I first spotted this charming range of jewellery when flicking through a cheap and girly teenage magazine many years ago and there was an alphabet of cool stuff. Q was for quirky jewellery which stared some of the more exciting porcelain pieces from the brand Iggy and Lou Lou including these bear charm necklaces from their collection dubbed, 'I will eat you Alive'.
I found the range very alluring and attractive- the bears where grizzly and made to look scary and threatening rather than the run-of-the-mill teddy bear charms you find everywhere else. Alas, I have never found another brand to work with porcelain in this day and age as much as Iggy and Lou Lou.
The first three necklaces feature cost over $500 AUD, including a gold chain, a porcelain bear necklace with gold detailing. The first grizzly is holding what at first I thought was a blob of honey but I have now nutted it out to be a golden piece of fish. He's cutely cocking his head to the side like a confused and intrigued dog- which makes the piece a little more endearing and cuddly looking despite the claws and black painted detail of his face and fur. The other two bear charms are posing in the typical stuffed bear pose: that is with their claws outstretched and standing on their hind legs looking as terrifying as possible.
My brother and I have a theory between us that many a year ago when a brown bear was spotted say, either asleep or when at it's most vulnerable it would be shot and then the taxidermist would then make it into the most terrifying position possible. I'm glad we no longer shoot animals for the sake of making the offices of businessmen look intimidating and instead we imitate and recreate their bodies in fine porcelain to be worn around the necks of charming women.
As well as jewellery such as charms for necklace pendants, Iggy and Lou Lou have also dabbled in making porcelain home wares. From the 'I will Eat you Alive' collection there are the bowls and vase, both made from porcelain and covered in intricate designs brought out by the paint of either black or brown. On the vase is the grizzly bear motif with honey covered on his paws and surrounding him appears to be other creatures and a sort of a forest. I have to admit, I normally find home wares shops a drag even though my mother loves them but if I were to receive something like this vase or even the bowls I would display them promptly in my room. Too bad it's been months since I last received flowers... and I'm far too lazy to explore my own garden to construct a bouquet for myself.
This pendant would be the perfect gift for any Californian missing home- I myself have a California state flag with a few signatures here and there from when I went on a two week student exchange to America. The damn thing keeps drooping from one corner, despite the fact the blue tack was able to support the weight of the rather large flag it suddenly seems too heavy all of a sudden. I like the charm, it's very cute and actually looks like a bear as you would find one in the wild. My mother is planning a holiday for the two of us in a year or two to Canada so maybe I'll be able to see some wild bears for myself? If I can't then I'll just make do and drool over the Iggy and Lou Lou online website and their lovely pieces. It's been unchanged for months and months now, but at least they're still keeping their website up. I always get incredibly frustrated when I'm unable to view a brand of shops website after being able to do so for weeks.
Not digging bears? Don't worry! There are plenty more collections Iggy and Lou Lou have put out and within the 'I will Eat you Alive' collection there's also ferocious looking tigers baring their teeth. The detail on the brown tiger looks a bit better- there's a more defined gaping mouth and scowling facial expression shown. I'm a bit addled as to why there's so many different types of necklaces used to show of their pieces and Iggy and Lou Lou can't stick to one sort of chain. At least they have the same sort of production and style when they create their porcelain pieces.
Throughout their entire collection I always prefer the brown painted porcelain charms on the gold necklaces, although with the three-dimensional bears I'm not too picky. Beggars can't be choosers and since their pieces are limited edition, once they've been sold they're never coming back! Unfortunately a lot of my favourite pieces have been sold out but there is flexibility with some of those pieces in terms of variation on a design with a different finish or colour of the necklace.
