The luxury-for-rent masterminds over at Bag Borrow or Steal have made two huge announcements: They're expanding -- customers will soon be able to get their hands on sunglasses, jewelry, cocktail attire, outerwear and "anything couture." And they're changing their name to Avelle to reflect the fact it's not just handbags anymore.

The company's tagline, "Guilty pleasure, without the guilt," has convinced many a hard-working gal that $6 a week is a quite reasonable amount of money (about 1.5 lattes?) to spend on a bag she will never actually own.

Since its inception in 2004, Bag Borrow or Steal has quickly risen to become the single largest rental luxury service online. Even Jennifer Hudson borrowed in the Sex and the City movie before Carrie generously bestowed that Louis Vuitton number on her, which at $5,400 would take a young assistant quite some time to pay off. (The Vuitton at right goes for $49 a week for members, which means you'd be paid in full in about six months.) I guess accessibility is the new exclusivity.

This week Kwiat brought some more sparkle to Madison Avenue with the opening of their 1,000-square-foot boutique at 725 Madison near other high-end diamond jewelry brands including Graff and Leviev. The flagship store celebrated their grand opening with a party hosted by Jennifer Hudson who tried on Kwiat designs for the press. Actress Eva Amurri and editors from various consumer fashion magazines were also in attendance. The company is dipping their toes into the retail business and is looking at shopping spots known for big spenders such as Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Russia.

At the Academy Awards the blackened gold and rough diamond trend continued with many stars wearing pieces that were had a vintage feel. Last year's most amazing piece was probably the Bulgari collar worn by Keira Knightley. There weren't, in my opinion, any real showstopper pieces like that on the red carpet this time but there were definitely some major jewels being displayed.

The evening belonged to earrings and bracelets. Jennifer Hudson wore a yellow diamond necklace (picture after the jump) and a few others wore diamond necklaces but overall heavy earrings and wrists layered with diamonds were the order of the day. Cate Blanchett, Cameron Diaz, Jessica BIel and Jada Pinkett Smith all surrendered their earlobes for the evening to some beautiful and costly gems.

The extraordinary bracelets worn by Nicole Kidman were a pair of 375 carat rough diamond cuffs designed by L'wren Scott. The cuffs contain 187 "arrowhead" shaped diamonds that are known as maccles. The stones are distorted octahedrals that at some point in their growth have "changed direction" creating distinctive triangle shape and are uncut.

After the jump, some of my favorite gems of the evening.

PS (For Info and commentary on the fabulous gowns, please check out our sibling blog Styledash).