<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Dear Chris Benz, I just had to write to tell you that I am in love with your fall collection. No one puts vibrant color together the way you do and I am beyond inspired. This might be too much to ask, but I can&amp;amp;#8217;t help but hope that you will consider splitting the $100 ticket I got this morning for defacing public property as I took my inspiration to a higher DIY haze. Apparently spray painting a watch neon orange at 6am on a public sidewalk is illegal. When I love something I tell the world, wear it all over&amp;amp;#133;everyday&amp;amp;#133;styled in 10 different ways. I&amp;amp;#8217;ll cut it off with a garden shears (remember my fur vest?), manipulate the fabric, or in the case of this morning, paint it&amp;amp;#133;and if I&amp;amp;#8217;m being really honest--burn it (yes, I melted an entire gold bracelet over a candle this morning trying to get an &amp;amp;#8220;antiqued look&amp;amp;#8221;). Spring is about COLOR&amp;amp;#133;lots and lots of color! Neon brights are not necessarily news for this time of year, but this spring they feel more right than ever to me. Call it escapism, a happy moment of shock value or just the way it makes people smile (they are laughing with me-not at me&amp;amp;#133; right) when they see a neon orange watch on my wrist (no doubt from a mile away!) Stephen Sprouse&amp;amp;#8217;s exhibition for Vuitton a few weeks back planted the seed and the amazing bright pink patent bag I saw at the Matthew Williamson store opening the other night confirmed it&amp;amp;#8217;s still what makes me happy this season. I&amp;amp;#8217;ve always loved the look of neutral with neon. A bold color grounded in stone or khaki makes the color itself more modern, but this spring I am loving navy as a new modern base for spring&amp;amp;#8217;s screaming brights. And if Marc Jacobs has anything to say about it (and he usually does) this week, it looks as though the neon 80&amp;amp;#8217;s are here to stay through fall. It just feels fresh! So just like I do for work when I am coming up with a project idea, I put together an inspiration board of the mood and color that I wanted my jewelry to take on. The trick with wearing neon is getting the balance right so I spray painted two necklaces... mixing pink and orange spray paint that I bought down the block at the art store ($12) and then layered in non-spray painted pieces for added texture. I love Lanvin&amp;amp;#8217;s spring jewelry&amp;amp;#133;it&amp;amp;#8217;s whimsically colorful, so I used the pink and orange tones Lanvin designer Alber Elbaz showed as my inspiration for color. After the necklaces were dry, I layered in silver tones. The combination looks modern because the silver breaks up a loud color and combines all the necklaces into one statement piece. The watch was a wild card&amp;amp;#133;a last-minute idea as I was walking out the door. If you live on 7th Street you probably were wondering who the girl was at 6am in the big Russian fur hat spraying orange like a maniac. Well if you happen to be in my office today you&amp;amp;#8217;d know, because in her hurry I didn&amp;amp;#8217;t wear gloves and my hands look like a kindergartener&amp;amp;#8217;s art project. FYI, unlike other wardrobe-inspired police&amp;amp;#133;to the New York City police department the suggestion of adding a little electric pop to an officer&amp;amp;#8217;s navy uniform doesn&amp;amp;#8217;t get you out of municipal court. What do you guys think? Am I pulling off the neon look? Is this a DIY you&amp;#x27;d try? And have you ever had a brush with the law in the name of fashion? Discuss!"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/fashion/blogs/dressed/2009/02/how-i-almost-got-arrested-in-t>