Actor Leonard Nimoy — best known for playing ultra-logical Vulcan Mr. Spock in the Star Trek television show and movies — died today of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at age 83. Nimoy was much more than Spock, of course. He was a Renaissance man who wrote books; directed television shows and movies; spoofed himself on…
earrings
What Wendy Wore: Weinstein and Vanity Fair Oscar Parties
I’m in Los Angeles, thrilled to be away from the 1 degree winter weather at home in New York. Last night, we went to a super-fun Oscar viewing party hosted by movie producer Harvey Weinstein, followed by the Vanity Fair after-party. There’s been a couple of times when I’ve worn a dress to the black-tie…
Jewel of the Month: Amethyst Birthstone Studs
I’m continuing to make a series of cabochon birthstone studs that you can wear alone or with my FitzRoy the cat earring jackets. Here’s a close look at a single FitzRoy with January’s birthstone, garnet. February’s birthstone is amethyst and I’ve got one pair of amethyst studs available for any end-of-the-month birthday celebrations. Amethyst is…
Throwback Thursday for Chinese New Year
I really need to get back to writing my history-inspired posts! Here’s a throwback one in honor of the Chinese New Year. One of my favorite badass royal ladies was Empress Wu, as she’s known now. When she ruled China in the 7th century, she used the name Emperor Shensheng (spelling may vary), making her…
Wendy Brandes Jewelry in the San Francisco Chronicle
I’ve got to give a belated thank you to the San Francisco Chronicle for including a nice big photo of my gold IDGAF necklace in a Valentine’s Day story called “Tough-Love Tactics.” The Chronicle also shouted out my “Screw U” mixed earring pair, which I would love to see someone wear with Stubbs & Wootton’s…
Twisting and Turning Jewelry
I was inspired this week to take a little video of two of my mechanical jewelry designs. The first is the Sophie twisting heart necklace, which I wrote about recently. When I was working on that post, I didn’t have the extra pair of hands required to record video, but a few days ago Eryn…
Wendy Brandes Jewelry in the New York Post
Now that we’ve all gone back to work, I feel like we should be talking only about 2015 … but I have to take one final look back at last year. Thanks bunches to gorgeous Anahita Moussavian of the New York Post, who included my hashtag stud earrings in her list of top 10 fashion…
Year in Review: Jewels of the Month for 2014
My Jewel of the Month posts highlight my newest jewelry designs. Here are 2014’s hot jewels from both my luxe signature line and my social-media-inspired WENDYB by Wendy Brandes diffusion line. Click the photos to read the original posts. Single earrings were hot this year and they’re not going to let up in 2015. I…
FitzRoy Is a Marsala Jewel! And January’s Birthstone.
This month, Pantone named “Marsala” as the color of the year for 2015, describing it as a “robust and earthy wine red.” As always, there was criticism of Pantone’s choice, but I like the color because it reminds me of garnets. This fall, I designed a garnet stud and ear jacket combo featuring FitzRoy the…
Everything About Emojis. Plus, New Emoji Earrings.
Got questions about emojis? New York Magazine has the answers in Adam Sternbergh’s story called, “Smile, You’re Speaking Emoji.” Among other things, the smiling pile of poo emoji gets a thorough explanation. (In Japan, a pile of poo is a pun-inspired symbol of good luck. The smile was added by someone at Apple.) The story…