Create your own style. Just because something is not worn by those on the red carpet right now does not mean you can't wear it. Two of my favorite pieces of clothing for the last 20 years were Chuck Taylors and jean jackets. I got compliments from young kids all the time, "cool jacket!" or "I remember those shoes!". Then, all of the sudden, Chucks are everywhere again. I still have all of mine, but am actually waiting for them to go back out of style. Now, I will say that entire outfits shouldn't be done this way, I am thinking back to the 80's with shoulder pads and neon ties. But a bracelet is just fine! Go for it! Make your own style, represent who YOU are. Dare to be different!

My grandmother was raised by a mother who was widowed when she was very young...her mother lacked the resources to earn money... My grandmother had to quit school in the 4th grade she could read and write but certainly not well. Her mother also never had a thing growing up....they were poor farm laborers or other laborers. After my grandmother was grown, her mother married a widower who had inherited a few nice things from his wife....and so great grandma inherited them when he died. But since this was in the days before Social Security, she had nothing but some "stuff"....and went to live with my grandmother and grandfather....but my grandfather couldn't stand his mother in law and didn't want her living there, so she went to live with one of her sons....my grandmother's step brothers.....fully 25 years younger than she was. They lived in a one bedroom apartment and Great Grandma slept on the sofa and when they had company who stayed late, grandma laid her head on the kitchen table and tried to sleep. Gradually the "stuff" disappeared, either through neglect or it was sold, all but The Mirror. When my parents moved into a big old 1903 house with a 3rd floor with 3 bedrooms and a bath, they asked my father's grandmother to come live with us. she had her own bedroom and bathroom and room for her little rocker and dresser.....and she arrived with The Mirror under her arm, saying "Where I go this mirror goes"...When she had lived at her daughter's it was in the attic, when at her son's it was under the bed. My parents hung it over the mantle! I have it now....it's over my mantle.....a beautiful wide framed, gold leaf oval mirror. It's now part of my "stuff". Who doesn't prize things like that because Great Grandma who had nothing married a man who's wife came from a family that valued nice things and she valued the mirror as a nice thing that she had never had before? She saw that it wasn't left sitting behind the furnace and during the 5 or 6 years she lived with us, she loved looking at it. Now I love looking at it and remembering how proud grandma was to see HER MIRROR hanging in a prominent place of honor. Apes don't seem to value family history nor things and don't connect things to people who are no longer around. People are reminded of their history by artifacts....humans also have a sense of the aesthetic seemingly lacking in animals. Animals don't have museums where they see how their ancestors lived....perhaps because they are living just like their ancestors did. My daughter uses her grandmother's sterling, I hope she will pass it to her grand daughter. If I had considered it just clutter and sold it for the thousand or so I could have gotten for it, my great grand daughter would not, I hope, be reminded frequently of her great great grandmother's taste in silver. I also have my great grandmother's pie tin, the other great Grandma. It's very chipped granite ware, shallow and only 8 inches. Grandma Kissle used to say "Tis a poor crust that doesn't grease it's own tin."....so true on many levels. It's one of only 2 things I have of her's,....because when she could no longer keep house, her furnishings were considered just "stuff" ( but for the Havaland which her daughter in law snatched!)..The other is a peach pit, filed into a basket....which she gave to me, telling me how her father made it for her. All "things" are not Sterling and gold, but are precious because they cause us to remember that we are products of our ancestors. Annie, if you had a pair of beaded moccasins which belonged to you great grandmother, they would be worth likely a lot more than a service for 8 of sterling.....would you keep them even though they didn't fit your foot?

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!

What a travesty! I remember when people were raiding their mother's silver drawers to make spoon rings....and when they went out of style, you no longer had a spoon just an outdated piece of jewelry.....But it seems people are buying them!! It seems to depend on the pattern what they are selling for. But one just sold for nearly $70!!