Some of you dear readers have been asking me to write about accessorizing with jewelry. You have insecurities. I understand. Please enjoy these past ruminations on accessorizing with jewelry.
This one is a good place to start. I wrote it in 2006, so I can’t vouch for whether or not my recommendations still hold (for instance, I don’t think Kenneth Cole designs very interesting jewelry any more), but the suggestions may still have helpful.
This is where I talk about accessorizing as an art form.
Here’s an old post where I talk about wearing black and bling during the winter holidays.
A post on pearls, with a lyric from “Guys and Dolls” just because.
Here’s a post where I confess to not being a fan of matchy-matchy jewelry sets.
Remember, pigeons, you can always do a keyword search of the blog or check the archives.
If you lack confidence about accessorizing with jewelry, a great and fun thing to do is to collect images from art or magazines or people-on-the-street photos that inspire you. What feels like you? And remember: you’ll never learn if you don’t start to step outside your comfort zone and try a few things! Another great idea is to borrow from friends. I have a huge collection of jewelry curated over twenty five years. Almost none of it has any monetary value so I loan out pieces all the time. Get together a party and accessorize. Try things on, take photos, see how different looks work, and put everything back with no harm done no matter how crazy you decided to get.
Pinterest is a great way to start a click-and-save scrapbook of jewelry ideas that seem interesting and exciting and beautiful to you.
Like, I love the combination of a denim or leather jacket with really girly jewelry. The braid is also so PRITTEE!
So I would pin that.
This next image might make me think, “Hmmm. I don’t love this, but I think I want to try to move out of my comfort zone and pair a dressy necklace with a sporty outfit and see how it makes me feel. Because this chick looks cool. On the other hand, it may be that I’m attracted to this image because I really want a cup of coffee. It’s hard to tell.”
First world comment, I know. I wish the folk at What Not To Wear would do a segment on working real jewelry which for most of us is a lot smaller than costume, so a signature piece may not be big or bold. (Pearls am be the exception as they are easily visible.)