Five Ways to Rock a Star of David

There’s been an increase in antisemitic incidents worldwide since October 7, and in parallel, there’s been an uptick in Google searches for Star of David necklaces. Jewish people all over the world are choosing to wear Judaica jewelry and apparel to represent Jewish pride, support for Israel, and solidarity. The IG account @whyiwearmystar shares stories of Jews around the world and their connections to the Star of David.

I’ve been heartened by orders for mazi + zo’s Star of David jewelry and customers messaging me asking for other modern ways to wear a Star of David.

Here’s what I’m loving (BONUS: they’re all small businesses):

  1. Obvi, starting with ours: mazi + zo’s delicate Star David necklace and dainty Star of David stud earrings are how minimalist Jews shine. Each piece is handmade in NYC with solid 14k gold or .925 sterling silver, my business is 100% Jewish-owned (me!), and our amazing workshop is also Jewish-owned. Prices range from $72-$232 and we’re donating 30% of sales from our Star of David jewelry to Hillel International’s mission to protect and support Jewish college students. As a thank you, when you buy a Star of David, we’ll automatically take 15% off the rest of your order. New jewelry + mitzvah + discount = winning!

  2. I love this Star of David sweatshirt with a glittery gold star on the front from Circle by Lori. Sandy white pieces are everywhere right now and the low contrast with the gold glitter keeps it modern. I can see building a whole monochromatic look around this. I’m also digging the navy blue and black options where the star really pops!

  3. OMG this tie. It comes in other colors, but the Star Of David II Dark Camo Camouflage Neck Tie by Leonbience is perfect. The Magen David is subtle, but totally there. Am kind of thinking I need to start wearing ties (did you catch Garcelle on RHOBC at her movie premiere party?? Such a great look.)

  4. Our friends at Schmattees’ Not Going Anywhere Long Sleeve T-Shirt sends a more in-your-face message for those days when you want to put it out there a little harder. I have their Dayenu tee and get smiles and compliments whenever I wear it. They’re also really really nice over there and they sell on Zazzle, too, if Amazon isn’t your thing.

  5. Rounding things out: a very cool Star of David hat by GomoniloveeByRose. The black on black version is so chic and you can personalize it with a name on the back. Hmm, is this another place to put dayenu??

    About The Author

    Lizzy Klein lives in NYC and is the founder of mazi + zo, a company that makes jewelry that ups your personal style with original, high-quality, easy-to-wear, easy-to-layer designs. Shop mazi + zo and find your next favorite jewelry!

 

Solid Gold Values And The Venus For Restart Collection

When I started mazi + zo, my jewelry company, I focused on creating beautiful jewelry for people who care about style, original design, and quality. It was also important to me to use sustainable materials, handcraft our product, and do it here in NYC. I didn’t, however, expect to weave in my broader political values as well, but that’s how things have turned out!
Back in 2020, when nothing felt more important than engaging in election news, Michelle Obama’s “When We All Vote” organization selected our VOTE necklace to help raise money to promote voter participation. It felt great to raise more money than I could afford to donate personally (the small biz struggle is real) and it was a thrill to see photos of people all over the country wearing our necklace–everyone from Stacy London to Monica Lewinsky to Kara Swisher has one!
My experience with the VOTE necklace taught me that I *can* make a difference and I’m ready to do it again: Along with the majority of the USA, I am enraged that the highest court of our country has determined that people cannot choose for themselves when or if to have a child. In 2019, poet laureate Amanda Gorman expressed the importance of standing up for reproductive freedom better than I ever could, opening with “ When the penalty for rape is less than the penalty for abortion after the rape, you know this isn’t about caring for women and girls. It’s about controlling them.”

Reproductive rights are human rights, and this decision impacts men, too.

Juliana Kim wrote for NPR about why overturning Roe v. Wade is tragic for our whole society, and not just a women’s issue. Notably, she referenced a study by Dr. Bethany Everett at the University of Utah which “found that young men who were involved with a pregnancy and whose partners had an abortion were nearly four times more likely to graduate from college than those whose partners gave birth.”
I want to help the people who are tragically affected by the laws being passed all over the country, and I want to have as big of an impact as possible!
This time around, I’ve partnered with Stix, another women-founded company. Stix provides doctor-approved products related to pregnancy, ovulation, UTIs, yeast infections, and emergency birth control (aka the morning-after pill.) That last one, Stix calls their product Restart™, is clutch right now, when people in many states are being denied access to the morning-after pill. The amazing founders at Stix have committed to providing Restart™ free of charge to people who need it, no questions asked. It’s easy: people in need fill out a form on getstix.com and Stix ships it out in a generic package so no one can guess what’s inside. This is a literal lifesaver.
These tests aren’t free to provide, though. So to help them continue to provide this service, Stix established the RestartTM Donation Bank, where anyone can donate to defray the costs of distributing this critical health care.

Want to help?

As a sign of my support for reproductive rights, I’ve been wearing mazi + zo’s minimalist Venus sign jewelry which represents a goddess deified as a warrior, lover, and “bringer of victory.” And when I explained the significance to others, I had an “a ha!” moment and knew exactly what to do:
I’m using those designs to support Stix’s efforts: When you buy any piece from our gorgeous Venus for Restart™ collection, mazi + zo funds a dose of Restart™. The delicate Venus pieces include a charm necklace, stud earrings, and (my favorite,) threader earrings. Like all of our jewelry, each piece is available in sustainable solid 14k gold or pure .925 sterling silver, is handmade in NYC, and ships in our signature reusable tin.
So you can shop, shine, and help someone in need receive the urgent health care they deserve. That’s gonna feel good. You can also donate directly to the program here.
Thank you for supporting the RestartTM Donation Bank and sharing our solid gold (and sterling silver!) values. You’ll look great in our Venus threader earrings, necklaces, and studs and they make great gifts, too.

About The Author

Lizzy Klein lives in NYC and is the founder of mazi + zo, a company that makes jewelry that ups your personal style with original, high-quality, easy-to-wear, easy-to-layer designs. Shop mazi + zo and find your next favorite jewelry!

Jewelry for All the Loves in Your Life

Remember when you were a kid and you gave Valentines to everyone in your class? That’s how I celebrate Valentine’s Day. A few years ago, I began hosting a dinner party on Valentine’s Day that includes a mix of gay and straight couples and singles and the common thread is “people I love” and now the dinner is one of my favorite traditions. I make a diets-be-damned dinner and we drink a little too much (for a weeknight, at least), share stories, and crack each other up. I think it’s so much more fun to celebrate love at a full table than with just me and my guy. 

 

But this year, a dinner party is out of the question (I live in NYC, it’s too cold for an outdoor substitute!) and Valentine’s Day will be dinner à deux with my boo. He’s wonderful, but I miss celebrating my friends, so I’m mailing real paper valentine cards and sending gifts, too. I founded a jewelry company, mazi + zo, so naturally I’m sending gifts of gold. Here’s a guide to my favorite not-hearts-again jewelry this season: 

 

For your bff who’s been there through thick and thin, I suggest a delicate charm necklace that shows how well you know her. What’s her Zodiac sign? We’ve got those. Does she drink red or white? We have both (we also have martinis, champagne flutes, margaritas, and a beer charm.) For fashionistas, we’ve got three styles of sunglasses and a cowboy boot. Does she love the water? Try a starfish, sailboat, or anchor from our “Vacation Vibes” collection. Social media obsessed? How about a hashtag

For your sparkliest friend, lightweight threader earrings are the way to go. They’ll dance and shine whenever she moves and draw attention right to her beautiful face. I receive compliments from strangers whenever I wear my kite threader earrings and you can wear them so many different ways to mix up your look. I like to “thread” them through my third and fourth holes and wear studs “below”, and they also look great on their own, worn long in front or back! In addition to kites, we’ve got double stars, lightning bolts, and crescent moons so pick the one that matches her style.

For the classic babe, try a delicate initial charm necklace or a pair of simple star stud earrings (we call these the little white tee of jewelry!) Or maybe a cross or Star of David is more her speed? Our classic collection features a minimalist crown, tongue-in-cheek “diamond”, an anchor, arrow, and more! 

For a versatile and timeless gift option, you can buy tennis bracelets online to suit any style and occasion.

Of course, if you want to go with the traditional hearts, we’ve got them, too! 

 

(I know, no ideas here for the guys. Our jewelry is just too tiny for most men. I like to send “consumable” gifts like booze, sweets, and meats and Goldbelly and Mouth always have tasty options from independent makers (those sites aren’t compensating me, I really use them! Of course, if they wanted to send me Jeni’s ice cream…)

 

Wishing you a fantastic Valentine’s Day full of love, laughs, and jewelry!

About the Author

Lizzy Klein lives in NYC and is the founder of mazi + zo, a company that makes jewelry that ups your personal style with original high quality easy-to-wear, easy-to-layer designs. Find your favorite style for gifts and for you at Shop mazi + zo!

 

Why I Vote, An Entrepreneur’s Take

 

I founded mazi + zo to celebrate women who make things happen, and one way to make things happen is to vote! 

 

Backstory:

My first startup gig was as a founding sister of my college sorority chapter. Then, after a few years working in the traditional NYC fashion biz, I landed at Time Warner in the earliest days of e-commerce. This led to a 25+ year career in startups as a team member, founder, advisor and investor. In 2018, I was noodling on my next venture and came full circle when I recognized an opportunity in the sorority market: college women tend to care about style, but sorority jewelry hadn’t changed since I was a sister (and tbh, it was dated then.) As I researched my target market, these young women wowed me with their collective savvy, initiative, and social consciousness, and I got excited about developing jewelry for them that’s not only cool, but also reflects their ideals and potential. 

 

I launched mazi + zo in fall of 2019 with licenses to design and sell sophisticated jewelry featuring sorority letters and symbols. We found immediate success in that market (yay!) and friends blew up my phone asking for their favorite symbols. It clicked: we tell our stories through jewelry. In January 2020, we expanded our collection and repositioned the company as a brand for women who make things happen. Our unique designs help women express their style through mixing stud and threader earrings and layering charm necklaces.

 

And then came COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement and selling jewelry didn’t feel quite as relevant anymore. Like lots of people, I stepped back to consider how I could contribute to positive change in the world, and I kept coming back to voting as the most powerful thing we can do to stand up for our values. When I learned about When We All Vote, a non-profit, non-partisan organization committed to increasing voter participation, I connected with the mission and wanted to contribute.

 

We designed a VOTE necklace based on our original sorority alphabet, launched it in early July, and began donating 35% of the selling price to When We All Vote (so you know, that’s all of our profit on this item.) Initial sales were strong, and the night Michelle Obama wore a VOTE necklace (another designer’s) for her DNC speech, we had more site traffic than we’d had in the first half of the year! Celebs like Megan Rapinoe, Kerry Washington, and Busy Phillips amping up the “register” message and I expect we’ll see record turnout this year, in spite of COVID concerns.

 

So why do I think it’s so important to vote? As an entrepreneur, I’ve learned to take advantage of every opportunity to pitch and I think of voting as pitching my values. It’s the ultimate opportunity to influence outcomes. On a personal level, voting makes me feel empowered and optimistic and I’m looking forward to November!

 

If you’d like to make a shiny statement *and* make a difference, please consider shopping for one (or two! Or three!) of our VOTE necklaces, priced from $72-216. 

 

Customers are also buying our hashtagVenus, and peacesymbols, and I’m thinking about what other stories we can help tell with mazi + zo. Please feel free to DM your ideas: @maziandzo. BTW, our jewelry is handmade in the USA using recycled 14k solid gold and pure .925 sterling silver so our customers feel good about that, too!

About The Author

Lizzy Klein is an NYC-based digital entrepreneur who caught the startup bug as a charter sister of Alpha Omicron Pi at Cornell University.

She loves all things bright and colorful (seriously, check out her IG feed!) Launching mazi + zo tickled her shiny bone so hard she braved 5 more ear piercings to up her ear game.

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