Last Friday night I got the mother of a Jubilee hangover! How can 6 neighbours planning a day of fun for the kids and the neighbours end up drinking and chatting till 3 am? I'm no Royalist, in fact if there was a vote today or tomorrow to get rid of them I'd be putting my X in the Yes box. Liz, it is nothing personal. In fact I really like you, Philip, Anne, Wills, Harry and new addition Kate. I love that you all provide me with entertainment, it is simply I am not a hierarchy type of person. I recognise that there will always be top dogs, that with or without Royalty the predilection of humans is to gain power and status.
Probably the only thing I truly love about Royalty and Dynasties through the ages is the pomp and ceremony. The fact they like a good pile of jewels. One of the reasons I love Wendy Brandes Fine Jewelry is her wonderful creative inspiration from history particularly those inspired by past Queens. My favourite is the Marie Antoinette ring, the Queen who famously did in the French aristocracy with her excess. Of course it was a lot more complicated than that but her contribution to it all is more interesting due to her clothes and jewellery!
I love Wendy's jewellery because she is the creative driving force, she is an independent and produces great quality items. The only point of departure for me is the skull and vampire stuff because it just ain't my bag. Her pop culture range is fantastic! It is F@#! amazing. How I would love to get me some silver or gold swear rings to wear to our Jubilee bash. Well it seems as if Topshop thought so too and intentionally or unintentionally 'ripped off' the design and made some cheap versions of which I'm not going to link too. The notion of swear rings or designs borne of historical context is nothing new. Creativity is often aligned, but seriously in this case 'ripped off' is the only explanation given the exactness of the cheaper version execution.
All Wendy can do is persist in a shaming campaign against Topshop. Much in the same way my 3am fun has resulted in me not being able to face the thought of wine again for a long long time. Sometimes you overdose on good times and Topshop you need to rein in the excess of covering all bases and perhaps ask for or pay for creativity.
Wendy has a range of jewellery of which most is higher end products but having seen the designs and the quality in real life I'm spoiled by the knowledge. I would choose to buy from Wendy all the time if I could afford to and I'm saving up for a higher end piece as it will a wonderful piece to own.
Meanwhile I'm preparing my world for the arrival of puppy Patches and still selling a jewellery range that has its own fine jewellery design team, collaborates with jewellery designers and is a mid range offering. Stella & Dot thankfully doesn't attempt to steal the crown jewels of another designer but it is offering a Jubilee jewel in the form of the Elizabeth bracelet priced at £26 as HRH was born in 1926.
Whether you are joining in, flag waving and getting into the spirit or thinking B*!!@#^$ to it all there is a piece of jewellery to suit you mood and your price range - just don't go down to Topshop and waste your pennies you all!
* 20% of proceeds from the Limited Edition Elizabeth Bracelet to help raise proceeds for The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust. The Trust aims to distribute all donations across a wide variety of charities ensuring many small charities across the commonwealth receive the support they so need.
UPDATE earlier this evening Topshop tweeted an apology to Wendy Brandes and have withdrawn their rings!!
That is so awful, I didn't know that this had been going on. Topshop are becoming notorious for ripping off other designs, it is really pathetic x
ReplyDeleteI know isn't it the pits! Still at least we can react & use blogging plus twitter to good effect x
DeleteI'm really touched by your support. It's funny, the Internet helps these companies find designs to copy but it also helps catch them in the act.
ReplyDeleteIt is a pleasure. Fact is your jewellery is so covet-able so I can understand the why but yep thanks goodness for people power & twitter xx
DeleteBlogging and twitting is an effective way! People can share their reality with everyone so we could know about situations like the TopShop one.
ReplyDeleteI always see Royals as Tourism Ambassadors... we don't have any where i live .
ReplyDeleteYikes, I had no idea they had ripped off WendyB's design.... at least they apologized for it.