Fashion 101: Ready, Set, Sparkle!

"Fashion 101: Ready, Set, Sparkle!"

"By Zoe"

Hi everyone! This month’s article is a little bit different. The theme is jewelry, but in addition to providing pictures and tips, I’m including a way to buy exactly what I show you. You probably know that I live with Amanda, who used to work for Abyss. Well, she recently became a fashion director for Park Lane jewelry, a direct sales jewelry company. She earns a commission off all the jewelry she sells, so we thought by showing you some of what Park Lane offers everyone will benefit! The company has some truly amazing jewelry that uses real gemstones and Swarovski crystals and has a really awesome “Bonus Buy Program” that lets you get a lot of jewelry for not a lot of money. Here’s how it works: if you order between $30 and $59, you get to choose one more piece of jewelry valued at the total price of your order for only $12, and one more for free (so if you get $50 of jewelry you can pick one more piece valued at $50 or less and only pay $12, and one more valued at $50 or less for free). If you order between $60 and $89, you get TWO more items for $12 each, plus one more for free. And if you buy $90 or more, you get THREE items for $12 each, plus one more for free (so say you bought $100 of jewelry, you can then choose three more things all valued at $100 and only pay $12 for each one, plus one more for free – that’s $400 worth of jewelry for only $36!) I know that sounds a bit confusing, but trust me, it’s real. Amanda’s direct website is http://www.jewelsbyparklane.com/field/amthompson and when you shop there the site will automatically figure out how many bonus items you can get. Please note: the website is only valid for people in the United States – it’s not set up to accept international orders.

So….who wants to see some bling?? You’ll be able to look at the whole catalog on the website, so I thought I’d show you some whole outfits with jewelry combinations that have been designed by the folks at Park Lane. Most of the jewelry they make is designed to be worn together in complete sets, so that’s what I’ll show you first. Then at the end I’ll show you a couple of individual pieces that are spectacular. I also want to point out that photos never do this jewelry justice! If you like the pictures you see, I can pretty much guarantee you are going to LOVE the actual piece. :D

First up: the Ice Baby collection, shown on a casual outfit of jeans and a pretty coral colored top. Ice Baby is the necklace, bracelet, and earrings in this photograph. The ring on the left is called Giselle, and the one on the right is called Glitterati. If you wanted all five pieces, you could get them for $155 plus tax and shipping (full retail price is $461, but the bonus buy plan lets you take three of those pieces for $12 and get one free, saving you $306!) The key to getting the most bang for your buck is putting your more expensive items as your bonus buys. In this case, to get the $155 price, you’d buy the Ice Baby bracelet for $119, then take the Ice Baby earrings and necklace for $12 each, and the Glitterati ring for $12, and take the Giselle ring (normally $107) for free. Make sense?

Next up, another casual look but with a vintage flair. This one features the Beauty necklace, Vintage ring, and A La Mode bracelet. The burnished gold is what gives it the vintage feel – bright/shiny gold looks more modern and fancy. You could get this set for $98, plus you could choose another piece for free (you’d buy the bracelet for $74, then take the necklace and the ring for $12 each. Then choose another piece of jewelry that costs $74 or less for free!)

Here’s another casual look. I’m focusing on casual because most people assume that nice jewelry can only be worn with super fancy outfits and thus they don’t wear their nice jewelry. I want to show you that you don’t have to be super fancy to wear beautiful jewelry. This set features the Aloha necklace and bracelet, which are both made of abalone shells, along with Safari earrings and Santa Cruz ring. This set can be purchased for $106 (buy the necklace for $82 and get the ring and earrings for $12 each and the bracelet for free).

Here’s another fun and colorful combination! This one features some of the newest jewelry the company has come out with – the Tangerine set (necklace, earrings, and bracelet) and the Starfish ring. I own the Tangerine earrings and the Starfish ring and let me tell you, that ring is one of my absolute FAVORITE pieces. It’s Swarovski crystal, and in the light it glitters like nothing else. It is GORGEOUS. This set could be had for $174 (buy the necklace for $138, take the bracelet, ring, and earrings for $12 each, and still get to pick another item valued at $138 or less for free!)

Here’s a slightly dressier outfit, because I know we dolls do love to get dressed up! This one features some brand new jewelry as well: the Dreamy set. Dreamy consists of a necklace, bracelet, and earrings, and this outfit also has the Spoil Me ring. If you wanted all of these pieces, you could get them for $135 (buy the ring for $99, take all three Dreamy pieces for $12 each, and choose one more piece valued at $99 or less for free!)

The last outfit I’ll show you is a very fancy one. Here is a beautiful peacock green grown, and shown with the appropriately named Peacock jewelry (necklace, earrings, bracelet, and ring). You could get this set (which also looks wonderful with more casual clothing) for $113 (get the necklace for $89, take the earrings and ring for $12 each, and get the bracelet for free!)

So those are a few ideas for pieces that go well together. Like I said before, most pieces are designed to be worn together, but each piece is sold separately and you do not have to buy an entire set if you don’t want to. Here’s a couple of phenomenal rings for anyone who might be searching for a wedding ring. These rings are cubic zirconia, and just in case you didn’t know, a CZ is NOT “less than” a diamond. It IS a diamond; it’s just lab created instead of dug out of a mine.

One of my favorites is called “Incredible” and is $77:

Striking ($82) is quite nice too!

But if you prefer the simpler touch, I bet you’ll love Amour ($23):

Park Lane sort of specializes in rings, so if you want to see more, check out Amanda’s website. If you have any questions about the jewelry or the pricing you can email Amanda directly (her contact info is on the website). I hope you liked looking at some of this bling – it’s fun to look at (and even more fun to wear!)

--Zoë