Dolled-Up Dishes

From France, the land of haute couture, comes the tableware equivalent of the basic black dress that you accessorize for different looks. Each plate or bowl has a heart-shaped hole in the rim into which you can screw various decorative medallions.

Artichaut plates and bowls are $18 to $25; medallions, $12 are apiece. At Malibu Colony Co., Malibu, and Laguna Colony Co., Laguna Beach.

Pretty as a Pitcher

This tall pitcher by Brett, handmade in Mexico, has the simple, clean lines of classic ‘30s and ‘40s California pottery.

$50. At Malibu Colony Co., Malibu; Laguna Colony Co., Laguna Beach, and Malibu Colony Boutique, Los Angeles.

Glass Menagerie

Toast the new year in style--and with gin. After all, raising a glass of cheap Champagne is so traditional. These artist-designed martini glasses--mermaid and cactus shapes from Texas glassblower Rick Dodson and handblown stems from Napa’s Ed Steels--are just the thing to welcome 1997.

At Freehand, in Los Angeles, $55 to $81.