A couple weeks ago, a friend of mine asked me to make jewelry for her daughter's wedding. She initially asked me to make earrings for herself to match her mother-of-the-bride dress. After bringing the dress to work (where we clandestinely snuck out to the parking lot to see it - it was like we were making some sort of, you know, transaction), I made several pairs for her to take home and see how they worked. Her daughter joined in, and decided that I should make the jewelry for her bride's maids, too. Three brides maids later (they all had different/similar earrings - how cool is that?!), it turns out that my friend needs a bracelet to match her earrings. The photo here to the left is my first attempt to make one that she'll like to go with her dress. I decided to make some matching earrings, too. I really like the design of the earrings; I think I'll make them again in different colors. Brown is a great neutral color, and has been selling well for several years. These are made of faceted smoky quartz, brown seed pearls, and Swarovski crystals with sterling toggle and wires.
Making custom pieces to match an extisting outfit is so much easier for me than just making something and hoping that someone will like it well enough to buy it. I've noticed that women tend to buy what they have bought before, or something for which they already have an outfit. Occaisionally, however, I run across women (like my wife or mother-in-law) who buy jewelry they like and then go buy clothes to match.
I guess it's your philosophy on accessories: Are the clothes there as a backdrop to the jewelry (my wife's opinion!), or does one wear jewelry because it's expected, and therefore shouldn't really detract (read not noticed) from the overall appearance?
In my opinion - remember I'm male, so take it for what it's worth - if no one has commented on your jewelry in the last couple of days, there's something wrong. Personally, I don't notice what brand of jeans you're wearing, but I do notice if you have k.a. jewelry! My mother-in-law can afford designer labels. Yet she shops the sales at WalMart and then dresses them up with artistic jewelry which has flair. Today we went pumpkin picking and she had on a jacket that was on clearance, jeans, but her earrings were from an art show several years ago - at least $100.
Tasteful, artistic, well-made jewelry never goes out of style, and you get years of wear. But those $100 jeans you bought last week? They'll be yesterday's news tomorrow.
For what it's worth,
Pastel Guy
www.matthewweld.com (pastels website)
Like what you see? For $65 (includes shipping), I can make a set for you, too!
