Accent on Jewelry

By Abby

I love color, and I like to incorporate color into my wardrobe. Even though all my professional clothing is grey or black, I can selectively add some colorful jewelry to finish the look. I have nearly every color of jewelry imaginable: red, pink, orange, blue, purple, gold and green.

Deep emerald necklace and earrings

Usually I buy a piece of jewelry at a time and later find pieces that match. I’ve had a gold necklace with a green stone for years. It wasn’t until about two years ago that I found matching earrings. (Just between us: I actually bought the earrings as a Christmas present for Elle that year, but they matched my necklace so perfectly I just had to keep them.)

One of the great things about jewelry is that each piece doesn’t have to match exactly; close is good enough.  And it can be inexpensive. Try Kohl’s, Target or department stores, where you can skip the jewelry cases and go right to the racks of fashion jewelry. A lot of it is stylish and classy, but you have to browse.

My husband found this assortment of sparkling red jewelry for me at Kohl’s, and the dark silver of the metal perfectly complements dark grey clothing (aka my professional wardrobe).

Assortment of sparkling red jewelry

Other great places for inexpensive jewelry are small fashion boutiques and thrift stores.  And when you have an occasion where you want the real thing (gold and diamonds), I suggest looking in places like pawn shops (where you can haggle for a better price), online or at shops that sell new and used jewelry.

I bought my husband’s wedding ring — a simple band — for $50 from a local jeweler who sells new and used jewelry and believes there’s nothing romantic about paying extravagant prices for it.

So keep your eyes peeled for bling to add dazzle and color to a monochromatic wardrobe.