Fashion Costume Jewellery

Archive for March, 2010

Many people are conscious of their hands, they may feel they are too big or too small, too thin or too fat. In all of these cases and even if you have perfectly proportioned hands you can wear a ring. The basic rules are that it should not be so big as to restrict movement in your fingers and it must be comfortable. Ring jewellery is for everyone.

If you have never worn a ring and perhaps are a little self conscious, take heart, you will never know how you feel until you try. Rings have the distinction of being quick to put on and quick to take off and occupy very little space if you decide to stow it in your handbag.

Don’t feel you need to wait for a formal or red carpet event to wear a ring. Although rings add glamour and style, they are quite acceptable with just jeans and a cami or t-shirt.

If you talk with your hands, they can be more expressive with rings. Rings can also match your mood or set the tone of the day. If you do not talk with your hands, talk to them by adorning them with rings. Adding a ring is like buying a party for your hands and just makes you feel good.

There is a tradition that the third finger on your left hand is reserved for engagement, marriage, eternity and partnership rings – that’s the finger next to the little finger on the left hand. Many people continue this tradition, but often extend it to all of the fingers on the left hand – this is really not necessary. The right hand is open for wearing rings on any finger, so much so that cocktail and dress rings are often referred to as right hand rings. On which finger you decide to wear the ring is up to you.

At very formal occasions, it is not unusual to see a ring worn over an elbow length evening glove. This can look very classy, if you do this, take no notice whatsoever of the ring and more people will notice your style and grace. Pulling and tugging at the glove or twisting the ring is really indicative of your discomfort.

Remember it is okay to feel good and a little glamourous – so adding a ring can add that frisson of the unexpected to your day. Go on – try it! Check out this selection of rings.

What about the pant suit?

The pant suit is a perennial favourite for business attire. There are heaps of reasons for this, not the least of which is the comfort factor. When you need to look good from breakfast meeting to drinks after work, the pant suit looks great – not just professional but also offering an aura of authority! Of course, it is also easy to wear from morning to night.

The New York Magazine offered some great photos of pant suit outfits, check them out.

There are other advantages – a pant suit can look fabulous with both high heels and with flats. If you are going from business meeting to out for the evening, a quick change of shoes perhaps a blouse with a frill (great contrast – very playful and sexy!).

Let’s face it the pant suit is every woman’s friend, that long lean look of solid vertical colour enhances our body image and feels great.

New Fashions in the Pant Suit

Through the last 50 years the pant suit has performed well, but don’t think about dreary suits that drab you out -  a heap of photographs on the designer side of the pant suit can be found at Style.com, these pant suit photographs cover the styles we  have seen on the catwalk.

What Jewellery to wear with the Pant Suit

Think carefully about the effect that you want to make. You are powerful with an aura of authority. Time to show this in your jewellery. Think gold – that richest of metals offering warmth and comfort along with richness and a hint of “old money”.

The comments that follow also apply to all business attire, but notably to the pant suit.

The pant suit needs to be set off by classic jewellery.  Please, no Pandora bracelets or jangling bangles. A single classy bracelet or bangle is very acceptable. We do not want you to clank through the corridors of pwer!

Necklaces should be businesslike and sit around the collar bone, not too long – we don’t want them to get tangled in your ipod cords. Pearls or gemstones (or both) work really well. Freshwater pearls are relatively inexpensive and look wonderful brightened up by clear gems.

Always wear earrings, this shows your adoring public that no detail is too small to be overlooked. The earrings to wear with a pant suit are discrete, large enough to be seen but not large enough to dominate. We suggest no more than about 3cm in length.

Depending on your jacket, a brooch can add to the vision. If you work in a creative sphere this works particularly well. Select a pin or brooch with geometric or abstract patterning, alternatively a cameo can work well (just not one of the plastic varieties, there are some really nice agate or opal cameos available).

Your watch should again be a classic time piece, worn with a simple band. There is nothing wrong with a man style watch of female size proportions. The watch will tell people you are aware of the importance of their time as well as your own. There is nothing worse than a business person checking their phone to see what the time is – fussy and fiddly.

As always, the jewellery you wear should dictate your own style, preferences and colours. Wear a piece of jewellery because you feel good doing so. It is always an advantage when it matches your outfit, but ultimately wearing it should enhance the outfit and your mood.

Why not check out the business attire jewellery at rayclif.com.

The Little Black Dress is an icon in fashion. It is worn for special occasions when only a classy look will do. The Little Black Dress feels special and sometimes because it is so special a little over the top. What a shame we don’t dress up more so that we can feel great all the time and not like we are little girls dressing up! Choosing a little black dress is the easy part, choosing the jewellery is not.

Jewellery for the Little Black Dress should be simple and elegant and allow us to feel that way rather than feeling liking we are somewhat conspicuous being too over the top.

Some of the methods of selecting jewellery will depend on the neckline of your Little Black Dress.

Bateau neckline – choose a simple pendant that drops below the neck line, choose simple drop earrings in the same metallic colours.

If you have a low V neckline, wear a pendant above the neckline to enhance your bust and décolletage. If the V neckline is not so low you have the choice to wear your pendant either above or below the V. If you are wearing a necklace below the V, consider a very long necklace (like a pearl necklace) that is knotted below the apex of the V. Long earrings, even shoulder dusters will enhance the long line and direct attention to the apex of the V neck.

Round neck dresses offer a different opportunity to wear a different style of jewellery, look this time at a collar, worn above or on the collar bone. Consider gemstones or pearls with matching drop earrings.

Off the shoulder little black dresses should only be enhanced with earrings (and possibly a bracelet), avoid using pendants and necklaces as this changes the perspective of the neckline and will make your dress look off centre. We suggest shoulder duster earrings to bring attention back to your face and neckline.

Strapless dresses offer a host of alternatives. Pendants and necklaces should not touch the neckline. Wear short necklaces or collars or long necklaces or pendants but ensure that the whole of the pendant is either above or below the neckline, not over part fabric, part skin.

As for colours, any bright colour on black jumps out, so be sure you want the attention before wearing this jewellery. Silver and Grey blend in and can look very elegant and professional. The colour of your jewellery should certainly reflect the type of event you are attending. Coloured jewellery is great for festive occasions such as birthdays while silver (or gold) jewellery is great for more formal occasions.

As with all of your jewellery choices, do make sure if you are wearing necklace and earrings that they have complimentary shapes and if you add a bracelet, pin or ring that they also compliment your main feature pieces.

Being Fashion Conscious does not mean that you need to break your budget. Obviously your outfits make a massive difference to whether you feel not only in or out of fashion, but also comfortable! We suggest selecting quality pieces that suit your style and you feel comfortable, this includes statement pieces but also pieces that will reflect but transcend the vagaries of fashion itself.

Statement jewellery is often a little more adventurous than your day to day selection, but it does allow you to revel in colours, shapes and perhaps a level of bling that you would not usually go for. Do not overdo the statement jewellery. If you drape it over every part of you that can hold jewellery chances are you will feel uncomfortable and perhaps like one of the mall ads for 26 jewellery outlets in one cool destination! By limiting the statements to a single piece you will attract attention to it and create comments and fashion envy easily. If you wear a lot of statement jewellery the effect will be difused.

The easiest statement jewellery are chandelier earrings – do they ever go out of style? We don’t think so. Not only can you purchase statement earrings at a relatively small price, but they instantly bring with them a glamourous, feminine feeling that you just can’t compare. Think how you feel when your earrings are swaying reflecting your walking motion.

Chandelier earrings are great for both day and night time wear – consider those with a little bling for the evening. Lets be honest – earrings have to be one of the easiest of the jewellery pieces to pop on – you can even do it on the bus or train!

Now that it is spring in the Northern Hemisphere (and Autumn down under!) the colours of the season will be showing themselves all over the fashion walk ways. Softer, more muted colours seem to be the order of the day – I heard someone explaining that this is due to a gradual improvement in the world’s financial markets – nothing too dramatic! I guess it could explain it!

Watch out too for the off the shoulder fashions. Necklaces are notoriously hard to pair with these types of necklines, so use your earrings to your best advantage.

A last comment – don’t hide your jewellery until it is evening, wear it proudly during the warm light of day, jeans and heels can be brought to life with a single (not necessarily expensive) piece of jewellery.

Check out our range of jewellery at rayclif.com.