Digging a bit offers rules like, 'Wear the maximum amount of 3 bracelets, 2 rings, 2 earrings, and 2 necklaces,' and 'Wearing too much jewelry can make you seem flashy'. That's better than 'trashy' which is what the same site said last year.
No wonder women are scared to pick out their own jewelry! No wonder they shy away from the larger, bold pieces like my Cool Colors Gauntlet. They love them, they pick them up, try them on, ooh and ahh, show them to friends-- and then buy a smaller, more neutral piece.
It's not always the price either, as sometimes the earrings they buy cost more than the ones they love and leave.
It doesn't always bother me, but have you ever seen anyone put on a piece that seems made for them? It looks so incredibly good that to watch them walk away with a piece that just isn't as stunning on them is painful.
I tell people, 'If you can pull it off, do it!' Don't give me that about not having anything to wear with it. Please.
My favorite pair of shoes ever were fuchsia suede platform heels. I wore them all the time, with everything, and people loved them-- even guys, the kind who usually can't tell one black shoe from another.
My favorite pair of glasses ever are purple and orange/yellow. I wear them everyday, with everything, and love them more than all the 'safe' glasses I've ever had-- combined.
How do you get people to let go of the fear and embrace the fabulous? Do they really want to grow old in tan and grey? If I understood what was behind the decision, perhaps I could combat it, communicate better the possibilities of boldness. (My grandmother says, "I always wanted to look like other women." But I just don't get it.)
Part of my job at a show or party is to help customers make a selection. I need to get better at it for my own sanity!
So how daring are you? What's your jewelry wearing philosophy? How do you help others widen their horizons?
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what a fabulous post!
ReplyDeletei work in a jewelry gallery and i see this every day. i find, to be honest, that most people can't or won't think for themselves. it's sad. nothing makes me madder than for a woman to let her husband talk her out of a piece that was made for her!
i went through a stage where i tried to conform to fit into a job and i was miserable. i don't understand not following your bliss - especially when it comes to hair color and jewelry! my personal style is to wear good, solid, stylish yet traditional clothes paired with big bold jewelry ( usually my own). i do tend to stick to either a necklace and no earrings or earrings and a bracelet, but how funny that i was just thinking this morning i should mix it up a bit more and wear bangles and rings along with my big cuffs. now i will have to!
I spent some time today looking at the favorite jewelry of a client of my DH's. She's in her 80s and she wears Very Large pieces. And they work on her like nobody's business. It strikes me that the younger women are more likely to be timid. They still think it matters what that semi-mythical "everybody else" is wearing.
ReplyDeleteI've seen the phenomenon you describe over and over. I shaved my head for years, and the comment I got most often was, "I wish I could do that." Of course, they could have, all of 'em.
I wear what I like. I like what I wear. Works for me.
There's such a thing as the wrong jewelry? O_O
ReplyDeleteIf you like it, and it matches what you're wearing, go for it. Why do people have to over-complicate things?
I have never been one to follow the fads. If I like something, I will wear it when noone else will. I do tend to go for the smaller more feminine jewelry though.
ReplyDeletemakes me want to wear my vintage red chunky monkey rock-star bracelet. There's something liberating about marching to the beat of your own drum with a "conversation piece" on...I'm like Amber though...if I wear the chunky bracelet, I'll nix the bold earrings...
ReplyDelete