Necklaces at the office.

As I wrote in my last post on officewear, conservative clothing is not supposed to draw attention to your body, or distract people's attention from your work. While bright patterns, long flowing fabrics, and loud (literally and figuratively) accessories are great for expressing yourself on your own time, they are best worn away from the office.

In most of the western business world a suit is still the outfit of choice, made in a dull fabric, in a quiet colour, cut to follow but not draw attention to the body's lines. Drawing heavily on the dandy menswear tradition rather than the peacock one, the men's business suit is designed to be visually formal, often in dark colours to imply authority, with a general lack of pattern, contrast, or texture.

Although this can be very confining in some ways, it does allow individualism in the small details. Menswear blogs write at great length about the size and shape of pockets, which buttons to use, which cuff style is appropriate when, and the best width of jacket collars and ties. (I know this because I have spent many happy hours reading their almost obsessive discussions.)

Personally, I like to keep the cut very simple. I tend to wear silk shirts rather than cotton ones because I find them more comfortable, and I add interest through texture and colour. In the above image, I am wearing a simply cut, dark coloured velvet jacket, with mid-grey pinstripe straightline trousers. Not the most formal option, so appropriate for my workplace.



I always use jewellery to help define and add interest to a simple, classic suit.

Depending on the neckline of the top you are wearing, a good length for necklaces at the office is just below your clavicle, any shorter and it will draw attention to your neck, any longer and it will start to move when you walk.

Pendants such as pearls, lockets, hardstones, intaglios or cameos work well with shirts and other high necklines. I will go in to more detail about pendants in future posts.

A thick chain in a brushed or engraved finish is a good alternative to pearls. 

In the western design tradition, yellow gold having colour is considered less formal than white gold or silver, and a fancy link having more detail - and therefore more interest - is also considered less formal than a simple plain link.
On this visual scale of formality, a plain, white metal (silver or white gold) brushed finish chain is the most formal, while a fancy link in yellow gold (or a different plated colour), is more casual. A range of antique sterling silver and gold chains can be found at Rutherford Antiques. (I work at Rutherford Antiques.)

                                                                       

As I've said before, I believe pearls are perfect for the office. They are beautiful things in themselves, as well as being quiet and elegant. Although the traditional single row of perfect white spheres is a classic for a reason, it's a bit too formal for me at the moment. I prefer to wear either multiple strands (Akoya's on the left) which add movement, or add colour (Tahitian South Seas on the right), to make them slightly more unique to me. A similar strand of Tahitian South Sea pearls can be found here, at Rutherford Antiques.

Please let me know what you think. What jewellery do you wear to your work? How do you make a suit interesting and unique to you?