rock on

Rocks are so lovely. I really like rocks. I hang-out-in-the-natural-history-museum like rocks. I like trees and plants and other things that fall under the umbrella of nature as well…but especially rocks. Rocks, crystals, other kinds of mineral deposits that harden into rock-like structures…

After all, you can wear rocks.

While I do like stones that have been formed into beads, faceted, manhandled, I have a visceral appreciation for the raw beauty of a more organic presentation.

semi precious stone necklaces

Really craving this kind of large, raw-edged, stone jewelry for the last few years. Such stones feel somehow naked and true. Anchoring.

amethyst necklace

Here is a gorgeous piece of amethyst and citrine crystals, unabashedly bulky and heavy. While potentially [ideally] imposing, I find such jewelry capable of being casual where a more ornate (“fine”) piece would feel overdressed and out of place. It’s simultaneously overstated and understated. Eye-catching and bold yet approachable, relatively inexpensive, versatile.

turquoise necklace

Turquoise I love any day of the week, in all forms. There are a number of stones available in this format of bulky puddle-stone style necklaces and I find myself drawn to them. In wearing such stones I seem to be saying, what more processing do they need to serve as worthy embellishment? None. Pull them from the ground, clean them up, drill some holes, et voilà. Fit for a queen.

There is something stately about them, too. Solemn, even. Something not at all frivolous, unlike those ubiquitous faux-stone bib necklaces, for example. Not that I can’t appreciate those but they have little stylistic weight, if that makes any sense. Even when well-played they are still merely trendy. Trendy can go far, very far indeed in our culture, but do we not want to go beyond that?

I think the word I’m looking for is fierce.

amber necklace

Love the warmth and luminosity of amber. One does feel rather like some goddess of the earth when wearing a rustic band of jagged amber, bedecked with the fruits of the underground (one’s shadowy domain? I like where this is going). I recommend it. I happen to have picked these pieces up on eBay. Others like them aren’t hard to find, and beautiful semi-precious stones abound.

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winter chic: faux fur collar

IMG_1352I have an extremely warm pimp-style coat for winter, with a broad shearling collar and wrist + hem accents but, for the most part, it hasn’t been cold enough to warrant it. My wool coat serves…does this mean I don’t get to have a massive fur collar?

Happily, it does not.

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This one was solidly inexpensive and just what I was looking for. Like the idea of wearing it over a motorcycle jacket, too, but I haven’t found the right one yet.

Added monster pearl drop earrings for a look that is says… Anna Karenina.

Faux fur collar: eBay, pearl dangles: eBay, wool coat: Kenneth Cole, Celtic patterned acrylic scarf: gifted, leggings: Topshop (thrifted), boots: Sorel, legwarmers: who knows, gloves: Bon-Ton, alpaca muff: eBay, on the lips: Korres lip butter glaze in wild rose.

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P.S. Thanks to CPL for taking these shots.