for the love of a gold chain

♥ a valentine a day [ day three ] ♥


Thank you all for the nice comments you've been leaving about my daily valentine posting! I'm so happy that you are enjoying it!! ♥

Its a well-known fact that I’m addicted to vintage gold chains. Big chains, little chains, chains with interesting elements, chains that look old... I simply cannot say no when I find them at thrift shops--especially since they’re usually so reasonable. My addiction has caused much comment by my mother: “you’re not buying another gold chain?!”. I even garnered the nickname “Mrs. T.” (as in, Mr. T.; think Rocky and The A-Team) in one of my classes last semester due to my wearing chains constantly.


Now, I find the trick with wearing gold chains tastefully is to pair them with other elements that aren’t gaudy, so as to play down the potential “blingage” overdose. Because I’m just not a glittery type of gal. ;) I’m constantly playing with them to figure new ways to wear them. Layered was my favorite for awhile: two or three small to mid-sized chains with a long strand of pearls. After that phase I started wearing them wrapped around my wrist 8-12 times (depending on the length) instead of around my neck. It was a very rock-chic look that I liked (and still do); perfect for dressing up a plain tshirt and jeans. Right now, I’m wearing mostly my mid-sized chains singly or wrapped 3-times around my neck (since odd numbers are more aesthetically pleasing to the eye; yes, I think about those things with accessories...). The long chain look is really cute with the tunic/trapeze tops I’ve been wearing lately and help to give a little definition to my waist (by not letting the front of the top billow out so much!). But just a single chain can be boring, so I’ve taken to pinning and clipping various elements to the chains. I have a little stash of gold-tone vintage pins that I’m having fun with. Right now I’m wearing my newest acquisition: a gold-tone flower with a pearl center. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I found it... it was so perfect for spring (heck--I’m wearing it now in the dead of winter! lol) and was only a dollar. Couldn’t beat that. lol.

So I encourage you to go reevaluate your jewelry stash: try looking at the elements, not the whole pieces. Mixing and matching is your friend, finding new uses for things like pins or rings, layering various pieces... I’ve even been looking at some antique hardware elements (drawer pulls) and trying to figure out how I can attach them, pendant-style, to a necklace! Play, have fun and let me know what you come up with!!


I have to admit, today, besides some *ahem* shopping I did this morning and trying to make a dent in the homework list, I’ve been utterly glued to the computer surfing around for pictures of the Fall/Winter collections being shown in New York now. I’m rather curious to see how F/W 2007 develops; so far everything has seemed to be an extension of Fall/Winter 2006. Lots of dark colors (greys and blacks seem big again), layering, loose cuts, minimalist overtones... Not that I’m complaining, but it seems like they’re could be some more innovation here! My favorite collections (thus far! lol!) are BCBG, Yigel Azrouel, and Rag and Bone (I’m totally in love with those long spats in the R&B collection... and I recently spotted some knit spats at Anthro; could this be a new project for me? lol.). I’ll probably be posting a lot of fashion-related stuff this week since I can get quite obsessed with this... hehe.