- Aug 9, 2021
- 4 min read

3 Layered Necklaces: Coral, Red, and Rust Edition

Summer 2021 has been the Season of Layered Necklaces in my world. Long may this trend last!

I have really enjoyed looking at examples of layered necklaces / neck messes online and experimenting with various combinations of necklaces in my outfits. This has been a good time for trying different things out because I've been working from home, which means (1) I have time to tweak my layers if I need to because I'm not rushing to get out the door, and (2) I feel that I can take risks with my choices because nobody is here to judge (only Robot, who is usually some combination of oblivious and accepting when it comes to what I wear).

Through trial and error, I'm discovering what lengths and categories of pieces I like to wear together. This is very much a work in progress! But I can report a few findings:

--I generally select my centerpiece / hero / stand-out necklace first, then build around it.

--I usually concentrate the shorter necklaces in the area of bare skin above my top (such as this) rather than equally above and below the neckline (such as this) or mostly below the necklace (such as this). It just looks neater to me that way.

--I generally like my layered necklaces to include both (1) a long pendant necklace and (2) at least one shorter necklace with pieces that drop down--drop beads, charms, dangling bits (as found on a "swag necklace"), or a small pendant, for example. These drop elements add an extra bit of interest, and a long necklace provides a nice vertical line.

--When wearing a strand of pearls, I usually prefer them to be the top layer, closest to the face. I find pearls flattering in how they reflect light onto the face.

Of course, I don't present that list as "rules" about what you should or shouldn't do! (Even I don't follow them as rules.) Those are just some discoveries I've made about my own general preferences that I offer as ideas for your consideration.

Here's a round-up of three layered necklaces that I have worn as part of my outfit of the day this summer with discussion of how I put these necklaces together.

This necklace trio started with the middle necklace, an orange/black bead necklace with brass-tone lion charms ($10 at Goodwill, 12/2013). I am fond of clothing and accessories that feature images of animals, and it's fun to make one of these items the centerpiece of a look. I thought that the light orange and black colors worked well with the earthy colors that dominate the stripes. Playing off the brass lions, I next added this versatile ring necklace composed from a variety of metallics ($16.32 at Kohls, 11/2020). I like that it's a piece that makes an impact while also working well as a support player for statement necklaces. I purchased it because I thought that the palette of mixed metals would make it easy to blend multiple metallics together in a neck mess, and that has proven to be the case. To finish the look with a long pendant, I added the gold/silver palm necklace ($5.39 at CJ Banks, 2/2021) that was also specifically bought due to the mixed metals (and because I like flora as well as fauna).

6/9/21

For this Fourth of July look, I wanted to keep to a red, white, and silver theme in the necklaces. First I selected the red ribbon through chain necklace ($11.81 at Kohls, 6/2014) to sit in the center of the neck mess. Next I layered thin silver-tone chains (one with dangling coins) above and below it ($12.16 at Kohls, 12/2020). I wanted to balance the look with one shorter necklace and one long pendant style necklace. As often as not, a pearl necklace gets added to my layered necklaces, and this pearl + sparkly bead necklace brought in the white color and had a festive vibe ($38.25 at Kohls, 11/2020). This silver/grey/white tassel necklace ($5.39 at CJ Banks, 5/2020) was selected for its colorway, but I also like that it added some beads into the mix.

7/4/21

Contrary to my usual practice, this necklace trio doesn't include a long pendant necklace! Because I was wearing a scarf around my neck and loose down the front, I thought my outfit had sufficient vertical integrity and decided to concentrate on building a neck mess above the V neck of the print T. Of course, I started with the Slothlórien necklace as the centerpiece ($42.00 from Wolf & Badger, 6/2021). To provide the main bulk of the neck mess, I chose a multi-strand swag necklace in a variety of coral/peach/rust colors ($9.02 from Kohls, 6/2014) to partially layer under the sloth pendant. I like the look when a pendant is layered over a multi-strand necklace at the bottom this way. Finally, I added a strand of somewhat chunky faux pearl and light gold beads at the top to balance the sloths and repeat the white from the background of the T ($5.39 at Loft, 5/2020).