065. STYLE SUBCULTURES: Jewelry Moodboards
Taking You Through It Step By Step.
I came to appreciate jewelry late in life. Apparently, having my entire family work as jewellers for many generations was not enough to make me care. Only my love for styling put it on my radar, and until recently, I still considered jewelry merely a means to elevate an outfit.
My current collection is small. The two pieces that never leave me are my engagement ring - an emerald cluster art-deco design I found at an antique jeweller in London’s Burlington Arcade - and a chain with a small lab-grown diamond that sits between my collarbones. My uncle gifted it to me for Christmas last year. I also wear my Dorsey pieces and skinny beaded necklaces - this multi-coloured Anni Lu is a favourite - very often. I’m slowly learning what feels right; Bracelets aren’t my thing. For earrings and rings, I gravitate towards daintier pieces over statement ones. I’ll be more likely to invest in fine pieces in the future - I fantasise about the creations of By Pariah and J.Hannah. Whereas necklaces are a mix, I like having one that I never take off, but I also want to have fun with it. I like Lizzie Fortunato's big, bold, beaded pieces. This heart-shaped necklace is next up on my wishlist.
Shopping for jewelry begs the question, ‘How do you know when to invest?’ more than any other area of your wardrobe. The difference between a fashion jewelry purchase and a fine jewelry purchase can be the cost of a few months’ rent. I don’t know enough to even consider investing. What’s good value when it comes to jewelry? What’s worth it? What’s just branding? I’m interviewing my close friend Bec Mapes for the newsletter later this month. She has been a jewelry maker and an entrepreneur for nearly two decades, and I plan to ask her all these questions for us.
In the meantime, I have been exploring my taste for jewelry; by saving brands I liked the look of, paying attention to how I feel when I wear jewelry, and creating visual inspiration through moodboards. Below, I share six moodboard edits I started creating while I was experimenting. Each of them is curated to suit a different aesthetic. I share some practical tips that have helped me and three examples of I used them to solve three of my personal jewelry styling situations.
Moodboard Edit #1 Style Keywords: romantic, whimsical, nature-inspired, edgy, Victorian, mystical, ethereal, dramatic, avant-garde, goth-inspired, silver, choker, pearl, rose-shaped.
It may be the way my brain is wired, but I like to begin with a street-style look and ask how I would use jewelry to complement a look. Whether I’m styling myself or someone else, I want to select jewelry based on an aesthetic, and I believe that different materials, shapes, and designs tell a different story.
If you’re unsure where to start, the style keywords I’ve shared throughout will help you. But inspiration can come from anywhere; If you have an artist, a designer, or even a
place in mind, you can use them as a starting point. My recent chatGPT threads are populated with all sorts of strange prompts, ‘What adjectives would you use to describe the aesthetic of the brand The Vampire’s Wife?’ or ‘What adjectives would you use to describe the aesthetic of the architecture of the old town in York, England’. In both cases, I was able to use some of these adjectives - Victorian, dramatic, goth, baroque - to find cool jewellery on Pinterest and Etsy. That’s how you unearth unique treasures like this Maria Nilsdotter pearl ring (4).
Moodboard Edit #2 Style Keywords: bold, eclectic, contemporary, grunge-inspired, punk-inspired, unconventional, chain-link, heart-shaped, statement.
It should be said that I am a lazy moodboard maker. That’s hardly an issue when you use Pinterest; All you need to get started is just one image you like, and you can let the algorithm do its thing. If you’re new to Pinterest, you can open any image (a pin) and, if you scroll down, you’ll find hundreds of similar image suggestions under the More To Explore section. You can create a board - a folder with several images - and the algorithm will pick up similarities between them and suggest More Ideas For This Board. Your homepage will also update really quickly to reflect a medley of everything you’ve searched for and saved.
If you like any of the products linked in this newsletter, you can take a screenshot of their website and save it on Pinterest. If you pinned that Chopova Lowena charm necklace (2), the algorithm would pick up that you’re looking for heart-shaped, chain-linked, punk-inspired pieces and show you a mix of other heart-shaped pieces like the Mondo Mondo (1) and the Marland Backus (9), chain-linked pieces like the Simone Rocha charm bracelet (3), and punk-inspired items like the Panconesi spike earrings (8). The more images you save, the more precise the algorithm will be. It will surface both inspirational editorials and actual product suggestions with shopping links. Some jewelry brands drive close to half of their revenue through Pinterest.
Moodboard Edit #3 Style Keywords: vintage-inspired, timeless, poetic, artisanal, ancient-inspired, emerald/malachite, gold, cross-shaped, textured.
Moodboard Edit #4 Style Keywords: preppy, colourful, playful, vibrant, joyful, travel-inspired, candy-like, stackable, seashell, cord, beads, bangles, enamel.
If you don’t have an image, finding a relevant initial prompt is the only effort required. When making jewelry moodboards, you can use descriptive keywords like materials, colours, and product types (e.g. silver, beaded, enamel, textured) or, as suggested above, aesthetic keywords (e.g. ethereal, sophisticated, modern, edgy). I’m currently looking for a pinkie ring to add to my collection. In this case, searching for an aesthetic worked well for me. I used keywords like whimsical pinkie ring or poetic pinkie ring, and I was able to narrow down, with surprising precision, what would suit me best - a delicate, thin, embellished band, very unlike the signet shape I had in mind when I started).
Using another example, after realising I had grown tired of wearing a busy ear stack of mixed metal hoops and studs, I found out, using a mix of descriptive and aesthetic keywords, that I was drawn to delicate drop earrings in milky, semi-transparent tones.
In some cases, searching for aesthetic keywords won’t be helpful. I’ve been contemplating getting an Oura ring. If you’re not familiar, an Oura ring is a wearable device that tracks health metrics like your sleep quality and heart rate. It looks like a chunky band that isn’t particularly appealing, and I was curious to find more aesthetically pleasing ways to style it. Here are some keywords I tried and how helpful the results were: minimalist ring stack ❌; androgynous ring stack ❌; masculine ring stack ❌; styling suggestions oura ring ❌; styling your oura ring ❌; ring stack with oura ring ✔️; thick silver band ring stack ❌; ring stack with oura ring ✔️; wide gold band ✔️; wide silver band ✔️; wide silver band ring stack ✔️.
If anyone reading is also thinking of getting one or has one, here’s what I learned making these moodboards: 1. It looks worse on your index finger, but don’t buy it unless you’re prepared to wear it there. My friends who wear it on other fingers - where the knuckle is wider than the base - find that it disconnects constantly; 2. There are hundreds of them on sale secondhand, don’t pay full price if you don’t have to. And when it comes to styling it, 3. The more rings you wear alongside it, the less noticeable the Oura will be (although you should avoid adjacent fingers to avoid it getting scratched or disconnected); 4. It looks nicer with a thinner ring stacked on the same finger.
Moodboard Edit #5 Style Keywords: elegant, cutting-edge, futuristic/fantastical-inspired, feminine, modern, diamond/zirconia, sparkle, long necklace, statement, hammered gold.
Moodboard Edit #6 Style Keywords: classic, minimalist, understated, refined, versatile, dainty, luxury, gleaming, sophisticated, mixed metals, tennis necklace, rivière.
Finally, let yourself be guided by your intuition. When I moodboard for clothes, many things come to pollute the creative process: ‘Will this look good on my body?’. With jewelry, it’s easier to trust what your eye is naturally drawn to. I too have spent many hours trying to determine whether my veins appeared green, blue, or purple through my skin. Turns out my skin tone is best suited to yellow or rose gold, and yet I exclusively wear silver and white gold because that’s what my heart is drawn to. When I went to pick my engagement ring, I knew I wanted a cluster and that it would be round with blue sapphires because that’s what my mum wore. I fell in love with a square emerald (green) cluster. I can’t explain it, but through following my intuition, it became the only thing I’ve never grown tired of looking at. Well, that and the boy who gave it to me, I guess.
Thank you for this! I am still struggling with jewelry, this is a good way of structuring and looking at it
This is incredible— the way you use modern tech in your process is so cool and the approach is so smart. Thank you for the window into that alongside the visual delights and brands to discover!