Jewelry Style Tips: How to Reinvent Your Personal Style
The worst fashion sin you could commit is being stagnant and boring—after all, life’s too short to have one look! People evolve! Who says you have to wear the same outfits year after year? Or make the same fashion choices? Or even be the same person? Hello?
Susie (Owner, Forsythe Jewelers) and Laura (Sales Associate) join forces to take “New Year, new you” to the next level, giving practical insights on how to style your jewelry and reinvent your look!
Our guide covers styling best practices to make the biggest impact with the jewelry pieces you have (especially if you’ve just received a jewelry gift and aren’t sure how to wear it), including where to find inspiration, coordinating with your wardrobe, and understanding your complementary colors.
Want more tailored advice? Consult with Forsythe Jewelers’ experts in our store to find a selection of jewelry styles that suit your look!
The Key Takeaways:
There are rarely hard rules in fashion. Finding your personal style is meant to be fun and freeing! Don’t be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone and experiment with gemstone colors, metal finishes, and layers.
The most important step for defining your jewelry style is planning. Take the time to create a thoughtful mood board to curate images that inspire you. Then, organize outfits from your existing wardrobe and jewelry collection to emulate your mood board. If there are gaps in your collection, make a wishlist.
Invest in a mix of jewelry staples that can adapt to your evolving personal style as well as intentional statement pieces for special occasions. Accessorize your outfits based on two looks: elevated everyday looks and formal events.
Don’t get caught up in jewelry trends. Trends are a great starting point for understanding your preferences, but the looks come and go. It’s more important to focus on jewelry pieces that speak to you and spark joy! (Refer above to “There are rarely hard rules in fashion.”)
1. Create a Mood Board to Get Inspired
Mood boards, lookbooks, outfit showcases—whatever you want to call them, they’re simply ways to understand your jewelry preferences and plan your style before committing to any purchases. Think of it as your fashion planning phase!
For Laura, drawing ideas from different sources helps inform and expand her jewelry style. “I take little bits of inspiration from the world around me, starting with the jewelry passed down from my grandmother and mom. I’ve elaborated on their style and taken a lot of flair from social media influences and fashion websites.”
Laura’s method for discovering her jewelry fashion preferences involves 4 basic steps:
Get Inspired: You don’t know what you don’t know, so it’s important to see what’s out there. Fashion websites, celebrity images, social media influencers, and jewelry stores or designers can show you jewelry pieces in context. Try search terms such as “bold gold chains,” “everyday jewelry ideas,” and “vintage jewelry looks” to get started or explore these jewelry styles:
Artsy / Bohemian
Minimalist
Classic / Preppy
Athleisure
Edgy
Alternative
Categorize: Use Pinterest to collect the images you like in specific mood boards, categorizing them by color, aesthetic, or jewelry piece type. Alternatively, you can search other users’ pre-vetted mood boards for a more concrete starting point and pin the images that speak to you. It’s important not to overthink this process because you’re just generally trying to see what you like.
Reflect and Tighten the Look: Take a step back to look at your images as a whole while defining any patterns. Maybe you notice you prefer a specific gem cut or only like tennis bracelets. Or perhaps you like neutral outfits with bold jewelry statements. An easy way to find patterns is to go through your mood board images one by one and unpin items that no longer resonate. Ask yourself, “Why does this image belong or not belong?” The final mood boards serve as your styling “north star.”
Craft Outfits: After curating your mood boards, use your current wardrobe and jewelry collection to create similar looks. Your goal is to build go-to outfits with what you have before investing in additional pieces. Jewelry accessorizes your look rather than acting as the main building block, so it’s more important to get your wardrobe down and experiment with how your jewelry complements it. You’ll want to have about 2–3 everyday looks and 1–2 formal or elevated looks. If you’re missing a jewelry piece for a specific aesthetic, start a wishlist and build your wardrobe toward it.
2. Coordinate With Your Wardrobe
Your wardrobe is the foundation of your personal style and informs your overall look, while your accessories form the basis of your jewelry style and determine the overall feel of your outfit (usually elevating the fit to be more put together).
“It’s all about creating balance,” Laura shares. “I always try to fill in the blank spaces within the overall outfit, if that makes sense. Pay attention to things like necklines, hairdos, sleeve or pant length, volume, and color.”
Neckline: Avoid wearing necklaces that are the same length as your neckline as this can cause a visual pinch point and flatten your overall look. Low-cut necklines work best with pendants and chains while high necklines are better with shorter lengths or chokers. Don’t be afraid to layer your jewelry above your clothing to add dimension.
Sleeve or Pant Length: Similar to the neckline rule, style wrist jewelry based on the length, volume, and material of your top. If your sleeve predominantly covers your wrist and you aren’t going to roll it up, then it might be better to accessorize with rings instead of bracelets. Alternatively, layering bracelets over tighter long-sleeve tops can be a bold look with a luxurious feel.
Color: Being intentional with your color palette can add dynamic visual interest. Try incorporating gemstones like topaz or emeralds to match your outfit’s predominant color. You could also add contrast by styling your jewelry with complementary colors. For example, earrings featuring green or cool-colored gemstones can help highlight red or warm-toned hair colors.
Hairdos: Hairstyles that position hair away from your neckline and ears are perfect for dramatic statement earrings or texture chain necklaces.
3. Learn Which Colors Complement Your Features
You’ve probably seen videos of stylists performing a season color analysis to determine which color palette best suits a person’s features. Or maybe you’ve used a TikTok or Instagram filter to see which colors suit you best (guilty!). While color analysis is ultimately subjective, the exercise is still useful because it gives you a framework to consider how your jewelry color relates to your eye hue, hair color, and skin tone.
This is especially true for Susie when helping customers pick earrings.
“When you think about it, the first place you look when talking to someone is their eyes followed by their earrings. Sometimes the color of the gemstone in their ear matches their eyes for a harmonious look. Other times, the gemstone features a complementary color, which helps accentuate their eyes in a playful, intentional way.”
The easiest way to understand color theory first-hand is to wear your favorite outfit to the jewelry store and try on a few pieces. Take note if the jewelry color enhances your features or washes you out. Susie recommends starting with metal colors to determine if you look best in silver, yellow gold, or rose gold before exploring gemstone colors that play into your natural complexion.
When finding the right jewelry styling colors, in general:
Warmer skin tones: Yellow gold jewelry and jewels featuring warmer hues typically compliment warm skin tones well. Think reds (ruby), ambers (citrine), and greens (peridot). Lighter pastel colors and cool blues may wash you out a bit, depending on the look.
Cooler skin tones: Sterling silver, white gold, and rich jewel tones tend to pop on cooler complexions. Experiment with olive greens, navy blues, and purple amethyst.
Neutral skin tones: Understanding the temperature of your undertones is important for determining which colors work well with your skin. Experiment with different color palettes to see which metals and gemstones suit you best.
Rely on neutrals: Some gemstones like diamonds, opals, and pearls are neutral in color, adapting well to practically all skin tones. When in doubt, stick to versatile staples that are sure to impress!
Of course, at Forsythe Jewelers, we firmly believe that any color suits you if you like it! These guidelines are only suggestions—the savviest fashionistas often break color conventions to achieve bolder looks. Don’t be afraid to explore beyond your “natural” color palette!
4. Add Contrast With Patterns, Textures, and Layers
We say it time and again: impactful jewelry styling relies on contrast to build visual interest, tension, and balance. Contrast adds dimension to your look, pulling certain aspects of your outfit to the forefront while pushing other elements to the background. It also helps draw a viewer’s eye throughout your outfit by providing focal points.
The goal is to balance your outfit by accessorizing what’s missing without cluttering the look or unintentionally breaking cohesion.
Our go-to tips for adding contrast to your look are to:
Layer Jewelry Pieces: In the “more is more” school of fashion, wearing multiple bracelets, necklaces, or rings can personalize your look. When combining pieces, choose items that share one similarity (e.g., shape, color) and differ in another quality (e.g., thickness, texture). The similarities help visually group items while the contrast adds interest. Repeat that contrasting relationship in other areas of your outfit to work toward a larger theme.
Mix Metals: While people used to be sticklers about matching metal colors in jewelry, modern stylists have embraced mixing metals to create a more dynamic (and often practical) look. Laura aspires “to wear two-tone jewelry more confidently to achieve a carefree look.”
Disperse Your Focal Points: If you don’t want to mix metal, try keeping your metal colors the same but dispersing them throughout your outfit. This gives an overall sense of cohesion, localizing contrasting focal points to specific areas of your outfit. “I’m keen on matching jewelry to other accessories,” Laura mentions. “Try coordinating metals reflected in an outfit like belt buckles, jacket buttons, purse or shoe hardware, and other details.”
Wear Multiple Gemstones: Mixing gemstones within the same jewelry piece or through layering is playful while remaining elegant. Try coordinating one gemstone color with your outfit’s primary theme and add another gemstone with a contrasting color. Or experiment with a tertiary color palette.
Contrast Textures and Finishes: Jewelry shapes, silhouettes, and finishes can add visual texture to otherwise flat outfits. Texture contrast is most notable when layering jewelry pieces.
5. Invest in Meaningful Jewelry Pieces
Unlike many consumer goods, high-quality jewelry is designed to last, accumulating significance over time. Susie recalls, “For years, jewelry has been given as a symbol of love. Today, that same jewelry has been handed down from generation to generation, and the emotions and memories attached become timeless.”
Yes, you can always buy pieces to match a specific jewelry style. But more often than not, you might inherit precious heirlooms or receive a gift that differs from your normal look but is deeply personal. You’re more likely to wear jewelry that means something to you and appeals to your aesthetics than jewelry that only follows a trend.
“With a store full of jewelry, people often ask how I choose what to wear each day,” Susie ponders. “Of course, I wear my favorite pieces that my husband has given me throughout the years! That jewelry holds wonderful memories.”
Jewelry doesn’t have to relate to you to be meaningful.
Case in point: our estate jewelry.
Laura reflects, “My jewelry style is ever-evolving, but I find the majority of my favorite pieces in the estate case. My look involves a lot of bold gold items, channeling a slightly more vintage (currently 80s and 90s) polished aesthetic.”
6. Reimagine Jewelry You Already Have
A cost-effective way to style your jewelry without purchasing new is to find alternative ways to wear your pieces. You’ve already invested the resources in sourcing a high-quality jewelry piece—don’t you want to show them off as much as possible?
Susie advises customers to think outside the box when it comes to styling their jewelry:
Pair your jewelry with new outfits: If you’re in a jewelry styling rut, the most common solution is not to get new jewelry but to rethink your outfit. Try styling your pieces with outfits that you might not have before, or remix your normal outfits into new combinations before accessorizing.
Reimagine how you wear a piece: There’s more than one way to wear jewelry, and even subtle changes can make a big impact. Layering items is the most obvious way to recontextualize your personal style. It’s dynamic and adds a lot of visual texture. You can also change your placement. Instead of wearing your ring on your ring finger, move it to your thumb or index. Please note that this doesn’t work for all rings or people since fingers typically differ in size. You can purchase temporary ring guards to allow oversized rings to fit on different fingers. Finally, get creative with the use case. One person’s plunging necklace could be another person’s belt. Wear mismatched earrings or just have one statement earring.
Give new life to heirloom pieces with custom jewelry: Sometimes heirlooms are too damaged to repair or simply don’t match your overall style. In these cases, our experts recommend transforming your heirloom into custom jewelry pieces by setting a new gem or transferring the existing gemstones into new settings.
Invest in Earring Jackets: Susie swears by earring jackets (also known as earring enhancers), which are decorative add-ons for stud earrings. Earring jackets sit behind the stud, allowing you to upgrade your earring over time and building in more versatility through swappable options.
7. Don’t Stress About Jewelry Trends
As a family-owned four-generation jeweler, we can confidently say that nearly all jewelry trends come and go. Understanding what looks are in can be a great starting point to define your own personal style, but it’s not the end-all-be-all. If you only focus on chasing jewelry trends instead of critically thinking about your preferences, you’ll never find a style that’s truly yours.
While a jewelry style you like may eventually fall out of vogue, don’t throw away your pieces! Fashion is cyclical, and your pieces will likely earn new popularity. Not that it matters since—say it with us—“We dress for ourselves!”
Final Thoughts: Jewelry Styling Do’s and Don’ts
Reinventing your jewelry style is an ongoing journey but the basic design principles follow most fashion processes. Start with a fashion discovery, looking at images critically to understand what you like and don’t like. Once you’ve established a north star, work through your current wardrobe and pieces to recreate the looks.
Successful jewelry styling plays with contrast, tension, and balance to achieve a unique look. Try layering your jewelry to get a feel for the relationship between different visual elements. Mix metals for a practical and carefree vibe. And pay attention to colors that make your natural features sing.
Finally, fashion is an art, not a science. If a look appeals to you and makes you happy, then lean into it! Your personal style should feel meaningful to you, not arbitrarily conform to a shifting standard.
Learn more about jewelry styling by talking to Laura, Susie, or one of Forsythe Jewelers’ several jewelry experts at our Pittsford, NY location!
