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! |
Don't get suckered into a crazy trend!
Dear Glam Gals,
I’ve found that Earrings are a great way to add some life to my wardrobe. The only problem is there are so many out there, I have no idea what kind to buy. Can you give me some tips for what to look for and what is currently in style?
Anne — Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Hi Anne,
The most important thing is not to get suckered into wearing a pair of earrings that are “currently in style” but do not suit you. (Believe us, it’s not just young gals like Jessica Simpson who fall for ridiculous trends.)
Don’t get us wrong. Earrings are a wonderful way to perk up your face and make you look classy and fabulous after 40. There are many things to consider when choosing the right pair. The most important is:
Face Shape
 These will slim a round face. |
Round Face? If your face is round and you end up gaining a few pounds after 40, you can really look very wide and full. Wear long earrings to make you face look slimmer. Avoid large circular earrings, hoops and studs. |
 This will widen a long face |
Long face? Avoid long earrings. Try round earrings to widen your face, and make it look fuller. |
 Ovals soften a square jaw |
Square Jaw? Rounded edges or oval shapes soften things up. Circular earrings and Hoops will work. |
 Chandelier earrings look fill in a heart shaped face. |
Heart Shaped Face? Counterbalance your sharp chin with chandelier or tear drop earrings that fill in the bottom half of your face. |
Oval Shaped Face? You can wear almost anything, but triangular earrings or simple studs will show off your lovely cheekbones best!
Here are a few more of our current favorites:
 Good for long or oval face |
 Nice choice for square jaw |
 lovely for heart shaped or oval shaped |
 Cute on average width face |
Want to know the second most important thing to consider when choosing earrings? Watch for our next post.
All earrings are from Saks.
Free Shipping on all Saks.com orders through May 27th! Use code SHIPSPR9.
The second most important thing to think about when buying earrings is:
Bone Structure
Do you have:
 Fine Bone structure – fine earrings
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Small, fine bone structure? (Meryl Streep/Sharon Stone)Choose earrings that are thin, fine, flat and delicate. Imagine someone with fine bone structure like Sharon Stone in chunky wooden hoops. They would overpower her gentle beauty. |
 medium boned - medium size and weight earring |
Medium Bone structure? (Terri Hatcher, Madonna. Liz Hurley)Opt for medium weight and thickness. |
 heavy bone structure- heavy earrings |
Heavy Bone Structure? (Oprah, Donatella Versace) You can carry off heavy, chunky earrings. |
Other things to consider when buying earrings…. Check out our next post.
When choosing earring you also need to ask yourself:
 News anchor Katie Couric wears conservative earrings to convey authority |
Where will you be wearing the earrings?
Work or Office: the more formal the office the more formal the earring. Choose classic styles in gold for the most authority. Executive dressing means nothing dangly, no hoops. Avoid large earrings if you are in the most conservative types of businesses like finance, law.
After Work: Now’s the time to loosen up and show your personality. You can forget the simple studs and have some fun. |
 Diane von Furstenberg shows off her personality. |
What’s your Style Personality?
Are you the romantic type who enjoys pretty feminine clothes? Choose earrings with rounded and curvy details. Dramatic, or city chic types, choose earrings with straight edges, and square, rectangular, and triangular shapes. If you are the artsy/creative type, some dangle suits you, and you can wear color well. Classic types – simple timeless styles such as small hoops, button earrings in gold and silver, diamond studs work. Natural types - wear small and simple so you barely notice them. Nothing too shiny or detailed. |
 Warmed toned Cynthia Nixon sizzles in gold. |
What season are you?
If you have warm undertones in your skin (yellow or peach), that means you are a spring or autumn and look best wearing golds and copper metals.
If you have pink or blue undertones in your skin, then you are a winter or summer. Silver and pewter make you look fabulous. |
* If you are unsure of your style personality and seasonal coloring and would like an analysis by email, then check out our online style consult and Let us help you Tweak Your Chic!
Finding your life’s passion,supporting starving artists, and doing it all with your daughter by your side…
This is the true and touching, real life story of Boomer, Judith and her daughter, who have teamed up to create a wonderful world of off the beaten track destination and combined it with high tech sensibility.
Giving Tree Jewelry l.Located in a refurbished barn, deep in the woods in Cape Cod, is a sanctuary for special and unique jewelry made by designers you won’t see in your local mall. The best part is, that you don’t ever have to leave the comfort of your home office to check it out, since you can view it right on line.
Giving Tree Jewelry contains pieces from over 30 different designers. Three of those designers being Alex Woo (Recently Eva Longoria has been seen wearing Alex Woo’s piece “little numbers”), Me & Ro,(Mariska Hargitay wears “Fearlessness necklace”) and Love Rocks NY (Sarah Jessica Parker wore a locket on the cover of Glamour recently)
After doing a bit of research on the site we couldn’t help but to pick out a few pieces to share with you:
We Love these Gold Lucite Flair Hoops earrings by the talented and “Hot, hot , hot”, designer, Alexis Bittar. Well known, for his Lucite Collection and many of his designs are being seen on some of Hollywoods A- list stars!
We also feel for this fabulous Crescent Moon Necklace by SYdney Evan. 
These Bangles from Alex and Ali, are the perfect mix of “uptown elegance with downtown cool”. This is weekend wear jewelry to make you feel pretty!
We are big girls now, and that calls for updating our fine jewelry. How about this conversation piece, the Infinity Ring by Love Rocks NY. 
You can find all of these products plus so much more at www.givingtreejewelry.com
