fear of accessories

J Crew button down shirt--$59
Earnest Sewn Keaton--$80
Henry Cuir handbag--$600 (marked down from $1100 at Barneys summer sale last year)


(new painting from vietnam, finally framed)


i'm not one to accessorize. i have my watch and my rings. sometimes i wear my tagua nut necklace from ecuador. the pearls are too nice to be worn everyday. i also bought a chunky turquoise bracelet in vietnam. i have several scarves, but that's for the cold season. i even have several nice handbags, but i usually use a beat-up canvas tote bag. i have earrings, but what i really want is a nice simple pair of interesting gold or diamond studs.

so, this morning i decided to throw in a shot of one of my bags. but still, i feel like there's something missing. maybe i should find my necklace and put it on? i need some help in the accessories department. i don't want to buy a lot of fashion jewelry because i hate accumulating more things than i can wear. but surely there's some way to complete my outfit with a classic accessory that won't bore me in the long run?

emily of Emily Style is always so good at accessorizing. i love the variety of looks, but i need something that will work with pretty much everything i own. my gut instincts is to go with something from Tiffany's, maybe another piece from the Gehry collection? but i'd much rather support independent designers.

so, recently i discovered how wonderful hannah clark's jewelry is. she's a parson's grad who has a shop in the east village. her website is so uninformative, aside from a few tanatalizing images. she does custom work, and i really appreciate the 'handmade' look to her pieces, especially the snake ring.

kimono necklace, oxidized silver and 14K gold--$255 (all jewelry from www.thisisauto.com)



oxidized silver rosebud on 14K chain--$160


Ouroborus ring, 18K gold with diamonds--$500 (another unusual engagement ring/wedding band option).

i wish i knew more independent fine jewelry designers. it's very important that whatever i buy is gold, with the occasional melee diamond, and extremely well-made (i.e. close to heirloom quality). does anyone have a good recommendation?