A brightly colored, sticky wristband is a surefire way to sully guests' chic looks at a black-tie event—not to mention a blight on those post-event photos all over Facebook. But these two recent events used bona fide bracelets to serve as entry tickets to their tony events.
1. Cosmopolitan Opening Bash:
For its big-budget New Year's Eve event produced by Colin Cowie, guests stayed in the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas property for the duration of the weekend-long affair filled with events, including a black-tie New Year's Eve dinner. With their finery, guests wore bracelets made from recycled guitar strings. The unisex one-size-fits-all bracelets came from WearYourMusic.org, and come in all different colors (the event used gold, platinum, black, red, and a red, white, and blue combo). The bracelet could be removed and replaced throughout the weekend's programming. The bands retail for $9.99 each, and a percentage of the profits is donated to charities; the Cosmopolitan's bracelets supported MusiCares. Since the event, one of the property's retailers, Jason of Beverly Hills, has created a diamond-encrusted guitar-string bracelet inspired by the wristbands.
2. Bulgari's Benefit Dinner
As part of its big-money initiative to fund global education programs, Bulgari hosted an intimate benefit in January at the private manse of billionaire Ron Burkle in Los Angeles. Bulgari's New York-based head of communications for North America and Latin America, Rory Hermelee, oversaw the event's creative concept. She selected the brand's "Little B" bracelet, designed with the luxury retailer's iconic logos, to be given to 250 guests as they checked in at Bulgari’s event for Artists for Peace and Justice and Save the Children. The bracelet, which retails for $270, did double duty as a pass through security checkpoints and an on-brand gift.