The Dictator's verdict on embellished denim and tassel jewellery

Denim Dead End, Repulse Bay

The Dictator rules: I'd like to say embellished, bejewelled and bedazzled denim pieces from the spring-summer 2015 collections were all turned back at the border by the Good Taste Police. For, although incredibly stylish women will pull off this look with aplomb in probably just a simple white shirt and flats, the majority of you will not. Why am I seeing faux jewels red and competing with platform stilettos? Ugh. The way to do it is to employ Signori Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. You've probably already been to one of their boutiques but the jewelled denim pieces don't "drop", as they say, until mid-February. Until then, you'd do well to get yourself a pair of crystal- or pearl-embellished boyfriend jeans by Tu Es Mon Tresor (HK$5,318 to HK$8,488; www.farfetch.com). The Japanese label also accepts special orders through its official website, www.tu-es-mon-tresor. com, where designs go beyond jewels to cloud-like puffs of what looks like cotton wool and all sorts of fantastical concepts. Alternatively, you could trawl the online sales for past season items such as Miu Miu's embellished denim mini skirt (HK$9,800; www.mytheresa.com; or Stella McCartney's denim pencil skirt with sewn-on crystals that look like solitaire diamonds (HK$2,515; www.matchesfashion.com).

Tassel Tussle, Cyberport

Really? I think you get what you pay for. Consider this: the Tiffany & Co Ziegfeld Collection, inspired by the company's designs from the 1920s and featured in Baz Luhrmann's 2013 film The Great Gatsby, is fine jewellery made from real pearls and onyx. The modern interpretations are set in sterling silver, which keeps prices down. So, rather than the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars you might have imagined, you'd actually be spending HK$6,550 for the 33-inch tassel necklace in black onyx, freshwater pearl and silver, and a little bit more for the freshwater pearl tassel necklace or earrings. You might want to compare that with the Dark Allure collection, by Arte Madrid, which includes tassel earrings (HK$4,200) and a pendant necklace (HK$5,200) made from synthetic diamonds, onyx and rhodium-plated silver. Ben-Amun's charming, faux gold and glass pearl is technically costume jewellery, though it looks fine and costs HK$2,990 (Harvey Nichols). And you can always rely on Jan Logan to have a tasselled piece in every collection, including bracelets, lariats and necklaces of semi-precious stones and pearls from the 2015 collection (about HK$1,800 and up).