Emmys 2014 #StyleLab Jewelry Preview

For a lot of people, the red carpet arrivals at a glamorous awards show is just as important as the award show itself. Personally I love to see who wears what outfit & the type of jewelry, handbag or shoes the person is wearing. Print & online magazines are devoted to this coverage that very same day or week. Also folks like Joan Rivers & Giuliana Rancic spend hours analyzing the fashion hits & misses. So it’s no wonder that people spend the following day talking about it!

This past Saturday, I was very excited to attend StyleLab’s exclusive jewelry suite. I  met with style expert Michael O’Connor, who gave me a preview of the jewelry trends that one could expect to see on the Emmys 2014 red carpet. He also shared with me some style tips that he uses for his clients, which I thought would be great to pass on to my readers.

It was a beautiful, picture perfect day in LA! I took this photograph from the balcony of the gifting suite while Michael was meeting with a client in one of the rooms.

Interestingly enough, after I snapped the pic, Michael had his client step out on the balcony to see how the jewelry looked in the sunny daylight. I imagine that he did that because the red carpet ceremony takes place around 3pm PST, so the bright LA sun would be very similar. During this moment, I gave them their space & did not take any photos. In any case, the jewelry looked beautiful on her!

While I was waiting for my turn to meet with Michael, I noticed these beautiful flowers along with a display of BlingGuards™. For those not familiar with BlingGuard™, these products are ingenious! The blingwraps are invisible ring guards that hold rings in place. The blingdots stabilize & support earrings, perfectly positioning them on your ears. Like their tagline says, BlingGuard™ is where function meets fabulous!

The time came for me to interview Michael O’Connor & he was a pleasure to talk to, possessing a wealth of fashion knowledge. Although I am not your typical fashion blogger, I am fascinated by pop culture & I know my readers would appreciate a little “behind the scenes” peek at award show fashion.

I asked Michael about the fashion trends for this awards season. He said that there were a lot of looks from the past, but updated with modern pieces. This retrospective look of the 50’s, 60’s & even 80’s could come into play for tonight’s Emmys fashion. Another thing to note is that although Radiant Orchid is the Pantone color of the year, the fact of the matter is that we are now in August & fashion has moved on. Michael has seen a lot of gowns recently in blue, from cobalt blue, midnight blue to robin’s egg blue.

We all know that the Los Angeles sun can be hot & when you add on the lights from the cameras, the heat from the red carpet crowd itself, well it’s no wonder that actresses tend to wear strapless gowns or bare a little bit more than what they typically wear. My question to Michael, “What does an actress wear if she isn’t comfortable with wearing a sleeveless gown or a strappy number?” He advised wearing a gown with a caplet sleeve or perhaps using a wrap, so that you can cover up lightly.

Another tip that Michael gave was to pay attention to the construction of the gown, ruching of the fabric & wearing the proper foundation (undergarments – bras & Spanx). It’s important to know what dress styles work on your body. I have to admit that I asked these questions for myself, as well as for my readers who might want some tips & tricks for their next big night out. We all have at least one body part that looks great to highlight (long legs, toned arms, etc.) but we all have certain areas that we’d like to camouflage.

Next it was on to the jewelry! According to Michael, there were a lot on the runways that had to do with the signature earring, especially the bold & big look. Color is very important in jewelry as well, especially in the statement necklace.

Some of my favorite pieces at the jewelry preview were these beautiful rings from Bellarri!

Stacked bracelets are always a big fashion trend. These bracelets by Vahan Jewelry are just beautiful! The turquoise color would totally stand out if one was wearing a gown in radiant orchid.

My favorite statement necklace is this one from Takat!

I saw several fab earrings at the jewelry suite.

However I have to say that my favorite pair is by Dena Kemp. These earrings have diamond slices – the yellow & silver that you see here are sliced diamonds, mixed with white diamonds.

So there you have it! I enjoyed this peek into the fashion world, as one gets red carpet ready for the Emmys 2014. Are you planning on watching the awards show tonight? I wonder if any of my Emmys hopes & predictions will come true? I’ll be live tweeting the show, so if you are on Twitter follow along with me! 🙂

So tell me, which of these fabulous pieces of jewelry was your favorite?

Disclosure: I attended a media event at the StyleLab Jewelry Suite. No monetary compensation was received for this post. All photos, thoughts & opinions are 100% mine.