Rare 1970s Char­lie Chap­lin mesh bag by Whit­ing and Davis

Good news to report: It seems as though a book deal, and one I didn’t expect, may be com­ing my way in the near future. Very excited and happy. Can’t say too much now — more details will fol­low in the com­ing months. Also please be sure to watch the Project Run­way spin­off, PROJECT ACCESSORY. I was invited to and did con­tribute a few sug­ges­tions for the chal­lenges. I was told that they came up with some sim­i­lar themes prior to my sub­mis­sion — as they added, “…great minds think alike.” While I humbly thank them for the lovely com­pli­ment, I’m just dying to know which, if any, of my ideas were imple­mented. So I’ll be tun­ing in with the same spirit of inquiry as every­one else when the show airs at the end of Octo­ber: what will they ask these design­ers to do?

I’ve been doing research for my next book — the nar­ra­tive non­fic­tion, not the project men­tioned above — and the adapt­able artistry of the met­al­smith keeps return­ing to me as a dom­i­nant theme in jew­elry his­tory. I began to think about how con­tem­po­rary jew­el­ers approach things like hand­bags with their unique sense of detail, lux­ury, prac­ti­cal­ity, and style. With­out doubt, the past decades have proven that the skill of gold­smith is not lim­ited to a neck­lace or ring but may also be applied to day or evening items that women use to tote around the neces­si­ties of life. The reverse may also be true of acces­sory mak­ers who are pri­mar­ily known for things that are jewel-like but not jew­elry. Take for exam­ple Whit­ing and Davis, they been cre­at­ing mesh hand­bags since 1876, how­ever their focus has on occa­sion shifted to jew­elry, belts, and other acces­sories. No mat­ter the manufacturer’s point of view, there is no deny­ing that these are bags with bauble appeal.

Art Deco Handbag

The inte­rior of a minaudiere by Van Cleef & Arpels

A page from The Power of Jew­elry: Robert Lee Morris

Vin­tage DKNY cross­body wal­let with hard­ware designed by Robert Lee Morris

Multi­gem and Gold evening bag by Cartier, image cour­tesy of Christie’s

vin­tage Whit­ing and Davis Beggar’s bag

Whit­ing and Davis snake necklace/belt