Predicting Trends?

A friend of mine recently attended a workshop on predicting trends. Her workshop was specifically about predicting trends in needs and services for persons with disabilities. The goal of the workshop was for agencies to position themselves in a special niche of services in anticipation of decreased funding and needs of an aging population.

Listening to her made me think of how I go about predicting trends in jewelry and fashion and trying to position myself to be at the front of the line when new trends surface. What will be the next “have to have” piece?

As most of you probably do, I read fashion magazines, peruse sale flyers, and devour catalogs looking at the jewelry worn by the models, And when all that fails to offer inspiration, I go with my gut. And sometimes my gut gets it wrong.

I decided the new fall season was going to be about smaller pieces with lots of pearls. In all kinds of colors and shapes. So I geared up. That is what Sheryl and I focused on and created lots of pieces of pearl necklaces and earrings.

The show we went to last weekend was the first one since my revelation. We had tons of pearls on display. And you know what happened? The large chunky gemstone necklaces that I made last year were the biggest sellers. Folks wanted the large showy necklaces. Full of color and shape and form.

OK, so not only did I guess wrong, but the catalogs and sale flyers were all wrong too. Or maybe I just need to get better catalogs.

Terry

Love Is In The Air!

I was paid the greatest honor a few weeks ago and am still overwhelmed. A friend asked if I would design and produce the jewelry for her wedding. It sounded so exciting and I was thrilled to take this on.

Then I got home and the reality of the enormity of the responsibility hit. This was to be my friend’s biggest day of her life. She will be the showpiece and all eyes will be on her. And the jewelry had better be up to the task. Yikes!

I knew the colors of the gown for the Maid of Honor. I knew the size for the flower girl. Those pieces didn’t seem to scare me as much. But the necklace the bride would wear. Holy Thunderbolt, Batman. That’s a biggie.

After a zillion tries and a half zillion color combinations, and a trazillion attempts, I finally came up with an idea I thought would work. Took the sample necklace to the Bride for her appraisal. Would she like the color combo, was the length right for her gown, would the Maid of Honor's necklace not detract from hers, would the flower girl’s necklace appear too cutesey, or not appropriate for a young child?

Guess what, the Bride loved it all. Brought the pieces home, did some final touches to the closures, finished them off and stood back in awe of what had just happened.

Here is the necklace and earrings for the Flower Girl. I wanted to create a piece that she would want to wear after the wedding and this Wish Box Locket seemed like a good choice:

And the necklace and earrings for the Maid of Honor:

Here is the set for the Bride - the colors were chosen to match the Groom's suit, the Maid of Honor's dress, and the Bride's beautiful gown.

Someone had trusted me enough and my sense of style enough to allow me to design and produce the jewelry they would wear on the day they would be the center of the universe.

How cool is that?

Love is in the air!!!!!!!

Terry