Pamela Love Fall 2012

The New York native Pamela Love has blown away any critiques of her jewellery range once again, with a noticeably different appeal about her collection. Presented on models with smudged eyeshadow across their face and tough, thick brown overalls the lovely ladies were presented as metal smiths themselves which helped to create a really strong and rooted background story about the collection. It's missing all the skulls and gore, as well as crystals that I've come to know and love about jewellery from Pamela Love, but I still admire it for its strong ethnic appeal and folk art interpretation. 

The stand out pieces that are new and exciting in terms of the Pamela Love jewellery family are the large statement collar necklaces featuring large geometric shapes and inlaid turquoise pieces. What's wonderful about this large statement collar necklace shown above is that as the design narrows, two chains are used to secure the piece making it more of a bib necklace than a true metal collar. I've always been drawn to the suggestive and sexual nature of a collar necklace but had my doubts about the comfort of wearing one as well as putting it on for the evening bu with the simple use of chains and a necklace clasp, it appears Pamela Love has come to my salvation.

 

Although industrialism was at the heart of the runway show with an ominous boiler room pipe centre piece at the back of the stage, I can't help but notice that hammered pieces of copper jewellery with semi-precious stones is missing a grittiness in their own design. Instead I am reminded of the Mayan and Aztec influence and pyramids as well as the sound of pan flutes playing in the air- the gorgeous and intricate design of this necklace in its tiered design of multiple panels would certainly be something to be proud of it were a part of your wardrobe. I'm sure it would earn quite a lot of attention when worn in attendance at a fashion runway event with fashion bloggers abound and maybe a vintage shirt just to mix things up a bit.

 

I must admit that the minimalist and strong sense of creation about the collection really does create a lot of open space to present the earrings, necklaces and bracelets of the collection of the model. I can imagine the large collar necklaces being draped over a black shirt during the daytime with cut off denim shorts and at night worn with a dress featuring a sexy dart down the side to show off the legs. As much as I admire the new direction Pamela Love has taken and the understanding of her collector like habits for trinkets and pieces of silver I do wish there was a more religious and dark grunge aesthetic style about the pieces. Give me skulls and bird talons brushed in oxidised silver anyday.

Another Mayan/ Aztec/ tribal favourite when it comes to an approach with jewellery is the combination of turquoise and red stones in warrior like designs and shapes such as the daring and dangling conical earrings. I love the dedication and small puzzle like pieces of all of the necklaces, especially the dual tiered effect of these two necklaces to match the earrings. I would never be daring enough to try these pieces on for myself, I haven't been inspired by a lot of these necklaces in an artifact-like fashion but more vintage clothing and second hand recycling. I'm sure they could feature well in an editorial piece for models travelling around on sure footed donkeys and lead by Sherpas for Fall/ Winter collections in Peru.

Small hints of the Pamela Love I came to know, love and adore are apparent in the use of darkening around the turquoise stones of the collar necklace as well as the stunning ear cuffs shown right featuring dangling chains. I've been toying with the idea of getting an ear cuff myself since I don't want any more piercings but I don't think the Pamela Love range is quite what I'm after, you have to really love the tribal and Aztec pattern to commit to it so thoroughly. The silver and oxidised patterns on the long dangling panel earrings is really something though and for someone who has small lobes I could easily swing for a pair of those and a good pair of thick vintage glasses.

As if it wasn't enough to include impressive pieces of turquoise in the design of their statement necklaces for the Pamela Love Fall 2012 collection, there's even geometric designs of triangular and angular lines in the turquoise pieces themselves. These types of necklaces are the toast of the collection for me, but it would require someone with a long neck as well as beautiful stature to really wear the piece and have a fierce and determined look about them. The focus of the models to deliver a look and stare of cold and steely determination is really something that has evolved the Pamela Love collection and

I was surprised to see a runway show from the brand. I suppose when you work in a studio in New York there are big things expected of you and you need to deliver things in big and bold, exciting and ingenuitive ways. While this collection may not have been my favourite of all her collections so far, I have great faith in Pamela Love and her ability to deliver stunning jewellery in a creative manner as well as improving her designs to impress the masses of fashion hungry girls, such as myself.

Pamela Love Jewellery

I've kept the name of Pamela Love under my little directory of cool, grungy, Gothic inspired silver jewellery for about two, nearly three years now and it's time I shared just a few of her pieces with you! Previously, I had written about the collaboration with Pamela Love as well as opening Ceremony as inspired by the movie (based on children's book) Where the Wild Things Are. It seems that she's also had another collaboration with Opening Ceremony featuring beaded skull necklaces on dangling silver chains which you can see by scrolling further down but here are some of the golden oldies and her newer pieces.

  

Above is a mock raw crystal necklace in decadent grungy silver and matched with silver nail polish. It would make a hell of a knuckle-duster; I myself favour wearing heavy set rings in case of a scuffle and fight in which I can find a weapon to defend myself with readily. I've never needed to resort to those measures though...

In a guest blog appearance for the Opening Ceremony website,Pamela Love showed off some of her inspiration and trinkets collected from the duration of her life including a friendly looking snake charm carved in wood. Perhaps that was inspiration for this coiled snake around a thick and chunky piece of amethyst coloured quartz? Well I just love it and the tinted colour as the stone gets darker towards the bottom of the gem and I do like snake motifs but I am rather picky and pretentious about their execution. They can't look too skinny or fat and they mustn't look threatening is my criteria- I also prefer that they have a  friendly smile.

This style of necklace has been much imitated in online stores far and wide on Etsy but I do love the design of sharp little daggers offered by Pamela Love in her collaborating with Opening Ceremony in a range of colours. My taste in fashion and jewellery is wide, varied and undisciplined and this is one of the few tribal looking pieces I am attracted, but who could say no to those little grinning teeth and big empty eye sockets? These necklaces make a great statement piece when worn below a coloured shirt buttoned up all the way.

 

The silver cross necklace that seemingly ensnares your finger in a small cage has been a favourite among fashion bloggers and has been sold through quite a few popular online stores in the past including Net-A-Porter. It's one of the rings that really mesmerised me and drew me into the collection as well as Pamela Love's other large chunky silver rings. I still have a soft spot for them after so many weeks and months- they hold a little bit of nostalgia for me I guess in that sense.
 

 

Another heavy set ring featuring a cross that is a 'crowd favourite' as it were is this large and detailed beast with oxidised black top as well as detail on engraved scripture and shoulder motifs as well.The last time I saw this ring on eBay the seller was asking for close to $800 AUD, so if you happen to own this ring, or indeed, any of the jewellery pieces shown here or created by Pamela Love, count yourself a very lucky person. I bet modern day witches would be all over the silver goodness of her collection and the oxidised detail and style of her jewellery.

Believe it or not, but this silver ring above is my favourite ring from across all her collections and ranges. The moon phase ring, featuring a large rectangular tablet shaped face and four moon phases in engraved and oxidised finish to give off this black look. It too costs some few hundreds of dollars and has been one of the more rare rings to track down from Pamela Love so if I had the money and managed to sell, oh, say half of my wardrobe on eBay I may get this little beast of a ring right after I pop out and get myself an iPad. However all this is wishful thinking and with university orientation coming up I'm going to have to save money to pay for a small laptop for notes as well as keeping money aside for functions for first year students. The next few months will be busy and busier!

The final thick and juicy rectangular tablet shaped silver ring from Pamela Love that I adore is this sword ring- I actually like the detail and pattern on the band on this ring more than the moon ring but I still love the motif of the moon phases a bit more than the sword. It must be all my study of Literature, there are constant suggestions that the moon is feminine, soft, passive and is a representation of the night; whereas the sun represents the day and is supposedly active and masculine. Phoebe, Diana and Artemis are the goddess' of the moon and are named after woman so maybe as a creature of feminine whiles and grace I favour the moon as an unconscious decision?

The artist and jewellery designer Pamela Love has as of late, been favouring crystal's whether they be fake or metallic and I absolutely adore the trend but the structure of the rings seems a little dubious to me. The necklaces in the shape of a crescent moon and arch are gorgeous and so is the copper coloured metal used- very chic and unusual.

I still don't own a skull necklace by Pamela Love and I swear they've been in store for months now! Slack on my part, but maybe I've just been waiting for the perfect colour to come along, such as this bright cherry red shade of skulls as well as little daggers hanging out of their smiling craniums.

An Outsider look at Pamela Love

I find myself continuously back-flipping between glamorous vintage style jewellery and dark Gothic pieces made of silver and worn by creatures of the night. What's worse is that there's now the vintage and kitsch domestic inner  goddess longing to break free and buy everything possible on Etsy. One thing that seems to stay constant is my attraction towards this dark grunge style of jewellery from Pamela Love, as well as fangs necklace from Perks And Mini and now Bloodmilk Jewellery as well. As hard as I try to turn my back on witch-like jewellery, the harder it draws me back in with it's allure and I am not complaining at all. I love the crystal necklaces, silver crosses as well as bone motifs and Ouija board pointers.

Sometime later today I will begin to clean my room again and put some clothes back I took out for my outfit posts; I can't wait to move out of my old room and move into a more adult setting where I'll have crystal agate/ geode book ends as well as small glass bottles and Polaroids made of felt about the place. For such a creative release it should get both sides of my brain working since I'll be studying science for the next three years at least. I'll need the occasional creative workout too as well as logic. That's another reason I'm itching to join clubs at university and meed people who actually decorate/ want to live in a similar manner to myself.

The designer of Pamela Love knows just what's right to showoff her pieces to their best ability teaming them up with long locks of tangled hair tumbling down in large waves as well as black and white filtered effects for photography and grungy, old-worn shirts. Although the clothing is very basic and minimalist, the jewellery such as this heavy signet ring strung on a silver chain, the snake charm and earrings have a dark gypsy quality about them. I bet the pieces she creates would look so good with ear cuffs.

Here is my model hero, Alexa Chung pictured on the right with the designer of the silver jewellery range Pamela Love; at the back you can see some of the thicker set silver crosses from the range as well as dream catchers and cowboy boots. I love what Alexa is wearing (no real surprise, I always do) the pattern looks so good in the black and white filter and both the lovely ladies eyes are outlined by thick mascara too.

As well as crosses, claws and talons have also been recreated in silver for their jewellery range which looks great when layered upon another Pamela Love piece such as this cross? The snakeskin patterned blouse as well as purple streaks through the hair above ooze character and charisma and the tan skin peaking from the unbuttoned shirt is an interesting and surprising quirk as well.

Bird Brain

Birds and I have a long rich history together, mainly how they sort of terrorize me despite their little size and me being afraid of them. I mean sure, I've been swooped before and that was more annoying than anything but their dried out tongues sometimes freak me out a little. Not very good when you want to be a veterinarian I suppose. Still, I do quite like the use of birds in design such as their silhouette in a print repeated on silk of even their claws being used in jewellery whether they are clasping your wrist or a small gem as a ring. The combination of the two elements in this single outfit was rather ingenious though, I tip my cap to however put this together.

At the shop I work at a girl had a tattoo of silhouette birds; it had a softer tone to it and less detail on the wings. There wasn't the finely sketched out feather though and I have seen this motif before but I do like the way this single photograph shows three shots of the flying birds from a single tattoo. It's probably the best artistic execution I have seen. Seeing something like this really put my faith back into tattoos as a platform of art, each bird is different and has a unique position springing from the top of the feather and every fibre has been meticulously drawn onto the skin with care. Whoever did this must be a master of their art form.

Never before have I seen birds such as these but I'd love to know the species or at least be able to get a good look at the mixture of colours on the birds. There's something very picturesque about the way they travel in large crowds as well as the poise of the neck, the striking black tipped and yellow beak as well as the brighter and darker breast of the bird. I'm sure if taken on by the appropriate fashion label a digital print of this image on a silk dress along the hem of a long maxi dress could be a runaway success.

As well as the bird silhouette blazer in a khaki colour, silver bangle featuring a gnarled bird's claw like something out of Edgar Allen Poe's poem 'The Raven' there's a tiny bird skull necklace thrown in as well? I love the empty eye sockets used to thread through the necklace chain and the side profile which shows off this tiny feature in design. While I love everything about the coordination of this outfit I do hope that these pieces were worn more than once and not specially bought for this single shot. It looks like something from a magazine but it's distinctly missing the ghostly pale writing in the corner of the designer pieces and their price tags.

Pamela Love X Opening Ceremony: Where the Wild Things Are Jewellery

I was interested in the 'Where the Wild Things Are' movie and the very adult take on such a simple children's book- it was the story of an outsider from many different view points and the struggle to reconcile relationships and how we relate to everyone else in our family. Amid the hype of the adapted novel and movie came the collaboration of Pamela Love's jewellery range and crafting of dark, gritty, oxidised jewellery as well as the alternative design and fashion Opening Ceremony brings across the globe to fashion hungry young people. I loved the motifs in the collection which remihnd me of the scenes of the movie.

There were the feathers from Douglas, in either a broad and artistic cuff or shaped in a crown reminiscent of Max's first encounter with the wild beasts and his clever wiles which save him from becoming their dinner. I'm not a fan of broad cuffs myself, there's too much restraint on my wrist movement and too much of it rubbing into and cutting softly into my skin. Still though, it's a lovely and rare design to see in jewellery especially in a cuff with such width to it. Pamela Love has made many lovely dark and earthy pieces of jewellery from silver such as rings, necklaces and bracelets and although I have not yet been lucky enough to own or even have a play of her pieces I trust her craftsmanship and her name affiliated with any piece of silver jewellery. The fact that it's a collboration with Opening Ceremony and they've taken inspiration from the children's book 'Where the Wild Things Are' only sweetens the deal.

This cuff is more my style, not as thick and broad and a better more usual shape in a strip with a claw scratching and carving into it. There's a lovely scene in which Mac uses the claw of one of the monsters to draw a love heart into wood with their initials. Reminds me of all the times I wished I had a sweetheart's initials to carve into trees or write on foggy windows. Now that I have one I haven't had time to do any of those activities but I'm sure that it's now not as important as I once thought. There's nothing more gruesome than a clawed hand carving and cutting the tought bark on a tree sitting on your wrist and seemingly trying to cut at that too.

My favourite and most coveted piece of the collection is a charm bracelet featuring the gold crown Max wears when adopted by the beasts, natural things such as trees, claws and feathers as well as the boat he uses to sail to their land. The links on the bracelet are much thicker and oval in shape then your everyday bracelet and there's a rough texture to them as well. My favourite charms are the crown and boat. I've seen so many photographs of youths wearing crowns made of cardboard on the micro-bloggins site Tumblr and it always reminds me of Max and Where the Wild Things Are. One day I'll but a A2 poster of metallic gold card just to make a fantastic crown. Then sooner or later I'll make my own wolf jumpsuit. If only I could find this charm bracelet on the internet to buy then my life would be completely immersed in the tale.