Turquoise jewellery is kinda dated, no? It reminds me of old Hippies reeking of patchouli, wearing over-sized turquoise rings on every finger & leather laces wrapped around their wrists.
Not cool. Certainly not chic.
Yet I’m drawn to the azure blue of Turquoise & have often imagined the versatility of owning a single exquisite piece. My opportunity to do just that came when online jewellery retailer Eternal Collection offered the Over40Collective a collaboration. I immediately searched their bracelets & found this Turquoise Howlite & Swarovski Crystal beauty. What’s more it is the metal tone du jour, Rose Gold – Perfect!
I decided for today’s shoot to dress the bracelet down, thus demonstrating it’s versatility right from the get go. I mean sure, it’d be super easy wearing this statement piece with an all black evening dress or these leather trousers. Even in smart casual attire such as this, the bracelet would also work brilliantly. However for me & my hard-working wardrobe mantra even jewellery has to pull its proverbial weight.
So let’s begin with a casual look. To be honest I could (& will) happily pair this pretty bracelet with a basic jeans & jumper combo but then I wouldn’t be showing you my DIY dyed dress today…
What to do with a stain on your clothing
If you’ve been following my Instagram Stories you may remember I dyed my Whistles cocoon shirt dress? Well basically what happened was this fabulous dress had a stain or more precisely absence of colour, right at the front in plain sight. The distinctive splodge rendered my dress unwearable therefore as usual, in similar situations, I decided to choose a Dylon colour to home dye the garment giving it a new lease of life.
DIY dying has come on leaps & bounds from the messy days of old. Simply tip the entire contents of the packet into your washing machine & hit start! You need to do a second cycle to clear the excess colour & that’s it. The salt is all included within the packet so it really is literally that easy.
When deciding on the colour I will always go darker than the original so it takes evenly & bear in mind the stitching is almost always synthetic so will not dye. It’s a good idea to imagine how the stitching will look against the new colourway before you begin although if the garment was unwearable anyway you might as well just go for it!
In this instance the obvious choice for me was navy, a colour I wear often that would additionally contrast nicely against the white stitching. Anyway I’ll let you judge for yourselves whether it worked…
Wearing over the knee boots over 40
Yes I am indeed – Don’t care what anyone thinks. I love love looove these boots! I had ummed & ahhed over OTK boots for bloody ages before I bought this AllSaints pair in their sale last year. My dilemma was simply what style to go for, check it out here. I don’t particularly want or need more than one pair of them so I had to anticipate how often I’d wear each specific design. I settled on these for two reasons 1.) The rich chocolate suede 2.) When I tried them on they were remarkably comfortable. AllSaints boots are exceptional quality with high-end finish & detail. Plus they were fricken half price!!!
Lulu was with me at the time & she also gave them the thumbs up. Lulu is my mini fashionista metre Heeheehee. Naturally I have worn them loads, see here with yet another AllSaints purchase. Below are the other styles I considered, seen any you like? I don’t think Over the Knee boots are disappearing any time soon.
Turquoise Howlite, Swarovski crystal & Rose gold bracelet
If my intricate Turquoise bracelet isn’t your thing, no problem – Scroll down for the truly diverse choices of the rest of the Over40Collective. Although Liz opted for the red version of my bracelet she styled it completely differently, anyway go see – Enjoy.
Click through to their full blog posts for more details.
See ya soon,
Mx
Nikki’s necklace & earrings | Blog | Instagram
Catherine’s necklace & earrings | Blog | Instagram
Lisa’s earrings | Blog | Instagram
Liz’s Bracelet | Blog | Instagram
Michelle’s necklace & earrings | Blog | Instagram
Comments ( 32 )
sequinist
How funny, your turquoise bracelet was what I was going to get if I didn’t get the black and pearl earrings! I adore turquoise and mixing shades of blue together. I love the dress, adore the boots, and the bracelet is a very cool twist. Love it all. PS your hair and makeup look totes amaze in this post. Are you doing anything different or new that I need to know about skin wise? xx
retrochicmama
Ha really? Yes I did think of you when I chose this bracelet because it’s soooo sparkly š
Thank you for the compliment on my skin & hair Lisa. I’ve been taking HRT for almost 2 months now & I’ve also noticed much improvement in my hair & skin. My hair isn’t falling out now & my skin isn’t as dry although on the downside (& this is by no means a biggie) I am getting the odd pimple. OOh aging backwards Benjamin Button? Hahahahah Geez I hope not! š
xxx
Wendy Kate
I just LOVE that dress – what colour was it before you dyed it? It has worked so well and looks really fab with the boots and the bag and the bracelet…perfect! x
retrochicmama
I’m glad you asked me that Wendy because I had toyed with the idea of putting a pic of it within this post. I did link to it in another post when I wore it pre-dyed. However as I’d anticipated this perhaps wasn’t obvious enough. Here it is for you xxx
Wendy Kate
It looks good over the jeans too! Thanks for the link xxx
retrochicmama
It is such a handy dress Wendy Kate which is why I wanted to keep it xxx
Suzy Turner
I love turquoise but I do know what you mean about if sometimes being distinctly hippy! I love the way you styled it – the dress and boots are gorgeous. I’m super impressed with your dye job too š
Suzy xx
http://www.suzyturner.com
retrochicmama
Yay you get it Suzy! I thought maybe it was just me – Then I’d have a bunch of 50 year old hippies emailing complaints of hippy prejudice š
xM
What Lizzy Loves (@whatlizzyloves)
You look fab Michelle and as you said, wearing it dressed down highlights its versatility. It’s such a stunning piece isn’t it? I love my red and purple version xxx
retrochicmama
Thank you Liz – Isn’t it amazing how different both our bracelets look just because of the colours? I like how we’ve showed it’s versatility between the two of us xxx
No Fear of Fashion
Lovely bracelet, one saved dress and awesome boots. I would love to wear such boots too, but I don’t feel comfortable in a short(er) dress with OTK boots at the age of 62. Perhaps I should wear it anyway and pave the way for you younger lot. Haven’t made up my mind yet.
Greetje
retrochicmama
Ahem YES! Of course you should woman. Go buy a pair š
Mx
Abby@midlifecrisisnut
I love the bracelet on you Michelle! But the boots, OMG- they’re top on my HOT-meter! And the comfy dress, perfect look! xx Abby
retrochicmama
Thank you Abby, I was thinking about you the other day actually. Are you taking a blogging break? xx
Sheela Goh
I think you achieved the perfect balance of laidback with glamour, Michelle, and honestly? I think it’s a very model-off-duty look right here!!
p/s My weekly Project Sister Act Link-Up is now live on the blog, and Iād love for you to stop by and join in xoxo
retrochicmama
Wow Sheela I’m not sure about that but thank you!
I ‘d love to join in your link up, thanks for inviting me xxx
Michelle
I love this mix of turquoise and blue Michelle, it brings a difficult colour bang up to date. Love your choice, you look simply perfect!
Michelle xxx
retrochicmama
Thanks mate š
I do tend to gravitate to blues xxx
Lana_SHON
Excellent and impressive! Really.
retrochicmama
Why thank you so much Lana!
Hope to see you back here again,Mx
Emma Peach
I love turquoise jewellery, always have and always will! In fact, there isn’t much I don’t love when it comes to jewellery š The bracelet is gorgeous but I was more drawn to those fabulous boots at first glance! Beautiful boots are compensation for cold weather! The dress turned out really well…I’m going to try dyeing a pair of old shoes – I bought them for my first wedding so it doesn’t matter if it goes pear shaped…like the marriage!
Emma xxx
http://www.style-splash.com
retrochicmama
Hahahaha Emma you cracked me up! Please let me know if the shoes turn out better than the marriage š
Mx
Highland Fashionista
Those boots are EVERYTHING. You’ve paired them perfectly with that tunic dress. I am actually in the market for a new pair, and yo may have just pushed me over the edge. Found you on the #iwillwearwhatilike linkup!
retrochicmama
Hahaha go for it girl! Let me know what you get š
eldo2014
Love everything from the shoes to the dress and the bracelet is the perfect addiction to the look. You look gorgeous
xo
Edwige http://www.hypnozglam.com
retrochicmama
Awesome that’s what I like to hear! Thanks Edwige xxx
FunkyForty
I love turquoise jewellery – I always wear it when we go down to NZ so it has that special feeling of being home for me.
Super pretty photos Michelle.
xx Yvonne
Maria
So pretty and delicate.
Daina
Thanks for sharing your ideas.
Turquoise Jewellery
Wonderful tips on styling turquoise jewelry! I love how versatile and chic it can be. Thanks for the great advice!
Zadok
Turquoise pieces look stunning with neutral outfits, especially white cotton dresses and earth-toned casual wear.