In 2014, I wore a Zang Toi trench gown to the Vanity Fair Oscar party. Last week, I wore the same dress to the GEM Awards — aka “the Academy Awards of the fine jewelry industry” — where I posed for a photo with Monica Stephenson, the founder of ANZA Gems. What Wendy WoreDress: Zang…
About Wendy
Wednesday’s Video: BS Your Way Through a Business Plan
People considering entrepreneurship often ask me if they need a business plan. My answer is, yes, you should have one. My caveat is that it will probably be complete bullshit. Yep, lots of business plans that are full of optimistic bullshit, and that’s true whether they are drawn up by a one-person company or by…
The Weeks in Review
In case you missed it, here’s what’s been on the blog recently. Monday, December 24: MrB knows how to give good gift. Tuesday, December 25: Merry Titmas! Wednesday, December 26: The voluminous fashion trend isn’t going away, and that’s good. Thursday, December 27: My YouTube highlights for 2018. Monday, December 31: My Jewels of the…
Wednesday’s Video: Career Advice for Disruptive Times
My latest YouTube video is a continuation of my series of job and business tips. This time, I’m sharing what I’ve learned from the my own surprising career path, which took me from journalism to jewelry design. Today I reveal the faulty logic behind two bits of conventional wisdom: That NOT having a Plan B…
Wednesday’s Video: Pearl Perfection After 20 Years
Talk about slow fashion! In November 2011, my Jewel of the Month was my redesign of a pearl pendant that I got in 1998. Late last year — seven years after that blog post — the same pendant suddenly became my favorite everyday necklace. How and why did this happen? Let’s go to the videotape,…
What Wendy Wore: New Year’s Eve 2019
I hope you had a fantastic New Year’s Eve! I had a wonderful dinner at Balthazar with MrB; my stepson, William; my designing friend Stacy; and talented journalist siblings Jesse and Abby. View this post on Instagram New Year’s Eve at Balthazar #nye2019 #happynewyear #friendandfamily #newyearseveparty A post shared by Wendy Brandes (@wendybrandes) on Dec…
Year in Review: What Wendy Wore in 2018
For 2017, I was proud to be able to do a “What Wendy Wore” year in review post featuring 12 slow-fashion outfits. In 2018 — despite Henry David Thoreau’s famous “… beware of all enterprises that require new clothes” — some of my most notable looks did require something new. I mean, I normally don’t…
Year in Review: YouTube Highlights for 2018
Does anyone even know what day of the week it is? The week between Christmas and New Year’s is like a time warp, except I also don’t know who, what, or where I am. If you too are staring vaguely in the direction of a screen, you might as well take this time to catch…
Wednesday’s Video: Get Inspired for New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Eve is next Monday. If you haven’t decided what you’re going to wear, I suggest you hop on one of my favorite looks and go big: Big, puffy, and ruffled, to be exact. Again, shout-out to my blogging friend Sheila from Ephemera for remembering that I wrote about an H&M jacket in 2010…
MrB Is the Cat’s Pyjamas, Plus What Wendy Wore
MrB had been asking me for a while what I wanted for my birthday — which was yesterday — as well as the holidays. I kept saying nothing, and that was before we tried to save Purrkoy the kitten’s life last week. After that, I wasn’t in a particularly celebratory mood, and I figured those…