What I fun thread! I'm late to the party but a few thoughts. 1) Re the poster above: I think pearls, and diamonds, do go with anything. I would say though, that right now, white pearls are less popular. I say this as someone with quite a large collection of them; they were always my favorite. But in the last five years or so I pretty much only wear my oversized grey south seas pearls. 2) In re "investment". Sorry, not really, not at all. Jewelery has some of the most egregious markups in retail. It can go in and out of fashion, also potentially eroding value. And it can be easily damaged. We recently liquidated a family estate, and I was shocked to hear that some of the diamond rings were quite highly devalued because "they had been worn 'too often' and had damage (not visible to the eye". That was news to me, that I am damaging my diamond by wearing it. 3) Girls and jewelry. My girls were both born very close to Christmas. The thought of trying to buy them gifts just a few weeks later was maddening and wasteful. So, starting when the first turned one and second was newborn, I buy them each a piece of fine jewelry each birthday. They cannot wear it -- it is kept in a safe -- but they get a great deal of enjoyment from it just the same (every few months they beg us to take it out and try it on). They will receive the jewelry to wear on their 16th birthday. I try to buy "timeless" things, and items I can see both a 16yo and a 46yo wear. 4) Watches. I wear mine for decorative purposes. In fact, given how wildly expensive the maintenance is on luxury watches (several hundred dollars every 2-3 years), I am considering letting them go and using them only for jewelry! What a crock these sellers are. 5) Everyday jewelry. I wear my engagement ring and wedding band. Usually with diamond studs but I have a lot of earrings I switch out. My engagement ring is a round diamond in a square basket setting, copied from my grandmother's ring. I lost my wedding ring, which was a rolling ring with two gold bands and one pave diamond band. I lost it about 18 months ago, but I kept thinking it would show up. I am so bummed. I just recently bought a plain gold Cartier wedding band with the little screw motif. It's simple but a little different, and it goes with my favorite daytime watch, which is the iconic gold/stainless Cartier tank with the little screws. This thread needs photos!

I'm so glad someone wrong a new song about this. I hit the party and they stop in that _____ They be like, "Oh, that Gucci - that's hella tight." I'm like, "Yo - that's fifty dollars for a T-shirt." Limited edition, let's do some simple addition Fifty dollars for a T-shirt - that's just some ignorant _____ I call that getting swindled and pimped I call that getting tricked by a business That shirt's hella dough And having the same one as six other people in this club is a hella don't Peep game, come take a look through my telescope Tryna get girls from a brand and you hella won't Man you hella won't - MACKLEMORE That's a message kids can use in forming their priorities and ability to think on their own, and excellent statement on the ridiculousness of supposed fashion. Back in my day, it was Styx: "But don't be fooled by the radio The TV or the magazines They show you photographs of how your life should be But they're just someone else's fantasy So if you think your life is complete confusion Because you never win the game Just remember that it's a Grand illusion And deep inside we're all the same. We're all the same... So if you think your life is complete confusion Because your neighbors got it made Just remember that it's a Grand illusion And deep inside we're all the same. We're all the same... America spells competition, join us in our blind ambition Get yourself a brand new motor car Someday soon we'll stop to ponder what on Earth's this spell we're under"

I don't really remember, other than a couple of pairs that matched specific outfits. That was back when we bought 'outfits', we couldn't wear pants (certainly not jeans). I babysat for most of my clothes money. There was a dress code, a minimum length for skirts. My first year out of high school I worked part time in a forestry office while going to Jr College (it was Weyco) and they still had a dress code, not even matching jackets/pantsuits were allowed. I was scolded for culottes (aka split skirt) (knee length and with stockings) when I showed up for the afternoon after attending classes. The head forester, crabby old guy ;) I see his son occasionally now and I shared with him that his dad had read me the riot act for being inappropriately dressed (he had also said disrespectfully dressed) and he really laughed, enjoyed hearing a story about long ago (1968) since his dad passed several years back, thanked me for telling him. This post was edited by morz8 on Wed, Dec 4, 13 at 18:40

Barbara, I asked my daughter just now if she really wanted it. She got a bottle of Black Opium for Christmas from this same kid (his family), which she can't wear while in my house. I just let her smell the Channel #5 and she is okay with giving it away. I'll send it to you. Send me your info via messaging. Will probably wait till next week to send it since I'm on vacation again then and things may have quieted down in the mailing centers. I went back to work and got two more gifts I can't use. Perfumy hand lotion and Bailey's non-alcoholic truffles. The lotion is really strong, gave it to my daughter. The truffles I did try but they taste just like Bailey's Irish creme. lol Put them on the kitchen island, someone will eat them. One of my coworkers had perfume or some other strong scent on last night and I ended up having to use my inhaler, irritated my lungs even though I was wearing a 3 layer face mask. She is a nurse and should know better. There are two of them in my office and they both now sit in my pod of desks.