I feel like in the last two years I’ve really found my own sense of style. My shift from sixteen to seventeen was a big one, and it made me braver, more confident in my own skin, and more willing to try styles I might have been nervous about before. One thing I’ve been exploring in the last year has been accessorizing, especially with jewelry. I have my staple pieces that I wear everyday, but I’ve also built a collection of eclectic earrings, rings, and necklaces that I use to switch up my look.
My approach to jewelry is more is more. I love layering necklaces, wearing multiple ear piercings, and a ring on each finger (sometimes two lol). I mix gold with beads, pearls with silver, chunky cherry earrings with bubble rings, you name it. I love the personality that different jewelry brings, and how each item can remind you of a place, person, time, or feeling just by looking at it. Every piece has a story, so today I thought I’d share a few of the ones behind my favorite pieces with you <3
My parents gave me this black onyx necklace for my sixteenth birthday. Onyx is a stone of powerful protection, focus, and willpower. I feel like when they gifted me this, my parents unwittingly gave me a catalyst for all the growth I have experienced in the last year and a half. Every time I wear it, I think about celebrating with them and it makes me smile.
These pearls are an item I feel really chic in. They are classic and clean in a way that elevates every outfit. An old friend gave me these pearls — earrings, bracelet, necklace and ring — and even though we don’t talk anymore, I still wear them. I like to mix them in with other jewelry too. The great thing about pearls is that they never go out of style. I imagine when I’m fifty years old, they will still be in my jewelry box and on rotation. They represent a piece of my heart.
These rings were one of my favorite treasures I picked up while in Italy last month. We were walking through Rome and came across a stand on the side of the street where a little old lady was selling the most beautiful silver rings for 3 euros a piece. I spent an hour just looking through everything and talking to this sweet woman in my best Italian. First I bought six, then I realized how much I loved them and went back to buy seven more. I could have spent the whole day with her, she was so gracious for the time I spent there, and I was grateful for the light she shared with me. I left the stand with a bunch of new treasures, and I know they’ll always remind me of how kind she was, how proud she was of her art, and the way she was eager to share the things she loved with the world.
Also while in Italy, I wanted to get something to remember my trip by. I was hoping to come home with something that in thirty or forty years, I could pass on to my future kids. I wasn’t sure what it would be or how I would find it, but I really liked the idea of commemorating the trip by getting something that I could look at and recall how free and happy I felt in my own skin and how loved I felt by everyone around me. On our last day in Rome, we walked past the Louis Vuitton store and decided to go in for fun to look around. Walking into Louis Vuitton is like walking into an art museum. Everything is so carefully crafted, and you can tell that it’s not just clothing, or purses, or jewelry. It’s art. Wearing art makes me feel more alive. As I marveled at the artistry of everything around me, I saw the most beautiful malachite ring, with a gold band and a tiny diamond at the center. Malachite is a protection stone, and is meant to bring newness, particularly in love, to your life. I knew I wanted to bring it home with me, and that someday I would pass it on to someone I care about and tell them about the time I went to Italy with my amazing friends. I’ll grin with wrinkles around my eyes and share stories about the pasta we ate and the ocean we swam in, and then the ring will have meaning for them, too.
