Nieka Style: When mixing metals, tread lightly

Mixing gold and silver jewelry used to be an anomaly to me but I find myself pairing these two metals together more and more.

I would say I wear a little more gold than I do silver. But I find it easier today to pair these two together because styling today seems to have much more of an eclectic mix of fashions.

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You could practically walk into any building and see people wearing styles from many eras in many different ways. So, it only makes sense to mix your jewelry up different ways as well.

Whether I am wearing gold, silver or both together, it all depends on the piece of jewelry.

• Hoop earrings. I prefer to wear these in silver. There is just something about them that pulls any outfit together. Whether I am dressed up or in sports-inspired wear, my silver hoops seem to go with everything. I don’t often pick up the gold pair.
• Necklaces. Speaking of my silver hoops earrings, I often pair them with my gold name plate necklace. It took me a while to accept this look.
• Stud and/or vintage inspired earrings. Speaking of gold earrings, I prefer to wear chandelier or vintage-inspired sets. When wearing earring studs I prefer gold.
• Watch. I like to wear a gold watch with everything. But I do find a gold and silver mixed metal watch to be quite nice.
• Bracelet bangles. I have one silver bangle that I’ve had since middle school that I like to pair with my gold plated watch. It just looks nice. Not one outshines the other.
• Rings. Not sure if it has ever been a faux pas to wear silver and gold rings together. But I think they are the easiest jewelry to mix and match.

The key to mixing silver and gold with your jewelry is simple. It’s all about knowing how to blend and coordinate your pieces. You want to think about mixing pieces that complement each other as opposed to worrying about whether they match or not.

A few people in the newsroom say mixing these metals do not work. One compared it to wearing socks with sandals. Needless to say, at least two of us in the newsroom have committed both of those fashion crimes.

D’Nieka Hartsfield writes for the Clovis News Journal and Portales News-Tribune. You can contact her at [email protected] or find her on Facebook.