Chains are among the most simple and ancient forms of jewelry. But designers are using them in elaborate and modern ways this season.
Designs run the gamut — from delicate dangling gold earrings to bold bib-style necklaces — composed of dozens of strands of chains. The newest necklaces are mixtures of gold and silver, shiny and matte metals, often dressed up with crystals, charms, stones and pearls.
The idea is to mix it up. And not worry about any rules your mother might have told you about how to wear jewelry.
PHOTO: NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE
Accessory trends parallel what’s happening in fashion, which is why chains are so popular now. The return of hard-edged 1980s styles made a focus on chains inevitable, says Ken Downing, fashion director at Neiman Marcus in Denver.
“Many designers were looking for a way to give an urban and aggressive look to what they created this season,” Downing said. The 1980s influence was evident from such designers as Michael Kors, who showed industrial-strength chain-link chokers with clothing pieces like a black leather dress. Chains come as built-in embellishment on shirts and jackets from such designers as Tory Burch as well as for decorating belts, boots, shoes and handbags.
Matte-finished metals; mixtures of black, silver and hematite; and different chain textures are often combined in a single piece. The shades of gray that are so prevalent in fall clothing look good with silver and smoky or topaz-colored stones, Downing said.
“You tend to think of mixing cool colors with cool metals, but you can also mix them with a warm metal like gold in matte and shiny tones,” he says.
Casey Rosen, co-owner of Blush boutique in Denver’s Cherry Creek North, says she has been carrying fashion-forward chain jewelry from such designers as T.Cyia and Anna Bee for several seasons. T.Cyia mixes ropes of chains with crystals and ribbons, while Anna Bee remixes vintage jewelry in its one-of-a-kind pieces.
Women will pay US$200 to US$400 for a statement-making necklace, Rosen says, because “you can put it on with a T-shirt and look like you’re dressed. You get a lot of bang for your buck.”
Linda Christie-Horn was wearing a T.Cyia piece on a recent afternoon, using it to accessorize her chiffon blouse and jeans. “I like the mix of metals,” she said of the nine strands of silver, gold and brass combined in her necklace.
Such designer items might become collectibles, but women who want to spend less money and flirt with the trend won’t have any problem finding affordable options.
There’s a soft, feminine side to the chain trend as well, and observers of fashion history are quick to point to the late Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel as the reason.
First, she used chains as a tailoring device, sewing them into the hems of jackets to add weight so they’d hang properly. Then chains made their way to her handbag handles and jewelry.
Chanel loved costume jewelry as well as fine jewelry and saw nothing wrong with piling fake pearls and gold chains on top of real ones.
“Chanel believed in the elaborate and exuberant use of accessories,” Downing says. When Karl Lagerfeld took over designing ready-to-wear and accessories for the brand in the 1980s, he helped revive the focus on pearls and chain belts, long rope necklaces and chain-handle bags.
Despite having been around for a while, the chain trend isn’t likely to dissolve anytime soon. “For spring, we’re seeing it in Lucite, or mixed with chiffon and organza,” Downing said. Alber Elbaz designer for Lanvin used gold chains to accent shoes.
Costume jewelry continues to be important, Downing says, “especially in a challenged economy. It’s a way to affordably update something from the past you’ve already got in your closet.”
Behind a car repair business on a nondescript Thai street are the cherished pets of a rising TikTok animal influencer: two lions and a 200-kilogram lion-tiger hybrid called “Big George.” Lion ownership is legal in Thailand, and Tharnuwarht Plengkemratch is an enthusiastic advocate, posting updates on his feline companions to nearly three million followers. “They’re playful and affectionate, just like dogs or cats,” he said from inside their cage complex at his home in the northern city of Chiang Mai. Thailand’s captive lion population has exploded in recent years, with nearly 500 registered in zoos, breeding farms, petting cafes and homes. Experts warn the
No one saw it coming. Everyone — including the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) — expected at least some of the recall campaigns against 24 of its lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) to succeed. Underground gamblers reportedly expected between five and eight lawmakers to lose their jobs. All of this analysis made sense, but contained a fatal flaw. The record of the recall campaigns, the collapse of the KMT-led recalls, and polling data all pointed to enthusiastic high turnout in support of the recall campaigns, and that those against the recalls were unenthusiastic and far less likely to vote. That
The unexpected collapse of the recall campaigns is being viewed through many lenses, most of them skewed and self-absorbed. The international media unsurprisingly focuses on what they perceive as the message that Taiwanese voters were sending in the failure of the mass recall, especially to China, the US and to friendly Western nations. This made some sense prior to early last month. One of the main arguments used by recall campaigners for recalling Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers was that they were too pro-China, and by extension not to be trusted with defending the nation. Also by extension, that argument could be
The centuries-old fiery Chinese spirit baijiu (白酒), long associated with business dinners, is being reshaped to appeal to younger generations as its makers adapt to changing times. Mostly distilled from sorghum, the clear but pungent liquor contains as much as 60 percent alcohol. It’s the usual choice for toasts of gan bei (乾杯), the Chinese expression for bottoms up, and raucous drinking games. “If you like to drink spirits and you’ve never had baijiu, it’s kind of like eating noodles but you’ve never had spaghetti,” said Jim Boyce, a Canadian writer and wine expert who founded World Baijiu Day a decade
RSS