"Faux bijoux are the greatest asset to a wardrobe," Iris Apfel states in the foreword to the volume Fashion Jewelry - The Collection of Barbara Berger. It's hard to disagree with her when you see some iconic jewellery designs made with humble materials such as plastic or paper but characterised by beautiful colours and shapes.
Yet if you're not a professional jewellery collector and you don't have enough money to become one, you may think it's hard to come up with your own series of fake but stunning jewellery. Or maybe not. You may indeed become really inventive and create something extraordinary using cheap materials.
Remember for example the bracelet and earrings made with plastic makeup brushes with multi-coloured bristles made for Karl Lagerfeld in 1987 but designed by Ugo Correani?
Well, here's a reinvented version of those pieces - a necklace. In this case I have used the makeup brushes and beads you can find in the Tiger Stores (note: the makeup brushes for this project must have a solid base that can be easily pierced with an electric/hand drill without collapsing and these brushes came up as the best option - remember: you may have to remove some of the internal bristles after drilling the holes). It may take sometime to pierce the brushes and let the thread (or in this case the thick elastic thread) pass through them, but the result is terrific.
In her foreword to Fashion Jewelry, Iris Apfel also claims that costume jewellery is about style and not status, how could you disagree with her when you see a fun piece that instantly puts a smile on your face?
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