talkingfashion » fashion art
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Designer Spotlight: Sugar Gay Isber
Designer Spotlight: Sugar Gay Isber
By Paige McKirahan
This week, we have decided to spotlight a designer that is not only prominent in our collections, but prominent in jewelry lover's collections over the globe. Gay Isber, affectionately nicknamed Sugar, is a Canadian jewelry designer based out of Austin, Texas. As a seventh generation Texan, she planted her roots in the south with Gay Isber Designs, her namesake jewelry and product design company. As the creative force propelling the business forward, she has been crafting jewelry for over 15 years; she has been featured in national and international media, and has created pieces for everyone from royals to rock stars. She has even been dubbed “a guru of the fashion and jewelry industry” in her home state, which eventually pushed her to receive the Designer of the Year award in 2016. Now that we know of her great successes, let’s learn more about her inspiration, background, and her beautiful creations!
(photo credits to shoplc.com)
Sugar is a self-proclaimed jewelry lover who advocates for conversational pieces that are enjoyed more with every wear. As a creator, she is uninterested in what other designers are producing and focuses more about how her materials inspire her or how she can continue advancing her skills; she feels that she is truly only as good as her last piece.
Gay began her amazing journey by starting off as a painter after graduating with a Master’s Degree in Humanities and Visual Arts. She wanted her paintings to be show stopping, and concluded she would stop art show traffic by creating a bracelet that emulated her artwork’s colorful aesthetic. By the show’s conclusion, she realized that most of the patrons were more interested in her bracelet than her paintings, prompting her to make the transition from art to jewelry. Despite this, she has continued painting as a hobby and many of her jewels look similar to her art.
As a full-time creator, Sugar says that she dreams about jewels and has worked with so many amazing people that make the effort worthwhile. Aside from designing pieces for Michelle Obama, Camilla and Prince Charles, Lady Gaga and Martha Stewart (to name a few), she has also created a line for Harley Davidson and have participated in fundraising events for the company benefiting breast cancer. She participates in a vast amount of charity fundraisers and sells her jewelry at those events, through The Shopping Channel, through her mailing list, and independent retailers. In addition to her career as a designer, she also has been teaching at Austin Community College since 2012 where she offers private or group classes.
Whether it be a custom piece or a simple design, Sugar’s jewelry is eye-catching and commonly features bright colors, beautiful gems, bead work or metallic accents. Looking for some Sugar of your own? We have enough to fill a candy store! Head over to our collection to find some great Gay Isber pieces that are sure to sweeten up this holiday season!
(All biographical information taken from gayisber.com)
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A Passion for Jewelry
I don't know about you, but to me jewelry means joy. My dear grandmother planted this seed in my head when I was a little kid. I was always intrigued by the most wonderful hidden treasure box in her closet; it was a French old metal box with red velvet linen full of sparkling and beautiful unique pieces in each of its little compartments. Playing with her jewelry box was mesmerizing. There were rings, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, brooches, watches and a multitude of other bejeweled accessories. Due to our French heritage, we always referred to it as Bijoux. Real or costume, all jewelry was love at first sight and it grew into a passion for life.
Later during my young adult years, I got to do a lot of traveling around the world and I had the pleasure of experiencing some truly amazing places. I always wanted to carry that magical, unique beauty of each culture back home with me. How could I possibly do that? The answer was simple: through jewelry. Every piece tells of history and has its own special story, like a piece of art. There is nothing better than jewels to show what the culture is about; it has the power to transport me to the place it was created without leaving my own home.
Besides the power of bringing so much cultural information with each design, its personal, its timeless and it will always fit! Everyone can wear bijoux over and over, endlessly. Knowing that even my favorite bold styles easily fit in any suitcase size was just the icing on the cake. That being said, it is easy to assume I built quite the large private collection.
For the past couple of decades, I have had the chance to dive in and learn more about the history of these incredible accessories. I admire and treasure jewelry of all styles. Interested on learning some more about these magnificent accessories? Here you can read some other blog posts we published on: Rings, Bracelets, Necklaces, Earrings and Brooches.Want to see our current collection that has grown from a couple hundred pieces to thousands of unique pieces of art? Check out and buy your new bijoux loves here!
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The Met Museum Presents Jewelry: The Body Transformed
The Met Museum Presents Jewelry: The Body Transformed
By Paige McKirahan
In the wake of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s most successful fashion related exhibit since its conception (talking about you, Heavenly Bodies Exhibit!), we here at TalkingFashion we have been excited to see what was next for the art-filled attraction based in New York City. Lucky for us, the topic for their new display covers none other than jewelry throughout time; museum patrons will be able to view over 200 pieces from dated 2600 B.C. to the present. The exhibit, which is titled “Jewelry: The Body Transformed”, opened on November 12th and will have a 15-week run in the iconic museum.
If you are lucky to see the exhibition, you will be faced with an exploration of how “jewelry acts upon and activates the body it adorns” from a historical perspective. The pieces are chiefly taken from the Met collection and many portions of the exhibit pair the jewelry with sculptures, prints, and photographs in order to enhance their story. Jewelry from around the world will be organized into galleries by the part of the body they embellish starting from the top of one’s head and hair; to the nose, lips and ears; neck and chest; and lastly waist, ankles, and feet.
After the exhibition is separated by body part, the remaining galleries are arranged thematically. The Divine Body is focused on early conceptions of jewelry and its previous link to immortality. The Regal Body will look at the use of jewelry as a status symbol. The Transcendent Body moves away from a rank-based evaluation and looks to jewelry’s historical link to the spirit world, where it was said to conjure spirits, appease gods and conjure ancestors. The Alluring Body gallery will celebrate how jewelry evokes romance and desire and the final portion, The Resplendent Body, will focus of elegant pieces designed for luxury settings. To see other magnificent pieces currently on display, head over the The Met's exhibition page. If you are looking to do more than just appreciate historical jewelry, head over to our collection and purchase a piece beautiful enough to be in a museum!
(all image credits to metmuseum.org)
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Jewelry Explosion from the Arts & Crafts Movement
Jewelry Explosion from the Arts & Crafts Movement by Morgan Watkins
There’s something about some good old fashion DIY-ing that can give you an overwhelming sense of pride and satisfaction. Getting down and dirty and creating things with your own two bare hands is a process that has fallen to the wayside as big name manufacturers have taken over that role for pretty much the entire world. But with the Arts & Crafts Movement came a surge of do-it-yourself individuals who wanted to take matters, and jewelry making, into their own hands. Want to learn more about this movement and its impact on the jewelry world? Keep on reading!
Starting in the later half of the 19th century, the Arts & Crafts Movement looked to bring back individuality and artistry. This era was comprised of people who saw the newly booming mechanical and industrial revolutions as a means of stripping away creativity and passion from the working class. Guildsman C.R. Ashbee took matters into his own hands and trained his fellow guildsmen on how to create their own handcrafted jewelry. The guild systems in general greatly rejected traditional jewelers and manufacturers, as did those who handmade materials for a living and lost their positions to machine driven factories. In general, the widely believed ideal was that goods should come from the hands of hard working peoples, notfrom cold and cruel factories with horrid working conditions. As jewelry making left factories and entered the household, married couples began making their own unique pieces together. Thanks to this change in dynamics, women were finally able to enter the jewelry industry, where they flourished and thrived. They were successful in designing, enameling and handcrafting arts & crafts jewelry, and often attended crafting and jewelry making classes in their leisure in order to improve on their skills.
(image from http://www.faycullen.com/blog/arts-crafts-movement/)While the value of jewelry is often gauged by the quality of materials used, like
gold and platinum, arts & crafts jewelry was regarded more for its unique, one-of-a-kind nature. Characteristically, accessories were assembled with cheaper, less frivolous goods like aluminum, copper, glass, freshwater pearls, and hand painted enamel. Stones, including moonstone, opal, turquoise, and amethyst, also graced arts & craft designs, complimenting the often dainty and delicate silhouettes popular during this time. Gold and precious stones, although rare, were used sparingly to accent more high end arts & craft jewelry pieces.
(Image from https://talkingfashion.net/collections/art-nouveau-and-victorian/products/victorian-antiqu e-art-nouveau-black-brown-confetti-wide-link-vintage-bracelet)
Necklaces, pendants, clasps and buckles were most commonly produced during the age of arts & craft jewelry. Stylistically, designs were quite dainty and elegant, but influence from all over the world trickled into the realm of the Arts & Crafts Movement. Japanese art translated onto tapestries, which featured floral designs and animal outlines which later appeared carved into metal jewelry. The Art Nouveau Era also had an impact on arts & crafts jewelry, which explains the interesting and greatly detailed silhouettes that were born from the late 1800s. Influence from Germany, Britain and even the Renaissance and Gothic periods also emerged during the heyday of handcrafted accessories, adding elements of glitz and glam to everyday pieces in an affordable way.
(Image from https://talkingfashion.net/collections/art-nouveau-and-victorian/products/copy-of-tbf-art-d eco-pearls-rhinestones-pin-brooch-vintage-jewelry)
Unfortunately, arts & crafts jewelry fell out of popularity around the 1920s and 1930s as it was overshadowed by the Art Deco Era. The designs were, then, deemed too fragile for everyday wear, as newer pieces were sturdier and just as affordable. With that being said, arts & craft jewelry is still available all over the web. Regardless of arts & craft jewelry’s simmered popularity, it’s never too late to start handcrafting pieces of your own! But if you would rather leave the DIY-ing to the pro-crafters, sites like Etsy and Poshmark promote creative craftsmanship, where individuals run their own virtual DIY shops. Similarly, talkingfashion.net has a wide array of Art Nouveau and vintage styles to shop around for, including dazzling bracelets and stunning brooches. Be sure to take a look and embrace the fun styles from the Arts & Crafts Movement!
References:
“Arts & Crafts Era Jewelry.” Antique Jewelry University, https://www.langantiques.com/university/Arts_%26_Crafts_Era_Jewelry.
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Folk Art Influence: American Art Turned Fashion
Folk Art Influence: American Art Turned Fashion by Morgan Watkins
When you think of the term “folk art,” what comes to mind? Do you instinctively hum a tune by Mumford & Sons? Do you imagine paintings of rural lands or cows? Regardless of whatever conceptions you may have of folk art, there’s a lot to be said about its staying power in America and how it’s shaped artists and fashion designers alike. Want to learn about folk art and its impact on the fashion world? Keep on reading!Folk art was introduced to the eastern regions of America in the 1700s. Vastly talented artists, who were characteristically self taught, used a variety of mediums to communicate their surroundings to the people around them. Initially, these art pieces served as forms of income for individuals around the country. Paintings of landscapes and portraits were most common around this time, featuring simplistic techniques and styles that perfectly reflected this era. Portraits displayed fairly basic backgrounds but intensely detailed facial features and expressions. These creations also serve as a wonderful record of what the fashions looked like centuries ago, even if the paintings were simple. Landscapes depicted images of all scenery imaginable, whether that be the sea, forests, farmland or townships. By the 1800s, mourning paintings were quite popular, presenting portraits of lost loved ones and families weeping at funerals. Important life events in general, like weddings and births, were also documented via folk paintings.
(Image from https://folkartmuseum.org/exhibitions/a-shared-legacy-folk-art-in-america/)
Sculpture was yet another medium utilized by 19th century folk artists. The earliest American folk sculptures were carved from wood and perched upon the stern boards and figureheads of ships. These carvings mimicked female figures and were said to protect the ship. Cigar and tobacco shops also worked with folk artists to create lifelike signs for their businesses. Carvings of life sized Indians and soldiers were most commonly requested by shop owners, who set the self-standing sculptures outside the doors of their storefronts to attract customers.
(Image from https://www.skinnerinc.com/auctions/2258/lots/189)
One of the most common associations with folk art is quite arguably the patchwork quilt. The American staple was birthed from Amish communities in the 18th and 19th century Midwest, where resources were limited and winters were cold. These quilts served utilitarian as well as decorative purposes, as folk art can be either or. Another folk art attribute that was prevalent in quilt making especially is the concept of creating works with your own two hands. And while quilts, paintings and sculptures are all examples of art you can touch, intangible forms like music, poetry and dance also have their place in the realm of folk art.
(Image from http://amishamerica.com/hostetlers-quilt-shop/)
So how has folk art presented itself in the fashion world? Well, just recently, Raf Simons was celebrated by the American Folk Art Museum for the Americana quilt designs he created for Calvin Klein. And celebrating the 50 year anniversary of his brand, Ralph Lauren presented a collection dripping in folk art influence for New York Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2019. The designer claims that his collections and mood boards are birthed by American inspiration, listing American folk art as a specific example. Lauren’s American muse is clear in his patchwork designs, paired perfectly with folk-y patterns and fabrics like wool, plaid, and tribal print.
(Image from https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/raf-simons-to-be-honored-by-american-fo lk-art-museum-1202770974/)
Above all, folk art is an outlet that has always been for the people, by the people. Although it started out as a means to make a living, folk art has evolved into a contemporary practice made for self expression and community bonding. Its inclusivity, patriotism and effortless attitude makes it an art style that will likely withstand the test of time, growing with us in fashion and other gorgeous art forms worth admiring.
(Image from https://www.bangstyle.com/posts/ralph-lauren-50th-anniversary-ss19-fashion-show-318 6)
References:
Aktar, Alex. “ Ralph Lauren Marks 50 Years at Star-Studded Central Park Show.” New York Post,8 Sept. 2018, https://nypost.com/2018/09/08/ralph-lauren-marks-50-years-at-star-studded-central-park-show/.
Lockwood, Lisa. “Raf Simons to Be Honored by American Folk Art Museum.” WWD,8 Aug. 2018,https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/raf-simons-to-be-honored-by-american-folk-art-museum-1202770974/.
Sessions, Ralph. “Folk Art.” Scholastic, http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3754295.
“What Is Folk Art?” Museum of International Folk Art, http://www.internationalfolkart.org/learn/what-is-folk-art.html.
