Are you doing summer jewellery right?
Are you doing summer jewellery right?
It's a thing. But it's tricky. Here's the exact formula to getting it spot on every time
The older I get, the more I appreciate jewellery. When my grandfather died and my mother kindly passed on a small amount of money left behind in his will, I bought a Cartier watch that I wear to this day. I can run to the supermarket in a moth-eaten sweater and leggings but that watch still somehow makes the whole caboodle look chic. I also have a rose gold Love bangle that I bought for myself (why wait for others to buy you jewellery, I say?) when I was first made an editor. I still remember handing over my credit card with trembling hands at the Cartier store at Heathrow Airport, aghast at the price and sheer indulgence. But I have worn it every day for the last eleven years.
I like smart jewellery. I like the way it makes me feel. I enjoy the way gold brings out the camel tones in my skin. I feel very grown up in nice, discreet jewellery. Understated jewellery. Jewellery that whispers rather than roars. But do you know what I love even more? Summer jewellery.
This stuff is cheap. And colourful. And often very dramatic. It is a chance to experiment with shapes and layering. You wouldn’t wear an anklet 365 days of the year. Or a massive pair of gobstopper earrings. But you would in summer.
I have brought a bunch of holiday jewellery away with me to the south of France. (That makes it sound like I am frolicking away on the beaches of St Tropez when in reality I’m in a small hilltop town in the middle of nowhere.) I have pearl chains and beaded necklaces with me; an old Hermes cuff and a nautical pendant that hangs from a single piece of leather. It is not my usual style, but then summer is nothing if not an opportunity to flaunt a new, jauntier identity.
As you know, I am an avid people watcher. I especially like watching how women dress up for summer. I think this has something to do with the fact that Brits spend nine months of the year in jumpers and woollen socks, and so a summer outfit feels rare and precious.
In all that time I have figured out a simple formula for summer jewellery that truly works and dear readers, it is this…