“If people can live with what they love,” she said, “then I love the whole idea of people wearing what they love” – a notion she discusses in her book “Living With What You Love.”
Or better yet, wearing whom you love, since her jewelry line all started with one locket that she put on a necklace and bracelet.
It was warmly embraced by stars like Katie Holmes and clients who had bought some of her earlier products, including black-and-white photographs, sterling silver frames and “image cases” made from Italian cigarette cases.
“A locket tells the truth,” Monica said, “so when Katie Holmes was wearing my locket for years, off and on, everyone asked me, ‘Who’s in her locket?’ and I’m like, ‘I have no idea,’” she said with a laugh.
The designer – an on-the-go New York “city chick” and constant traveler who calls New Canaan home – said she gets her inspiration from a range of influences, including flea markets, museums, galleries, early-20th century photography, old movies, Cole Porter, Twiggy, her family keepsakes and contemporary designers.
“It’s interesting: In my jewelry I find I always get my best ideas from old art,” she said. “I would look at old paintings and these women would wear lockets and have great jewelry, and I always thought that was so sexy.”
Stardust memories
She’ll also turn on Turner Movie Classics and read though a week of Women’s Wear Daily, a favorite lazy Sunday ritual, and obsess over Katharine Hepburn’s style.
“Oh my God, if you think about the way she dressed in some of her movies, I just want to put a long locket on her,” Monica half-joked. “She was wearing those turtlenecks and those trousers, and in “The Philadelphia Story,” I mean, it’s like made for my jewelry isn’t it?”
There is something about the clothes and accessories back then that resonates with Monica. “That whole period was so chic, and all the accessories were telling stories about the people who were carrying them.
“In those days, if you and I would have lunch and sit across from each other, and we’d take out powder compacts, those powder compacts would usually have details on them that would say something about you and me. Mine may have my birthstone or maybe you inherited yours from your grandmother or maybe it had your initials on it or maybe you had a secret inscription behind your cigarette case. They were all very personal attributes and for some reason, all these things really spoke to me.”
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