Holier Than Now

When Jené and Ann met this summer, they instantly connected. It was one of these special encounters that happen only once in while. Jené admires Ann’s intelligence and incredible sensibility for the new cool things. Always on top of the trends, Ann  provides high quality content on her two blogs Holier Than Now and Cult Of Pretty . And Ann gives Jené her love back : “Her work gets straight to what’s really the ideal for me”. So it was natural for them to partner up and organize an amazing Holiday Giveaway ! They’re  giving you the chance to win the fabulous gunmetal SugarComb Pendant!

Take your chance and enter the giveaway on Holier Than Now here!

Despite the rain, the lovely ladies of Jené DeSpain Jewelry headed out to celebrate the holidays last night. There were sooo many parties around NYC last night, so we put on something sparkly and faced the weather. I seem to have this re-occuring habit of never remembering an umbrella, but who wants to carry an umbrella all night?! Layers of  jewelry and the kindness of strangers, who offer me refuge under their umbrella, are really my only defenses against the downpour. After dashing from one umbrella to the next, I made it safely to the front doors of Burberry’s Soho location, where ELLE Magazine was hosting their annual holiday festivities. Garance, Gianna, and I welcomed the glasses of Veuve and the sounds of choice tracks spun by Chelsea Leyland.

We meet lots of pretty people and saw some old friends. I was particularly happy to see Jodi Belden. She is a very lovely lady who makes the accessories magic happen at ELLE. We chatted about the chaos of the NYC Holiday season and shared a lil bit about our plans for Christmas traveling. She has impeccable style, and I’m always inspired by what she’s wearing. Her red hat was so striking, and a brilliant choice for a rainy night out. *Note to self – procure large bohemian hat that looks fabulous with everything to defend hair against future rain-filled evening!

We had a great evening making new friends and drooling over the Burberry’s new Winter collection. Thank you ELLE for a wonderful party. Now we’re off to battle the night on our way to the next adventure…

Sometimes you meet Pretty on the Outside/Pretty on the Inside

City block after city block, event after event, work drinks after round of work drinks, pretty face after really pretty face…. After a while, it all seems to bleed into one long blur. Another gallery opening, another round of air kisses, another taxi dash to make that meeting on time. Don’t get me wrong – i LIVE for this life. It makes me grit my teeth with lust and the insanity, the impossibility of it keeps me up all night long and drives me from bed at the earliest hour I can justify bolting from the sheets. I can’t get at it fast enough. But there are aspects of it that can leave a girl to wonder, who is real in all of this?

And then you meet someone like Jennine. She is the brilliance behind The Coveted.

She is a rare find in this Gotham City. She’s what I like to describe as “pretty on the outside/pretty on the inside”. We all know a special character that fits this detail, and when we get to spend time with them, it feels like we are receiving a blood transfusion.  Renewed and inspired, we walk away remembering what we adore in the surprise of the genuine ones.

I met Jennine this Summer through a mutual friend (Ann, from Holier Than Now, who is also a GEM!) She invited me to come share an afternoon with her at her office in Soho. After arriving 15 mins late to our meeting (taxi problems, so I jumped out & sprinted the last 12 blocks from the LES over to Crosby St.), I was so upset about my tardiness. Jennine was completely understanding and made me feel right at ease. We talked about our work, our families, our favorite things about NYC, and then wandered out into the cobblestones of Soho. She shared with me a little about her mother, who was adopted as a child, and her indigenous roots. Jennine commented on how native inspired jewelry was meaningful to her, and it immediately sparked an interest in me. I wanted to create some pieces for her that captured the essense of my style blended with an indigenous look. After much thought, I hand wove and braided different leathers together with brass chains and findings to create a bold breastplate pendant featured on a long detailed chain. I LOVE this necklace! And Jennine has been amazing enough to wear it in many of her latest blog posts on The Coveted. She even recently took it with her to her beach vacation in Hawaii. I can help but admit a glow of happiness and a lil envy when my jewelry gets to travel to far away places. I put together a lil montage of images of Jennine wearing the necklace. All of these photos are from her beautiful blog, so hop over there to check out these lovely pictures and to see tons more of her gorgeous style. With one virtual dose of The Coveted you too will discover how special and talented Jennine is, and why I find her uniquely “pretty on the outside/pretty on the inside”.

Elle Magazine & Mulberry celebrate Spring 2012

Dear JDS blog readers, meet Garance. Garance is the new PR Girl at Jené DeSpain Designs, and she’s UHmazing! Originally from Paris, this girl has style, class, and is wicked smart to boot. Last night, after a full day in the studio, we decided to hit the streets of Soho to party hop. Glamour magazine threw a lil fete at Bebe, serving glasses of prosecco with a lovely blend of pomegranate & blood orange juice. After a quick glass of champagne and a loop around the room, Garance and I bounced over to the Mulberry store on Spring Street to mingle with the lovely ladies of Elle magazine. In grand celebration of their upcoming Spring 2012 collection, Mulberry’s launch party was bright and poppy, just like their new designs. Theodora Richards womaned the music at her dj booth, while trays of fresh strawberry cocktails floated around the room in excess. Garance and I chatted with bloggers and stopped to take part in the flip book station set up in the back of the boutique. We bounced a beach ball around for 8 seconds while a computer captured the action, and 2 minutes later, a printer spit out a perfectly adorable lil flip book of our ball tossing. I caught up with Kate Lanphear and Anne Slowey from Elle, while Anne’s lil daughter danced around with a Mulberry crossbody. Who knew an infant could have such great taste? All in all, it was a great night out.

Yes Please!

LUCKY Magazine features JDS Chrysler Earrings

We are excited to announce that the Chrysler earrings just landed in LUCKY’s december issue! Each month, the magazine features stylish staffers who share their tips on dressing for work. This month, Cynthia Elliott a Senior Planning Manager at amazon.com rocks a pair of JDS Chrysler earrings. Her mantra ? Quality over quantity. We’re glad she chose JDS!

Time Out recommends the JDS Breastplate

Hot off today’s press – Time Out gave a great Shout Out to new boutiques in NYC today. They featured one of my favorite East Village shops – Still House, owned and ran by my friend Urte. She’s this incredibly creative person who has curated the most pretty pieces of home decor and jewelry to fill her lovely space on East 7th. In their feature, Time Out suggested my Brass & Leather Breastplate. They think it’s perfect for your Fall wardrobe, and I couldn’t agree more. Thanks TONY, y’all rock my world. Go visit Still House to snag one of these necklaces and other svelt pieces for Autumn.

Because I love boobs… who doesn’t?

My friend Molly, from Guest of a Guest, invited me to attend a party last night hosted by Ralph Lauren and Glamour Magazine to honor Breast Cancer Awareness month – October, and to celebrate Lauren Pink, a new collection for Fall 2011. I had a lovely time sipping on sparkling blush rosée and donating to a great cause. I made a donation and won 2 prizes, a gift certificate to Lord & Taylor, which I promptly spent on a seeexxxy pair of black stockings, and a year subscription to Glamour. cool.

I also met Christina from Trop Rogue. Check out her blog http://troprouge.blogspot.com/. Girl has great style and perhaps we can blend our fashion powers to collaborate together on a project soon….

If you like boobs and would like to donate to stamping out breast cancer once and for all, skip over to the National Breast Cancer site to throw them a lil cash… or credit… http://www.nbcam.org/

if a girl gives money to saving boobs, can she be forgiven for looking like a bobble head?

Did you know….

i started a tumblr page? yep, i bit the bullet. mm hmm. pretty pictures abound.

http://jenedespain.tumblr.com/

 

 

Working Class Magic

Have you ever seen so much JDS jewelry in an editorial!? Very excited to announce Working Class Magazine’s Summer issue, which chose lil me for its cover story, has launched! It’s such a huge honor to be a part of this magazine and to be the cover feature of The Om Issue is beyond words. A massive thanks to Marcel Dagenais, editor in chief, for asking me to come along on this rad project. I had the pleasure of styling this shoot with Marcel, while Susie Sobol rocked the makeup for our model Yael Greenberg, with this incredible set design created by the ladies of Domestic Construction. These gorgeous photos were shot by the super talented, Tracy Morford. This woman knows how to take a photograph. The story itself was written by my friend Danielle Sipple, whose words flow from her with such beauty, it’s astounding. She flew all the way from Vancouver BC to spend a week with me in NYC to write this story. We wandered through the streets of the fashion district together, soaking in the beauty of my muse, Gotham City, both us of reveling in her majesty. You can read her piece about me and Jené DeSpain Jewelry on the Working Class Magazine website, and scope the entire issue online. www.workingclassmag.com – I can’t recommend it enough.

Bright Young Things: Jené DeSpain

In the meantime – enjoy Tracy’s photos for the story. Um, this is some seriously holy bling. Woah.

JDS Black Leather & Brass Collar and The Rockefeller Collar w/ Amethyst Swarovski

JDS Barclay Necklace as Headdress, Blood Carnelian Empire Earrings, & Barrymore Necklace with Green Onyx

Gunmetal Sugarcomb Earrings, Hexagon Stacking Rings, Multi-Ribbon Necklace, & Assorted Ribbon Bracelets

It’s been a busy start to Summer 2011. Well, let’s be honest, it’s been a busy year. I obviously blow at keeping up with this blogging thing, but it’s on my list of things to focus on, so here I go. Jené DeSpain Jewelry has been getting some awesome press lately. I’m so incredibly appreciative of all the amazing bloggers that rock my work on their blogs. Just to highlight a few of these lovely ladies, check out these stories about JDS jewelry on ShoppingsMyCardio.com and at CaliVintage.com.

http://www.shoppingsmycardio.com/2011/05/17/currently-coveting-jene-despain-jewelry/

http://www.calivintage.com/2011/05/a-very-blustery-day.html