Diamonds, DANNIJO, Ippolita… They’re All a Girl’s Best Friend

There are always pros and cons to living with three other stylish roommates. The cons include you coveting pieces from their closet, to the point that you start to have dreams about wearing their clothes. But hopefully, if you live with sweet enough people, they’ll lend you things every now and then. Fortunately, I ended up with girls who swap clothes as if we signed some mutual agreement for a joint closet situation around the same time as our lease. They say diamonds are a girl’s best friend so why not share them with your other best friend’s right? Maybe that’s a little too far, but at least I know I can raid my roommate Sloane’s closet whenever I’m looking for the perfect jewelry. Seriously, the girl has a jewelry collection to die for, and she always manages to get the best deals on everything. Check out our photo shoot showcasing some of her favorite pieces and a short interview on her collection. While you’re at it grab a pen, paper, and have your credit card number on hand. Even I was subjected to making online purchases after this interview.

Favorite jewelry designer?

For girly jewelry my favorite designer would be Melanie Auld. Her pieces are very casual but look really expensive. For funkier jewelry, I love Holst and Lee, I like that they incorporate parachute rope and other durable materials. I like that they pull a lot of their inspiration from movies as well. In the past they have done a collection based on the “Wizard of Oz” and right now they are working on something with the chiquita banana girl from he movie “The Gang’s All Here.” I also like that you can stack many of their pieces to create a more exaggerated look. For special occasions, my favorite would be Irene Neuworth. She works with huge gems, turquoise, moonstone, fire rubies, etc. She creates one of a kind pieces which I find really cool since many designers just try to mass market their jewelry.

Favorite piece of jewelry?

The turquoise and pink necklace by Sea Elise. I like the weight on it and the chunks of turquoise make for a very raw look that isn’t so refined, and that hot pink tassel. Mmhm.

Where do you buy most of your accessories?

My statement pieces are mostly from Coral, a boutique that I worked at in North Carolina. I find a lot of stuff at chain retail stores as well, but they are things you wouldn’t really expect to find there.

When did you start becoming interested in collecting jewelry?

I would say the turning point for me was my freshman year of college. I was shopping at the Paris Market in Savannah and I found a cabinet of beads that were so interesting, all I could think when I was looking through them was maybe I should invest in these and switch my major to Jewelry Design. I obviously love fashion marketing and design too much to do that, but it was definitely a thought at one point.

Gold or Silver?

On my skin tone gold looks better, which is one of the reasons I gravitate towards it. I also really love rose gold.

If you’d like to see more of Maddie’s photography check out her portfolio at https://www.behance.net/madeleinemivey.

• diamonds
• fashion
• jewelry
• style