Looking for a simple way to go from Frumpy to Fabulous after 40? Simply add a great necklace. Whether it’s a subtle accent or a giant statement piece, a beautiful necklace frames your face and completes your look. But getting just the right necklace takes some thought. Here are 5 Do’s and Donts to help you look like a knockout in a necklace.
1. Don’t Wear a Necklace that is Too Tiny
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Too plain This bold jacket and matching top is a lovely, fresh color, but overall it looks a little too plain and bare without jewelry. |
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Too tiny Add a traditional, delicate, tiny gold necklace, and it still doesn’t look right. The necklace is dated and looks lost on the neck. |
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Just Right Instead try adding a fuller necklace to fill in the open space. A fuller necklace is more modern and it is more suited to the crispness and weight of this jacket. Also, because this necklace is a mix of gold, cream and silver beads, it nicely picks up on the large cream and silver button on the jacket. |
2. Don’t Wear a Necklace that Competes with your Top
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Too overpowering Big round gold link necklaces may be in fashion, but that doesn’t mean they go with everything. This necklace is much too contemporary, geometric and bold for this soft, flowing Grecian top with its smooth, draped fabric. |
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Too distracting It might be tempting to wear this gorgeous top with a more refined classic flat gold necklace in order to match the snake pin, however if you’re honest, you’ll see that the necklace competes with the pin and takes away from the stunning sweeping neckline. |
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Simple and Elegant This unique top is a showpiece itself. Leave well enough alone and in this case, forget about a necklace. The best way to accessorize this top would be by wearing a striking pair of gold hoop earrings or long dangles, and a stunning wide gold cuff. |
3. Do wear necklaces that match your skin tone
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Warm Skin The general rule of thumb is to match your jewelry to your skin tone. Deborah (shown here) has warm skin. See how beautiful the warm reds, oranges and browns in her top complement her yellow undertones. |
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Wrong color for skin The silver necklace is very cold and icy on her and is a stark contrast to a very warm look. |
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Right color for skin A better choice is a warm gold necklace. The little charms have gold and orange in them and blend in with her look. It all flows together very naturally. |
4. Do Theme your Necklace to your Outfit
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Too uninspired This gorgeous tropical print is busy and so many may think to leave jewelry out of the mix, but the opposite is true. This fun dress is calling out for a fun necklace. |
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Too conservative See how this plain gold box chain adds nothing to the dress. It’s far too prim and proper to do this exotic theme justice. |
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Perfect for the theme Instead you need to enhance the tropical feel and a large chunkier necklace made of irregularly shaped beads and stones is more natural and earthy looking, so in keeping with this tropical theme. |
5. Don’t Settle for Just One Necklace
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Too bare Many women are confused about what kind of necklace to wear with a wrap dress and so often go bare. |
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Too ordinary A long single chain can look nice. |
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Modern and Fashionable But the layered look is really popular this season. So, instead of wearing a single chain that looks “just OK,” take it to the next level, wrap it around your neck a couple of times. Then add a second chain for a fashion forward look! |
Style Expert Deborah Boland specializes in helping mature women to Tweak their Chic®!
I love this kind of info. I am in total agreement with what you said. I look forward to more helpful facts.
Great tips, I am not big on necklaces but like to layer when appropriate.
I don’t like these clunky jewelry pieces. A simple elegant necklace is perfect.
I love the new chunky necklaces… Even my husband says they look sexy!…. Hitting Double nickles this September..I need all the sexy I can get!
Keep it coming Ladies sooooo Fabulous
I absolutely love the information that is shared for women over 40. I now find myself looking at the website to make sure that I am dressing age appropriate and still continuing to be chic.:-) What colors seem to fit best for a medium brown-skinned African-American woman? I am a size 6 and want to know what would like nice for my body frame. I love fashion jewelry and can wear just about any type of bracelet or ring. Unfortunately, I love wearing necklaces and fashion earrings as well, but have suffered a lot from allergies with some fashion jewelry. I was going to try Lia Sophia to see if I could wear the jewelry that they offer. Do you have any suggestions for me?
Hi Sonya,
So happy to have you are enjoy the site and thanks for writing to us!!! We love to hear from our FAB ladies! Lia Sophia has wonderful jewelry, however it is very hard for us to give out any recommendations when we do not have a photo of you! Every woman is different and different styles and colors are unique to each of you!
If you have a specific question and send in a photo with permission for us to publish it on our on line magazine, we do select a few questions a month to feature. Send questions and photos to: myphoto@fabulousafter40.com
Thank you both so much. I am going to send a picture of myself that was taken at home a few months ago. I hope it works for help in providing a color scheme for me.:-)
Can’t wait to see it!
Thanks girls for the informative post! As a jewelry artist, it pains me to see women wearing too much jewelry or nothing at all. Ladies, at the very least, should wear earrings, because they frame your face!
Hi Toni,
Good point or at least a necklace and no earnings to help draw attention to the face.
I am always afraid I will put too much or look too dressy. I think sometimes I stuck in the old ways of just wearing a simple necklace.
Hi Lisa,
We beg you to just go to the store and try on some different types of necklaces. Have a saleswomen even help suggest something to try. You should start by wearing your favorite outfit to the store and seeing if you can find something to go with that. Once you find a nice piece, you will usually see that you will be able to wear it with lots of different outfits. Have fun!!!
these are all very good suggestions and have one more. What do I do with all these slide necklaces I have accumalated over the past couple of years. I have some beautiful slides to go on my choker. Can I layer these? I don’t want to give up wearing them. Thanks for your help.
Hi Lynne,
One thing about slide necklaces is that they usually slide onto a thin chain or wire. What you might need is an updated chain for them. We are seeing the long thin chains with charms on them. You could get several different lengths and layer them that way. If that does not work, don’ t forget, trends do come and go. Sometimes we have to put away some of our favorite things for a season or two and bring them back out when they come back in style. Send us a photo if you want any more feedback. Cheers! info@fabulousafter40.com
Fantastic photos and post. A key to dressing chic is understand that the neckline of any outfit always dictates what type of necklace should be worn.
I am one of those lazy gals, I never put jewelry on. Rather, I say I am lazy, the truth is I never know what to put on with what I am wearing – Thanks for the visuals, they help!