3 necklace hacks (one of which is the complete opposite of which)

Last year, I posted a simple trick to make a necklace shorter. I called it "quick and dirty," and it is. All those knots take a necklace from a pretty ornament to a hot mess. So I've dedicated myself to finding better options for necklace length adjustment, and I've come up with three! I'm calling them necklace hacks, because the Internet thinks "hack" is a pretty cool word to use for any simple trick that you can execute to change something into a more easy-to-use or useful version of itself.

1. How to permanently shorten a necklace

For this trick, you will need a pair of pliers. You must then take the pliers and remove a few links of the chain (if the chain is cheap, you will be able to bend a link to open it and slip the remaining links off. If it is a better-constructed necklace, you will need to cut it. Either way, you should be able to accomplish the task with a pair of standard needle-nose pliers). Then you must reattach the jump ring and clasp to opposite ends of your newly shortened chain. Wow! Super easy!

If you want your necklace to be more versatile, you can then attach an extender chain to it, so you can wear it at a variety of lengths, but an extender is almost as ugly as a knotted up necklace.

2. How to have a necklace of the right length any time

Having a short necklace can be a great boon with the right neckline, but it can be a disaster with the wrong one. If you want to have every necklace look great with every top, you'll need it to be wearable at a variety of lengths. If, like me, you don't want all your necklaces to be uglied-up with extender chains, and, like me, you have a plethora of pendants, I have a solution for you!

First, take all your pendants off the chains. Then, measure the chains. Arrange them in order of length. Ideally, you will have one chain for every 2-inch increment of length (so, a 14-inch chain, a 16-inch, an 18-inch, and so on. My longest chain is 30 inches, which falls right about in the middle of my torso). If you have several chains of a long length, but are missing some in an a shorter length, you can cut down one of the longer ones by following the instructions in Tip #1.

Once you have all your necklaces arranged by size, keep them that way. I sort mine into silver, gold, and "other," clip them onto paper clips labeled with the length, and store them in descending order on the back of my jewelry hanger.

Then, when you want to wear a specific pendant, just grab it and slide it onto the chain that will work best with your neckline du jour.

3. How to make a necklace look longer

Short of adding the dreaded extender, there is little you can do to make a necklace longer, but, if you happen to be wearing a collared shirt, you can try this little trick.

Simply unclasp the necklace and safety-pin each end somewhere under your collar. Tada! This trick is the exact opposite of a "hack" by definition (you know, the definition that signifies violent cutting), but semantics aside, it's quite a useful trick, as it can add a good 8 inches to your necklace without changing it in any permanent way.

I think you could also do a version of this trick with a non-collared top by simply pinning the necklace to the neckline at the shoulder (unobtrusively, from the underside). I have several shirts with built-in necklaces, or necklaces that clip to loops somewhere on the shirt, so I think this could be quite doable!