"O" my! The Hottest fall trends

Hello, we're back! Thanks to everyone who emailed after the last post, happily our hurricane repairs are going well and the house is coming back together. Our first priority was to make sure every order is filled and shipped and our fall collections and upcoming holiday jewelry launches are going according to schedule, and I am thrilled everything is going well.

Everyone loves our fall collection, the Embrace look is a must-have and has gotten great press. Our friends are the first ones to "Embrace" the best fall looks for 2011 and it's no surprise that people who write about the trends include robertachiarella.com for our hot and trendy necklaces.

Your fall look should 'sing the blues' and we've got some great choices for you! The Rockstar necklace is my favorite, a perfect style for fall with great colored resin pieces. Sit by the fire and the polished lightweight resin stones just glow!

I think the best fall looks embrace the season, and so put away the brightly colored summer outfits and tops and choose colors that are subdued and not flashy. That does not mean boring, I love lavender and honeydew and burgundy, midnight blue looks great this time of year and if you can wear it, dark orange hues can give you a wonderful seasonal appearance. Jewelry should complement the softer colors of your clothes and be a bit brighter to provide that 'wow' factor.

Take a look at O, the Oprah magazine on the newsstands right now. They chose our LaStrada Bib Necklace and the Dolcetti Necklace as the perfect accent pieces for a great fall look. You can get these for a super price on the website. The Superstar Earrings, in great fall colors, are featured in Glamour, you have to own these sparkly, beautiful Swarovski Elements earrings. We've got a wonderful blue, a cool grey and a great black for you to choose from, you can take $10 off with the FALL10 promo code and maybe buy more than one!

We're always available to answer questions, or you can send me a pic and we'll help you choose the right accessory in the perfect color to complement your wardrobe. Fall is a cool season but your look should stay hot, and we're here to help! Ciao. . .

Thank you 'Mother Nature'

My friend Binty asks, so where have you been? Ask 'Irene' I say...as in Hurricane Irene! Casa Chiarella sustained some nasty damage, with a hole in the roof and a chimney that's about 3 feet shorter than it was 10 days ago. The insanely tall (over 100 year old, says the tree surgeon) pine tree in the back yard is no more, felled by the wild and crazy winds that spared Manhattan but caused lots of damage elsewhere.


Joe and Chicklet in the aftermath of Irene

Thankfully the robertachiarella.com gift boxes and supplies were not touched by the hurricane; like Dorothy's family in Kansas, the basement/storm shelter served its purpose. Insurance adjusters swarmed the neighborhood and quickly authorized emergency repairs, helped get an army of tree cutters and giant trucks from Michigan to come to Queens and get all these fallen trees out of the way. We thank every single person who worked day and night to restore power and repair the broken windows and roofs that came from this storm.

And despite all this, we shipped every order! Even today (they don't call it Labor Day for nothing!) over 65 orders were packed and will be shipped in the morning. The first delivery after the hurricane was not food and water but a UPS truck with a new supply of 'think pink' goldtone earrings! These are sooooo popular after they were featured in Glamour and were on the verge of selling out. If you'd like a pair order now while our super sale is going on.

Sofia's Earrings

 What else is hot? Sofia is hot, featured in People StyleWatch along with our Sofia's earrings which are some of the most beautiful Crystalized Swarovski Elements in the world. With a Platinum finish and deep ruby red stones, your eyes will pop when you see them. Thanks to a People StyleWatch promo code, they're 20% off the usual price! You can see the beautiful Sofia Vergara on Modern Family, she's got unbelievable style and wears earrings like there's no tomorrow!

Now's your chance, says our website- the Labor Day Super Sale is being held over. Some of our most popular styles are literally selling like hotcakes, in this economy we all appreciate a good sale, so check it out soon.  After threats of floods, subway shut-downs and wicked storms, who doesn't need a jewelry treat for fall? We'll always ship for free if you spend more than $75, and considering the great variety and the ready-for-fall items popping up on robertachiarella.com, how can you not shop! Ciao.

It's Tax Day

Are you getting a refund? I wish I was, but unfortunately I've got to pay more taxes. It seems like no matter how you figure out your finances, the government always wins. Despite presidential promises, we haven't seen any tax cuts at all. It's expensive enough to live in New York, and it's hard to maintain our commitment to produce our Roberta Chiarella jewelry Collection here in the United States. Our factory is in Rhode Island, and we're proud to say the Roberta Chiarella jewelry collection is designed right here in NY and produced entirely in the USA. Whether you owe money or are getting a refund, make sure your return is filed by midnight tonight. Penalties and fines can be painful, you could have used the money on a necklace instead!

If you're getting a refund, rejoice! Treat yourself to a reward for your good bookkeeping skills and buy yourself something nice. Our spring collection is super special and one item in particular, the remarkable earrings are a great seller. This piece is hard to tell apart from Rachel MacAdams earring as seen at the Academy Awards, and it's part of our spring special, meaning you can get free shipping plus choose an item from our new RC2 Trend Collection at 30% off the price! One item you should really see is the Brava Bib Necklace, it's perfect for warm weather and believe me, it's simply stunning. Hand poured resins, beautiful colors, it's a keeper for sure.

It's been a great week for the press, the Brad and Jen stories never end, but inside InTouch Magazine you'll see the Chunky Crystal Bracelet featured, and it's really a great piece. Crystallized Swarovski Elements, beautiful shiny finish and great colors, this one's a great buy at $78, plus free shipping.

Be sure to check out robertachiarella.com to see more jewelry featured in the magazines, we love working with the fashion and beauty editors who have an eye for whats hot and what pieces are good value and wonderfully stylish too.

If you're not a fan, please go to facebook and sign up at our roberta chiarella jewelry page, in the upcoming weeks we'll have some special offers for facebook fans that will bring a smile to your face.

Speaking of  smiling faces, here is my mom, Dorothy with my aunt, Frances LaPerla in a picture taken a long time ago. Aunt fran passed away this week, after a long courageous battle with breast cancer. Our families are inseparable, she was my brothers god-mother and one of the best cooks in the world! Aunt Frances patiently tried out every piece of jewelry I made when I was starting my business, and wore my jewelry everywhere with pride. She joins my mother in heaven, where the two of them are together in a casino somewhere in the clouds. I will miss her friendship and unselfish love that she always had for so many people. Rest in peace, auntie. I love you. Ciao!

It's still fashion week around here!

Yes, fashion week comes to a close today, but robertachiarella.com has been coming on strong in the press. Beauty editors, movie stars, actresses have been seen around town wearing some of my jewelry. We've got Mo'Nique pictured with some nice earrings in Ebony, and Whitney Houston is ON TOUR wearing my cuff bracelets.

We were intrigued when the order came in, after all, when you get an order from Whitney Houston, wouldn't you be in shock? Turns out she wanted enough of our Cha-Cha Licious Bracelet for her tour and we were so happy we had them all in stock. These beauties are made with Crystallized Swarovski Elements (tm) and are beauties, click the link and see for yourself!

Essence magazine has a fashion spread showing our crystal mosaic earrings, they look great on the models ear, just as they will look great on yours. I love the crystal mosaics, they are one of my favorites and look so great as they dangle and sparkle.

Redbook is showing Scarlett's necklace, a really spectacular necklace that photos just can't do justice to. This is a really great necklace and we're thrilled it was featured!


Another magazine, Shape Bride features the petite sarah earring, this beautiful favorite is a real popular choice for sparkle and elegance! You know how the petite sarah got it's name, and we made it in a smaller size cause the original is a pretty large CZ. The petite sarah is a 2 karat size earring that's one of our best sellers for weddings. Our studio loves to help with wedding planning, we offer appointments in NYC most days, so if you and your wedding party are in or around the area, give us a call!

And, we're still in awe over our coverage in Vanity Fair, it's so wonderful to see the award winning stud earrings was given the right name when we made it! Lots of people, including some famous ones, are wearing this beautiful piece.

So with the end of fashion week, you'll have to wait till next year to see the gowns, suits and glamor. But, the robertachiarella.com fashion show is still going on! And, for a week longer, we have our amazing sale, just buy two, get one free from our under $25 section of the website, so go and check it out today. To spice up your winter blues, there are plenty of new items, more earrings, more bracelets and more bling! Ciao!

it's a Wendy day!

I'm too excited to go to sleep, and have gotten so many emails after being on the Wendy Williams Show that it would take me all night to answer them. All I can say is if I was going to come back in another life, being a daytime TV star wouldn't be too bad!

The Wendy show is great, it was so exciting to be a part of it today. The audience is hyperactive and went wild when they found out I'd brought a gift of new crystallized Swarovski Elements for everyone there, and they cheer and applauded when Wendy showed off the "Wendys Waterfall" earrings I gave her on the show.

The format was cool, I was the announcer and got to lead off the show, giving it my best Queens accent (cousin Donna calls it the 'native tongue') so everyone in the world knows this is a New York show! It was an unexpected treat to get so much air time, and we both enjoyed the reaction of the audience to the jewelry. The camera's not always on, there are some moments in the studio that aren't on TV, they are filled with fun, showing off my jewelry and Wendy telling some Tiger Woods stories and other hot news items. Ms. Williams is just a delight, it was just an unbelievable day!

By the time I got home, we already had some requests for the earrings, such is the power of daytime television! I hope you got to see the show, it really was a unique, fun experience for me.

When we left the show, I was on cloud 9, it was that cool!

As luck would have it, I'd made plans to meet up with WNBC's Janice Huff for dinner between newscasts. Nobody does the weather like Janice, she's a really skilled meteorolgist and NY's favorite weather-caster, in our house nobody's allowed to watch anyone else!

We met at Rockefeller Center, which is filled with holiday shoppers and tourists, catching one of New York's other great spectacles. Can you imagine, hanging out in my town with 2, yes 2 super-cool TV personalities, in ONE day. And, it's only Monday....  Ciao!

emmy and me

Did you see the emmy awards last week? You know I did, it's like religion to me, watching the stars march down the red carpet, waving to the crowds, stopping for a quick interview, seeing the crowds wish their favorite stars good luck. The emmys are always the place to see superstar fashion, with some of the coolest gowns, hair and accessories. I also like to see if TV shows I like win an award or two, my favorite, Mad Med won!!! You also get to see what everyone's wearing, and this year had lots of great outfits and jewelry. It's my job, as your jewelry expert, to examine all the girls jewelry and see if what they wore is represented in my jewelry line.

This year, JACKPOT! I sketched some of what the stars wore and went back into the catalog and the websites, to see if we had baubles similar to what the stars were wearing. I do this cause it's a given that the TV shows and magazines will always show the affordable, lookalike collections that enable you and me to dress like an emmy winner for less.

Us magazine picked up my reports, and when this weeks issue came out, with 'knock off' gowns and accessories, I was proud to have 4 pieces chosen by the Us style editors for their 'emmy looks for less section. The pieces are on the website and select retailers, so check them out. The emmys were great television theatre, with Mad Men and 30 Rock winning as best TV comedy and drama. I'm glad Glenn Close won for the FX show Damages, though I didn't see an episode till after it was nominated.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus didn't win an Emmy, but she did look great, and her earrings were unbelievably close to my senorita frieda earrings. The Little fig leaf earring is just about an identical twin to Debra Messing's earring- of course hers probably cost thousands, but my crystallized swarovski elements come pretty close to giving you that look for a lot less.

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All in all, I had a great time watching the emmys, and am thrilled Us Magazine used so many of my pieces in their red carpet emmy look issue. It's a blast to see your jewelry in print, and at these prices. Even though some lucky people will win the look, it's not hard to acquire your own, they're all specially priced at my site. Ciao!

New York Weddings - Crystallized !

It is a wedding feast in the big apple this week. This weekend is the WeddingChannel Couture Show at the Intercontinental Hotel. And, last night my friends from Swarovski held the most unbelievable party to celebrate the arrival of the crystallized brand.

The brand is new, it's logo will let us all know when we are buying the real thing by swarovski. The crystallized label is the brand name for all loose crystal elements made by swarovski, the worlds leading producer of precision cut crystal. These crystal elements have been worked into the most fabulous wedding designs, and shown to a star-studded crowd last night at the Rockefeller Center Loft & Garden.

We spent a beautiful evening on the roof gardens that flank the ice-skating rink and 30 Rock. The city looked fabulous, and so did the wedding gowns, accessories, jewelry and even the bottled water - they all were made using crystallized swarovski elements. My design is a clear crystal necklace and earrings, you can see them on these photos below.

There were also some incredible wedding gowns by designers like John Galliano and Judith Leiber, and all kinds of other wedding necessities by other designers, all crystallized and they were all so lavishly displayed...

If that is not enough, the designs are all part of a wedding celebration by swarovski, coinciding with the US release of the book unbridaled, which features designers chosen from all around the world. We all use swarovski crystals, and they picked us to showcase their crystallized brand.

It was a thrill to be in such a place, with great food, and a really nice crowd on a perfect october evening. The folks from swarovski really know how to throw a party! The swarovski product line is so well-known around the world, so naturally there were some of New York's most famous designers wandering about, along with an international crowd that always comes out for events like this.

We saw Elizabeth Banks, Amanda Setton, and artist David Foote and designer Philip Lim in the crowd, all having a great time in this spactacular space! I can't begin to count the designers who attended to see all of the crystal-studded wedding gowns an accessories.

Even the paparazzi were there!! The venue, 620 Loft & Garden, in the British Empire Building at Rockefeller Center is a New York gem. You may have seen Spiderman scaling the walls of this building in his last movie, but it is more spectacular in person.

You could actually have a wedding reception there, I'm told it can accommodate as many as 150 guests. We had a great time, this brand introduction was an event I won't soon forget. ciao!

omg, what a day to be on tv

It's scary to watch all these crazy things going on, wall street rescues, credit crunches, and my own bank is now owned by some other bank. The stock market was up, but now it's down, everybody seems confused. But, today was HSN day for me, with two shows featuring some new designs. Of all days, so much news made it hard to concentrate. It is hard not to love the incredible earrings, customers were so positive it made me feel great My journey to HSN studios in Florida featured an uneventful flight compared to my last one. The studios are upgrading to HDTV, and for the first time I wore the special makeup that is used for the high definition cameras. There are some talented makeup artists there, and lots of airbrushing! I was amazed that they apply colors and textures that we would never use to go out on the street, but with these lights and cameras the makeup comes out just right. The people who work with the on-air talent and us vendors are all a pleasure to work with, and lots of viewers and callers liked the products I brought to show. I am thrilled to be able to have my designs available in the HSN marketplace.

We had the baroque ruffle earring featured, this is a creation that I worked on for Swarovski. The people at Swarovski commisioned a select few designers from around the world to create something special to kick off the Crystallized Swarovski Elements brand. My Baroque Ruffle was chosen, and will be part of this promotion that will be unveiled in New York soon. It was just unbelievable to be able to offer this on HSN, and the viewers loved the piece.

You can see this one and the whole jewelry collection on the hsn.com website. With all that has been going on, I am so glad that I decided to work with HSN, doing so makes my stuff available to more people at a better price than at some retail stores. Take a look at a couple of the clips that HSN posted on Youtube, hope you like them.

co·te·rie : an intimate and often exclusive group of persons with a unifying common interest

It's time for the coterie!!! This is probably the best fashion trade show in New York. It's a juried show so each designer must apply and wait for acceptance. I always get anxious, even though I've been doing this for years. Usually you need to be super-famous, or have great sales and be a hot hot line. Must have been one of the above, cause I got a great booth location in the Javits Center. Sometimes if they are not sure about you, the booth will be over on a pier near the hudson river.. ..


I love doing the coterie, which takes place twice a year. It's fun to set up the booth, to wander around the convention center and check out the merchandise that my fellow designers have on display. Like a family, the other designers and I get to see each other, get a cup of coffee and catch up. Sometimes it is not easy to find your way around, this event has over 1200 exhibitors. This year, around the exhibit hall they set up cute little 'lunch trains' that look like subway cars that served up some nice snacks. Customers come from all over the world, usually buyers for upscale stores although anyone with proper trade identification can get in to look around. This week, we saw accounts from Spain, Japan, Mexico and Dubai. The long distance winner was a buyer from New Zealand!

We are showing our bestsellers, a new line of earrings made with Crystallized by Swarovski Austrian crystals. The reception has been fabulous, and plenty of people have come over to the booth over the last couple of days. We're told that there will be 14,000 people coming through the doors, and I like to see as many of them as possible! Once the show is over, we head back to the studio to count up the orders and give instructions to the factory in Rhode Island. Then it's time to relax and enjoy the wonderful weather here in New York this week. And why not, it's the last week of summer. enjoy!

100 years

Is it really 100 years already? Last night the Accessories Council held an event to commemorate “100 years of Accessories Magazine”. I took their word for it that the concept of accessories even existed way back then. But it was a fantastic affair, with a great crowd. There are so many amazing places to have a party in New York City, this event was at a great new place called espace. The place is all the way down 42nd street, almost to the Hudson River, and it was packed with people from all over.

This is market week in New York, a time when the city fills with buyers and people who follow what the buyers are buying. It's time to order merchandise that will define what will be the 2008 “holiday” items you’ll see in stores in a couple of months.
This upcoming holiday season will feature some beautiful dark colors, there will be lots of rich dark browns, grays and deep topaz. Designs will be more intricate and complicated for the holiday season, and we’ve got some great Swarovski crystals in the hot holiday colors on display.

Hosted by the Accessories Council, (a national advocacy organization) there were representatives from the world's biggest brand names, retailers and associated providers for the eyewear and footwear industries. Heidi Bentsen from Swarovski was there, and we were both in black (as usual !!). I like to go to meet people, check out the trends, see what everyone is wearing and what they think the buyers will be buying this week. Hopefully everyone will like the chandelier earrings in the soon-to-be-hot rich dark brown and deep topaz. I included a pic of one below. It’s amazing that what is on display now will be in a store window as a ‘must-have’ Christmas gift in about 3 months.