3 Layered Necklaces in Late August

Welcome to another 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.

When I bought this polka dot Henley T almost two years ago, primarily as a sleep T, I thought that it would make for a fun print mix with this striped skirt. I finally put this idea into action a couple weeks ago and I loved the result. Continuing with the "neutral doesn't have to mean boring" idea is this layered necklace consisting of 3 pieces in 3 styles: pearls (classic), spikes (edgy), and an owl clock pendant (whimsical). Although it's a mish-mash of styles, the tight color palette makes it look coordinated. This is a good example of a neatly spaced 3-piece formula I come back to again and again: a beaded strand at the top, a chain with multiple dropped pieces in the center, and a chain with a pendant at the bottom.

In this next look, the mixed metal ring necklace that you've seen several times this summer was my jumping off point. Because the blouse has buttons up the front, I wanted to keep all the layers above the neckline and forgo the longer pendant option. Taking inspiration from the yellow/gold/orange tones in the blouse, I added three low profile beaded strands that I had made: tiny gold spacer beads with orange drop crystals, sandstone and golden glass pearls, and graduated yellow glass pearls with small gold spacer beads. Even though I'm not usually this matchy with my necklace and earrings, I wanted to wear the yellow glass pearl/gold hoop earrings with it...and I have no regrets.

This weekend #neckmess is definitely a more-is-more type of situation. I was wearing a sky blue + black graphic tank top with denim capris and a dark aqua/black/red scarf on my ponytail, which defined my color palette. I wanted dense coverage inside the V of the top with a lot of small strands, but nothing longer to interfere with the black print on the top. My DIY sky blue multi-strand seed bead necklace was my first piece, followed by the three seed bead endless strands in aqua, black, and red (from Fire Mountain Beads) below it. I grabbed a few pieces in the right colors to fill in the area above, including a black hematite bead necklace (passed down from my mom), a silver chain and red ribbon double layer necklace, and a silver chain with a black/clear crystal wavy center piece (a gift from my mom). I considered adding a short pendant to the set, but when I got to this point, I liked the way the narrow strands with no dangling bits built up in a slightly overlapping manner, thin layer by thin layer, into an overall statement bib necklace look.

I cannot say enough about what a game-changer layered necklaces have been for my style this summer. My larger statement necklaces still get love (usually worn alone but occasionally layered, like the spiky black necklace above), but my small-to-medium scale pieces have gotten more use than ever before since I've started wearing multiple necklaces together. Of course, I have also been making my own beaded necklaces, focusing on small beads that work well in these layered looks.

I truly think the easiest way to get started with layering necklaces is to keep the individual strands of a relatively small scale and experiment with different ways to build them up to a achieve a look you like. Combining large bold statement pieces is definitely possible, but I think it's much harder to find the right balance and not end up with a truly overwhelming total amount of necklace that way. You don't have to stick to the "trio of extremely delicate gold chains" that seems to be the most common instantiation of the layered necklace concept, but the idea of building up many smaller pieces into an overall look is sound.

Of course, you get to decide how much total necklace is the right amount! But if your layering efforts have you feeling a bit like you're wearing a Moira Rose costume (and not in a good way), I would recommend starting with smaller pieces.

I link up with:

Nike at Life as a LEO Wife (Sundays)

Shelbee at Shelbee on the Edge (Mondays; 3rd Thursday)

Michelle at My Bijou Life (Mondays, Fridays)

Mica at Away from the Blue (Mondays)

Debbie at My Random Musings (Mondays)

Leelo at Beauty by Miss L (Mondays)

Roxanne at Glass of Glam (Mondays)

Claire at Claire Justine (Mon, Wed, Fri)

Laura at I Do deClaire (Tuesdays)

Emma at Style Splash (Tuesdays)

Jess at Elegantly Dressed & Stylish (Tuesdays)

Gail at Is This Mutton? (Wednesdays)

Shelly at The Queen in Between (Wednesdays)

Jodie at Jodie's Touch of Style (3rd Thursday)

Carrie at Curly Crafty Mom (Thursdays)

Ada at Elegance and Mommyhood (Thursdays)

Jacqui at Mummabstylish (Thursdays)

Nicole at High Latitude Style (Thursdays)

Suzy at The Grey Brunette (Fridays)

Nancy at Nancy's Fashion Style (Fridays)

Erika at A Little Bit of Everything (Fridays)

Lucy at Lucy Bertoldi (Fridays)

Kimberly at Being a Wordsmith (Fridays)

Rena at Fine Whatever (Saturdays)