Finishing touches make holiday outfits

New York — It’s the finishing touches that make the holidays special, and the same is true for holiday outfits.

According to the Accessories Council, glamour and elegance are “essential parts of this season’s vernacular,” all the more reason to wear bejeweled chandelier earrings or eyewear, or beaded necklaces with tassel detailing.

For handbags and shoes, various shades of pink and orange give a pop to suede, tweed, leather and crocodile, and ribbons, bows and buttons help convey a very feminine message.

The council’s top picks for the season include:

• Eyeglasses with a chocolate-color frame with crystal accents, such as a version offered by Fendi Eyewear.
• Antique gold chandelier earrings with olive and peridot Swarovski crystals designed by Liz Palacios.
• A faceted crystal and freshwater pearl necklace with amethyst drop by Carol Dauplaise.
• Via Spiga handbags, one with salmon-colored buttons as trim and another with lace-up stitching and a tassel closure. Also, a suede peep-toe pump with a bow.
• An orange messenger bag with striped grosgrain trim by Ogden Little.

Book features celebrity knitters

New York — Knitting has become such a hip hobby among Hollywood stars that it now has its own book, featuring one-of-a-kind designs by Julianna Margulies, Parker Posey and Courtney Thorne-Smith.

“Celebrity Scarves” (SoHo Publishing) by Abra Edelman, a casting director and film producer — and a knitter for only two years — offers directions on how to re-create the stars’ designs at home.

Edelman also asked the celebrities for advice and personal tales about knitting.

Margulies says she began knitting at age 5 and gave her first knitted scarf to her father “who actually wore the thing until it started to unravel, at which point he had it framed and hung on his office wall.”

For this book, Margulies created a soft, boa-type scarf in a pale blue.

She reminds novices to keep the tension on the loose side. “Tight stitches are hard to work with and hide the beauty of the yarn.”

Several knitters, including Rosie Perez and Daryl Hannah, say they use knitting to help relieve stress.