Layering Jewelry: A How-To Guide

Layering necklaces is fun, and it can quickly and easily turn a basic outfit fabulous. But it's tricky if you're not sure how to choose pieces that work together and don't make you look like you dumped out your whole jewelry box and randomly threw everything on at once. Here are a few tips that can help.

1.When layering necklaces, keep the rest of your jewelry simple. For example, don't also wear big earrings, a stack of bracelets, and several rings. Unless you closely resemble Kate Moss, that's likely to just look frumpy.

2. When choosing necklaces to layer, pick ones that are sufficiently different from each other but also have common elements. For example, the three necklaces in the photo above work well together because there are some unifying elements (like the teardrop shapes and complementary cool colors) but each necklace is quite different from the others.

3. Layer necklaces of different lengths, Again, the necklaces above are good choices because the white turquoise pendant is short (16"), the mixed pearl cluster pendant is a medium length (25"), and the large blue quartz pendant is long (approx. 30"). (Other photos of these pieces in my shop show how the necklaces hang on a model or manikin).

4. When it comes to kids' playdates, my husband always used to say "three is a bad number." Oftentimes, two of the kids end up leaving out kid #3, which causes problems. But with jewelry the opposite is true. Three is a good number. I can't explain exactly why, but trust me. Layering three necklaces just works. Two is fine also, if you want to keep things simpler, but wearing more than three is likely to look messy and overdone. This is also true for bracelets and stacked rings, for some reason. (Disclaimer: If you're 25 or under, you can wear as many bracelets as you like and it will probably look fantastic.)

5. Mixing silver and gold is definitely okay (if you have any rose gold to throw into the mix, even better). But mixing metals needs to be done thoughtfully to work. For example, wearing a gold watch, gold rings, a gold bracelet, gold earrings, two gold necklaces, and one silver necklace isn't going to look very good. You need to replace a couple of those gold items with silver ones so that your decision to mix the two metal colors looks intentional and not just like you got dressed in the dark. Switch the gold earrings for silver ones and add a silver ring, and—problem solved.

6. Finally, don't be afraid to mix high and low. Go ahead and layer that little diamond pendant your husband gave you for your anniversary, the cheap necklace you scored for $8.99 on sale at a chain store and secretly adore even though it was made in a factory in China and will probably break soon, and a cool, one-of-a-kind handmade piece. This is where the fun really starts. Just follow the guidelines outlined above, and you'll look great. (Hint: Don't have a diamond pendant? This little crystal one from fellow Etsy seller Petit Or is a the perfect substitute for a fantastic price. I have two of them, myself—one silver and one gold, and I love mixing them with my own pieces.)

So, with these tips in mind, go forth and layer. And have a blast doing it!