All That Glitters

Yesterday Lipstick Lobbyist and I were discussing the post on Corporette about young women and pearl necklaces. As a Corporette reader wrote in (and unbeknownst to me), apparently there are lots of "rules" corresponding to your age and the size of pearls deemed appropriate to wear:

As a late graduation present, I was considering asking my folks for a classic strand of pearls. This turned out to be more complicated than I had thought. Is it (still) true that younger women shouldn’t aspire to larger pearls? I don’t want to buy a strand that will look silly when I’m in my 30s and 40s — what’s the largest I can get away with in my 20s?

As two ladies who like to think of themselves as a little bit funky and fashion forward (LL has an impressive knack for the vintage and for shoes, whereas I like to think I have a little rock and roll flair), trapped in the not always so fashion forward city of Boston, we definitely had some thoughts on the matter. Bottom line, we were both wary of traditional pearl necklaces. The reliable accessory of the working "girl," both LL and I felt these were a little too staid for our appearances, along the lines of, for instance, cable knit sweaters. However, we each had our exceptions - LL thought certain vintage necklaces were noticeably fake enough to not even count as pearls, meanwhile I thought an over-sized fake-pearl necklace could be a good combo of tradition and a little flashy (the workplace fashion goal I aim for). Getting dressed this morning I realized I sometimes rely on another plan, which is the vintage costume jewelry gold ball necklace I recently inherited from my grandmother (via my mother). It's large enough to not come off as dainty but not so large as to be inappropriate for day time work (see left). Or so I hope.  The Morocco necklace I wrote about yesterday would be another great alternative (see below).

ps - I have been reading more of that pearl website and no wonder that woman was confused!  There are all kinds of crazy "rules" and descriptions, alternately bizarre and entertaining.  For instance, "Generally for older women, 45 years and up or extremely successful 30s. The Lamborghini of pearls. Absolutely majestic, fit for a queen. The rarest size of all, virtually impossible to get -- Japanese cultured pearls simply don't grow any larger than this. A guaranteed grand slam for Mother's Day, Christmas or any event for the elegant elderly woman. Made most famous by Barbara Bush who was often seen with her pearls of this size coiled around her neck. Usually purchased as a double strand (36 inches)." Obviously a lot of this is just the pearl industry trying to sell more product, but it's still pretty wild....