Because you can't have depths without surfaces.
Linda Grant, thinking about clothes, books and other matters.
Pure Collection Ltd.
Net-a-porter UK

Thursday 21 August 2008

The necklace returns, it says

one of mine


For years on end you wander around oblivious to the fact that you are completely out of fashion. I have always been big on necklaces. They cast light up onto the face. They draw attention away from the hips. I have lots But apparently I was hopelessly out of date. I know this because they have just come back into fashion:

The neck was last a focal point during the mid-Eighties, when girls in pearls reigned and costume jewellery mostly comprised naff, paste baubles. The good news about the necklace's reincarnation is that there are plenty of avenues to be explored. After something bold, chunky and with a reassuringly noisy clunk? Well look to Lanvin, or at least Lanvin-inspired jewellery. At Balenciaga, gutsy, Dynasty-style, bling chokers replaced bags as what fashion folk like to call the “must-have accessory”, while at Givenchy, girls were laden down in threads of gold and silver chains.

Whatever you choose, the advantages of this trend are tenfold. With all this activity going on around your neck, no one is going to be checking out the ply-content of your cashmere poloneck, thereby obviating the need to fork out on lots of expensive clothes. And don't underestimate its power to utterly transform an outfit. Averyl Oates, the buying director of Harvey Nichols, points out that an oversize necklace is the best way of lifting all that black and the gothic mood that is prevalent this season.

If you are looking to buy something special, a great neck-piece makes a good investment, something that can be pulled out of the wardrobe year after year. Another point to consider is that costume jewellery is so well made and designed these days that it's often hard to tell the difference between something that came from Topshop and the designer, upwards-of-£600 variety.


Of course it would come back in style just as I start to experience crepiness.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I must admit I'm just beginning to recognise the benefits of necklaces. Until the age of 45 I avoided them completely but am now building up quite a collection. And a collection it is as I've banged a series of nails into my bedroom wall and hang them up to admire when not on my person.

But the article does not go far enough. This is probably the one thing about which I really agree with Trinney and Susannah - length of necklace is directly related to shape of face. If you get it right it can knock years off you, like a well chosen lipstick colour.

BTW I love your pearls, they have a really Roman feel to them. Bet they go with everything.

Susan B said...

I'm right there with you on the crepiness challenge, but I love wearing necklaces. My favorites are chunky semi-precious stones. (Also, according to InStyle.com, it's now OK again to go matchy-matchy with necklaces and bracelets.) I love that necklace you've pictured.

Belle de Ville said...

Great post..it's about time that necklaces returned to the fashion forefront.
Necklaces catch the eye at the upper body and frame the face. If they are the correct style and scale they are particulalry flattering.
I am huge fan of South Sea pearls, particularly big chunky baroque pearls wrapped multiple times around the neck. They make the skin glow.
I also love Deja's chunky semi-precious stone necklaces. They can be striking, especially on a woman of a certain age.

Marti said...

I never knew necklaces left! I love fine jewlery and my collection has been helped along by ebay. I also like good craft pieces. However, I get most of my complements when I wear the $3.00 necklaces I buy when a local manufacturer has their tent sales!

Anonymous said...

Jewelry always looks OK and current if it looks good on you. I think the important thing is to match your scale, which is why I did not enjoy the delicate neclace phase we are just leaving.

Anonymous said...

One day the fashion-page writers will headline:
"KNICKERS - They're Back!"
Those of us who have carried on donning underwear or wearing, gasp, necklaces will roll our eyes and get on with it.

Wendy Hutton said...

I adore your pearl and gold necklace,such character. What's its history?

Linda Grant said...

I bought it in 2003 in a shop in Tel Aviv. Its maker, Dana Lande, came to Israel from Poland in in the Sixties during a very nasty period in post-war Polish history of revived anti-semitism, when most of Poland's Jewish population who survived the were accused of being enemies of the state. Her father had been a set decorator at the Warsaw Theatre, and her mother was a musician forced into service in the infamous Auschwitz orchestra which was used by the Nazis to lull the arriving deportees into believing they were stepping off the trains into a pleasant work camp.

Some history, eh?

Anonymous said...

Microdermabrasion helps keep crepiness at bay. The skin on the decolletage is v sensitive, so the brisk microdermabrasion used on the face is probably too abrasive. It should be a slightly softer approach. Moisturise well, always. I adore pearls, their lustre is so flattering. Necklaces rock!

Anonymous said...

I feel it's time for the chorus again, so here goes - o ex o ex o ex!

Anonymous said...

yes, yes, i'm exo-ing as fast as i can...

Duchesse said...

I'm with Arabella! Necklaces, especially pearls never "left". Most women can wear a 16 to 18 inch necklace; the longer lengths work for some but make me look busty.

Like your other fans, I admire your necklace enormously! It's a perfect example of one of my blog rants: so much more can be done with pearls than the plan strand.

Anonymous said...

I was sure that gorgeous necklace was Israeli-made the minute I saw it. I now buy my jewelry on my annual visits there. Can't find anything nearly as original where I'm living now.

Anonymous said...

Good, interesting jewelry is never out of style.

So spake the professional jewelry buyer.