Rock your pearls   

Pearls are a lady’s best friend, and wearing a strand or two will give you a sophisticated yet understated look. PHOTO| FILE| NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • For a woman who still needs time to warm up to the idea of faux pearls, wear them in small doses through accessories such as earrings, rings, pendants and bracelets. It gives you time to consider pearls on a larger scale. 
  • If you are in your 20s and want a funky way to wear pearls, you can get a headband worn across the forehead like a flower child.
  • Keep your hair, be they long braids or a long weave, long, loose and wavy. A center part gives it a far more retro feel. You can also try a pearl hair pin.

Pearls are a lady’s best friend, and wearing a strand or two will give you a sophisticated yet understated look.

We all know how expensive real pearls are, though, which may place them out of your purchasing league, but there are lots of good reasons to embrace you faux pearls – even Kate Middleton, Britain’s future queen, wears her fake ones with pride. Faux pearls can go from dressy to casual with minimum fuss, and can be worn with anything from denim to a LBD. Fake pearls are also more versatile in terms of design and colour combinations. They can be blended in with other metals, strung with ribbons and be as large or as small as desired. Here are a few tips on how to wear yours.

Find your colour. They range from oyster, coffee, caramel and plain white to beige white, ivory with a tinge of pink and even gaudy colours like purple and orange. The family of white and black pearls is always going to be a classic. 

Wear longer pearl necklaces with your gowns and maxi dresses. A long strand of pearls can be worn dangling to the waist or it can be knotted or looped twice around the neck.

If long is not your style, wear a bib necklace or a thick rope of pearls interwoven with other kinds of interesting material for edge. 

For women who don’t want pearls to be a fixture, try wearing them embroidered or stitched onto your clothes. It can form a faux necklace around the neck. For something formal, a gown or blazer lined with pearls adds glamour. It elevates your outfit from the average to something memorable.

For a woman who still needs time to warm up to the idea of faux pearls, wear them in small doses through accessories such as earrings, rings, pendants and bracelets. It gives you time to consider pearls on a larger scale. 

If you are in your 20s and want a funky way to wear pearls, you can get a headband worn across the forehead like a flower child. Keep your hair, be they long braids or a long weave, long, loose and wavy. A centre part gives it a far more retro feel. You can also try a pearl hair pin.

Career women can get a choker or a princess necklace. The choker peeks out of your high collar and the necklace is the classic length of an old school pearl that works anywhere and everywhere.