Facial Shapes & Jewelry (Repost)

We each have a facial shape and what we wear around our face, like clip on earrings, is very important as they have the ability to complement our facial structure as well as exaggerate it. Sometimes a person has a combination of two shapes in their face.  I have an oval and rectangular shape to my face. It is as if the balance my genes decided to take compromised between Mom’s round face and Dad’s square shaped face.   I wear button clip earrings or dangles that go no further than the end of my jawline. Otherwise it will make my face appear too long and I don’t like that.  So what defines each facial shape and what type of jewelry is appropriate?  I went online to research and here is what I found.

ID-10046380 from freedigitalimages.net

The Oval Face is soft and curved with an equal distance             from  the hairline to the brow and the brow to the chin.  It is    considered the “perfect face” shape as it is slightly longer than it is wide.  It does not matter if other features of the face are soft, curved or angular as this facial shape can wear almost any earring.  The only suggestion is to avoid clip on earrings that will lengthen your facial shape, making your face look very thin and long.

ID-100881632 from freedigitalimages.net

 

The Round Face is soft and curved with an equal distance all around.  The nose is the focal point of this face shape.   The clip on earrings recommended for this facial shape should be earrings that are vertical, dangles, drops or narrow chandeliers that will help the face have a lengthy appearance it does not otherwise have-basically creating an illusion.

ID-100122070 from freedigitalimages.net

The Oblong or Rectangular Face is longer than it is wide.  The width of the face at the forehead, cheekbones, and chin are close to or the same distance from each other, while overall length is long.  This facial shape is ideal for wearing large, bold styles, and wide chandeliers with color, movement and drama.  The perfect earring will fill in space so that width is added and the length is distracted. 

ID-100218360 from freedigitalimages.net

The Square Face has a strong jawline and the distance from the top of face to the chin is equal to the width.  To soften the jawline and give the appearance of curves, the recommended clip on earrings are large oval hoops, long drops and narrow chandeliers.  It is important to subtract from this face shape and give the illusion of length and softening of width.

ID-100184065 from freedigitalimages.net

The Heart Face has a wide brow and narrow chin with the width of the face at the forehead to the cheekbones greater than the width at the chin.  The top part of the face is usually soft and curved whereas the chin has an inverted triangle appearance.  The clip on earrings best for this facial shape need to be wider at the bottom. Vertical hoops, long and narrow styles, inverted triangles, or even buttons create width at the chin for a more balanced look.

 

ID-100228027 from freedigitalimages.net

The Triangle Face is similar to the Heart Face, except, it has a narrow brow and a wide jawline.  The width of the face at the jawline and cheek bones is greater than the width at the forehead.  The recommended clips on earrings for this shape are ones that draw the eyes from the narrowest part of the face to the jawline.    Choose earrings like buttons that curve up to the ears to create the illusion of width.  Choose narrow dangles to create more length. The overall goal is to balance the face. 

ID-100185057 from freedigitalimages.net

The Diamond Face is widest at the cheekbones with equal distance, though narrower at the forehead and jawline.   The clip on earrings suited for this facial shape are wide open, but the most complimentary are earrings with angular styles (diamond shaped with sharp corners, points and edges)  and cut crystal.  To soften the angles wear hoops.  

Designer Paul Flato's Lasting Influence on Art Deco Jewelry

Hand & Glove Clip on Earrings designed by Paul Flato from hancocks-london.com

Art Deco, as a style, came to be in 1925 when the World’s Fair was held in France.  Both the name of the fair and its exhibits would contribute to the style’s name.  The 1925 World’s Fair was known as “Exposition International des Arts De’coratifs et Industriels Modernes.”  (It translates to International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts.)

Its designs influenced new styles of automobiles, homes, skyscrapers, clothing and jewelry.  Geometric shapes such as circles, triangles, squares and rectangles were often arranged or woven together to create intricate designs. 

There were numerous pioneers in Europe like Lalique, Bucheron and Coco Chanel but there were also a fair number of Art Deco pioneers in America like Tiffany, Winston, Marcus & Co, and the subject of this post Paul Flato. 

Paul Flato was a New York transplant from Flatonia, Texas.  His first exposure to jewelry was by accident.  Flato was walking in the Texas woods and he came upon a gypsy camp where he saw women wearing necklaces and dangling earrings.  Since that moment Flato was determined to become a jeweler and he succeeded.  From the 1920s to the early 1940s he was the elite jeweler to numerous Hollywood stars like Joan Crawford and Rita Haworth who purchased or wore his jewelry on the big screen.  His style was as one person wrote “flamboyant and witty designs” in the Art Deco style.  Flato’s most famous pieces included diamond, gold ribbon &  flower brooches , gold double long horn bracelets, and hand and glove clip earrings to name just a small number of his design pieces. 

diamond, gold ribbon & flower brooch designed by Paul Flato form idexonline.com

His career was strong and reached unbelievable heights, until 1943 when it all came crashing down.  A series of unfortunate business transactions caused Flato to sell $100,000 of jewelry entrusted to him by clients and colleagues in a desperate attempt to save his jewelry business.  He was found out by authorities and sentenced to 16 months in Sing Sing Petitionary.  In 1945 he was released and moved to Mexico and lived there until 1953.  When Flato left he was constantly on the run from US authorities for larceny and forgery.  Eventually he went back to Mexico and settled in Zona Rosa where he resumed his jewelry career in anonymity.  Flato’s last years were lived back in Texas from 1990 to 1999 when he died at age 98.   Despite his troubles Flato has remained and is remembered as a fixture in the jewelry world.  Any pieces that are found are still popular with famous auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s.

Art Deco style clip on earrings designed by Katherine Kornblau

At cliptomania.com we sell clip on earrings by designer Katherine Kornblau who has used Art Deco design in some of her jewelry as well as influences from Zoological, Ancient Egyptian, and Contemporary design in other collections.  Other designers found on cliptomania.com who were also influenced by the Art Deco period are Sadie Green and David Howell.

Costume Jewelry or No Costume Jewelry: That is the Question (Updated)

Costume jewelry.  What does that mean exactly?  I have wondered that over the years as cliptomania.com went from a very young company to a full-fledged teenager (17 years and counting).  I thought costume jewelry meant it is  inexpensive, well below $20 retail and massed produced.  This low-cost jewelry can have pitfalls including changing color, turning the skin colors, breaking easily, or causing any allergic reactions among other things.  However, as Cliptomania grew and began attending jewelry trade shows I got an education.  Yes, what I thought about costume jewelry was right.  However, I also learned it is possible to sell designer name creations, offer quality gemstones, 14K gold, vermeil, sterling silver and so on.  What really mattered was the first cost to the retailer – the wholesale cost. 

A new heirloom

Another thing I wanted to consider, was it possible to still get handmade handcrafted clip earrings? Would the cost prohibit them in light of the inexpensive, mass-produced machine-made products?   The answer was it depended on which country the products gets made in.   If the clip earrings are, from whether a developing or developed country?  The difference can affect the manufacturer’s price to the retailer.  Lastly, I learned another important factor in cost reduction for quality costume jewelry was the relationship between the retailer and manufacturer.  A good working relationship in which a manufacturer understands what the retailer is looking for can go a long way.

Handmade Mayan

 At Cliptomania.com we mix it up.  Some of the items we sell are machine-made, mass-produced clip earrings, passed from one manufacturer to another to completion.  Then there are our handmade items that come from designers who work with artisan’s in developing countries and improve their way of life in the process.   Some of our designers like doing all the work and fabrication of the clip earrings they make, and minimally use machine-made parts. An example would be the environmentally conscious artisans who take everyday products like bottle glass and turn into clip earrings, or sea glass straight out of the ocean to do the same thing.  Yet another designer makes clip earrings out of metal straight from the junk yard.  And lastly we have designers who continue traditions from the past like metalsmithing, creating works-of-art at affordable prices.

One of nine jewelry sets 

  

It is possible to please most customers without sacrificing quality to cost. Cliptomania.com will likely never go beyond costume and fine jewelry to the jewelry that can cost thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars.  We know with the existing economy, and knowing our customer base, that this will never be the case. We like our middle ground providing a variety of quality costume and designer jewelry at an affordable price.  I hope the meaning of costume jewelry has changed for you as well.

BAMBOO Jewelry: A Green Company

 Written by Christy Santo & Melissa Stewart
Cliptomania.com

Bamboo Jewelry started by Christine Gonsalves and Steve King opened its doors for business in 2005.  A major driving force behind their company goals is their effort to have the lowest carbon footprint possible  Along with their ten to twenty employees, they are not just focused on creating quality necklaces, pins and earrings, but are also on being an environmentally friendly company as possible.  Endangered wildlife and global warming are two things very important to Christine and Steve.

Two years after forming Bamboo Jewelry, the company decided if they couldn't cut their carbon footprint to zero, they would offset it by buying carbon credits making Bamboo Jewelry the world's first carbon neutral jewelry company.  They have incorporated compact fluorescent bulbs and eliminated  air-conditioning, instead turning to fans to keep everyone cool and comfortable.  It doesn't stop there.  The self-sustaining and fast growing Bamboo wood is the basis for their jewelry boxes. They also incorporated paper tape and use non-toxic, bio-degradable plastic for shrink wrapping. Even the paper printed cards within the box uses recycled paper, from a duplex printer.  They can print 100,000 pages generating only five pounds of waste verses 157 pounds of typical waste from a regular laser printer.  Future eco-friendly goals include purchasing a new company car - a hybrid Aptera that will get 300 mpg - and remodeling their facility so it runs on solar-power.

Celebrating Nature

Each piece of jewelry's design celebrates a small part of nature, art and science.  Almost all the silver used as the base of their jewelry  repurposed or recycled, and they are striving for 100% recycled.  Using finely braided wire to create each cloisonne color cell, they can do multicolored blending which results in their three-dimensional contours and realistic shading, hallmarks of their splendid craftsmanship.   After the original artwork is complete, the sample pieces are carefully packed and mailed to China so artisans there can reproduce them.

Who's Who At Bamboo

Steve King is a fifth generation Californian with degrees from Yale in Art and Environmental Studies.  When he is not designing jewelry, he enjoys his work as a scuba instructor or organizing whale watching expeditions to Baja, Mexico.  Steve has also helped create a life-size whale sculpture, and notably, produced an hour long, prime time documentary aired on ABC on blue whales which won an Emmy for its cinematography.

Chrstine Gonsalves comes from a family of entrepreneurs.  She is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley with a MA in sculpture.  Before she began Bamboo Jewelry nine years ago with Steve, she began a company called Whales and Friends that is a popular Alameda, California gift ship that has been around for 20 years. Her interests include cats, orchids, art and nature. Christine splits her time between Bamboo and Whales and Friends, and is even known for bringing her beloved Tonkinese cats, Carson and Sagan, with her.

Cliptomania.com has sold earrings by Bamboo Jewelry since 2006.  Featured in our  Specialty and Animals  The overall quality and attention to detail of these earrings is amazing, and we are sure our nature loving customers will appreciate these fine, heirloom quality, clip on earrings.

Sources:
bamboojewelry.com
cliptomania.com