One of the nicest things you can do for your look is to accessorize it, and one of the best accessories is jewelry. Earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and hair ornaments all add bang and sparkle to your look. No gurl should be without them. Plus, Dom de Luxury adores it when you wear jewelry, and that's the best reason to do anything.
Jewelry doesn't have to be expensive. I bought most of mine for around 5.00 USD! The stuff I buy is considered costume jewelry, but costume jewelry has come a long way! There can be problems with jewels falling off, clasps breaking, and backs not fitting. Not all items have these problems, and you can usually repair problems yourself.
Practical Issues
For earrings, the best ones require pierced ears. You may be reluctant to do this, but don't be. It doesn't hurt, and if you are still in the closet, it's become quite acceptable almost everywhere for men to have pierced ears.
If you can't go the piercing route, clip-on earrings are your only option. Your selection will be much more limited. You can buy converters that turn an erring designed for pierced ears into a clip-on. I tried these before I got pierced with some limited success.
The clasps of clip-ons are quite poor. They break easily, and I never found a good way to repair them. (Please write me if you know of a good way!) Even when the clasps are healthy, they don't hold on to your ear especially well. A dab of eyelash glue on the clip can help in this situation.
If you have pierced ears, the backings of costume jewelry tend to be terrible, and this is another way to lose a nice earring. But there is a great solution for this (see below), which is 100% effective!
Size can be an issue with bracelets and chokers. Men's necks are larger than women's, and frequently these items don't fit. If they use chains, you can buy extenders. Otherwise, unless you can try the piece on or measure it, avoid buying it unless you can return it.
Jewelry Essentials
99% of issues you might have with jewelry can be solved with the following few items:
- Lash glue
- A dab of lash glue can help clip-ons stay on your ear much better. I've heard this is a common trick done by ballroom dancers.
- Clip-on Converter
These work OK, not amazing. If you do see an earring you crave but can't wear because you don't have piercings, this is your only option. Here's one place to buy them.- LOX Mega-grip earring backs
These things are amazing. They work great! Your earrings never come off, and they last forever! I buy a few and move them from earring to earring. I love them! Unfortunately, they are no longer available! I don't know why. There are similar products at somewhat higher prices. Here's the old link.- Chain Extenders
If you wear bracelets or chokers you will need these. These chains have clasps on either end so that you can connect them to existing chains. Here's one place to buy them (I love wearing chokers because they hide my Adam's apple.) You can also roll your own extenders, which is better since you can adjust the size and color to match the piece. See my article on Jewelry Repair for more information.
These few items will solve 99% of the issues you have with jewelry not fitting or not working. When these won't work you can improvise. For example, I have a "heart" choker made from two pieces of faux leather attached to a steel heart. It's beautiful, but it didn't fit, and it had a snap, not a chain. I improvised a fastener out of two interlocked safety pins! It worked great! So don't despair! If you have a piece you love, you can probably find a way to make it work.
Some other advice
There is some advice about jewelry on the Fashion Hacks page. Here's my hack for putting on a bracelet by yourself. And Dom de Luxury has some great advice for selecting the right necklace to go with your outfit.
Where to Shop.
I haven't had good luck with Amazon in the Jewelry department. I find local merchants to be the way to go. In my town, there are many stores. For some reason, they are all run by Indians. They have huge selections and are very inexpensive. They sell the same costume jewelry you buy at department stores for a fraction of the price. Unfortunately, my favorite place to buy jewelry no longer does mail order, but you can still see their webpage: Ear Rings Plaza, NYC They also have other nice things, like a beautiful selection of scarves.
I hope this has been helpful. I'm always happy to get good suggestions and nice comments. If you have some, feel free to get in touch! I'm especially interested to hear about online jewelry merchants that you use!