A smashing rope of pearls with a baroque pearl pendant caught my eye while perusing the news. It turned out to belong to a Romanov grand duchess, who escaped the Russian revolution with the help of her jewel box. According to a fascinating story in the National Post, Olga Alexandrovna, sister of Tsar Nicholas, lived out her last days in Canada, on an Ontario farm, courtesy of that string of pearls. (And many others like it, I’ll wager.) Her pearls give the term investment dressing a whole new meaning. Will you look at those pearls! I’ve said it before; I’ll say it again: pearls are the best bu ..read more

It’s fair to say that I would rather nosh on glass than discuss my health with anyone but a doctor, so you can imagine my horror when I learned I was going to have to wear a MedicAlert bracelet. “It’s bad enough I have to advertise my personal info in public, but now I have to display it on jewellery I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing…,” my inner 20-year-old was wailing.  I know; bad joke. But really: medical jewellery. When did it come to this? MAKE ESSENTIAL THINGS BEAUTIFUL I tolerated the ranting of my inner brat for a moment or two before grown-up me returned and I remembered: this a ..read more

The latest Twitter tempest — about the #righttobarearms —  sprang up as most of them do: when someone’s poorly worded tweet was misunderstood. At first I was bemused by former Prime Minister Kim Campbell taking it upon herself to criticize women newscasters who wear sleeveless shift dresses. Personally, I like the look: as sleek as Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. And certainly professional: 1950s fashion was nothing if not demure. And as I joked in Twitter, I’m all for the #righttobarearms, since it’s the best way to show off a bracelet. But I looked up the blogger she was ret ..read more

Since a pandemic has transported us back a century, I began thinking about how fashion lovers shopped in that era. Cobblers, milliners, dressmakers, tailors, and jewellers often had ateliers — workshops-with-display shops — where folks like us would buy their clothes, by appointment. It was both more social and a more private way to shop. So I think a trunk show by-appointment it is just the thing for this moment, as I’m beginning to think of 2020 as 1920 Redux: the year everything old is new again.   1920 Redux: A Trunk Show, by appointment Saturday, July 25, 2020 Granville Island Hotel ..read more

There has been no living with Theodora since she heard about a mannequin who was so famous in the 1930s that she made the cover of Life magazine. Great. Now my model has a role model. Cynthia, the star mannequin of the 1930s Theodora got particularly excited when she learned that Cynthia, as this single-named celeb was known, was invited to the wedding of Wallis Simpson and Edward VIII, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Now she has an eye (so to speak) on all the upcoming royal nuptials. And no one likes dressing for a posh wedding more than Theodora. Inspired by Cynthia, her demands don’t en ..read more

ANNUAL FALL TRUNK SHOW  
Granville Island Hotel
 Friday, Oct. 25, 11 – 7
 Saturday, Oct. 26, 10 – 5   My annual fall pop-up store is happening the same week as the Vancouver Writers Festival at Granville Island, so here’s a bonus for my fellow book lovers: if you bring a ticket from one of the events, you’ll get 10 per cent off anything you buy at that trunk show. As always, the big fall trunk show is the one where I show a wide range of statement necklaces for party season and racks of one-of-a-kind earrings. You will also find a good selection of scarf pins and bracelets. My websit ..read more

I’m on vacation until Oct 2, and I’m sorry to report that my project of training Theodora to fill orders has been a fiasco. She’s a lovely model, but a lousy assistant. So no website orders will be filled until I return. But if you’re in Vancouver you may want to wait a few weeks, until my big fall show, which is loaded with one-of-a-kind pieces.   FALL TRUNK SHOW OCT. 25 & 26 My biggest trunk show of the year is happening this year on Granville Island GRANVILLE ISLAND HOTEL Friday Oct. 25 — 11 a.m. to 7 p.m Saturday, Oct. 26 — 10 a.m to 5 p.m. My pop-up coincides with the Vancouver ..read more

Excuse me: do you happen to know who decides when we are “too old” to do something? I was reading articles about middle-aged Madonna, being “too old” to make pop music and it occurred to me that if I had listened to that ageist nonsense, I’d have never had a career as a jewellery designer. Witty Fiona Sturges in the Guardian expressed my outrage over the unvarnished sexism aimed at Madonna, and by extension, all Baby Boomers and GenXers who refuse to be invisible: “In the minds of her most vicious detractors… she would be better off binning the fishnets, putting on a nice cardie and waiting f ..read more

You can now find Anne Carson Design at that Vancouver fashion institution, LeslieJane in West Vancouver at 1480 Marine Drive. The charming shop just celebrated its 40th anniversary last year, which is no mean feat in this economic climate. The store was named for the founder Leslie Jane Tyrell, a fashion illustrator who wanted a boutique that sold the kind of clothes she preferred. She sourced stylish pieces made by small fashion houses that did limited production lines made from high-quality fabrics. LeslieJane has always catered to women who want a look that is all ..read more

I think I’ve finally figured out why those Scandinavian countries are always topping the international happiness lists: they read. A lot. In Iceland they even have an event called the Christmas book flood and it sounds as if it could easily become my favourite holiday. On Christmas Eve everyone gives everyone else books as gifts and then all 330,000 of them hunker-down, with good food and grog, to read.  Well, sign me up! As it happens, I already have a private holiday that is very much like this. On one day over the winter break, I like to lounge around in my pyjamas readi ..read more