Lesson Four of Big Little Wolf’s sensational style series at Divorced Women Online introduces us to the importance of accessories in personalizing an ensemble. According to Big Little Wolf, “Accessories should enhance your appearance, make sense with your style, and tell your stories.” Emphasizing the love of the French for quality and individuality, Wolf focuses on the concept of the “signature accessory.”
So back into my closet I went for an exploration of my own accessories. I’ve already admitted that my handbags are a bore. And my shoes? Forget about it. While I steadily build my scarf collection, I thought one area of my accessories held promise: my jewelry.
So into my jewelry box(es) I went.
First step, organization. I had unceremoniously stashed all of my jewelry in a big shopping bag when the top of my dresser was converted to a makeshift changing table for Tiny Baby. And, in the year since he was born, I had worn the same pair of diamond stud earrings just about every day. When I was feeling really fancy, I would throw on a simple pendant necklace.
I know, I’m wild.
So I knew it was time to reacquaint myself with my jewelry collection. I opened every box and baggy, untangled necklaces, matched earrings with their mates, and reminded myself of what I have.
The big observations:
- Silver, silver, silver. Just about everything I have is silver. While I do have a few gold pieces left from the days of yore (including my high school class ring!), my taste runs distinctly toward the platinum, sterling silver, and white gold.
- Almost everything I have was a gift.
- I don’t have much, but I like what I have.
As glad as I was to be reintroduced to my things, I was initially a bit hard-pressed to come up with any signature pieces. My accessory style has always tended toward the same direction as my clothing style: clean, classic, (perhaps overly) simple. I rarely wear anything other than stud earrings and a basic necklace.
What’s so signature about that?
Two items, though, caught my eye and with them I saw the first strokes of a signature:
Parisian Black Pearl necklace & bracelet: Husband gave me this necklace for my birthday in 2008 and the matching bracelet a few months later when Tiny Baby was born. (Sweet Husband.) I love the – wait for it – classic simplicity of the set, but I think the metallic periwinkle color (perhaps my favorite of all colors) offers a playful twist on the traditional white pearl.
I also love that I can wear these pieces alone or together, with a dress for a formal occasion (and you know my life is just chock full of those formal occasions!) or with a t-shirt and jeans for the more common, less formal ones.
These pieces are pretty and familiar, yet unique. Indeed the makings of a signature accessory.
Charm bracelet: My mother-in-law and sister-in-law teamed up to give me the beginnings of this bracelet shortly after Big Boy was born. Inspired by their gift, I unearthed my childhood charm bracelet and added a few of the still meaningful charms from it. My mother then offered me a charm from my now deceased grandmother’s charm bracelet to round out the piece.
I love that the bracelet tells the story of the most important chapters in my life: my birth; my First Communion; my days as a student, a basketball player, and a teacher; my wedding day; our first home; and my two children. I also appreciate the way in which so many of the special women in my life collaborated to create it for me, giving me another piece that is considered a classic, but is unique to me.
Thanks again, Big Little Wolf, for inspiring me to embrace my inner style with this delightful series!
What is your signature accessory? Does your accessory taste toward the simple or the more showy?
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I have already admitted to being a silver freak. I have four silver bracelets that are always on. I also have four rings for each hand that I wear. All but one are silver. Each tells a story.
You and BLW have inspired me to go through my closet and through my jewelry box. I can’t wait to see what I find.
BLW is the force that launched a thousand closet purges!
I love the pearls and charm bracelet! I have a charm I wear on a gold chain that my grandma added to her own charm bracelet when I was born. I use low maintainance costume-y type jewlery a lot, tho only seeing it as a “signature” upon reading this post. I especially love hanging earrings and lots of bracelets. I always tell my daughters they’re naked without earrings (yes, a joke, at least partially).
The charm that I have from my grandmother’s bracelet was the one she added when I was born, with the classic little girl’s silhouette and my initials and birth date. I love that you have yours from your grandmother as well!
I love that what you found has such wonderful personal meaning! That really does make these pieces you, and that’s very much the point.
For a time about 20 years ago, I wore a somewhat ornate but small scale brooch that was my grandmother’s. I wore it often, and people associated it with me. And I thought of someone I loved when I wore it. Made me feel grand!
And that’s what it’s all about, too. Feeling wonderful. (You’re such a great student!! Now about those shoes…)
I know, I know, shoes. I think those are going to need their very own post! (I actually did treat myself to a new, very cheap pair yesterday after a not-so-pleasant dentist appointment. Metallic ballet flats. Chic, no?) :)
Ballet flats are very in these days. So Audrey Hepburn. And all sorts of adorable looks! (Yes, very chic!)
My ballet flats are metallic and have a subtle animal print. Do you still think Audrey would approve?
Guess what? Thanks to you and BLW, I did a complete closet PURGE yesterday! It took hours, but boy, did it feel good!
I was also rather ashamed of the huge pile of ratty t-shirts I’ve been keeping around…
Good for you, Kitch! I like to think of the closet purge as a diet for the soul. Didn’t it feel good to get rid of all that old stuff?
I really like the thought of how an accessory should tell a story. Your charm bracelet is a perfect example and I’ve got to admit that I’m a little jealous.
As for myself, most mornings I’m not organized enough to go beyond diamond stud earrings and a necklace of some kind. Maybe I should take inventory and get organized. Thanks for the motivation!
Hey, it’s never too late for your own charm bracelet! I can see the charms now: a little redheaded lass, your sweetie, Mr. A, Mr. G, a camera, a little yogini. :)
I’m definitely into scarves…which makes me pretty boring when summer comes along. I put zero effort into my jewelry…I’m with Erica….maybe I’ll take inventory as well.
I got so annoyed at handbags that always left me digging that I made my own.
The cool thing about doing that is that you can make little pockets, exactly the right size, for everything. I never have to fish for my sunglasses or my wallet or my cell phone, which has its own pocket on the outside of the purse, velcro-ed closed, for easy reach.
(This craft is not for the faint of heart. Not exactly easy.)
That charm bracelet is beautiful!
I love this series. I also gravitate towards really simple jewelry (diamond stud earrings and a diamond pendant, day after day), and lately I’ve been wanting to change it up but I haven’t known where to start. You inspired me to pick up a new scarf the other day, so maybe there’s hope for me yet to break out of my jewelry rut.
I have many pieces I love including an estate cameo encased in amber, a gift from my husband. I also have a silver brooch that can be worn as a pendant given to me by my 98 year old friend. It is a spiraling sun…one of a kind…made by her older brother who was a jeweler in NYC.
Those sound like beautiful, memorable, and meaningful pieces, SuziCate!
And NOW you have me. I am a person who typically skips over the style sections in women’s magazines. It’s always made me question my femininity in some measure…why don’t I care about lipstick and hair? It’s brutal for me to spend a day shopping for clothes.
I think we are more than the outer packaging. BUT what I look like matters. Because the things I touch and the things that are seen in conjunction with me help to tell my story. They are the banner that go forward of me in life and announce to the world who I am.
I had a charm bracelet as a girl as well. As I hear you mark the milestones in your life with the charms, and describe the year of a new baby with the inability even to change earrings I know for sure that our jewels do indeed tell our story. They are one of the altars that help us worship at the gift of appreciating life.
I wear beaded bracelets that are permanently tied around my wrist. They are my link with The Voice. I didn’t know that when I began wearing them 26 years ago. I was simply a girl in love with the color and texture of beads. But then, when church after church elbowed me out because I asked too many questions, I realized there was Beauty and Color that would never let go of my hand.
I was able to trust something beyond institutions touting truth to hear a True Voice calling to me all because of simple jewelry I wore because I loved it. Surely this is a signature style speaking to me.
Is it not the art of the feminine to listen to our intuition?
Perhaps I am more woman than I know.
(and periwinkle is one of my favorite colors too, not just because it is lovely to look at…isn’t it fun to say as well?)
Thank you for this, Rebecca.
I love how you describe our jewels as “one of the altars that help us worship at the gift of appreciating life” and the way in which you found your own bracelets to be talismans (taliswomen?) that connected you to a force greater than yourself.
Periwinkle, periwinkle, periwinkle. Fun indeed!
I love the charm bracelet, especially what it means to you. I wish I had that.
I have many items that were gifts but my collection mainly comes from my travels, my favorite kind of souvenirs, because I like the little reminders of my trips. It takes me to a special place even on an ordinary day. and it’s nice to have a story with each piece if someone should ask.
Hi Justine – Another one of my favorite necklaces was a souvenir I bought on a trip to San Francisco before my kids were born. I love your idea of jewelry as reminders of our special trips. Another way for our accessories to “tell our stories,” as BLW suggested.
I am all about all-things-silver, too. I’ve worn the same pair of silver earrings most every day since college, along with a white-gold ring that was one of my husband’s first gifts to me. I also never take off a necklace with my daughter’s birthstone that he gave me when she was born.
Does that make these signature pieces, or am I just a (boring?) creature of habit?? =>
I suppose that, were anyone to think about my jewelry, they would imagine my studs and simple pendants – so perhaps those are my true signatures. For this exercise, though, I thought about the pieces that were the equivalent of writing in a bigger and bolder font. Me, just dialed up a notch.
I under-accessorize, always. Actually, correct that. I fail to accessorize most days, and make a half-assed attempt on rare occasions. This is a big topic for me, something I’ve been meaning to work on.
I LOVE silver too. No gold for me, thank you very much. I love the pearls, and need to start dropping hints to Husband.
You made me wonder where my class ring is. Need to dig that up tonight for nostalgia!
That charm bracelet is a treasure, Kristen! I too have mostly jewelry purchased for me rather than by me. But in a way, that does make each piece especially meaningful. I do feel weird wearing it when I don’t go anywhere, but maybe I should. I favor bracelets, but it’s just so easy for them to get in the way when I’m cooking, typing, working out …
(I’m so full of excuses today.)
24-hour silver hoop earrings (slightly tarnished); hazelaid necklace (not cause I need it but I like it); gold wedding band (took engagement ring off to clean it about six months ago and never put it back on again). My top drawer–the jewelry and other junk drawer–is the last frontier of my drawer clean-out frenzy…maybe you’ve inspired me to get to it sooner than later.
Glad that we can continue to cross-inspire each other’s organizational frenzies!
Great necklace and bracelets. I wear a black pearl around my neck almost every day!
Go girl….you got style!
Until recently accessories were decidedly not my thing. I’m not sure I would say they are now, that would probably be stretching it, but I’m starting. I’ve always been one to wear earings, but any other form of blind wasn’t on the charts. Now I have some stuff that I wear for work and I loom more at pieces when I shop, but I have a long way to go.
Love the pearls. I like the color of them, in comparison to the standard white pearls.
I guess I don’t have any signature piece. Very rarely to I remember to throw on a lovely, funky costume necklace, but when I do, it is a very simple way to snazz up an outfit…
Note to self: I MUST do some purging this summer!
Hi Kristen!
I LOVE this post! I think accessories are what it’s all about when it comes to personal style, especially if you’re a mom of little ones since so much of your wardrobe needs to be washable. When you throw on a spectacular set of bangles, yummy boyfriend watch and shiny hoop earrings, with your slouchy jeans and ts – it makes you feel so much less mom-ish. : ) Great post! Tasha
p.s. LOVE the pearls!
One of the reasons I love visiting your place is your little bursts of style inspiration – both for the body and the home! You clearly know what you’re doing! :)
Ugh. I have nothing. You are so far ahead of me. I have a beautiful platinum and diamond engagement ring and wedding band that I don’t even wear most of the time. My husband is always threatening to return them!
Firstly I thought I would just add to the mix here that silver seems to suit your psyche—it is the moon’s color, more mysterious, feminine and a intuitive as opposed to Apollo’s sunny gold.
It also made me realize that while I do not generally “wear” accessories, I do wear a watch that once belonged to my father-in-law (not fancy but nice and old), and I also have a silver pin with turquoise tucked into the folds of my wallet that belonged to my mother-in-law… and finally, also tucked into my wallet, a gold chain that was the watch chain of my grandfather who died when my mom was still a girl… carrying the spirit of the ancestors and reassuring me that even if I’m not entirely here in this time, I’m somehow connected with other times.
I became obsessed with Etsy today. That opened up an entire bag of nerve-wrecking, overwhelming, options and choices. At the end, I went back to my one necklace rule. *hangs head*
I have never been to Etsy and, to be honest, I’m not exactly sure what it is, but I think I should be very afraid of the shopping compulsion that could result!
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