Fashion Costume Jewellery

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The sea is a huge source of inspiration for many jewellers and we are no exception. How many blue hues does an ocean hold? How many strange, wonderful and beautiful creatures live there? This is the inspiration for our long pearl ropes. These amazing two metre long necklaces are just crammed with freshwater pearls, mother of pearl chips and an eclectic mix of glass beads. At two metres in length, wear it single (to drape to your knees!), as a double strand or even a triple strand. Or wear it round and round your wrist to make a huge bracelet. The picture to your left shows our “Romance” pink jewellery, pearl rope.

All of the Mother of Pearl Chip beads featured on these beautiful necklaces have been dyed, this is not their natural colour. The wonderful white freshwater pearls, however are entirely natural colours.

The pink jewellery pearl rope we call Romance, it has the beautiful soft pink hues that are tipped to be the colours for Spring 2010. The painterly watercolour tones are just perfect for softening modern shapes. Be Pretty in Pink this Spring.

Team our Romance Pink Pearl Necklace with simple stud earrings in the same tones – let the necklace be your statement piece or go wild with chained drops holding the same colour base. It’s all about feeling good.

On the same theme, the second colour in this series of contemporary pearl jewellery, is “Contemplation”, a multi-hued mix of turquoise and blue. Clever ways with colour mean that this large necklace can be worn with all sorts of outfits – costume fashion jewellery comes of age.

To dress up a pair of jeans, wear a simple white t-shirt and let the jewellery do the talking. Add a pair of OTT earrings and you have an outfit the paparazzi will want to collect on camera.

Pearls of course are also renewable – did you know that a freshwater pearl oyster can be used up to seven times before exhausting itself and then the shell is used to create other works of art like the dyed shell beads used in this necklace, carved cameos (like those featured on this site and on www.rayclif.com ) and sometimes blister pearls which are like pearls growing right into the shell itself.

Readers of FashionCostumeJewellery.com will receive a free pair of freshwater pearl earrings with every pearl rope purchased by quoting FCJrope at checkout in your comments. Even if you forget – rayclif.com won’t!

So often vintage pendants are somewhat tongue in cheek and a little disappointing, but this new, handmade, vintage like pendant took my fancy. The hummingbird is a copper construction while the blue agate (yes, a real gemstone) is a lovely foil.

Blue agate is said to aid in the truth, so you can be sure that if you wear this pendant, you will be true to yourself. Because the gemstone is natural, you can expect some variations in the colour.

The chain is 14 Kt gold filled and measures 24 inches in length (thats about 60cm). The pendant itself is almost three inches long (thats about 7cm in length).

The designer is Katharine Sise and each hummingbird pendant is handmade.

Do you like it? It retails at about $195.

Delicate Teardrop Earrings Earring Jewellery varies considerably, from the strong and chunky to the small and delicate. This pair of glass earrings is somewhere in between. The long glass dangles are enhanced by a crystal rondelle adding sparkle.

These romantic style earrings are suitable to be worn on formal occasions or for a special night out. Earrings such as these make any evening dress look more glamorous. Allow the earrings to shine through by down playing your eye makeup to soft shades and add a matching soft shade lipstick. This gives an ingenue feel to your killer outfit. The rhinestone rondelle between the teardops adds a slight touch of bling without being overpowering, adding to the ladylike ambiance of the earrings.

The earrings would be equally as suitable for a bride or bridesmaids. The glass beads add an air of the virginal while the rhinestones add an air of drama. Our sister website rayclif.com offers more details on this beautiful earring.

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.

Unlike fine jewellery that tends to have a large price tag, fashion jewellery is an area in which experiments and outrageous pieces can be created or commissioned. Fine jewellery tends to be an investment with some considerable forethought before purchase so I suspect buyers play a little safe in their designs, thinking that they will need to last a long time in order to achieve the value for money.

What fun though to be able to wear a piece simply because you can and just because it feels so right for your mood and outfit. Who says jewellery should be serious?

Here at Rayclif Fashion Jewellery, we tend not to make a large number of outrageous pieces, being very comfortable with our unusual but classic designs. But, check out some of our Beaded Cabochons, all hand beaded and all one of a kind. What do you think? Are they just a little outrageous?

A cool round black onyx cabochon is encased in silver lined seed beeds and fringed by tassels of blue goldstone and clear quartz. Unusual and different, this one of a kind piece also has a removeable necklace for versatility and could be worn as a pin (with a pin attachment).

Check out more details.

Or a little different on the right is our “Twisted Twirls” so named as the necklace is a spiral rope of hundreds of hand beaded silver lined seed beads. If you listen very carefully, the glass beads at the end of the fringe gently clink as you move. Very sensual.

Finally “Desert Sunrise” a hand made glass cabochon again surrounded by glass beads (the beads are from the Czech Republic – they make wonderful glass beads). This piece was inspired by the colours of the outback here in Australia – you will love the depth of colour in this piece.

For more beaded cabochons, please visit us at rayclif.com.

Fashion Jewellery is by name designed to work with the current fashions or trends of the moment, often inspired by catwalk creations, it is often seen to be transitory. In not too distant times, Fashion Jewellery was known as Costume Jewellery – that is jewellery to match your outfit (or costume).

If you see jewellery as transitory, it does not mean that you will wear something that is not well designed or constructed. Quality still matters. A piece of jewellery purchased to enhance an outfit can of course become a firm favourite and stay forever in your jewellery box, particularly in these times where fashions tend to be far more eclectic without the obvious fashion fads we have seen in the past.

Catwalk designers are also seeing a change in buying patterns and we are seeing far more bridging jewellery because of it. Bridging jewellery is where commercial fashion jewellery and the fine jewellery houses meet. Many catwalk designers who are already producing precious metal and gemstone jewellery are also now producing jewellery from acrylic and plated metals. The market for this type of jewellery is growing, even though the jewellery is seen as transitory and even though the jewellery is priced well above a High Street alternative simply because of the brand name attached.

If I was to ask a person on the street what fashion jewellery is made from – I think the first reply would include gold and silver. This fascination with the traditional jewellery metals is understandable. Through the years society has considered gold and silver to be sought after and expensive jewellery components. With the huge increase in the costs of gold and jewellery production and the subsequent increase in the price, gold and silver are becoming less viable for average people. A 24K gold ring, for example is almost out of the question as a “nice to have”; it has become a special occasion purchase – such as engagements, marriages and eternity rings. Gold is often also considered to be “inert” metals and are less likely to react with the wearer’s skin. Silver runs a close second behind in the reaction stakes but because of its lesser cost is becoming more popular than gold.

Fashion costume jewellery is typically jewellery that is in vogue at a particular season and that will enhance your outfit and of course your self esteem and mood. With the growing costs, gold and silver are becoming less viable for the High Street Designer to work with. Cost of course is not the only variable at play here – an item may be highly priced, made from lesser cost materials, but have a designer label which may make it more attractive to a buyer. The design too plays a huge role in the attractiveness of a jewellery item – design of course cannot be costed.

So, where then is the market leading the jewellery designer? As far as metals are concerned, many of the base metals, in particular copper is often fabricated into the jewellery and then coated with rhodium to give it the silver look AND to ward off the evil tarnish or gold plated for the same reasons. Obviously plating can wear through after prolonged wear, but the cost saving in downsizing to a base metal even with the plate can make a piece more transitory and hence more affordable for the fashion market. Rolled or filled gold is also more popular, this is gold where the thickness of the gold is usually not more than 10% of the diameter is gold. This looks and acts like gold and will eventually wear away in constant use (like in 30 years!).

Many of today’s designers are now working in acrylic – witness the cat walks in 2010 where the big names of fashion have brought out mass market acrylic bangles. Although designer, these items certainly do not qualify as fine jewellery, but their price tags of $400+ put them out of the range of the high street fashionista. Naturally other jewellery manufacturers follow suit with the replica and look-alike jewellery groupies all jumping on the band wagon.

Glass too has had a huge following over the last five to ten years. Dichroic glass in particular has been feted and explored by jewellery designers all over the world. Who would have believed that this space race invented material could be quite so decorative?

It is becoming commonplace for a wide variety of components to be used in the making of jewellery. Gemstones still have their lure, the mystic properties draw some to them, diamonds hold the glitter and glamour of a life unlived, but with rising costs and growing scarcities, who can be surprised when simulated gems and cubic zirconia are becoming more popular? The design is probably the single most important aspect of the jewellery – cost and manufacturing materials can possibly be not an objection and lets face it – it is not so much about the cost of the components, but how it makes you feel that truly counts.