Is your New Year’s Eve outfit all squared away. I did the hard part for you, narrowing down your party dress choices from everything on the Interwebs to 75 perfect party dresses. If you missed it, click back because I know you will definitely find one (at least one!) you like.
What? You need shoes too? Must I do everything for you? No, that’s fine; that’s why I’m here. Here are 30 perfect pairs of party shoes from StyleCarrot partners. I went heavy on the glitter, but seriously, when else do you get to pretend your’e a princess? There are a few sexy blood red heels too, as well as cobalt blue, and the prettiest shades of pink pumps.
Dancing, dancing, dancing. I’m a dancing machine. (That’s sung. If you don’t know the tune, you are not a child of the ’70s.) Have fun!
P.S. The purse and jewelry are on you.
1 Hoss Burgundy Velvet Heels, $326 at Anthropologie.
2 Jeffrey Campbell Gold Peep Toe Heels at Bloomingdale’s.
3 Paola d’Arcano Cobalto Pumps, $398 at Anthropologie.
4 Badgley Mischka Nude Peep Toe Pump, $245 at Zappos.
5 Kenneth Cole Metallic Cage Pumps, $150 at Bloomingdale’s.
Many of you are probably still in the crush of the holiday rush. But since I celebrate Hanukkah, my present giving season is complete. My husband and I celebrate our anniversary on Christmas Eve -a spur of the moment elopement – so there’s opportunity for one more give and get, but the real buying, and by that I mean the buying for the kids, is complete.
That means it’s time to move on to planning the perfect New Year’s Eve outfit. Or you might have some holiday parties to attend. I’ll likely cozy up at home. But if I were planning a rocking New Year’s Eve, I’d start trying on dresses right now. There’s nothing worse than buying a party ensemble under pressure. After all this research I may just make a buy so I have a pretty party dress on hand.
I may have gone overboard—there are 75 party dress picks here from StyleCarrot partners and other sources. Lots of lace happening this season. There’s a turquoise lace dress by DVF; a cobalt lace dress from J.Crew, and a one-shouldered navy lace number fromReiss. (Princess Kate should totally dare to wear that.) Of course there are plenty of metallics. Metallic gold and gunmetal dresses, as well as jacquard (big trend right now, especially at Tory Burch), and a sprinkling of sequins. Plus capes. Channel Gwyneth and try a dress with a cape. The white one from Pixie Market is darling. 01
What would I wear? If I were a tiny bit younger and going dancing, I think #3 is really cute, though I’d probably opt for #33, the pleated midi by Rebecca Taylor or #47, the gold wrap dress. The stripey sequin Marc dress, #16 is adorable, especially paired with those studded clogs. The green knotted Lanvin silk shift (#25) is more my style these days, if I could afford it, along with #38, the modern minimalist black gabardine from Ssense. (Everything from Ssense is fierce. For a more festive feel but still considering comfort, I like #49, a black embellished chiffon shift by Velvet.
With all the attention paid to crystal encrusted statement necklaces and sparkly earrings in the last few years, it’s refreshing to see jewelry with a minimalist aesthetic make an appearance. Triangles in particular have been popular.
In early November I put together “All the Angles,” a roundup of geometric jewelry for the Boston Globe. Here’s a followup on that, with many more modern geometric jewelry picks, from triangle necklaces in marble or copper to rose gold pyramid studs to diamond encrusted geometric rings, from StyleCarrot partners and other sites I love.
S H O P P I N G
1 Tri-Color Triangles Necklace, $78 at Samantha Faye.
2 Brass Necklace #3 by Iacoli & McAllister, $70 at Room68.
3 Black Marble & Brass Necklace #1, $120 at RillRill.
4 Temple Ray Studs by Bing Bang, $150 at Club Monaco.
5 Zen Square Ring with Crystals by Campbell, $98.50 at Club Monaco.
6 Tyler Triangle Diamond Studs by Jennifer Zeuner, $165 at Dress Boston.
Earlier this summer, Shelley Simpson, designer and founder of tabletop line Mud Australia, visited Boston for the first time. Natalie van Dijk Carpenter, owner of South End boutique Lekker Home, hosted her for an evening. I was out of town, but was able to catch up with her a few days later by phone.
Shelley Simpson and Natalie van Dijk Carpenter at Lekker Home in Boston.
Mud Australia porcelain is handmade in the company’s Sydney factory by in-house ceramicists, from Limoges porcelain, sourced directly from France. Unlike much tableware, to which the color is applied after the fact, Mud Australia tints the porcelain beforehand, which provides a distinctive depth of color. (It also means if a piece chips, the exposed portion isn’t white.) The interior of each piece has a vitrified stone-like surface that becomes smooth with handling, but the interior is hand-brushed with a clear glaze. The look and feel is organic and the colors neutral, punctuated with a few brights.
When did you first start making pottery?
When I was 28, I moved from Melbourne to Sydney, where I rented a house with a woman named Joy, who had a kick wheel in her back shed. She was always harassing me to have a go with it. One weekend when she was away, I got some clay and played around. She was very cross with me because she said my things were prettier than hers!
So you didn’t start out as a ceramicist?
I’m creative, but I’m not trained in art. I draw now, but nothing like my 13-year-old son, who has a natural gift for it. But I have an eye for color and form. My schooling has been throwing things away.
How did you decide to pursue it as a business?
I had applied to manage a theater, but they looked me over, in part because I was a woman. Joy and I started Mud Australia together in 1994, though she left the business after a few years and I’ve continued on.
And now?
Mud Australia has 70 shapes and 18 colors. We’ve been focusing on new shapes lately more than colors. The latest is a series of mixing bowls and baking pans. We’re doing pendant lights in three sizes, and have a mortar & pestle in production. That really shows the durability of porcelain, so you can feel confident you’re not buying something fragile.
Are there pieces that are distinctive to certain regions?
The shapes work for anything. You can eat Yorkshire pudding, sushi or Middle Eastern food from the same bowl comfortably. That said, we have a distributor in Korea with three shapes specific to their market, including a kimchi pickle dish. We also make exclusive pieces, like vases, for restaurants.
Gwen Hanson Pygget, an Australian potter who created art pieces rather than functional ones. They’re absolutely beautiful. We’re in New York City now, and just went to the Judd; his color is exquisite.
What influences you when it comes to creating pieces for Mud Australia?
I love to bake, which is how we came to add the new baking pieces. I make Pavlovas and exotic birthday cakes for my kids and other family members. I once made a snake covered in marshmallows. Almost sculptural stuff. I go all out when it comes to baking a cake. For my daughter’s 16th, I made a cake with eight layers in rainbow colors, covered with white icing. The restaurant we brought it to was very impressed. My husband makes the dinners at home. Food is very important to our family.
What’s your home like?
We live in a top-floor apartment in a four-story building in Sydney that’s an Arts & Crafts style, with an old French lift. There’s loads of trees with a vista to the harbor and a large deck; we do lots of eating al fresco. We’ve never lived in a house or on the ground. We want a garden. We are going to put the house on the market soon and find something new.
And of course you have plenty of Mud Australia dishes?
Yes, everything. And pieces that didn’t work out too.
What do you like most about your line?
Everybody’s Mud Australia dinner set is unique to them, which I think sets us apart from other companies that present full collections. When you go to the store, you can get creative, which is fun. You can buy one piece at a time. Your collection can be a complete rainbow, or blackm white, and gray, or all pastels. Recently, one guy did slate and pink, which I wouldn’t have thought of, but when I was packing it up I thought, “This is amazing.”
After a morning (ok, and an afternoon) cavorting along Newbury Street and enjoying a lovely lunch al fresco, I’ve gathered ten more pretty items perfect for Mother’s Day. Here’s the StyleCarrot Mother’s Day Gift Guide, Part Deux.
