Core Worlds Couture: Love and Madness Wrap Bracelet Review

Core Worlds Couture With Jay Krebs

Another Thursday! You know what that means – time to get “wrapped up” in another Core Worlds Couture fashion review!

This week, I’ll be reviewing “The Crawl Madness Wrap” from the Love and Madness website. It’s a bracelet, featuring all of the words from the opening crawl of Star Wars: A New Hope. Hence the name! Intrigued? Read on!

I got turned on to this bracelet from the buzz it has been getting on social media lately, including being mentioned on our own Lattes With Leia. I adore bracelets, especially wrap bracelets, and most definitely wrap bracelets that are Star Wars-themed!

First, just a bit about the company, as quoted from their website (see the full-page here):

“Love And Madness is a woman owned and operated accessories brand. We collaborate with some of your favorite brands and characters to bring you cool stuff by mashing up fashion and trend with pop culture.”

The company was started by 15-year fashion veteran Heather McAvoy, who is now accompanied by several other women on-staff that run the entity. More from the site:

“The Love and Madness assortment infuses the magic and whimsy of their co-brands into a broad range of product from temporary tattoos and cell phone cases to jewelry and hair accessories. Ranging in retail from $10-$1000, the vast collection speaks to each and every one of their devoted customers, constantly evolving for a rapidly growing cult following. In the short time since its inception, Love and Madness has garnered the attention of celebrities like Rumer Willis, Eliza Dushku and Michelle Rodriguez and has landed on the shelves of Macy’s, J Crew, Dolls Kill and Nasty Gal, to name a few.”

#Girlpower
#alltheway

Description of The Crawl Madness Wrap (from the website):

Photo source: Love and Madness

“It’s the entirety of the opening scroll for A New Hope… The Crawl Madness Wrap is 3 feet long!!!! If you’ve been looking for The Ultimate in Star Wars Bling… you just found it. This wrap took 6 months in development to get it just right… it fits perfectly to any sized wrist do to the 38 plates being different sized. The wrap is not too heavy, not too light… and you will never want to take it off. Loved by the media, celebrities and most importantly the fans! Available in Blush/Rose Gold, Black/Gold, Charcoal/Silver”

I opted to get the Black/Gold. As much as I love rose gold, I was a little apprehensive about ordering that option, because although the “blush” leather looks more like a tan color on the website, a friend of mine on Twitter posted a pic of hers, and told me that the leather is more pink than tan. I just also figured the Black/Gold would nicely accessorize more of a variety of outfits, as well as go with some other black and gold Star Wars jewelry that I already own.

This is mine!

Price:
Listed on the website at $75.00. If I had been looking more carefully at the site while shopping, I would have noticed a little bonus: if you enter the code FREESHIPPINGBABY at checkout, shipping is, in fact free!! I was in too big of an excited hurry, however, and I paid $10.00 for shipping to my address in Ohio, but it’s all good – at least I’ll know for next time! The site does accept a variety of payments, including PayPal.

Shipping Time/Satisfaction of Packing and Shipping:
I received the shipment in 9 business days. In that time, I got an email from Connie Chang, Director of Brand Development, making sure I received the tracking number for the shipment. I also received an e-mail notification the day the box had been delivered. The wrap was in a little satin drawstring bag, encased in bubble wrap, with a handwritten note from the company. I was VERY pleased with the customer relations of Love and Madness, as they made sure I was satisfied every step of the way. It is always greatly appreciated in my book when a company goes out of their way to make me feel important and valued as an individual, and not “just a customer.”

Durability:
The wrap seems very durable. Each one of the metal plates is riveted individually, several times, on the leather band.

The leather seems very strong, although since I’ve had the bracelet less than a week, I will have to update this review sometime. It’s a pliable band, and not overly thick or bulky. We’ll see how well it holds up against time, wear and sweat (and I sweat like a Hutt)! The gold buckle fastener is a bit small, so I’m hoping it won’t fall apart in time. I’m glad it doesn’t have a chunky buckle, because that would appear out-of-place, and overpower the look.

The metal phrase plates are a nice, shiny gold, and I’m hoping the color stays that way, and that the metal will hold up against scratches. Again, I’ll have to revisit this review once I’ve owned the wrap awhile.

My Overall Rating/Reaction:
This wrap bracelet is stunning. It’s a statement piece, without being overly gaudy. In fact, the website pictures a couple of them layered together, which is a very tempting idea! The bracelet is very comfortable to wear, as well. The fastening buckle is pretty easy to operate one-handed, for which I’m grateful!

The only thing that I can see as a possible drawback to this piece, is the overall length of the wrap. It is 3’ long, but once you wrap it, the bracelet doesn’t lend much “breathing room” on the wrist – and I have fairly small wrists (measuring 6” in circumference). The band does have a few holes to choose from, but it would be nice if Love and Madness offered a longer length, with perhaps the option to cut off what isn’t needed. That way, gals with larger wrists could be assured a great fit.

I’m really looking forward to years of wear from this piece – I’ll be wearing it for play, for teaching my high school classes, and just whenever I want a great Star Wars piece of jewelry to show off my fangirl pride! Look for some upcoming tweets, and see where I’ve been with it. You might be surprised !!

As For My Numbers:
The Madness Wrap gets 4 out of 5 Galactic Credits! It truly is a stunning, cutting-edge fashion statement, and well worth the cost. It’s a great piece for making that personal segue from fandom to fashion. At this point, I haven’t owned it long enough to give it a true, test-of-time rating, but mark my words, I’ll return in time with an update! I will definitely be purchasing more items from Love and Madness. Based on my experience with customer relations alone, I will not have any reservations about future orders and/or products.

Look for Love and Madness at San Diego Comic Con! They will be on-site, selling their products to lucky convention-goers July 21-24, 2016.

Do you have this wrap bracelet, or any other products from Love and Madness? I would love to hear from you!

Leave your comments below, or you can contact me directly! My favorite social media vice is Twitter, just so you know!

Join me every week for new items! Coming soon: Review from Redbubble Star Wars Graphic T-shirt Dresses, and by popular demand: a DIY tutorial of some of those Star Wars pillow case skirts I’ve made!

email: jayk@coffeewithkenobi.com
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