Stella & Dot

Last night my friend Whitney brought me out to a Stella & Dot trunk show that her friend Kim was hosting. It was such a nice time and the jewelry was so gorgeous, it was a real struggle to not buy more than I did. I went in with a definite budget, but after a glass of wine and some sweet potato chips and artichoke dip, I was telling myself that spending three times my budget wasn't such a bad idea.


In the end, I was good, I stuck to the budget and got this really interesting gold plated brass necklace that reminds me of the Pen Necklace Joan wears on Mad Men. I can't wait to get it!


For those who haven't heard of Stella & Dot, it's a really interesting company, founded a few years ago by a mother who was looking to create career alternatives for today's busy woman. It kind of runs on the same premise as Avon, where the product is only offered through Stella & Dot "Stylists". The stylists bring samples of the goods and make a percentage of the sales orders from the trunk shows. The host of the trunk show also gets a little kickback, in the form of free or discounted jewelry.

The necklace on the far right is the one I bought!

It also gives you the sense that you're helping out a smaller cause, while a lot of the Stella & Dot pieces are clearly inspired by larger department store costume jewelry, (one ring in particular looked EXACTLY like one BCBG was selling back in 2010) you get the sense that you are shopping in a more intimate setting, and that your money may be better spent because you actually get to hear the story, and meet the sales person.  Plus it didn't hurt that most of the pieces were things that I would want to buy regardless of who was selling it to me.

If you're interested to learn more about Stella and Dot, contact the faaaaabulous Catherine DeJong, she's the Stella and Dot Stylist that was putting the trunk show on, check out her page at www.stelladot.com/catherinedejong