design matters: larry vrba, king of costume jewelry

janeharr — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 05:25:18 +0000

In my research to sell a necklace on Etsy (“romanlovesgigi”), I discovered the designer Lawrence (Larry) Vrba, who is the Liberace of costume jewelry for the theater, film, fashion, and celebrity world, and has been since the 1960s (when he worked for Miriam Haskelll. From La Cage aux Folles and Joan Crawford to Zac Posen and Beyonce…he’s had quite a career because he does AMAAAAAZING WORK. Too bad so little’s been written about him. A future interview, perhaps:)

I especially love his buddha pieces, though he’s quite famous for his Egyptian collection, both from the 1970s. The Egyptian revival bib necklace I was trying to figure out the provenance of could’ve been an example of the latter, but there was no signature. It sold for $85 (first image here) in 8 hours to a jewelry collector who will no doubt flip it on his Etsy shop. What can you do? ANYWAY, I tried to include a few pics that give a real indication of the scale of these designs, some of which are colossal in their opulence. Enjoy!