Haute for the Holidays

THERE'S STILL TIME to drop hints for holiday gifts (the man in your life will probably wait until the last minute anyway), and we all know jewelry is the best gift of all.

With that in mind, I'll clue you in on two trends spicing up the 2009 runways:
1) bold, asymmetrical jewelry and 2) elaborate, ethnic touches. 
 

(Just ask Emporio Armani, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs and the eloquent Dries Van Noten.)

Well, local designer Zia Sachedina at ZIA boutique (325 W. Broughton St.) is killing two trends with one semi-precious stone.

His Feel Exotic collection combines such global treasures as Mexican sterling silver, East African ebony and Chinese cinnabar to create dazzlingly skewed statement necklaces.

I hope my gentleman caller is reading this: All I want for Christmas is this Frida necklace.

XO,
Haute Mama