Wear It Twice: Fringe Benefits

Although few people enjoy exchanging sunny weather for cold, fall and winter do have their advantages when it comes to fashion. For one thing, we can start wearing bigger, more elaborate statement jewelry again. Thanks to the cold, we can add layers to our outfits, and even bend some fashion rules, like pairing up prints and textures.

For this month’s fantasy fashion sets, I went on the hunt for a necklace with lots of texture and movement. What I found was a really interesting piece made with wood rings, jersey cotton and chain fringe. It’s sort of ugly-pretty with it’s neutral colors and organic shapes. This is the kind of necklace you wear when you’re just throwing on the layers.

I didn’t want the clothing palette to take away from the beautiful drabness of the necklace, so I started with black and gray. Things were starting to resemble an actual fall day, so I added a hint of Capri blue to cheer it up a little.

Fringe Benefits by Mortira featuring bourne shoes

The first outfit features an asymmetrical scarf dress in black, with plenty of folds and texture. The open neckline leaves room for the necklace to stand out on. I added some really gorgeous buckled gray knee boots, which would also look great with some black leggings. For a hair accessory, I searched for a nice wide headband to match the boots - something that could be worn with an up-do as well. Top it all off with a koi print purse in blue and it’s time for dancing!

For daywear, I started with a slate gray boho tunic, which accentuates that ecclectic nature of the fringe necklace by matching it’s texture. I also wanted to play with the primitive appeal of the wood necklace, and a peasant blouse adds just the right touch. I dressed things up again with some black skinny jeans, which make way to some adorable jeweled fringe heels in peacock blue. The gray driver’s cap adds a little playfulness to the outfit, and keeps your head warm, too.

Wood Cascade Necklace

Today’s necklace-a-day design was inspired by the fun combination of wood and fringe. I started with an earthy mixture of gray and pale blue 6/o seed beads to make a twisted rope base, then stitched on strands of patterned wood beads.

For awhile I was worried that adding the fringe was going to take a lot of planning and backtracking to get it to hang just right along the twists. I was very pleased to find that the larger beads provided just enough space to add a cascade along a single row of herringbone, without looking lopsided or bent. The fringe hangs just right along the bottom of the rope.

I also discovered a fun new possibility for beaded buttons. I didn’t want to switch to 11/o seed beads just to make the clasp, and picots are unbelievably huge with 6/o beads, so I came up with a new design with a nice smooth edge. Serendipity wins again!

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