Red Nymph Jewelry
Are brooches and bracelets for men going to become mainstream, is men’s fashion getting more and more adventurous today?
There have been times in history when men were wearing more jewelry made of luxirious gold and gemstones than women. Just have a look at the famous portraits of past centuries, like of that of Henry VIII by Hans Holbein, where the monarch was adorned with gold, pearls, and other jewels. When you look at the depictions of some emperors, you may wonder how they could move under the weight of their outfits and adornments. Well, that all is not typical for the men’s look in the 21st century. Or should we look once more at the issue? In recent years the traditional lines between men’s and women’s fashion are blurring. Since years jewelry has traditionally been a female prerogative, but we now see men experimenting more often with the style than ever before.
This development was going very smoothly, as elements of the style were always deeply connected with male stereotypes.
In the 1970s it was common for men to wear a watch, a formal wedding ring, maybe a signet ring but nothing more. After the era of the hippies young people started to wear one ear stud, and it had to be in the right ear because depending on the side it could point if the one was straight or “gay”.
Only a few decades have passed, and the latest men’s fashion icons have become increasingly unexpected in the approach. Today more and more stars, celebrities are wearing outstanding bracelets, necklaces, and rings, huge pieces of jewelry. Men are getting calm about external proves of their sexuality and don’t doubt experimentation. After celebrities, the trend is coming to the streets all around the world. And the men’s style is developing rapidly… heavy gold chains and bracelets, medallions, rings, earrings, cell phone cases made of precious metals and stones have already become the main symbols of the style. This subcultural approach to style is also based on the informality and improvisation of the street.
Even this subculture seems to be changing. Hip-hop artists are experimenting with traditionally feminine jewelry, including elegant pearls, layered diamond chains, rings and earrings.
Men’s jewelry are more relevant today than ever. The jewelry fashion market for men is growing. The world, society, tendencies are changing. All those changes are interconnected. There has been a big shift during the last years towards personal, personality, the individuality of a human being, and the right to be of any single individuality. Prejudice and stable norms haven’t disappeared. But their role in society has become not that deciding. At least what considers fashion, style and personal expression. Designers create jewelry for those who wear jewelry to express themselves, not as a symbol of wealth, but to bring jewelry design to wilder shores of innovation, making the style distinctive and unforgettable.
In particular, the main trend of the next years will be brooches, hairpins, and jewelry clips that are attached to collars. After a long period of not using jewelry to express their individuality, men are becoming now instead more experimental. In the past centuries, men were decorated just as women because of that symbolized fashion, status and innovation. Now jewelry is a clever form of self-expression, a message to the world. Well-chosen jewelry emphasizes the clothing, fabric, and draw attention to the image.
Is it possible, that jewelry becomes men’s prerogative as in ancient times, and girls will lose interest to it? Fortunately not, because there are so many gorgeous jewelry styles for both genders. Everyone can go for minimalist style silver and yellow gold necklaces and rings, perfect for everyday wear. However, one can also experiment with designs, forms, styles, adding to the personal look sapphires or emeralds in futuristic styles.
So until now, women have had more fun with jewelry, maybe men really need that change to express still unexpressed sides of them. Let’s see!
Elegant men’s jewelry
Consider nautical jewelry for men, a meaningful necklace. An anchor pendant symbolizes stability, hope and faith. Great for every day wear!
Fine peace necklace, fashion jewelry for men. The chain necklace comes with a pendant featuring an emblem of the peace made of quality oxidized metal. Meaningful jewelry piece!
Fine black Huggie hoop earrings for men. They are made of quality oxidized sterling silver with tiny 14K gold filled balls for the accent. Elegant and comfy hoops for everyday wear.
For those who like the gothic or punk style. Stylish single earring for men, a skull punk earring. A black hoop is complemented with a skull pendant. This is a symbol of creation, time, and power. Perfect symbolic accessory for men!
A modern design any man will like. The bracelet is simple yet distinctive and looking smart. It is crafted of high quality leather cords and sterling silver metal components. The handmade band features an adjustable size coming with a chain part. One can change its size by choosing a link of the chain and locking the safe lobster clasp on it.
Stylish biker ring, sterling silver signet ring for men. Meaningful ring for him! The big ring is crafted of sterling silver. The design features a skull. The skull is often used in biker culture as long as there have been bikers. It is often used as a symbol of nonconformity, free-thinking, and rebelliousness. Perfect men’s ring, regardless of wear and accessories style. Its adjustable size is one more advantage to choose it!
Trendy men’s personalized jewelry
Custom jewelry gives the look even more personal touch. New technologies enable to make any kind of engraving, not just words, but also symbols, logos, soundwaves, handwriting etc. Thus one can get a truly one-of-a-kind jewelry piece: a cuff, pendant, necklace etc. Such jewelry also makes the best men’s gifts for birthday, anniversary, wedding, graduation etc.
The measuring tape ring as a symbol that everything in life has its value measure. Fine sterling silver ring for men, inside custom engraved. The ruler ring represents a handsome sophistication of sterling silver. The band ring features a cool engraving and can be also engraved with a secret message inside. The ring is adjustable. Be sure, it will fit well.
Military bracelet is meant to become a fine army band. The open adjustable bracelet is handmade of high quality sterling silver. You may order it in silver or black finishes. Great gift for the army husband, combat, veteran with the ID info, logo, symbols, or any words engraved both inside and outside the band. You may order the cuff to keep the memory of Fallen Officer Hero as well.
Unique engraved with your words gift idea
Unique Voice Message jewelry for him. Send him your voice message saying how much you care, perfect men’s gift to any occasion! Order the bracelet engraved with a sound message: your words, his favorite song, or any other voice recording as well as a heartbeat engraving. Customized with a baby’s sonogram, this will make a great gift for a new dad! Just send a picture for engraving!
POW Mia bracelet or US army bracelet. Looking for a military gift for your hero? Here is one more custom bracelet crafted in high quality oxidized or shiny sterling silver. The cuff can be engraved with the identification you want: with any words, an emblem etc. Honor your hero with the gift, or order it as a memorial bracelet to keep memory of the friend who lives in the heart. Your words can be engraved both outside and inside the cuff.
4 Rules for Men When Wearing Jewelry
1. Keep It Simple
When in doubt, keep it simple. Start with a classic leather-strapped silver watch; if you regularly wear a watch and can afford it, consider a sportier diving watch with a stainless steel band as well. Next branch out to tie accessories and cufflinks.
Once you’re comfortable wearing these generally accepted pieces, then you can start to introduce other jewelry pieces like necklaces if you choose. For a quick visual guide, visit Joe’s awesome chart over at Dappered.
2. Match Metals
Most men’s jewelry is metallic. Gold and silver tones are the most common. Your outfits should only feature one metal tone at a time.
Gold is a warmer color and reads, predictably, like a yellow accent in terms of the color wheel. It goes well with browns and other earth tones, as well as with deep hues like royal blue or hunter green. Watch for differing tones if you’re buying multiple pieces of gold jewelry–gold comes in a broad range of darkness/lightness, and you may end up with pieces that don’t match if the difference is extreme.
Silver and silver-tone metals like polished stainless steel or chrome are neutral. They read as grays, functionally outside the color wheel, falling instead on the black-to-white gradient. That means they don’t clash too sharply with anything, but also don’t provide the same eye-catching contrasts that well-worn gold can. Pair silver jewelry with black or dark gray clothing for a sleek, timeless look, or you can wear it with lighter colors in the summer without the fear of it overwhelming your clothing’s soft colors.
Copper and bronze are orange-hued metals and should be treated as such. They’re bolder than gold or silver and need to be worn with restraint. You’ll see copper-tone jewelry in more casual outfits, and an heirloom copper ring or shirt buttons/rivets can add to a plain trouser and shirt.
Precious stones need to be kept to a minimum. They’re like purses–no matter how egalitarian you want to get about it, they’re still feminine to most. A single color of stone on a ring or a single colored ear stud is the max. Anything beyond that is either flaunting your wealth in an obnoxious way or just plain gaudy.
Turquoise gets a little bit of an exception for any man who wears deliberately Western styles. It’s become something of a Southwestern gentleman’s stone. A bit on a ring, bolo tie, or belt buckle goes great with jeans and a collared shirt. Just be aware that it is a bright color and tends to be eye-catching–wear small amounts, and only when you want to draw attention to wherever the stone is located.
Leather is touchy for anyone who isn’t in high school or a rebel. If you’re going to wear it, make sure it’s in natural earth-tones, not dyed black, and never with ostentatious metal studs. Unless you ride a motorcycle, and even then, only when you’re actually riding the motorcycle.
Wood and bone are starting to show up more and more in men’s jewelry, often in reference to various ethnic traditions. They’re usually on the paler end of the earth tones–take them case by case, and just be sure that you’re not wearing the jewelry right up against something that’s similar in color but not an exact match. If you’re going to wear an unusual material like that, it needs to stand out a bit to really work.
The exception to issues of color matching are wedding bands and heirloom pieces. A man can always wear his wedding band; if it doesn’t go with your other metal pieces, don’t sweat it. It’ll just draw a bit of attention, and there’s nothing wrong with having people notice the visible symbol of your commitment. As for heirloom pieces, try to match but assuming the piece is non-attention grabbing (such as a small ring or watch), the clash of metals is acceptable.
3. Understand Jewelry’s Symbolism
Jewelry has meaning.
You can’t get away from this. Despite it taking up only a tiny percent of your visual presentation, people zero in on jewelry thanks to its flash and uncommon usage by men.
To further complicate the matter, people can interpret the meaning of the same piece of jewelry very differently. To some, ornamental rings symbolize success and wealth; to others they signal organized crime affiliation.
That means a man has to be careful when wearing jewelry pieces outside the norm. It’s easy to appear flashy when you start including nondescript jewelry in your daily getup. However, jewelry can add a helpful bit of color and uniqueness to an outfit. So how does a well-dressed man balance it?
Avoid Ostentatious Styles. It’s hard to repeat this point often enough. Keep anything metallic small and sleek.
Wear Meaningful Jewelry. We’ve talked about wedding rings already. Other accents that have meaning might include a class ring, a fraternal insignia, a military service pin, or an athletic ring or necklace. These can be “door openers and conversation starters;” if you’re talking to prospective business partners in Houston, it makes sense to wear your A&M class ring if you know they went to school in College Station. If you’re interviewing artists for a gallery show in New York, perhaps heirloom cufflinks your uncle made can help display you care about art because you come from a family of artisans. Choose jewelry that’s going to be meaningful within the situation.
Know When to Wear It. Save your best for the big occasions in life. Personally I rarely wear any jewelry–despite being in the clothing industry I prefer simple pieces. But when I have an important event to attend, I pull out my watch and cufflinks. Bringing specific pieces out for specific events–instead of everyday wear–makes them less status pieces and more festive statements.
4. Jewelry and Dress Codes
In the business world, company dress codes can severely restrict male jewelry. Often phrased in a politically correct tone such as, “Men should only wear tasteful pieces of jewelry,” you’ll find in practice that this means not rocking the boat and conforming to the status quo. So if you’re hired at AT&T corporate, be careful about trying to wear as many necklaces as Mr. T.
Seriously–the burden of appropriateness is always on the man who chooses to wear jewelry. Know this and be restrained when you’re in any kind of professional setting. You can express yourself after work. Jewelry is, by its nature, small enough to slip into a jacket pocket after all.
Businesses that request “modest” or “tasteful” or “appropriate” jewelry, or other words along those lines, prefer things be limited to the traditional “masculine” styles of jewelry. This includes tie accents, watches, cuff-links, wedding bands, and lapel pins. Over the last decade most companies have expanded this to include bracelets, earrings, and ethnic jewelry as well.
Piercings (other than earrings) are dicey even in casual outfits. If your office and social circles are comfortable with nose or lip piercings, that’s great, but it’s still going to seem off-putting to some strangers that you interact with–clerks at stores, taxi drivers, what have you.
Unfair? Absolutely, but that’s reality unless you live in a counter-culture friendly city like Austin, Boulder, or Portland. If your goal is to appear well-dressed and trustworthy to most, look to stay within the bounds of accepted male styles.