Hello dear! So I have come across quite a few blog posts on the topic Your Wardrobe Essentials – you know the usual drill of ‘a crisp white shirt, a black pencil skirt, a pair of skinny jeans, a pair of black trousers, the perfect white t-shirt, a black cardigan, a trench coat’ etc. How very not exciting I say – and would like to introduce to you my take on ‘Your Jewellery Collection Essentials‘!
A pair of my jewellery wardrobe staples – a pair of blue topaz beauties, vintage style from South Africa
These are all pieces that I have found myself using on a regular basis, and of course, if you decide to invest in any of these items I would encourage you to go for vintage or antique. When you look through your jewellery collection to see what pieces you already have, remember to include jewellery that you have inherited from your grandmother(s). These often become the most treasured ones, and even though you might want to keep them safe and locked away, keep in mind that they were made to be worn, loved and admired!
Make a list in your head of the pieces of jewellery that you know that you will be using on a regular basis, and when you get to your next vintage jewellery fair or shop you will know what you should look for! The above photo is from the Frock Me! Vintage Fashion Fair
1. Pearl Earrings
By adding a pair of (in my case preferably white) pearl earrings to your outfit, you can transform a whole look! A plain office outfit becomes all that more sophisticated; a little black dress gets an air of Audrey Hepburn elegance; and a cocktail dress becomes oh so glamorous! It is my firm opinion that pearl earrings are a must in every girl’s jewellery wardrobe. You can vary the sizes so that you have a pair of smaller pearls as well as the larger ones, as different sized pearls bring different looks to yours outfits.
2. Pearl Necklace
This one goes hand-in-hand with the pearl earrings and I just love wearing pearl earrings and a pearl necklace together. Try to match the sizes of the pearls in the earrings and necklaces for good balance – but have fun while playing around with them! I just love the Sex and the City movie scene where Carries tries on the Lanvin wedding dress (Google search for it here) and that big, chunky pearl necklace! Not to mention when she is draped in pearls with the Christian Lacroix dress! (Google results here)
3. Gold Earrings
For an outfit in warm colours, gold jewellery is just such a wonderful choice. Either go for small golden earrings or a pair of golden earrings with a small stone, for example a turquoise, diamond or even a pearl. I tend to keep my everyday earrings quite small so that they match a simple and elegant necklace – without stealing the show!
4. Gold Necklace
Something elegant and understated that goes with your golden earrings. The beauty here is that you have a sea of different styles to choose from: will you choose a gold pendant or a small sparkling stone that complements the gold? Or a necklace where the chain is the main detail? I have always known that gold chain necklaces don’t suit me, so judge by my dread when I was asked to try one on in the shop the other day to show a client! I was then so surprised to see that it actually suited me, and that I liked the look! So again, have a play around with the different styles as you might get surprised as to what suits you best!
Vintage gold locket with initials
3. Silver Coloured Earrings
Silver, white gold and platinum are especially perfect when you wear an outfit featuring cold colours (blues, greens etc) but they do of course go very well with everything. Silver coloured earrings that come with a bit of sparkle, such as diamonds or Swarovski crystals, are always a lovely choice. I tend to go for the smaller ones as I love the subtle glitter, and they are perfect for matching up with a pretty silver necklace.
Vintage sparkling silver stud earrings
4. Silver Necklace
You can either go for a classic silver chain necklace, one with a silver details or something with a small sparkling stone. I have found that I don’t wear sets very often – pre-matched jewellery – but I tend to mix and match my pieces so that my earrings for example carry a bit of sparkle, while the necklace is then just plain silver, like my Tiffany bow below:
Tiffany & Co silver bow necklace
5. Bracelet
When it comes to bracelets the choice is a bit wider: you don’t wear the bracelet right next to the rest of the jewellery so do play around a bit more with colours, metals and stones. For example, if I am wearing gold jewellery I often wear my great aunt’s Kalevala bracelet – an old Finnish design in brass, in the far right photo below. Kalevala is a fascinating brand so we will come back to that in a later post!
6. Rings
Rings are such fun and there are so many different styles to mention:
- Cocktail Rings, my favourite rings that keep coming back here on the blog as they are sooo gorgeous and fun to play around with:
- For those of you who are married or engaged I am sure that your Engagement Ring and Wedding Ring are the biggest parts of your jewellery-outfit. And yes, I am still planning to write a guide to buying a vintage engagement ring one day, so watch this space!
- A friend of mine brought to my attention to the beauty of wearing lots of elegant silver rings, and you might remember that I recreated the look in an older posts: Knitted Gloves and Silver Rings.
Have a play around with you rings and pair them up with something unexpected, like a pair of old cut-off knitted gloves
6. Statement Necklace
It is always a good idea to invest in a statement necklace that goes with many different outfits – which is not very hard as this piece is meant to stand out! It means that you can be bold with colours and don’t hold back on the sparkle!
I hope you enjoyed this alternative version of wardrobe essentials and I would love to hear what your jewellery essentials are? Do you have a special piece of jewellery that you wear every day?
Decades of Elegance 