Wedding Day Pearls -by Shari

As I said in my last post, putting together an outfit is a balancing act. Not all ensembles warrant pieces of jewelry, and dramatic pieces of jewelry often look better with simple clothes. It's a fine line between dressing up, and looking like you're wearing a costume.

I found my wedding dress at Fashion Crimes on Queen Street west. I planned on pairing it with my pink pearl necklace. Why not? A pink dress with a pink necklace! However, after seeing photos of my ensemble a few months before the wedding I knew I had it all wrong. It was too much; I looked like a teenager dressing up as an unconventional bride. The necklace was also drawing the eye downwards, which made my 5'3" stature look even smaller. With the help of Tigerlilly jewerly designer Mandy, I decided to wear a hairpiece and matching bracelet instead of a necklace. The haircomb helped the eye travel in an upwards motion, so even though I was wearing a short, fun dress, there was an illusion of more height! Also, since the dress itself is so ornate, wearing a necklace would have created an overall busy and confusing picture. I wanted the dress to be the star of the outfit and share that status with no accessory!

That picture was the before. These are wedding day shots.



Photos by Mischa Bartkow.

Here's an example of pearls done well. My sister-in-law, Lin, wore a custom-made lace gown for her wedding this past September. She decided to pair the gown with her grandmother's pearl necklace, which was a winning combination! The tones of the dress and the necklace matched very well and looked great against her skin tone. I think the reason the pearl necklace worked so well for her, as it didn't for me, was because the lace detailing of her dress was more subtle than the sequins on my dress, and so adding a pearl necklace gave it a more elegant and classic look.

Photos by Julie Broadbent Photography