The Dress Code: the Good, Bad and Ugly (Diamonds, Pearls and Perfume)

Welcome to the Dress Code, where we celebrate, critique, commend and (on occasion) condemn fashion trends, shows, designers, boutiques, events and everything in between. From the couturiers and costumers to the retail clothiers and quirky DIY crafters, fashion--good and bad--is everywhere. The Dress Code is where we wear our hearts on our sleeves and write about it all.

This week we explore the accessory of scent.

The Good: Ben Bridge's new fragrance, FLAWLESS.

Since she could reach the glass counter of her great-great grandfather’s jewelry store, Lisa Bridge, fifth-generation proprietor of Seattle-based, family-run Ben Bridge Jewelers, has been an integral part of the business, from cleaning the countertops as a young girl to retail sales and today serving as director of education. With a new Ben Bridge Pandora store opening in the U-Village (to make that a cool 72 stores in 12 states) and the recent launch of a new fragrance, FLAWLESS, Lisa Bridge shares with Seattlest how Ben Bridge Jewelers continues to be fashion-forward and relevant to a mass market of future buyers.

While almost all major clothing labels are now mass produced in sweatshops of developing countries, 99-year-old Ben Bridge does business much like it did almost a century ago, even operating out of its original 1912 building in downtown. The company imports much of its collection from craftsman jewelers from Italy and 25 other countries, and employs over 50 master watchmakers (each trained by the esteemed Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Education Program) and more registered Jewelers and Certified Gemologists of the American Gem Society than any other jewelry retailer in the world.

As the recession drones on, retailers of all sorts are forced to reinvent, rethink and experiment. For Ben Bridge, that means carrying more collections that are accessible like Hot Diamonds, a British line that features whimsical charms and silver accented diamonds. Also, Silver Sweets, an in-house collection of colored gems in sterling silver settings offers style and luxury at an affordable double-digit price point.

What jewelry trends will we see this fall/winter 2010? Bridge claims yellow gold is coming back, especially as the value of gold increases, and bold-colored, celebratory and playful jewelry that is more affordable and fun, like cocktail rings and Pandora bracelets.

Yet the most out-of-the-box maneuver has to be FLAWLESS, the jeweler's exclusive new fragrance.
“Fragrance is like jewelry in that it is very much tied to memory, which is inextricably tied to emotion,” Bridge notes.

The young Bridge spearheaded the one-year fragrance project.

“People have been adorning themselves for thousands of years for happy, joyous occasions—to celebrate," she says. "In the stores we have music playing, coffee and candy treats, and of course, very visual products. We wanted to create a signature scent that people would associate with happy occasions.”

Subtitled, "brilliance of a diamond in a bottle", the fragrance is indeed, all that; it’s fresh, modern and just a touch romantic. Designed by the creator of the smashing success, Happy and Tommy Girl, FLAWLESS features similar motifs like cucumber, citrus and lily bases and is made in the USA.

The Bad: Lady Gaga is also launching a new fragrance, this one called "Monster" after her penchant for referring to her fans as "little monsters". With a track record of wearing ensembles of raw meat, shards of metal and other hazardous materials, we anticipate that the scent will surprise, provoke and disturb consumers.

"Monster" is being manufactured by Coty and is due out in 2012.