After a couple of recession-inspired years that saw brides-to-be paring back, not only on their "I Do" arrangements but with gowns that were more streamlined than princess-like, glamour is back in bridal.

And with it, the tiara.

"Tiaras are a good way to finish your overall wedding-day look, and to do something different and express your personal style," said Ellen Heisler, senior associate fashion editor for Brides magazine in New York, which has flagged tiaras as a trend.

"They don't have the stigma they used to have of being a little too proper or serious," she added.

Just as tiaras are making a comeback in fashion, with Natalie Portman and other stars wearing them on the red carpet, they are beginning to show up in bridal, which is increasingly influenced by celebrity attire. The upcoming nuptials of Kate Middleton and Prince William of Wales is likely to add to the trend.

In bridal, Heisler said, tiaras falls in two camps. There's "the simple, more delicate smaller piece that is tucked into the hair and looks really elegant and beautiful and effortless," said Heisler, referencing the San Francisco line Haute Bride.

The other side is more elaborate -- "the cool girl tiara," as she calls it, such as those from Erin Cole Design in Costa Mesa. "They're a little bit bolder, heavily encrusted with little crystals, or they have these chunkier crystals in them that feel different and fresh. They're not fussy or too stiff. They're fun and playful."

-- Susan Carpenter

Photo credits: Haute Bride, Erin Cole Design

French brand A.P.C. is putting its unused and archived fabric to work. The cult-favorite label — which has a store on Croft Avenue in L.A. — will be debuting a series of limited-edition quilts starting Oct. 28.

The quilt project was conceived by brand founder Jean Touitou, who's famously smitten with the handcrafted. The last capsule collection from A.P.C was all handmade by artisans from his native Tunisia.

To design the quilt collection, Touitou tapped Jessica Ogden, who co-designs the brand's Madras collection and is herself a passionate quilt and patchwork collector.

The original point of reference for the project was a cache of quilts Touitou’s mother had made from Kenzo fabrics. But inspiration was also pulled from Ogden's library of books on the 1970s craft movement in America and Amish quilting.

Ogden was given full access to A.P.C.'s fabric library, and came up with seven quilt designs that will be copied 30 times each. A second batch of seven quilts will follow for the holidays. All quilts are hand-stitched by craftswomen from the Bangalore region of India.

The small size (140 by 140 centimeters) is priced at $515, the medium quilts (200 by 205) will sell for $665, and the large quilts (200 by 220) will ring in at $955. A darling gift for the low-key girl who has everything.

-- Emili Vesilind

Photo: A close-up of one of A.P.C.'s new quilts. Credit: A.P.C.

Cult-favorite French fashion brand A.P.C. and high-end soap and skincare company Aesop have teamed up to create Fine Fabric Care -- a cleanser designed for hand-washing that packs major shelf appeal along with a heady, citrus-based scent.

Formulated by Aesop, it contains extracts of pettigrain, lemon and cedarwood. And although it won't be available for purchase for a while (it debuts in September exclusively at A.P.C. stores), it's bound to become a staple in stylish laundry rooms.

"Washing your clothes yourself is a good thing to me," wrote A.P.C. founder Jean Touitou, "and taking your woolen, cotton or cashmere jumpers to the dry cleaners is altogether a depressing, costly and not-so-efficient affair. ...This gives your mind a break, it smells good too, and once you’ve finished your task, you have, at last, the feeling of having done something."

Touitou's personal directions for using the cleanser are similarly quaint and, well, French-feeling: "Two soup spoons in a bath tub half filled with hot water, but the water must not be so hot that it burns your hands."

-- Emili Vesilind

Illustration: Fine Fabric Care by A.P.C. and Aesop. Credit: A.P.C.

Tunisia, Africa's northern-most country, is the inspiration behind A.P.C.'s new capsule collection, La Liste Tunisienne ("The Tunisian List").

And as with A.P.C.— one of the most cultish fashion brands in existence — the new collection of rustic, elegant accessories and home wares mines traditional handiwork methods. This time, of Tunisian descent.

"It's now time to go back to my origins to create a collection which links my culture, my viewpoint and my country," said Tunisian-born designer Laurence Touitou, sister of A.P.C. founder Jean Touitou. "I have chosen traditional Tunisian objects...simple, ordinary objects. I suppose one could say they are Tunisian basics."

The seven-piece collection features a straw hat (the "Tunisian Stetson"), a red, floral-printed floor mat, an open-weave bathroom fabric, a cotton scarf available in black and white and rose- and orange-scented soap.

On the labels of each item is a description of how each object was made — in which village and workshop, by which craftsman, and using which tools and fabrics.

Touitou hopes to add five items to "the list" with every new collection. The initial line will be sold exclusively in A.P.C. shops for a very brief time — from May 20 to June 3.

-- Emili Vesilind

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Photo: The seven items in A.P.C.'s new La Liste Tunisienne capsule collection. Credit: A.P.C.