Kenneth Jay Lane: Faking it

They may glitter, dazzle, and fool the eye, but one thing is for certain--they are concocted by the world's best-known designer of costume jewelry, Kenneth Jay Lane. His clientele includes first ladies, movie stars, and royalty. This fascinating bon vivant has combined life and work into a seamless string of delightful adventures, all wonderfully told here. 145 illustrations, 85 in full color.

If you're just a little bored with Tiffany's (a girl can use only so many tasteful diamonds, after all), here's a change: Kenneth Jay Lane: Faking It, the fabulous faker's tribute to himself and his 30-years-plus as a creator of wildly imaginative costume jewelry. Friend and jeweler to First Ladies from Jackie Kennedy to Hillary Rodham Clinton and celebrities from Audrey Hepburn to Linda Evans, Lane has used glass emeralds, plastic turquoise, and gold-plated metals to create eye-popping accessories. Now, writing with Miller, he shares the secrets of his inspirations and creations. (Abrams; $35.00; Oct.; 160 pages; ISBN 0-8109-3579-1; color and b&w photos) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Unabashedly, Lane admits in his memoir to having borrowed the designs of Bulgari, Schlumberger, and David Webb, among other precious-jewelry creators, for his fashion-worthy fakes. But to own just a few Lane pieces is to live vicariously in the company of Barbara Bush, the late Jackie O., Madonna, Princess Di, and others, and, more important, to possess the cachet of style. As is to be expected, the breathless reporting in this autobiography (written with a cowriter) flits from one topic to the next, one name to another, as readers try to follow, in some sequence, the exact life of KJL after his graduation from the Rhode Island School of Design. Ultimately, though, most will surrender to admiring the photography of John Bigelow Taylor, enjoying the celebrity tales, and wondering what such a collection would bring at auction. Barbara Jacobs