I've been meaning to clean out my jewelry box for some time now, and recently read this article about how to go about it. My gosh look at it - so much stuff!! The bracelets alone are ridiculous. You would think I wear bling all the time, but in truth, I wear a small amount. And never more than one bracelet at time.
I had so much bling I didn't even see the pieces I really love and want to wear often. So more and more, I was just leaving the same earrings on all week. Which is really not my style. Also, I rarely wear yellow gold anymore - it's just not flattering to me. And costume jewelry is really not my thing.
I pulled out everything, then only put back what I loved. And the above photo is everything I can live without. Truth be told, there is probably more in the jewelry box that can go. Some of it just needed a different place to live, like those vintage earrings that can go elsewhere - I will never wear them. And there is a fair amount of stuff I could sell for scrap.
There will come a day that dangle-y earrings are not my thing. Neither will be that second piercing in each ear. Or the third in the other ear. Live and learn and change. Jewelry should be for you whatever you want it to be. I find that my tastes are very simple now. And I want life to be less complicated, too. Might as well start here.
There's still so much stuff here. Interspersed are pieces I inherited from my late MIL. Will I likely wear it? No. But I can't get rid of it just yet. Someday I will pass it on to The Girl. And maybe there will be daughters-in-law to pass some of it on to, too.
Maybe I should vacuum the lint and dust out of the box. And I can go back to using it for the day-to-day storage, not the long term forget-I-own-it storage.
Something I learned from years of buying at James Avery - keep the plastic baggies they return your cleaned pieces to you in. If you aren't wearing it today, don't leave it in the bathroom to tarnish! One thing I am pretty good about is keeping my jewelry clean. Dirty stuff just doesn't feel good to wear. And now that my stuff is pared down, I may wear it more often...we'll see.
1 comment:
I did this awhile back. Still have more than I will wear. I find my self wearing the more simpler pieces now, and sticking with my favorites. We did bring home all of my MIL's jewelry after she passed and I sat down with the girls and they chose what they wanted to keep. Surprisingly a lot of her brooches (they are adding them to longer necklaces and wearing them). We then took the rest to a dealer. I would rather someone use them than have them sit a collect dust.
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