All eyes on Vivienne Westwood
Vivienne Westwood memento mori earrings
Vivienne Westwood's Swarovski crystal-encrusted ankle boot
While we're on the subject of costume jewellery, get an eyeful of these earrings displayed at Vivienne Westwood's press day this morning: modern reworkings of the Lover's Eyes that were popular at the end of the eighteenth and start of the nineteenth century. Commonly understood to be miniature portraits of the eyes of a loved one (solely), these peculiar antique brooches could equally be the eyes of a family member or friend and were also used as memento mori's or mourning tokens.
Clearly, they bear no relation to the flashy, Swarovski crystal-encrusted shoes also on show, but why should continuity stand in the way of a bit of gratuitous irridescence?