What Jewelry Looks Best on Your Face Shape?

Sometimes I see a beautiful piece of jewelry on a friend and think, "How is she pulling that off?  That would look terrible on me but it looks fabulous on her!"  Certain colors, lengths and styles make one person look balanced and effortless, while they make another person look cumbersome and stuffy.  
I started thinking about how I naturally gravitate toward thin, dangling earrings that are probably too fancy for my job as a speech-language pathologist (but I wear nonetheless).  That got me thinking about this new blog post: what kind of jewelry looks best based on your face shape?  Here's a diagram that will help you figure out what shape your face most resembles:

I have a heart-shaped face, which means I have a wide brow and narrow chin.  The kind of earrings someone with a heart-shaped face wear best are long dangles.  Their objective is to balance their face, creating the appearance that the forehead is narrower and the jawline is wider while providing more length to the face.  Another person with this face shape is the breakout actress from the flick 12 Years a Slave: Lupita Nyong'o.  Check out the earrings she chose:

They add length which is great, but an inverted triangle or teardrop would have helped balance her a bit better.  Still - gorgeous choice!  I love the geometry and sharp angles of the triangle - gives her an extra edge.

Here's a shot of me and my sweetheart on New Years Eve 2012.  You can clearly see my heart-shaped face, and I have a badass pair of long gold dagger earrings on that helped lengthen me out:

Regarding necklaces, I go against conventional wisdom for heart-shaped faces.  I prefer to wear a long layered necklace that comes to a point, but people with heart faces typically look best with a short round necklace that helps soften the chin.  I like this long look partly because I'm so short - nice pair of heels and long layered necklace do wonders to lengthen me out!  If I were taller, though, I'd be able to pull of something art deco like what Reese Witherspoon has on: 

Next we have the round/square face.  The objective of this face shape is to lengthen its appearance.  A round face is about as wide as it is long.  Kirsten Dunst is a good example:

People with round faces do well with longer earrings, especially ovals and rectangles.  People with square faces look great in teardrop earrings!  I have a ton of those on my Etsy site : ) Julia Stiles is a case-in-point:

 

Women with round/square faces also look wonderful in longer necklaces that extend below the neckline.  As odd as Kristen Schall is, she nailed it with this necklace that helps add some length and point to her face:

Moving on to rectangular/oblong faces!  Women with a rectangular face have a consistent width from the forehead, cheekbones, and chin.  They usually have slightly sharper angles than someone with an oval shape.  The objective for this face shape is to shorten its long vertical line.  Mona Lisa is a classic example:

Women with this face shape do best with short, round earrings (gold balls, diamond studs, pearls, etc) to contrast with the longer shape of the face.  Take, for example, Jessica Simpson wearing a classic pair of diamonds:

Women with rectangular faces do well with shorter necklaces, especially if they have a long neck.  A choker looks great, although they're not my preference.  I think a nice 16" chain with a pendant helps soften the chin and shorten the neck and face. Gwyneth Paltrow frequently gets this look with a shorter neckline on her dress, but a short string of pearls would achieve the same effect.  I really like how she uses the neckline on the black dress to add a point to her chin:

Finally, the classic oval shaped face.  A woman with this face shape has an equal distance from the hairline to the eyebrow and from the eyebrow to the chin. It's considered the "perfect" face shape: it is slightly longer than it is wide, and can wear almost any neckline or jewelry style.  Lucy Liu is a great example:

She can wear whatever she wants and she'll look fabulous in it!  I've gone back and forth on Zooey Deschanel's face shape, but I'm deciding that she has an oval face.  Sometimes it looks rectangular.  What do you think?

Let's end with the queen of comedy, Tina Fey.  Tina Fey looks fabulous in any jewelry!  I love how she chose to wear bright dangle earrings that really pop against her dark hair:

What experience have you had with your face shape?  Do these rules hold true for you, or would you modify them?  Feel free to email me (landonlacey@gmail.com) pictures of yourself with a description of your face shape and why you chose the jewelry you did, and I'll add it to this post!  

Interview with Dajana Markota: Owner of String a Strand on Wells

What I'm listening to: I and Love and You by The Avett Brothers

Yesterday I posted a photo blog of my trip to local Chicago jewelry supply store String a Strand on Wells with my fellow grassroots jewelry designer friend, Katy Katan.  Today I'm sharing my follow-up interview with Dajana Markota, owner of String a Strand.  Dajana put in a ton of legwork into making her dream of owning a jewelry supply store in a very competitive retail hub in Chicago.  Here's what she has to say:

Tell me a little about yourself - who you are, where you're from, what you love to do, etc:

My name is Dajana Markota I was born in Croatia, graduated from a business school, started jewelry making as a hobby that turned into my business.

Give me some background on String a Strand - how did it start, how long has it been in business, etc?

The store has been around for about 10 years.  Things were different back than, the economy was much better, it was easier to start and succeed, it still shouldn't stop anyone from pursuing their dreams, don't misunderstand me.

You're in an incredible location in Chicago (Old Town) - what made you choose this spot?

As they say Location Location most important part.  I don't know, somehow I just had this area on my mind, I remember coming here to Old Town and looking at a space that use to be a card reading place (psychic) and thinking to myself "that space would be perfect for my store," and my luck, in about a month, a confidential listing came out on the market for that particular space (unbelievable).  When I called the agent said it will be available next summer, they had to remodel the building.  I took it off the market the next day gave them whatever they asked for rent money :)

I had a whole year to organize and gather my inventory, this meant taking a lot of trips to different countries and hand selecting my merchandise.  All my displays are kitchen tables that serve as  my store display, wood bowls originally sold for dips and appetizers, they hold beads, tea candle holders, and so on, all designed and installed by me and my team.

I love how your store features both jewelry supplies and finished jewelry.  Who makes all the jewelry that's for sale?  Can people request custom pieces?

Most of the jewelry is made in-house.  We do outsource some, and also carry few other artists that use to be our students :)

Do you offer classes?

We do offer classes on jewelry making.  We also do parties, my website has little info about those, www.stringastrand.com.

What's the biggest obstacle you've overcome in owning your own shop?

Obstacle hmmm..... let me come back to that one.

How do you decide what to include in your shop?  Do you research styles that are trending?  Are there any websites you look at to figure out what's in style?

How do I decide what to put in my shop... what I like I buy haha, that brings me back to your previous question, I do have to buy things I don't like.  In the beginning I really was buying only things I liked, I did not want to carry dyed beads, plated findings; I wanted to carry high end merchandise, but my customers kept on requesting less expensive option, so I had to  go against my purchase choice and think from the customers' perspective and it helped my business grow, it really did.  Somehow we do stay on top of trends, through our travels, fashion shows, fairs, our customers, etc.

I'm so thankful Dajana had the determination and creativity necessary to start such a beautiful jewelry supply store in Old Town Chicago!  If you're ever in the area check her out at 1361 N Wells St, Chicago IL.  Thanks for reading!

www.stringastrand.com

Shop Exposé: String a Strand on Wells

Today my friend Katy and I went to String a Strand on Wells, a fabulous little jewelry supply store in Old Town in Chicago (String a Strand).  It's a great local spot with an eclectic mix of jewelry supplies, finished jewelry, and accessories.   As soon as I moved to Chicago, I scouted out places near me that I could use to pick up some unique pieces, so I walked around and found this little gem.  It's in a great area for food - I LOVE the Italian spot Topo Gigio nearby.  It's also around the corner from Chicago's famous comedy venue Second City.  Here's the store:

I love how the store is laid out with little dishes full of treasures.  They have some really unique pieces!  My favorites are tiny hedgehogs that I put on a gold chain.

Dajana, the owner of the shop, has her own handmade jewelry for sale throughout the store.  She specializes in gorgeous gold necklaces that look wonderful layered with other necklaces.  She has a great idea for displays: velvet over cork board in a frame. 

Here's another shot of her handmade jewelry:

 Dajana also has some beautiful accessories throughout the store, like masquerade masks:

One of my all-time favorite stones is druzy agate.  She has a great selection of gold plated druzy chunks in various shapes and sizes.  She has these in a million colors - definitely worth checking out!

Katy and I had a ton of fun poking through her gems and wound up finding some little treasures to take home and incorporate in our Etsy shops.  Check Katy out at www.etsy.com/shop/catekatan!

Katy found a beautiful strand of gemstone beads.  I'll post what she makes with them once she puts something together!  I got some charms for gold necklaces (the aforementioned hedgehogs, a pineapple, and a ballerina).

Here's a shot of some of her charm necklaces.  She has these in numbers as well:

Overall, it was a very successful trip to a local Chicago jewelry supply shop!  Dajana has a great store with a beautiful layout.  I have a ton of respect for her grassroots shop - look out for my interview with her in my next blog post!

My Etsy Shop