Jewellery serves an essential aesthetic function. It’s there to add visual accents to the clothing we wear, and to draw the eye. At its best, the right jewellery might make a statement about your tastes, values, and heritage.
But getting it right when it comes to jewellery means knowing when to stop. When you wear too much jewellery, the result can be a confusing mess – and a suggestion that you aren’t quite sure of what was required.
So, how exactly do we get it right? There are a few essential pieces of guidance worth abiding by. Let’s take a look at a few of them.
Start With One Standout Piece
Designers of all kinds understand visual hierarchy. And perhaps the most powerful visual hierarchy is that of size. By placing a large element next to a small one, we can establish that one is primary and the other is secondary. This hierarchy is what helps us to avoid the sense that the items in question are clashing against one another.
For this reason, it’s a good idea to start with the biggest, most eye-catching item, and to choose everything else to sit alongside it. That way, you’ll limit your options at the earliest possible stage, and you’ll make it easier to pick those smaller items.
Balance Statement Jewellery With Simple Outfits
Your jewellery risks clashing not only against other jewellery, but against the other clothes you wear. Not everything can be the star of the show, after all.
If you’re going to go big and bold with your jewellery, then you might make it stand out even more by placing it against muted, neutral-looking colours. Clean silhouettes can help to provide a contrast for those standout pieces, too.
At the same time, just because you want those bolder items to stand out doesn’t mean that you need to turn the volume down elsewhere. What matters is contrast, and how it might draw attention to certain parts of your body. If your entire outfit is pure white, then a ruby-red necklace might draw the eye, even if it isn’t particularly large or showy.
Making Statement Pieces Work for Everyday Looks
Certain items are easy to incorporate into a variety of outfits. A belcher bracelet might look just as at home alongside a formal suit as it does alongside a shorts-and-T-shirt combination.
We’ve touched upon some of the rules and guidelines that might help to steer you in the right direction. But what really matters is that you feel at home in the jewellery you wear, and that you’re not afraid to experiment in search of your own personal style. There are countless options to choose from, and so combining them might require taking a few calculated risks here and there.
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