How Much Jewelry Is Too Much? A Helpful Guide to Balancing Jewelry

0

If wearing two pieces of jewelry is good, then wearing six must be great, right? Well, not all the time. Unless you’re a fan of maximalism, that’s probably not the best rule of thumb. Even then, maximalism is done quite carefully and deliberately. Can you wear several pieces of jewelry at once? Yes, you definitely can, but you have to be precise if you want to pull it off.

Woman's hands close up wearing rings and necklace modern accessories elegant lifestyle 2020

Consider Where You’re Going

This is often the biggest determining factor in just how much jewelry is too much. Certain amounts of jewelry are perfectly acceptable in some settings but may not transfer well to others. When in doubt, keep it simple. You can never go wrong wearing your bridal set or a pair of simple stud earrings.

Work

In a lot of situations, people are wondering how much jewelry is too much in a work setting. While this mainly depends on your profession, less is usually more here. In a more conservative office, maybe opt for simple earrings and a ring.

In a more relaxed work environment, you can up the accessory game a bit, but at the end of the day, it’s still a workplace. If you’ve just started at a new job, err on the side of simpler jewelry and fewer pieces until you feel out the office culture.

Social Activities

This tends to be where you can have a bit more fun. While it’ll depend on where you’re going and what you’re doing, feel free to play around with your jewelry setup a little more when you’re heading out to the bar or coffee shop. Social settings have fewer rules, so don’t be afraid to experiment.

How Much Jewelry to Wear at Once

Outside of the work vs. social life dilemma, there are only a few general rules that you want to keep in mind. If you don’t want to go down the rabbit hole of trying to figure out how much jewelry you can wear and how to push those style boundaries, no one will blame you. It’s enough to just get out the door looking good. Why mess with a good thing?

If you want the short answer, you should limit yourself to three pieces of everyday jewelry. Just as a general rule, three is your maximum. For most situations, that’ll be some combination of ring, earrings and a necklace or bracelet. If these are all minimal and matching or complementary, you might be able to get away with each of these four pieces, but it’s trickier.

Want a cheat sheet? Like we said before, just throw on a ring, earrings and necklace or bracelet, and you’re good to go. If that sounds like a bit much, just go for earrings and a ring or bracelet. That’s really all there is to it, especially if you have an interchangeable jewelry wardrobe.

Less Is More (Usually)

Look, some people just have that natural fashion sense. They can wear all sorts of things together, and while the pieces may not make sense individually, somehow, they’re put together in a manner that just works. If that’s you, feel free to ignore everything we’re saying here. You do whatever it is that you want to do in the fashion world.

Stylish watch on woman hand

For mere mortals who just want to make their outfits look a bit more put together, less is more. There’s a fine line between well-accessorized and busy-looking when it comes to an outfit. If you’re having a hard time with this, put on all the accessories you want and then remove one. It’s not a perfect strategy, but it is a pretty good one.

When You Can Add a Bit More

If you aren’t that fashion-sense-blessed-guru that we just mentioned, all is not lost. There are a couple of occasions where you can pile on the jewelry to your heart’s content.

Formal and Semi-Formal Settings

Formalwear tends to lend itself a bit better to extra jewelry than casualwear. If you have a simple outfit, then adding some extra jewelry of the same formality level can look great. Still, there’s an upper limit. It’s possible for it to still look busy, so keep it to four or five pieces at the maximum, with one or two focal pieces.

Whenever You Want

Look, these are just guidelines. Sort of like the pirate’s code. While they’ll help you get started, you don’t absolutely have to stick to them. If you’re in a more conservative office setting, it’s generally better to stick to them. If you’re just out living your life, though, flaunt the rules all you like.

Portrait of handsome man in glasses posing outdoor

Mistakes are part of the process. Sure, you can stick to the rules we laid out of no more than three or four pieces max. That’ll do just fine. However, if you want to just try something, do it! You might make a mistake and learn from it or find a look you love. Either way, you’ll have learned something by the end of it.

Leave a Reply