magazine)

Remnants

Lauren Conrad to design affordable line for Kohl’s (StyleWatch)
Face it, Balmain was made for Michael Jackson (Gawker)
The boyfriend suit makes a comeback (NY Times)
What is it with celebrities and size 2? (NY Daily News)
John Varvatos teams up with Island Records (L.A. Times)
Which fashion designer is suited to be the next subject of a biopic? (The Guardian)
Pulitzer Prize fashion hits and misses (The Envelope)
Tim Gunn hasn’t been on a date in 26 years (OK!)

New Economy Means Less Bling

From The Huffington Post:

The hip-hop world is a less bling-bling place these days.

The music genre has been defined as much by diamond-encrusted watches and platinum chains as its gritty urban lyrics. But in the last couple of years, it has scaled down its flash, a trend insiders say has become more pronounced during the recent recession.

Make no mistake: The industry that made an urban household name out of New York’s Jacob “Jacob the Jeweler” Arabov me isn’t entirely reversing course. (Case in point _ Lil Wayne’s “A Milli,” one of last year’s biggest songs, which had the rapper bragging wildly about being a “young millionaire.”)

But “the day of conspicuous consumption is gone,” says Tamara Connor, an Atlanta-based stylist who has created looks for chart-topping rappers, including Lil Wayne.

“We’re still going to see some bling, but it’s just not going to be as much,” Connor says. “Instead of four diamond necklaces, it might just be a diamond bracelet _ and it’s a piece the celebrity wears all the time. They’re not changing their jewelry out everyday.”

Ben Baller, head of Los Angeles-based jeweler I.F. & Co., says the shift is most pronounced among up-and-coming rappers, for whom a steady income is seeming like less of a sure thing. Rap sales have declined along with the rest of the music industry.

All I know is that if rappers lose their bling, the terrorists have already won. (And also, who says bling-bling anymore? Huffpo needs a new urban dictionary.)

Photo credit: JACOB & Co. Jewelry

A Lot of Look: Paris Hilton “Working”

I know Lady Gaga. Lady Gaga is a friend of mine. I’ve bought some of Lady Gaga’s music on iTunes. I’ve seen her dressed up as a giant pile of bubbles.

You, madame, are no Lady Gaga.

Photo credit: Dlisted

The Courtney Love Libel Suit, Part Deux

The plot thickens! From The New York Post:

In papers filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Dawn Simorangkir, who runs a sportswear line called Boudoir Queen, says Love asked her to create a wardrobe for her, but then got angry when the designer sent her an invoice.

Love then hatched a “plot to destroy Simorangkir,” writing “malicious and false statements” on the Internet, claiming the designer “sold drugs, is a drug addict, has a history of selling cocaine, has a history of assault and battery, has a record of prostitution, has committed grand theft … was deemed an unfit parent, lost custody of her child, is a racist and homophobe … [and] is a danger to society,” the suit states.

In addition, “Love publicly made the menacing and disturbing statement that Simorangkir will be ‘hunted til your [sic] dead,’ ” according to the suit. “Whether caused by a drug-induced psychosis, a warped understanding of reality, or the belief that her money and fame allow her to disregard the law, Love has embarked on what is nothing short of an obsessive and delusional crusade to terrorize,” the suit claims.

The lawsuit charges Love with libel, invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of distress and breach of contract and asks for unspecified money damages.

I know I said the other day that being on the receiving end of a Courtney Love rant might do more good than harm, but it’s clear that involvement of any kind in a business transaction with her is destined to be a miserable endeavor. I mean, see above.

Poor girl: I’ve known a few designers who signed on to work with a client despite having a sense of foreboding about said client being high maintenance, difficult, and/or crazy simply because some business is any business (especially in this economy). The temptation to work with a celebrity, whose potential to influence your career is huge, has to override any tiny voice of common sense telling you to run far, far away.

Etsy Designer Sues Courtney Love for Libel

From Gawker:

A fashion designer has sued wacky-mess rocker Courtney Love for libel on MySpace. Love’s response? Going on a blabby Twitter rampage and accusing Lindsay Lohan of stealing drugs.

Dawn Simorangkir, who operates the Boudoir Queen label, filed suit against Love on Thursday for “menacing and disturbing” statements she says Love made on Twitter and MySpace, seeking unspecified damages. Besides libel, the charges include invasion of privacy, infliction of emotional distress, breach of contract, and intentional interference with Simorangkir’s business.

From the looks of Love’s blog posts about Simorangkir, it looks like this was a love-hate relationship. Love called her a “genius” in November for her work on Etsy, an online handicrafts site. And then MySpace user Boudoir Queen gave Love “kudos” after she praised a design with “f*&^ing ankle cuffs with fringe” as being “HOT” in December.

Things quickly soured. In January, Love posted a rambling entry on MySpace which said Simorangkir was charging “crazy money.” And then Love accused her of theft on Twitter:

“wwd. someone who will NEVER grace your pages the felonious Dawn/Boudoir Queen witnessed stealing 2 MASSIVE army bags out of the chat at 4am”

Trying to read Courtney Love’s Myspace blog entries is like daring your brain to explode, so until today I never even attempted to peruse her Twitter. In terms of lucidity, it’s about the same as her Myspace blog. Just shorter. And more frequent.

It’s sad that Simorangkir ended up in the trajectory of Love’s crazy, although it may end up doing her more good than harm. I don’t know that anyone takes Courtney Love’s spewing seriously enough for it to damage Simorangkir’s reputation (not to mention that the damning charge seemed to be stealing “army bags?”). Love undoubtedly drew a fair amount of attention to Simorangkir with her initial complimentary mentions, and now she’s a nationally known Etsy designer thanks to her lawsuit.

If you’re want to help Simorangkir pay her lawyer fees and happen to be looking for a vintage-inspired hats/accessories/lingerie, here is her Etsy store.