Green, Glam and Hair Gems Light Up The Met

Kate Hudson in Stella McCartney

Red carpet fashion gawking doesn't get much better than the annual Metropolitan Museum of Art's annual Costume Institute Gala. And since this year honored the late Alexander McQueen - the fashion-forward had a field day, turning jewelry style quite literally - on its head.


It looks like the Brits aren't the only ones with a penchant for haute couture headwear. Everyone from newly engaged Kate Hudson and Jessica Alba to uber-designer Stella McCartney and Fergie put icy diamonds on their tresses.

Stella McCartney

Jessica Alba in Ralph Lauren dress and jewelry

Although (and I risk the wrath of Campbell when I say this...) this isn't one of Naomi's better fashion moments.Yikes!

It appears green is still the 'go-to' color for gemstones, with Rihanna, Ginnfer Goowdwin, Mary Kate Olsen, Tory Burch, and many others channeling their inner Kermit for couture's sake.

Rihanna in Stella McCartney and Wilfredo Rosado jewelry

Ginnifer Goodwin in TopShop and Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry

Mary Kate Olsen in Givenchy Couture and Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry

 

Great statement earrings shined on the likes of Kristin Bell, Lea Michele and Cristina Hendricks.

Kristin Bell in Tory Burch and Amrapali Earrings

Ashely Greene in Donna Karan and Lorraine Schwartz jewelry

Lea Michele in Escada and Kimberly McDonald earrings

And, of course, diamonds still rule when it comes to red carpet sparkle. I was pleasantly surprised to see Madonna in this understated, spidery look by Cartier. And the "less-is-more" queens of diamond stud-wear wore just the right splash of sparkle (although, Michelle Williams? It's time to mix it up, sister.)

Madonna in Stella McCartney and Cartier jewelry

Taylor Swift in J. Mendel and Lorraine Schwartz jewelry

Sarah Jessica Parker in Alexander McQueen

Jennifer Lopez in Gucci and H. Stern jewelry

Who wore your favorite look of the night?

Kate Hudson's Engagement Ring Details!

Bling, baby bumps and now - Mrs. Bellamy? Kate Hudson's engagement ring made its dazzling debut with Matt Lauer on the Today Show this morning - and boy is it a doozy. 

UsMagazine.com reports the ring is likely a 9-carat rock - which isn't in the Mariah Carey (17-carats) or Beyonce (18-carats) stratosphere, but it's certainly of a caratage befitting the A-list.

The center stone appears to be an emerald-cut gem (actually, it looks a lot like Beyonce's engagement ring) with baguettes on either side set in a white metal - which for this crowd means platinum. One of my favorite Tweeps, Jean from Francesca Fine Jewelry tells me it's worth an estimated $200,000!

Will be on the lookout for more specs, but it's surprising to see such a 'traditional' look on Hudson, who is known as the queen of alternative fashion and boho chic.

Click here to see a video of the big ring reveal.

Kate later told Lauer that wedding plans will be taking a back seat to all things baby, as she's expecting her second child with hubby-to-be, Matt Bellamy, in the next few months. 

Babies, bling and betrothal! Now that's a triumvirate worth babbling about!

Chopard Celebrates with the A-List

Jewelry events thrown by luxury design houses are often the best parties for bauble gawking, and no one does it better than Chopard.

Celebrating 150 years of sparkling style and the launch of their couture collection, Animal World (see an earlier post for details), the Swiss watch and jewelry maker threw a soiree last night at Manhattan's Frick Museum where A-list beauties mingled with high society - all dripping in Chopard diamonds.


Gwyenth Paltrow looked lovely in a long lace Antonio Berrardi gown with Chopard’s fancy shape diamond chandeliers set in platinum (24.2 carats) and a rose cut diamond ring set in platinum (13.3 carats).

Kate Hudson sparkled in a grey Lanvin number with Chopard’s chalcedony, sapphire, diamond and iolite chandeliers, a multicolor pearl (558 carats) and diamond (54 carats) sautoir and south sea pearl, pink and black diamond ring. Stunning.

Christina Ricci worked a vintage Kermit green Galanos gown with Chopard’s fancy shape diamond earrings set in 18kt white gold (33 carats).

And Claire Danes looked lovely in Lanvin with air-shaped diamond chandelier earrings set in platinum (20 carats) and a paraiba tourmaline and diamond bracelet set in 18kt white gold (131 carats).

Finally model, Eugenia Silva, rocked Chopard’s black and white diamond swallow necklace set in 18kt rose gold ( 25 carats) and black and white swallow diamond earrings (13.6 carats) from the 150th Anniversary Collection, Animal World.

Blinded by all the ice? It gets better. The New York Times reported that one lucky socialite had to double up on the diamonds when her husband surprised her by purchasing a 'ram'-inspired Chopard necklace from the Animal World collection for, oh, a mere $250,000 - so she had to throw it over the $700,000 diamond bib number she was (sigh) already wearing.

I'm going to lose a lot of sleep thinking about her predicament. No, really.

Tribeca Film Festival Jewelry Style

Jewelry moments on the red carpet are few and far between now that Awards Season is behind us, but there are still some sparkling showings at events like the Tribeca Film Festival to crow about.

Here are few of my favorite baubles so far:

Statement Makers:

Who said the statement necklace is dead? Oh right. I did. Enter Joan Rivers, who never met a bib necklace she didn't wear with a metallic mumu.

The Celebrity Apprentice winner was there to celebrate the premiere of the documentary based on her life, aptly called A Piece of Work.

Jessica Alba and one other festivalgoer joined Joan in the big necklace brigade.





Diamond Danglers:

Kate Hudson, there to debut her film, The Killer Inside Me (and rumored new breast implants??), sparkled in a concealing Louis Vuitton cape and diamond dangle earrings.


And the always fetching Amanda Peet dangled her diamonds at the Please Give showing.


It's All in the Wrist:

Finally cuffs and bangles continue to trend big with Kristin Bell and Zoe Kravitz in chunky styles at the tony Chanel dinner held last night.


And Nikki Reed shined in some serious wristwear ice for the film, Odine.



What do you think of the Tribeca jewelry style so far? Curious about the movie line up? Click here to see the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival full schedule!

SAG Jewelry Hits and Misses

The 2010 Screen Actors Guild Awards shined a light on some unique red carpet jewelry choices for a change - some stunning, some, well, notsomuch.

The winners in my book were Diane Kruger (see my earlier post for more), Kate Hudson in over $1 million of Cartier diamonds

Marion Cotillard in over $1 million of Chopard in her hair alone (!), Christina Hendricks in another teardrop triumph (by Irit), and a glowing Christina Applegate in Lorraine Schwartz diamonds - including this unique diamond hair piece. Love it.

I'm on the fence about Meryl - like the emeralds and the Balenciaga print but am not sure it was appropriate for the occasion. I'm also not sure about Sandra Bullock's Alexander McQueen choice: is it cool or a little too 'Golden Girls go to the buffet'? Same with Drew Barrymore's navy get up, simple gold earrings and bedhead hair. Something's just off here.

Speaking of off - Joan Allen? Bless your heart, but what on EARTH were you thinking with this necklace choice? The former queen of red carpet class just jumped the shark with this ensemble - quite possibly the worst jewelry look I have covered to date. Yikes.

The disappointment continued with Vera Farmiga's unfortunate gown choice coupled with a powder blue eyeshadow look I haven't seen since the pre-teens wore it in the 80s.

And the always reliably tacky Patricia Arquette didn't disappoint with this 'Mae West meets Priscilla Queen of the Desert' interpretation. ALL Sequins? WITH gold chandeliers? Really?

As usual, I MUST know what you hounds think, so weigh in. And if the spirit moves you, check out the Jewelry.com Fashion News for more SAG jewelry buzz and their Facebook Page for a complete look at the SAG divas on display.