Michelle Trachtenberg

West Coast Dispatch

From In Style’s Ali Forman in Los Angeles: These days, the launch of another celebrity product line is not exactly big news. Jennifer Lopez has a perfume, Jessica Simpson’s got shoes, Gwen Stefani has bags, Justin Timberlake’s got jeans. The list goes on and on.

But it’s always fun when a new one of these "star lines" comes along-fun, for example, to see if it’s something I’d actually wear. So when our actress pal Michelle Trachtenberg came into our office the other day to show us her new line of jewelry, I was happy it turned out to be a line from which I would eagerly buy!

Michelle (whose latest flick, Black Christmas, hits theaters on December 25th) is super-excited about the line, which she calls Bella Veritas (Latin for "beautiful truth"). It seems the 21-year-old actress has been busily handcrafting beaded bracelets and necklaces for the past few months, and not just for pals. Yes, many of her friends-including Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mila Kunis and Lydia Hearst-own various pieces. But Michelle’s jewelry is also being sold at two of L.A.’s hippest boutiques: Intuition (a west-side fave of Jessica Simpson and Lindsay Lohan) and Milk (where Rachel Bilson and Kirsten Dunst are customers).

All of the items are made with semi-precious stones and feature cute silver charms such as mini handcuffs, skulls and guns, along with hearts, Buddha icons and four-leaf clovers-a cool mix of naughty and nice.

“Hey, I have to have some bad-girl stuff in there,” the star of Ice Princess told us. Michelle confessed that she created this latest collection during marathon viewings of Law and Order: Criminal Intent (which might explain the handcuff charms) and House (could mini stethoscopes be next?)-all from the comfort of her couch.

Speaking of Law and Order, Michelle recently did a guest stint on the show, appearing opposite Chris Noth (a.k.a. Mr. Big of Sex and the City fame). “I told him that he had seen me topless before,” she said. “He looked kind of embarrassed, like he was trying to figure out how. And then I explained that I had done an episode of the original Law and Order with him when I was four years old!” (Ouch-way to make the guy feel old.)

But back to the jewelry. How did it all start? Michelle says one of the reasons is that she felt she needed something original to spruce up her casual looks. One of her biggest fashion challenges had been finding jewelry she really loved, that no one else had, and that she could wear all the time without looking as if she was in a fashion rut. Well, as they say, necessity is the mother of invention.