Brooch Diplomacy - Madeleine Albright Communicates with Jewelry

If Michelle Obama is ushering in a new era of power brooch diplomacy, she wouldn’t be the first. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, a tenacious negotiator, loved to communicate her mood and intentions through her brooches, and now the Museum of Arts & Design in New York will exhibit 200 of her favorites.

Albright "found that what she wore and how she presented herself had a lot of interpretive meaning to those she was with," said Holly Hotchner, the museum's director. "The pins became an added way that she communicated as secretary of state."

"Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection," scheduled to open today, comes 10 years after the museum presented "Brooching It Diplomatically," a show of pins created by contemporary artists inspired by the ones Albright wore.

"She started acquiring pins because of their inherent messages, their whimsical and pictorial quality," said David Revere McFadden, the museum's chief curator. "It's not about jewels and gems, it's about jewelry as a communication device."

The collection is diverse, ranging from Americana styles — including flags and eagles — to ones with flora, fauna and insect themes. She always brought a selection with her on her travels so she could be ready for any situation.

For instance, Albright chose to wear a bee pinwhenever she felt talks amounted to "something like a sting," McFadden said.

"It's a very gentle way of saying to whomever she is speaking to: 'Listen carefully because I'm kind of telling you where I think this conversation is going,"' he said.

When she thought negotiations would likely go well, she would wear a balloon pin. Another pin, made of stainless steel, shows the head of Lady Liberty with two watch faces for eyes, one of which is upside down. The pin allows both her and others to check the time.

I wonder how many times Albright said the word ‘pinhead’ during the Bush administration?

The exhibition, running from Sept. 30 though Jan. 31, 2010, will be accompanied by a book, "Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat's Jewel Box," written by Albright.

Mariah's New Record and Record-Breaking Diamond

With all the buzz about Khloe Kardashian's 9-carat diamond ring cluttering the airwaves, it's easy to forget about other celebrity bling that made our hearts skip a beat.

Now that Mariah Carey is running around on all the talk shows promoting her latest album, I am reminded that this diva has a rock to rival them all.

Do you remember the 17-carat pink diamond ring she got from Nick Canon back in 2008? The impressive sparkler from Jacob & Co is valued at a whopping $2.5 million and with a center stone weighing in at 10-carats – a little smaller than a dime.

"I wanted to do something extremely special, something that Mariah would really appreciate," Cannon told PEOPLE back in the day. "We got the pinkest stone we could find, surrounded by other diamonds."

Carey definitely approved. "It's so clear, you can see my finger through it," she said.

According to Jacob Arabo of Jacob & Co., Cannon "was very involved," in picking the ring, which has an emerald-cut fancy light pink center stone surrounded by 58 intense pink diamonds, flanked by two half-moon diamonds.

Stop! It's too much to bear...

Who wears your favorite celebrity enagement ring bling? Weigh in!

Khloe Kardashian's Engagement Ring Bling

Well, jewelry hounds? I found the Khloe Kardashian diamond ring low down for you.

The wedding that has everyone in Hollywood buzzing went down yesterday evening between Khloe and her LA Laker bf, Lamar Odom - and of course Ryan Seacrest was there to film the fiesta for his Keeping Up With The Kardashians reality show (why that show gets ratings is beyond me).

Actually, I do see at least one angle of interest here. Khloe's whopper of a diamond engagement ring was finally spotted, and the 9-carat radiant cut bauble rivals that of fellow Laker wife, Vanessa Bryant (wife of Kobe).

While Vanessa lost in the carat count (she has a mere 7) she does win the dating game - hanging with Kobe for a marathon 6 months before walking down the aisle. Way to take your time, ladies.

Anywho, check out Jewelry.com for details of the wedding itself. Lots of celebrity guests, white roses, gourmet food and the like - and of course plenty of reality show cameras there to make sure America watches.

What's next? Hospital bed footage when sister, Kourtney, delivers her baby? I think I'll pass...

74 Year Old Bodybuilder

Tsutomu Tosaka won the over-seventies “Masters Bodybuilding” competition in Japan last week.

At 74 years old, Tosaka is not your typical bodybuilder. But he is well known in the Japanese bodybuilding circuit for his mastery at such an advanced age.

Unlike most competitors, he didn’t begin bulking up until age 40 when a friend introduced him to the sport. He hasn’t stopped since!

French Spiderman Alain Robert on the Tip of Twin Towers

Alain Robert aka the French Spiderman has surprised the world again. He managed to get on the tip of the Malaysia's Petronas Twin Towers yesterday without any dynamic ropes or any other security equipment whatsoever. The building has 88 stores and it is 1,482ft tall.

World's Hairiest Man in China

Yu Zhenhuan from China is the world's hairiest man with hair covering 96 percent of his body. Yu was diagnosed with a rare condition that causes hair to grow in places it normally shouldn’t. He was born in a farmer family and when he was only 2 years old his parents noticed he had hair coming out of his auditory canals. His situation worsened as he grew up and now almost his entire body is covered with long thick hair.

But Yu might have the chance of living a normal life, he is now undertaking a laser treatment to have his hair removed. Basically, every hair on his body will have to be zapped with laser. That can’t be pleasant, but for Yu Zenhuan it’s nowhere as painful as looking in the mirror.

Couple of days ago his girlfriend posted some new photos on a Chinese forum.
Here they are.

Khloe Kardashian's Engagement Ring MIA

What's more outrageous than a 9-carat diamond engagement ring? Getting a 9-carat diamond engagement ring and not wearing it!

Reality star Khloe Kardashian is stealing the spotlight from her famous sisters this week with news of her last-minute wedding to LA Laker, Lamar Odom, after dating him for only a month.

"I'm thrilled to finally be able to tell you that the news is true...Lamar and I are getting married on Sunday!!!" Kardashian wrote on her Celebuzz blog Tuesday. "I couldn't be happier and I'm so excited that I can finally share the news with all of you."

Maybe his 4-year $33 million-dollar deal motivated her? Or perhaps the rumored 9-carat diamond ring sealed the deal? But the ring is nowhere to be found! What gives?

Apparently, the diamond dazzler is being sized so it's ready for the pending nuptials this Sunday. You can bet I'll be tracking it - once it makes its debut it will be hard to miss.

What do you guys think of Khloe's decision to walk down the aisle? Is she marrying for the money? Or do you think it's true love - with (some major) benefits?

Jewelry Trend Alert: Earring Hoop-la!

Hoop earrings (aka: the little black dress of the jewelry world), are making a big splash on celebrities and fashionistas alike this season. And the good news is: you don't have to jump through hoops to get a shining pair for your own jewelry box.


Classic hoops have always been a fashion staple for women of all ages, and while the style is great for anything from a board meeting to a girls' night out, we're also seeing them on the red carpets as celebrities and their stylists bring basics back to high fashion.


Beyonce wowed us at the VMAs with Lorraine Schwartz hoops rumored to be close to $1 million smackers, Kim K. wore a more classic hoop silhouette to the Emmys, and Padma Lakshmi threw in a bit of color to help her red carpet hoop-la.

Now I know you most likely already own a pair of classic gold hoops, but now is the time to take the look to new levels. Try a larger size. Add some color with a gemstone look. Grab a pair in a different metal. Go big with an all-diamond pair.

And Jewelry.com has hundreds of styles for your browsing pleasure from the retailers you trust at prices you can afford.

Click here for our full selection of happenin' hoop earrings and bring the basics back full circle this season.

Searching for the Worst Dressed American

Jewelry hounds, admit it: We like to gawk at gaffs on the red carpet. From Paula Abdul's unfortunate turn at the Grammys (and OK - the 2008 Almas) to the misplaced pants suit (Jennifer Aniston? That means you!), I am certainly guilty of letting my horror get the better of
me.


That's why I am LOVING TLC'S latest contest. In celebration of its 250th episode, TLC's WHAT NOT TO WEAR is going on a nationwide search for the Worst Dressed American, and for the very first time in the history of the show, viewers will be in charge of nominating the worst fashion victim ever.


Mirroring a typical WHAT NOT TO WEAR episode, Stacy and Clinton will visit the chosen victim's hometown and interview her loved ones. But with an ambush on a much grander scale and a makeover like no other, the overall transformation for this victim will be the most dramatic one viewers have ever seen on the show. The show will air in January 2010.


TLC is still accepting nominations until the 25th. For details, please visit:
http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/whatnottowear/worst-dressed-american/worst-dressed-american.html



In the meantime? I would love to hear about your favorite fashion faux pas. You can reference someone famous, someone you know, someone you work with, even yourself - no one is off limits.



The pics in this blog are some of my top celebrity choices. Do you agree with my selects? Weigh in!