Life is Short. Wear the Good Jewelry

Yesterday I went into my jewelry box to pick out a pair of earrings to match the shirt I had just put on. I always wear the same earrings with that shirt, so I started perusing my earring collection to find something different. Even though it was just a casual day at home and I wasn’t going to see anyone other than my husband and my dog, I decided to wear one of my more expensive pairs of earrings. They are fun and pretty and I always forget to wear them.

I’ve written in the past about wearing everything you own — otherwise, why own it? I’m pretty good about rotating my clothes, but I do tend to get into a rut with my jewelry. So it was a nice change of pace to put on a pair of earrings that I ordinarily would only have worn to dress up.

One of the reasons I was able to wear them was because I had taken them out of the special box that they came in and put them into the same place where I store my costume jewelry. That made them discoverable. When we store jewelry in multiple opaque boxes, it becomes like a black hole. You shouldn’t have to work so hard to see all of your jewelry.

Last year I wrote a post about different ways to store jewelry (see The Best Way to Store Jewelry.) The most important thing is to be able to see your jewelry so that you will remember that you own it. Many of my clients have their fancier jewelry tucked away, sometimes even in a safe deposit box at the bank. They could be having fun wearing those pieces now.

If your jewelry is in an inaccessible place, ask yourself what that jewelry is contributing to your life. Would you be better off selling it, or handing it down to a relative? Life is short. Wear the good jewelry today.