I’m starting to think that I never capitalized on my unique value proposition as a child. As gifts, I received kitschy jewelry kits, bead makers, and really smelly second-tier gimp packages to do as I please. I created bracelets, necklaces, and probably contracted some sort of back problem from the way I slaved over making tacky accessories.

Michelle Tratchenberg made waves when she came back to the small screen existence in Gossip Girl (yeah, shut up Gloria ad get over that clothing-indulged show). What she managed to continually plug was her fairly obscure jewelry line, Bella Veritas, which I’ve only managed to find retail online at milk. It’s actually obscene the astronomical costs for her beads-on-string line, ranging from $120 for a bracelet, to $380 for a necklace. If I had known that making cheesy Chinese-inspired pieces with random skulls and horns would pay off big, I would have harnessed it as a child.

Just goes to show that celebrity branding supersedes quality or…sanity.

> images courtesy of shopatmilk.com