Colour in jewelry is really a decision about restraint. The pieces that get worn most are rarely the loudest ones — they are the ones that give an otherwise plain outfit somewhere to look.
The one-colour rule
Pick a single colour and let it be the only saturated thing you are wearing. A beaded bracelet with red, blue and green works because the colours are small and scattered; the same palette printed across a dress would be a different, much louder decision. Scale matters as much as hue.
Let the rest stay quiet
Neutral doesn't have to mean beige. Denim, white, grey, navy, black and olive are all quiet enough to support a coloured piece. The trick is to avoid a second strong colour near it — a red bracelet next to a red lip is a costume, while the same bracelet against a grey knit is a choice.
If you want two colours, keep them in the same family. Pink beads with a plum bag will read as one idea. Pink beads with an orange bag will read as an accident.
Three ways to wear it
- One bracelet, bare wrist. The Colorful Bead Bracelet is at its best alone, with a plain long-sleeve tee pushed up to the elbow.
- A soft colour instead of a bright one. The Strawberry Quartz Bracelet is pink without shouting, which makes it easier to wear with patterns.
- Colour in the stone, not the metal. The Butterfly Cat-Eye Bracelet keeps a silver-tone base and puts the colour in the beads, so it still works with a cooler wardrobe.
Choosing a colour that lasts
Trend colours date quickly; the ones that stay are usually borrowed from something in the world rather than a season's palette — sea glass, dried flowers, the inside of a shell. If a colour reminds you of an object rather than a trend, you will still want it in three years.
And if you are buying colour as a gift, go one shade softer than you think. The person receiving it has to match it to a wardrobe you have never seen.