'I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number of carats in a diamond.'
Mae West
I usually like my clothes to be chic and simple. With a few small exceptions, remember this jacket i bought on a whim and love dearly although hardly ever wear, the clothes in my wardrobe are classic, very me, mostly high quality (although i do have an unfortunate penchant for sportsgirl, the australian topshop i suppose, that i just cannot break) and although they are simple, are still very beautiful.
However, this trend does not seem to extend to my jewelry box. I say jewelry box but it is actually a small tall boy, bought in morocco, and stained with green algae, it's lovely, with one drawer for each accessory - necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings, brooches and various. It is a veritable treasure trove, and although i am guilty of recycling through the same items of jewelry for a period of time every 3 or so weeks i delve into those drawers and come out with beautiful things i forgot that i had, and then the cycle begins all over again.
Why do i like over the top, dramatic jewelry? I suppose the obvious reason is that it is a counterpoint to my clothes. I tend to wear lots of long sillhouettes - long skirts, long tunic tops, loose and cinched in at the high waist or natural waist, cuffed jeans with short dresses - and the effect of simple jewelry paired with that can be aging and boring. I like the languid and reposed air my dressing gives off to be counteracted by a bold, brash and gauche piece of jewelry that stops people in their tracks. Hey, if my long skirt isn't weird enough, grab a look at whatever piece of sculpted metal i'm wearing on my neck!
But there is another element, like with clothes i appreciate wholeheartedly artistic design and extravagance, even if i feel i could never wear it or pull it off myself. However with jewelry i feel that i am able to appreciate and wear the more crazier of pieces. This probably stems from the fact that i am inherently chicken, that i am never game enough to try something crazy with my style but when it comes to something little (although in the case of necklaces and bangles, they are not always so 'little') i'm all for it. Oh well, that's just the way it is, i'm not here to question, just to report!
Necklaces are my favourite, and are certainly the easiest to go over the top with. Though i don't own any pieces by Lanvin, Marni or Burberry, their recent necklaces show the ease with which luxury and boldness can be carried off in statement jewelry. Magazines usually warn readers not to where too many statement jewelry pieces at once, at risk of looking like a clown, but i am all for it. Please pair a chunky resin marni-esque necklace with huge chandelier earrings and a fistful of rings if you so choose, i'm sure you will look dazzling!
Costume jewelry and paste is another favourite of mine, a remnant of my heady days devoted to the 1920s and 1930s. During that time i scoured flea markets and op shops for paste necklaces that would satisfy my precocious craze for 'diamonds, dahling'. I still have drawers full of big cubic zirconia or crystal earrings that drop down in art deco styles, chokers, wristlets 8 rows long of diamond imitations, and a stunning necklace i wore to my aunt's wedding that has crystals shaped as flowers and set in silver. It's a guaranteed show stopper. And with Breakfast at Tiffany's as your guide dress all in black and come off as a lost travelling soul, who just wants to be happy...
I also dearly love rings, from cocktail rings to the simplest kind engendered with meaning. I love the very idea of rings, as i have written before, they are infused with ideas of extravagance, wealth, theatrics and glamour. They are the ultimate luxury piece of jewelry, and can be the ultimate statement jewelry too. I have a friend who is even more devoted to rings than i am, who is never seen without 4 or 5 adorning her hands and constantly changing them. I think that an outfit can be perfectly counter played with one extravagant cocktail ring on your index finger as you wave your hand for champagne.
Brooches are another standout piece in my jewelry collection, perhaps more so than in many other wardrobes i know, simply because of my mother. She wears brooches religiously, they are the finishing touches to an outfit for her, after you've pulled on your shoes and decided on your bag you should always affix a brooch. She loooves them, and i grew up with someone who affixed such significance to brooches that i couldn't help becoming an afficianado as well. In brooches i look for something a little diferent to what i look for in necklaces, bracelets, rings and the like. For brooches i love animals, horses, sea animals, bears, snakes, tigers, kangaroos, octopi etc. I don't know why i love animals the more in brooches, perhaps a brooch allows for the chance to fully realise an animal rather than in the limited space given to pendants on necklaces, bracelets and rings. They can be intellectual and intelligent as well as stylish and hip, and although they seem to be associated more with nannas and the CWA that's not always the case. Mary Kte Olsen is an aficionado of the brooch, for example. It's hip to be square!
So there you have it, picture me now, running out to uni wearing a simple black dress and leggings under a classic line trench coat and the biggest pendant necklace you've ever seen, heaving a huge teardrobe shaped crystal below an elaborate parisian chandelier-esque piece of metal... And though it's heavy, it doesn't weight me down.
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