Imagine this scenario: you’ve found the perfect outfit to wear to your date tonight, but when you look at your earring collection, you simply can’t decide which pair best fits your outfit. If you hadn’t planned for such an anomaly, you can be left scrambling to get ready and settling for something that doesn’t necessarily look right with your outfit. Here are five tips for pairing earrings with your outfit, so you can maximize your cohesiveness and show off your accessorizing prowess.
1. Try Custom Jewelry
Instead of trying to match your current collection with your outfits, why not try custom jewelry instead? With custom jewelry, you can work with a jewelry designer to create the perfect pair of hoop earrings, studs, or statement earrings to match your favorite outfits. Custom jewelry is pretty much unlimited as far as options go; you can choose birthstones, diamonds, precious gems, all manner of metals, or even alternative materials like acrylic and stone.
It’s safe to say that customizing a piece to your specifications will make matching with your wardrobe a hundred times easier than trying to find store-bought items that work well together. If you’ve never tried custom jewelry, there’s never been a better time to start! There are providers who can customize your jewelry down to the last precious gemstone, so you’ll be paying for exactly what you want.
2. By Occasion
One of the best tips we can offer for matching earrings to outfits is to pay attention to the occasion you’re matching for. Are you going to a wedding or other formal event? This will completely change how you match your earrings with your outfit. Going out for a night on the town? You’ll probably want to opt for a more casual look than you would for a wedding.
Dangling jewelry doesn’t work well if you’re just typing at the office, and certain jewelry can send a completely different message. Matching your jewelry and outfit to the occasion ensures not only the cohesion of your outfit overall but also that you’re not showing up to your sister’s wedding in your night club outfit! Be sure to use discretion with what you wear, but also don’t sacrifice your personal style for the sake of the occasion.
Fashion is all about expressing oneself, and while there are rules that can be followed, some of the best looks have come out of breaking or bending those rules. Interpret the rules as you see fit, and remember to express yourself as you would want to!
3. Compliment Skin Tone
Jewelry that compliments your skin tone just makes the entire outfit look better. Those ladies that match earrings, outfit, and skin tone are truly winning at the accessory game, and looking amazing as well. Matching skin tone is the only way to achieve the maximum cohesion for the outfit, as skin tone is an important part of how your looks are presented.
Cool skin tones work well with colored gems or silver, and warmer skin tones prefer warmer colors like yellow, orange, and green. Silver pretty much goes with any natural skin tone, and even something like white gold can complement most skin tones as well. Don’t forget that your hair plays an important role in matching as well! Dark hair won’t work well with dark-colored gems, so opt for warmer, brighter colors if you have dark brown or black hair.
4. Cool Jewelry with Warm Colors
If you’re opting to wear green, yellow, or orange, you’ll want something that complements the color(s) without being too bold or has too much contrast with what you’re wearing. A yellow dress can accent a blue or green gem incredibly well, and the gem, in turn, can complement your eyes.
Using a color wheel such as this one can help you maximize your matching abilities by combining colors that work well (or contrast well) with each other.
5. Neutral Colors
Your neutral colors are black, white, and sometimes gray or silver. These colors are able to be matched with just about any color on the color wheel. Black and gold go well together, as do black and silver. The same goes for white and gold or white with brightly colored gemstones. When in doubt, try the little black dress approach!
Pearls are usually a shade of white and are a good match for just about any color outfit (except warmer colors like yellow and orange). If you don’t have pearls, diamonds pretty much go with anything, and help add a little sparkle and class to your outfit.
The Bottom Line
Matching earrings with your wardrobe isn’t rocket science, but it can take some practice for the untrained eye to become accustomed to the effectiveness of various color combinations. Using the color wheel and customizing your jewelry to your specific wardrobe are the best ways to maximize your outfits’ cohesiveness and improve your overall style.
