Podcast appearances and mentions of james galanos

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Peter Knego, whose parents actor Peter Coe and Model/Actress Rosalee Calvert really come alive in the conversation you are about to hear. What's our connection? Well Rosalee was in two films with Edie Adams, Josh's mother and both Peter and Josh both went to the same high school. But listening to Peter talk about everything from his firsthand accounts of Mel Brooks and Ed Wood to James Galanos and Sparks – herein lies the the story of his celebrity parents. Peter and Josh barely scratched the surface but somehow we cover everything from growing up on food stamps in the Hollywood Hills to his difficult relationship with his eight-time married father who over time becomes a friend. We hear about real life actual Nazis, the 20thCentury train, Elektra Records mogul Ahmet Ertrgun, c-level actor Paul Marco, Cecil B. Demille, an unproduced Ed Wood musical, lunch at Pasta, Inc. on Sunset Plaza, the glory of Westwood in the 1980s as well as whaling songs from the 1930s. Actually that last part isn't true. But it's about the only thing Peter Knego didn't touch upon in our wide ranging conversation about being the child of a celebrity. Peter's story, is anything but normal. It's funny, tough to listen to at times, uplifting and sometimes too much to believe. So Kimono My House and take a listen to this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story

What you'll learn in this episode: What it was like to design jewelry for high-fashion runways in the 70s and 80s How the right piece of jewelry can transform the wearer  Why creative problem solving is the best skill you can have as a goldsmith How Tess' work wound up in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institution and other museums How the jewelry field has changed with the popularization of social media Additional Resources: Website Instagram Facebook Photos: Blue Sky Chalcedony Byzantium Earrings Byzantium Necklace Circes Circle Necklace Illusion Necklace  Ionian Necklace  Its A Wrap Necklace Naiad Necklace About Tess Sholom Warm and malleable but also strong and enduring, gold shines with the spirit of life itself. For designer and jeweler Tess Sholom, gold is both medium and muse. Tess Sholom began her jewelry career in fashion jewelry in 1976, designing pieces that appeared on the runways of Karl Lagerfeld, Oscar de la Renta and James Galanos, and the pages of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. Her fashion work is included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, Museum of the City of New York, the Racine Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Fashion Institute of Technology, and other museums. After two successful decades in fashion jewelry, she trained as a goldsmith and fell under the spell of high-karat gold. She decided to stop designing high-volume fashion jewelry and begin again as a hands-on studio artist, creating one-of-a-kind 22k gold jewelry in the workshop. Tess Sholom always had an eye for accessorizing, but she didn't realize it would lead her to a long and fruitful career as a jewelry designer. While working as a cancer researcher, a long-shot pitch to Vogue opened the door to a 30-year career as a jewelry designer for fashion runways. Her latest career move was opening Tess Sholom Designs, where she creates one-of-a-kind, high-karat gold pieces. She joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about how she designed jewelry for Oscar de la Renta, Bill Blass and Karl Lagerfeld; why problem solving is the thread that runs through all her careers; and how she plays on gold's timeless, mystical quality in her work. Read the episode transcript here. Sharon: Yes, when I see kids on their phones, I'm like, “Oh my god!” When you see kids who speak a language you're trying to learn, it's amazing. Do you find that you get a response from Instagram and other social media?   Tess: I do, yeah. It's amazing. Especially the past year, when everyone was pretty much isolated, it made a big difference. People are now getting accustomed to Amazon; everybody buys things through Amazon. When you want to find something, people say, “Oh, why don't you look on Amazon?” We have become this very immediate culture. We want things immediately so you don't have to go out of your house. You just click the computer and get what you want.   Sharon: Very true. The Metropolitan Museum has what looks like a large collection of your designs for the runway and fashion jewelry. How did that come about?   Tess: I'm trying to remember. It was after the curator had taken my work for the Museum of the City of New York. I don't remember, but I do remember spending an entire summer with my assistant giving everything a provenance. It took a long time to document everything because it had to be very specific. I think part of the reason why they have such a large collection is when the Brooklyn Museum of Art was renovating, they transferred some of their collection to the Met, I believe, and they just kept it in their archives.   Sharon: If you're researching online, there's a lot there. It's interesting to see the designers that the pieces were done for. As I was surfing and trying to get some background, how do you feel when you come across a piece of yours on eBay that you made in the 80s? How do you feel about that?   Tess: I love the fact that it still there. It's wonderful. I'm very pleased, and of course I'm amazed to see how much it's increased in value. On eBay, it goes for a lot more than I sold it 30 years ago. To go back and see that something that I made 30, 40 years ago is still relevant means so much. One of the worries of becoming an older person is if I am going to stay relevant, and it's very gratifying to see people are still purchasing something I made many years ago. It's interesting because it makes it timeless, even though it was made for a particular season; it was made either for a fall collection or a spring collection. 40 years later, somebody still wants it and it's still relevant. It's in a way timeless, and that's very gratifying to me.   Sharon: I can see how that would be validating.   Tess: It's excellent.    Sharon: Is that something you think about when you're making your current pieces, about whether somebody's going to be looking?   Tess: That's interesting. No, it never occurred to me because jewelry is problem solving. It's like a meditation because you must think about what you're doing, especially if you're using an acetylene torch. One second of inattention and it's gone. You have a lump of gold, which is very beautiful in itself, but not quite what you wanted. I'm thinking about what problems are presenting themselves while I'm making the piece, and they do. It's your vision coming to light. That's one thing, but it's a lot of overcoming obstacles. I'm working with a metal; I'm working with a flame, and they each have their own characteristics and their own minds, and I have to cooperate with all that. So, that's very interesting. I don't think about that. I just think about the piece I'm making and how I'm going to do the best I can. I have a lot of reverence for the material I'm using and I want to do it justice, so my focus is on trying to do the best I can while I'm working. I never thought about that before.   Sharon: Do you design your pieces? I think of a pencil and paper. Do you sketch out a design before you start?   Tess: Often I do that, but sometimes if I'm sculpting with gold, I have an idea of what I want and I just try to coax the metal to melt in the way I want it to. That's a lot of fun because you never know what's going to happen. Sometimes it's just that lucky accident that happens.    My inspirations have come from everywhere. I remember once Bill Blass called me into his office and said, “I'm going to do roses for my spring collection and I'd like you to do something to go along with that.” I thought, “Roses, oh my, I don't want to do anything representational.” I was leaving for a ski trip with husband. While I was skiing and I was on the slopes, this Greek song came to mind about roses. The word in Greek for rose is “30 petals” and I thought, “Oh, that's what I'll do. I'll do a distillation of the rose. I'll do three petals,” and I did. I did a bracelet that had three petals that were fanned out but connected at the base, and a necklace and earrings that way. I showed it to Bill who said, “Well, it doesn't look a rose, but I love it,” and he ordered 60 pieces of it in brass, nickel, copper and also in Lucite.    Often my inspiration is from nature. I never walk through the park—I walk through the park a lot—without seeing something that I want to translate into gold. The idea is flowers and leaves are ephemeral. That's it. They give us lots of joy when they're here, but then to capture them in gold is wonderful because that makes them last longer. So, my inspiration comes from nature as well, but it can be a thought; it can be a song; it can be the way a banister curves. I don't know.   Sharon: As you're working, is the vision in your head? Are you saying, “That's not the way I drew it out or did it on the computer”?   Tess: Yes, that happens a lot. It happens a lot that it doesn't translate. Paper and pencil are very different from three-dimensional things. So, it happens a lot, and if I don't like it then I start again. But often I do like it.   Sharon: Are people ordering commissions from you, or are they ordering straight from your website or Instagram? How is that working?   Tess: They do both. They either buy what they see or—and this is very gratifying—people will bring me their old pieces that have sentimental value. They don't want to get rid of them, but they are not their style; they're not attractive. I usually remake them. I redesign them. I like that because there's something about the energy of someone else having worn this. It becomes a legacy, but it's still my expression.   Sharon: That must be a lot of fun.   Tess: It is. I had an aunt when I was a young child who would send me jewelry from Greece. She would say to me, “I wore it before giving it to you because I want my energy to go with it,” and I've never forgotten that.   Sharon: There is that energy. It's also a testament to you because you walk down the street and so many jewelry stores say, “Bring us your old pieces and remake them.” They're looking for something they know only you can deliver on that remake.   Tess: Yes, they want me to do it in my expression. The jewelry stores do very beautiful work, obviously, but they're not always very customized or individual or taking you into consideration.   Sharon: And that was exactly the question I was going to ask. Are you working side-by-side in a sense with the person who asks you for something?   Tess: Absolutely. Of course it's my expression because that's why they came to me, but I never impose something. It has to be something we mutually agree on and is going to work.   Sharon: Have you ever made something that somebody said, “Oh, that's not what I had in mind at all”?   Tess: No.   Sharon: Well, that's a pretty good track record. When you were working on the runway, like you were talking about the rose theme, did each model on the runway have a Lucite rose and one had a silver rose?   Tess: Yeah, it was like that. The trick also was that I was working with a number of designers for the same season. I had to be very careful not to have one look like the other, which wasn't difficult because they were all different looks. When I was doing Galanos and Bill Blass and Oscar de la Renta and Giorgio di Sant'Angelo all in the same season, that all had to look different, and it did because they had different personalities and their clothes were different.   Sharon: Did you ever have anybody say—no names, but “If you're doing work for John Smith, then I really—"   Tess: No, no one ever said that to me.   Sharon: Are you selling now to stores? Tell us about your business today, Tess Sholom Designs.   Tess: I have been approached by a former buyer at Bergdorf's who would like to introduce me to the buyer now. So, we'll see. I haven't tried to do retail yet because it's different, but they're willing to do one-of-a-kind. As long as someone is willing to do one-of-a-kind, it's different. In the past, retail wanted the whole story; they wanted multiples, but retail has changed. That's one thing, but the other thing is I mostly do private sales like events.   Sharon: Is it mostly word of mouth? Besides social media, let's say if you're doing a private event in New York, how are they hearing about you?   Tess: Right. I have a salesperson and a media person who scouts out these things for me.   Sharon: Wow! That's great. That must be very gratifying to meet people and talk to them about your pieces, give them your take on them.   Tess: That's one of the best parts of this, aside from the joy of making the jewelry: dealing with a customer who loves the jewelry and who loves how it makes them feel. Jewelry can really be transformative. It enhances your essence. It's beautiful so it reflects your beauty. People respond to that, and that's extremely gratifying. I had a customer once who said to me that normally when she goes to a restaurant, she gets up to go the powder room and she walks through the space with her head down. One night she was wearing my necklace, and she said she put her head up and walked to the bathroom, the walkway she had to go through, and she felt wonderful. That made me feel good because it did something for her. It's not superficial. Jewelry is not superficial. As I said before, it can be transformative. It can be commemorative. It can make you happy; it can enhance you, make you feel good about yourself.   Sharon: Yes, it can definitely make you happy.   Tess: I remember once I was selling to a banker and his wife in Luxembourg. He's looking at me and he's looking at his wife wearing her earrings, looking back and forth, and I said to him, “I understand your dilemma. You know a lot about finance. You don't know anything about pearls. What you need to know at this point is does your wife feel beautiful wearing the pearls?”    Sharon: And that was a sale.   Tess: That was a sale because that was all it needed to be. He wasn't buying an estate, and he wasn't putting down his mortgage for the earrings. Obviously, they were good quality; that's not the issue, but I gave him permission to look at what the reality is. The reality is does jewelry make you feel good? It did, and it was reasonable. His wife liked it, and he was happy that he could make his wife happy.   Sharon: That's a great way to look at it. Does your wife feel beautiful or does the person feel good in it?   Tess: Right.   Sharon: At one of these trunk shows, did you ever have a prospect or somebody looking at your jewelry and as they put it on, you just said, “No, that doesn't work”?   Tess: Yes, because part of my job is to pair the right piece of jewelry with the customer. That's more important. Even if they walk away with nothing, it's more important to get something that's right for them than not. I do remember an instance when I was at a trunk show years ago in Texas. A woman walked in with her daughter, a long, beautiful, slim girl, and her mother said, “Do you have anything for this strange, long body?” And I said, “Half of the world wants to look like this. Yes.” I saw the girl looking at these thin belts, and I said, “Why don't you try this on?” It was a big, bold brass belt. I watched her as she put it on and looked at herself in the mirror, and you could see the changeover. She was so surprised. She was amazed, but it was the right thing for her. It was totally different from anything she had worn or chosen before. It was right for her and it made me feel good.   Sharon: It sounds like you have a natural eye for that. I have interior designer friends who can walk into a room and say, “If you remove that table over there,” whereas I would never think about it.   Tess: Right, I guess it helps to have that eye. I love what I do, so I want it to be shown off to its best. The person and the jewelry enhance each other. It's the right thing.   Sharon: Well, it sounds like the buyer has the right person, the right advice, the right eye with you looking at them.   Tess: We share an interest. Obviously, we both love jewelry. The customer comes in because she loves jewelry and I love it, so we've already got a good meeting ground.   Sharon: I'm curious; this is an off-the-wall question perhaps, but do you see any similarities between what you were doing with cancer research early on, or botany and biology, and what you do now? Does any of this reflect in terms of your personality?    Tess: I'm trying to think about your question. It always comes down to problem solving. There's always something; it's either a puzzle that needs to be fitted or an obstacle that needs to be overcome. Those are skills that are transferrable from one line of work to another, being able to find the answer. There's always a question. There's an obstacle, sometimes, for the aura of gold to be achieved. So, the ability to think around something and to think out of the box, that's the thread that runs through all of my careers.   Sharon: That was the key word I was thinking of, the thread. That was exactly the word that came to mind. Tess, thank you very much. This is very interesting, and you have an interesting journey. Thank you for sharing with us. We really appreciate it.   Tess: My pleasure.   Sharon: So glad to have you.   We will have images posted on the website. You can find us wherever you download your podcasts, and please rate us. Please join us next time, when our guest will be another jewelry industry professional who will share their experience and expertise. Thank you so much for listening.   Thank you again for listening. Please leave us a rating and review so we can help others start their own jewelry journey.    

What you'll learn in this episode: What it was like to design jewelry for high-fashion runways in the 70s and 80s How the right piece of jewelry can transform the wearer  Why creative problem solving is the best skill you can have as a goldsmith How Tess' work wound up in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institution and other museums How the jewelry field has changed with the popularization of social media Additional Resources: Website Instagram Facebook Photos: Blue Sky Chalcedony Byzantium Earrings Byzantium Necklace Circes Circle Necklace Illusion Necklace  Ionian Necklace  Its A Wrap Necklace Naiad Necklace About Tess Sholom Warm and malleable but also strong and enduring, gold shines with the spirit of life itself. For designer and jeweler Tess Sholom, gold is both medium and muse. Tess Sholom began her jewelry career in fashion jewelry in 1976, designing pieces that appeared on the runways of Karl Lagerfeld, Oscar de la Renta and James Galanos, and the pages of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. Her fashion work is included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, Museum of the City of New York, the Racine Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Fashion Institute of Technology, and other museums. After two successful decades in fashion jewelry, she trained as a goldsmith and fell under the spell of high-karat gold. She decided to stop designing high-volume fashion jewelry and begin again as a hands-on studio artist, creating one-of-a-kind 22k gold jewelry in the workshop. Tess Sholom always had an eye for accessorizing, but she didn't realize it would lead her to a long and fruitful career as a jewelry designer. While working as a cancer researcher, a long-shot pitch to Vogue opened the door to a 30-year career as a jewelry designer for fashion runways. Her latest career move was opening Tess Sholom Designs, where she creates one-of-a-kind, high-karat gold pieces. She joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about how she designed jewelry for Oscar de la Renta, Bill Blass and Karl Lagerfeld; why problem solving is the thread that runs through all her careers; and how she plays on gold's timeless, mystical quality in her work. Read the episode transcript here.  Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Jewelry Journey Podcast. Today, my guest is Tess Sholom. Many of you may have been aware of her fabulous statement pieces she designed for the runway, or you may have drooled over the pieces without knowing who the designer was. Today, she has taken a different path and is now both a designer and a jeweler in high-karat gold. She operates Tess Sholom Designs. We'll hear all about that today, her whole jewelry journey and about what she's doing. Tess, welcome to the program.   Tess: Thank you. It's good to be here.   Sharon: So glad to have you. Tell us about your jewelry journey. It must be an interesting one, because you've covered a lot of different areas.   Tess: It has covered a lot of different areas, and it's been on for a long time. When I graduated college, I actually went into cancer research. I was working in a laboratory and found that I didn't like the isolation, so I went to Physicians and Surgeons Medical Center for a year to become a physical therapist. That I liked; solving problems, helping people.    Then, the year I married my husband in 1976, we were invited to a wedding in the woods. We were told to wear jeans because we were going to be in the woods and rolling around in the woods, and I thought, “This is awful. A wedding? This is when I try to get all dressed up in my best, and I'm wearing jeans?” But I complied. I bought a pretty gauze top; they were in style in the 70s. I made a necklace of beads and seeds and ribbons, and I made a belt to go with it. At the wedding, people kept saying, “That's beautiful. Where did you get it?” Every time I said I made it, they would say, “Well, you should be doing this professionally.” It's crazy. It put a bug in my ear, and I've always been like that. When a path presents itself, I say, “O.K., let's try this. Let's try it. Let's see what'll happen.”   Sharon: I love that.   Tess: And so, I did. I started walking around looking in stores to see how necklaces were finished. What were the clasps like? Within a month, I took a couple of things to Vogue Magazine. They gave me an instant credit; they gave me an editorial credit right away. Saks Fifth Avenue bought that necklace, and it was featured as an editorial credit in the magazine. That's how I started. Within a very short time, Vogue Magazine called me and said, “Oscar de la Renta is looking for a jeweler to make jewelry for his runway.” After that, it just kept growing and growing. One designer, Bill Blass, saw my work in Women's Wear Daily and he got in touch with me; Giorgio di Sant'Angelo and on and on. Karl Lagerfeld sent his secretary to meet me in New York, and then I went to Paris and collaborated with him on one of his shows. I designed jewelry for that show.   Sharon: Did you turn around and go, “Oh my god! Look what I'm doing now”?   Tess: It was like having the tiger by the tail, seriously. I hadn't planned it. Adornment is old. It's probably the first attempt at art that man ever made, to separate his body with berry dyes, with beads, with leaves. It's a very old idea, adornment, and I've always felt the picture was not quite finished unless you were accessorizing. It ultimately was natural for me to think about making jewelry to complement a look, an action look, a closing look.   Sharon: I can imagine the peasant blouse you had in that era, but you actually said, “Oh, I need something,” and you made it yourself. I would have just said, “Oh, it needs something,” and gone through my closet or gone without anything.   Tess: That's interesting. I guess what makes me a maker—from the time I was little, my mother brought me up with the housewifely arts. One of them was embroidery. I learned to use my hands early, and I was always changing things around.  If I had a garment and I didn't like the way it looked, I just changed it. I would put a stitch here, a stitch there. I broke apart some costume jewelry beads of pearls at Claire's and sewed them on a sweater because I wanted that look. I've always done that. I've always done things with my hands making things.   Sharon: Would you say you were artistic from a young age? Besides knowing how to do this, were you creative? It sounds like you were.   Tess: I was creative, but my family was focused on medicine, lawyers, doctors, that kind of thing. They did not think I was artistic. They thought I was a little fussy because I wanted things to look the way I wanted them to look. They didn't really think of me as an artist.    Sharon: You studied what, biology in college?   Tess: I went to Barnard and I had a bachelor's degree. My major was in science. It was botany, but I had just as many credits in fine arts, actually. That should have given me a hint, but I was focused on science. That's where I wanted to be, but it turned out no, I did not like the isolation of a lab.   Sharon: I can understand that. Were you going full time? It seems like there was quite a swath of your career where you were doing jewelry for the runway. Did you do that full time for different designers for a while?   Tess: While I was doing that, I was also supplying boutiques and department stores. I started this in 1976 and very soon, I realized once again that I was alone. I looked in Vogue Magazine to see who else was doing this kind of jewelry, because it was different. High-fashion costume jewelry was very different from the prestigious houses, Monet, Coraux, Trifari. They made beautiful costume jewelry that to this day lasts, but our expression was quite different.    I found a number of other designers in the city who were doing the same thing more or less that I was. We got together and formed an association called the Fashion Accessories Designers Association, called FADA. My husband used to tease me and say, “You're the mada of FADA,” but we were all entrepreneurs from some other place. One was a court stenographer; one was a potter; one was a knitter, but we all made accessories. So, we formed this organization and sold to the same places, so that we had an ability to protect ourselves a little. Sometimes the big stores would try to take advantage, and because we were all selling to the same people, we were able to defend ourselves.   Sharon: That's very smart. How did you ferret the people out? How did you find these other people?   Tess: I looked in the back of Vogue Magazine. Wherever I saw a credit that looked more or less like the expression that I was doing, I would look them up and get in touch with them.    Sharon: I want to talk to you more about this, but I want to hear how you got into—now you make things in high-karat gold and precious, not diamonds and stuff, but nice gems, colorful gems. How did you get into making and goldsmithing?   Tess: I had a desire. I always had this desire to have my collection in a museum and to be recognized by a museum. It was a goal of mine somehow, but I never knew what to do about it. However, quite accidentally, the business began to change. The designers were not using accessories so much, so I began to shift my focus towards making sterling silver tea sets and boxes, because I was trying to make sure that if in fact the jewelry did begin to lessen, I would have some other outlet. At that time, someone came to my house for tea and saw a silver tea set. She was a curator from the Museum of the City of New York, and it was fascinating to see her expression. If you remember the scene in Julius Caesar where he's offered the crown, he wants it; he refuses it, but he's reaching for it. I saw that same kind of reaction from this lady who was looking at my tea set. Finally, she asked me for it for the museum. It was their first sterling silver acquisition of the 20th century.   Sharon: Did you make it or did you design it?   Tess: I designed it and it was made in my factory by my head metalworker. By this point, I had 20 employees. I literally had a tiger by the tail, because as an entrepreneur, I started out on my tabletop and eventually had to keep moving because I kept increasing. So, that was the first acquisition. I don't quite remember how the Metropolitan Museum of Art got to me, but they came to me. The Brooklyn Museum of Art came to me, the Museum at FIT. There were a couple of museums in the Midwest that some clients donated to.    That got me thinking about my jewelry as art. I took a couple of courses at Jewelry Arts Institute, and I was fascinated by working with gold. There's nothing like 22-karat gold. It is beautiful. It's very malleable; you can do so much with it. There's something a little mysterious, a little mystical about 22-karat gold, because gold is eternal; nothing can happen to it. It doesn't rust; it doesn't turn to ash. The only thing that happens is that you can melt it down and reuse it. So, any piece you have, it could have been a nose ring for a peasant girl; it could have been part of a tiara of queen or a pope. It could be anything, and because it doesn't really disappear, it has this timelessness, this eternal quality about it. So, that's how I got into fine jewelry. The gold is the main piece. The main thing about jewelry for me is the gold and the stones. I love color, so of course I'm drawn to stones, but the gold is a means of showing the stones off.    Sharon: Interesting. We will have to link to your website when we post this, and I'm encouraging everybody to look at your website and see the color in the jewelry. It's just amazing. It's really striking. It's beautiful. Were these curators at the museums interested in your things because they thought, “Oh, that's the most fantastic design?” I think of a museum as saying, “If Paul Revere made that, I'd like to put in a museum.”   Tess: It's also a history because they wanted a provenance. They wanted to know for whom it was made, who wore it, what season. It was also a means of collecting and annotating history.   Sharon: The same thing with the tea pots?    Tess: No, the tea pot, she just loved the design. That was a different story. That wasn't jewelry. That was something else and she just loved it. I wasn't going to argue.    Sharon: I can think of, “Oh, I love it. I want it for my living room,” as opposed to “Oh, I love it. I want to put it in a museum.” I'm not sure I understand the connection between putting these in museums. It's fabulous to do.   Tess: Why do we collect things in museums then? Museums have changed a lot, but museums essentially are treasure houses. They house treasures; they house things that are deemed to be beautiful. Also, they may spark your imagination or make you think about something differently. So no, I'm not surprised. I was thrilled and surprised that the museums wanted my work, but I'm not surprised that when they think something is beautiful, they want it for the museum.    Sharon: I have to say, I think my whole concept of what a museum is has been changing. I used to think that museums were all history. As I looked at museums in the west, anything over 50 years old is old. I used to think that when I went to a museum, “That's not ancient,” or “It's not 500 years old. It's just from a decade or two ago.” Because I see so many things that are current in museums, or current within the last 25 years, I'm realizing that my concept of what a museum is is outdated.    Tess: Museums are having a difficult time also. In order to survive, they are switching gears. They're trying many different things so they don't only look to the past. They're trying to stay current and be relevant to what's going on in the world, which is part of what fashion does. Fashion does indicate, mirror and explain an era, always.   Sharon: You fell in love with metalsmithing and silver and gold. Your accessory business where you were designing for the runway, was that still going on?   Tess: No, that began to change, and I decided to stop doing that kind of work. As I said, I foresaw that it was going to begin to change, so I stopped that. I devoted myself more to learning the ancient goldsmithing techniques so I could make everything myself, and then I started selling. First, I stared with semiprecious and silver, and then I moved on to gold. Now I work exclusively in gold and precious and semiprecious stones.   Sharon: And you're making everything yourself too.   Tess: I'm making everything myself.   Sharon: Wow!    Tess: I'm still learning things, and I still also use the jewelry arts as a studio. It's fascinating. We all feel so privileged to be able to work in gold. It's such a wonderful medium. We all have that same attitude of awe about this wonderful metal.   Sharon: It's really true. I was at a conference several years ago, and someone pointed out that once you take the gold out of the ground, that's it. It never goes back in, and I thought, “Yeah, that's really true.” What are the differences you find, besides the fact that everything is a one-off, in terms of what you're doing? How are you finding the audiences you're doing this for compared to what you were doing before?   Tess: I started the costume jewelry business in 1976 and for a while, I essentially retired. Now, I find that social media is a very, very different world. I need a lot of help with that. I need help with social media. The younger people understand social media and are good at it, so I need help in that area to perfect everything. I have found that it has been very successful, especially Instagram. Instagram and my website, all of that, has been helpful. Before, I went to an editor, she liked my work and then the rest just fell in step, but now it's different. For example, in October I'm going to California to do a luxury event. My work is gold; it's heavy; it's expensive. That is not something that is sold easily all the time. So, I go to these targeted events where people who are willing to spend the money attend.    Sharon: It is such a different world with social media. I entered the digital world in the mid-90s and the changes since then—it's a different world. It's amazing, and it keeps changing every two days.    Tess: I was in a restaurant the other day and this little, two-year-old girl was using her phone. I thought about how it took me many, many years to start using my phone.   Sharon: Yes, when I see kids on their phones, I'm like, “Oh my god!” When you see kids who speak a language you're trying to learn, it's amazing. Do you find that you get a response from Instagram and other social media?

Jewelry designer Diana Vincent is one of Bucks County's best-known artists and business owners. The niece of American fashion designer James Galanos, Diana owns and operates Diana Vincent Inc. with one location in Bucks County and a second nearby in New Jersey. Diana describes her jewelry designs as “simple, fluid and sensual” and has been exhibited at the National Ornamental Metal Museum, the Gemological Institute of America and the Kent State Art Museum. Her jewelry has also been seen on the red carpet at the Oscars and has been featured in Vogue, InStyle, Town & Country, and Modern Bride.

In episode 87 of the American Reveille Podcast, we talk about a normal and happy story for a change. In Long Island New York a house lit on fire, the children come running out, 2 brave cops show up, they rescue the dog and cat and save the day...everyone is happy. No BLM riots or ANTIFA assaults to be found here...no racist liberals hurting conservatives...just a good ol' NORMAL story! Oh, and the chihuahua that was rescued looks like a miniature Falcor from the Neverending Story!SUPPORT US:Donate - http://ow.ly/9ckY50DA5c2Newsletter - http://ow.ly/3ha850DFm0oVIDEO:YouTube - http://ow.ly/enQk50DA5bnRumble - http://ow.ly/BVx550DA573Odysee - http://ow.ly/utOG50DA571AUDIO:Apple Podcasts - http://ow.ly/Nlsw50zvkUTSpotify - http://ow.ly/gOON50zPya7SOCIAL:Parler - http://ow.ly/QNma50AwfEgGab - http://ow.ly/w3kq50DA56ZInstagram - http://ow.ly/BN7h50DA56YMinds - http://ow.ly/Y6bO50DA572AR Website - http://ow.ly/eO3g50DA5bo

Flashback with me today to the 1940s and to where James Galanos decided to start his own career. The glamour, the lifestyle, the fashion

Jewelry designer Diana Vincent is one of Bucks County’s best-known artists and business owners. The niece of American fashion designer James Galanos, Diana owns and operates Diana Vincent Inc. with one location in Bucks County and a second nearby in New Jersey. Diana describes her jewelry designs as “simple, fluid and sensual” and has been exhibited at the National Ornamental Metal Museum, the Gemological Institute of America and the Kent State Art Museum. Her jewelry has also been seen on the red carpet at the Oscars and has been featured in Vogue, InStyle, Town & Country, and Modern Bride. In this conversation with Yvette Taylor-Hachoose, Diana explores how she was influenced by her education and family, what inspires her, and what she envisions for the coming year.

The Christmas Village in Love Park heads into its preview weekend before next week's grand opening. Chestnut Hill kicks-off its holiday season with cookies, hot chocolate, live music, and a chance to meet Santa. All this leads up to the opening of Woodmere Art Museum's holiday exhibition.  Mayfair Holmesburg gets into the holiday spirit with its annual Thanksgiving parade and Drexel University's Pearlstein Gallery hosts an exhibition of works by fashion designer James Galanos. 

Helen Martin followed her dream and became an Haute Couture Model. She has a fun and inspiring story to share. Helen’s book of essays, High Fashion High Adventure will be available early 2018. Helen is a Former fashion model, experienced television actress, spokeswoman, fashion consultant and published writer. Helen’s website... Helen Martin Style, is dedicated to every woman who chooses to be master of her universe; who understands the meaning of “claiming your space”. Having the confidence to walk into a room and know you look fabulous. Looking good and creating “your own style” frees you up to be bold, to take risks, to relax and enjoy ‘the moment’. Many of us, want to ‘find that groove’, want to feel, look and act - not younger – but modern, current, active and attractive at any age. She rejects the notion that some women feel their “glamorous time” has passed. Women and Glamour – it’s the same thing! We, as women, do not want to look like our daughters, our nieces, dress like the ingénues on the red carpet or try to look younger. We want to find our own personal style, our place; defining us. Helen Martin hopes to challenge, inform and inspire women of all ages to reach their highest potential. As a top high-fashion model, Helen Martin has appeared in dozens of designer shows, ...Christian Dior, Balenciaga, James Galanos, Kritzia, Marc Bohan, Yves Saint Laurent, Armani, Bob Mackie, Oscar De LaRenta, Karl Lagerfeld, Channel, Donna Karan, Pauline Trigere, Todd Oldman, Fendi Furs, Valentino and Givenchy. Helen includes in her extensive resume the Midwest Fashion Director of three Chicago area Neiman Marcus stores She has appeared in numerous fashion magazine layouts, including People magazine with Stanley Marcus of Neiman Marcus. Ms Martin was selected to model a James Galanos gown, symbolizing the ‘best‘ for his book called Quest for the Best. Ms Martin is featured as one of 75 women in the book, Texas Women, published by Taylor Publishing. Her fashion and commercial background included bookings with internationally known fashion photographer, Victor Skrebneski. In the fashion industry, Ms Martin was named Regional Fashion Manager of Neiman Marcus stores where her responsibilities included serving as liaison with the Chicago fashion press, supervising all major fashion events in a three-store area and presenting fashion clinics to community and civic groups. Professional Experiences Produced and narrated Fashion segment ’Smart and Casual for Over 50 and Fabulous’
 Fox 4 TV Morning Show Co-Executive Producer and Host TV Special: Women in the Outdoors
 Broadcast on WFAA TV ABC Style Editor, Feature writer, Today’s Dallas Woman magazine Midwest Fashion Director Neiman Marcus, three Chicago stores: Michigan Avenue, Oakbrook and Northbrook Instructor, Style and Image, KD Studio Runway Model, Photography Model, Neiman Marcus Fashion Model/Talent, Kim Dawson Agency TV segment host, Channel 27 “Weekend Magazine” Fashion segment (13 weeks) Featured writer ’Society’ magazine, Nancy Smith, publisher Style Editor and monthly featured writer ‘Today’s Dallas Woman Magazine’ Co-Editor and featured writer for ‘Shikar/Safari Magazine’ Helen Martin's website Download.

Helen Martin followed her dream and became an Haute Couture Model. She has a fun and inspiring story to share. Helen’s book of essays, High Fashion High Adventure will be available early 2018. Helen is a Former fashion model, experienced television actress, spokeswoman, fashion consultant and published writer. Helen’s website... Helen Martin Style, is dedicated to every woman who chooses to be master of her universe; who understands the meaning of “claiming your space”. Having the confidence to walk into a room and know you look fabulous. Looking good and creating “your own style” frees you up to be bold, to take risks, to relax and enjoy ‘the moment’. Many of us, want to ‘find that groove’, want to feel, look and act - not younger – but modern, current, active and attractive at any age. She rejects the notion that some women feel their “glamorous time” has passed. Women and Glamour – it’s the same thing! We, as women, do not want to look like our daughters, our nieces, dress like the ingénues on the red carpet or try to look younger. We want to find our own personal style, our place; defining us. Helen Martin hopes to challenge, inform and inspire women of all ages to reach their highest potential. As a top high-fashion model, Helen Martin has appeared in dozens of designer shows, ...Christian Dior, Balenciaga, James Galanos, Kritzia, Marc Bohan, Yves Saint Laurent, Armani, Bob Mackie, Oscar De LaRenta, Karl Lagerfeld, Channel, Donna Karan, Pauline Trigere, Todd Oldman, Fendi Furs, Valentino and Givenchy. Helen includes in her extensive resume the Midwest Fashion Director of three Chicago area Neiman Marcus stores She has appeared in numerous fashion magazine layouts, including People magazine with Stanley Marcus of Neiman Marcus. Ms Martin was selected to model a James Galanos gown, symbolizing the ‘best‘ for his book called Quest for the Best. Ms Martin is featured as one of 75 women in the book, Texas Women, published by Taylor Publishing. Her fashion and commercial background included bookings with internationally known fashion photographer, Victor Skrebneski. In the fashion industry, Ms Martin was named Regional Fashion Manager of Neiman Marcus stores where her responsibilities included serving as liaison with the Chicago fashion press, supervising all major fashion events in a three-store area and presenting fashion clinics to community and civic groups. Professional Experiences Produced and narrated Fashion segment ’Smart and Casual for Over 50 and Fabulous’
 Fox 4 TV Morning Show Co-Executive Producer and Host TV Special: Women in the Outdoors
 Broadcast on WFAA TV ABC Style Editor, Feature writer, Today’s Dallas Woman magazine Midwest Fashion Director Neiman Marcus, three Chicago stores: Michigan Avenue, Oakbrook and Northbrook Instructor, Style and Image, KD Studio Runway Model, Photography Model, Neiman Marcus Fashion Model/Talent, Kim Dawson Agency TV segment host, Channel 27 “Weekend Magazine” Fashion segment (13 weeks) Featured writer ’Society’ magazine, Nancy Smith, publisher Style Editor and monthly featured writer ‘Today’s Dallas Woman Magazine’ Co-Editor and featured writer for ‘Shikar/Safari Magazine’ Helen Martin's website Download.