Jade and Gold

My obsession with wide-leg pants continues! My newest acquisition is this pair of abstract-printed trousers in black, yellow, and green. I saw them on Swap.com, but actually refrained for three orders (a grand total of 3 months) before finally pulling the trigger. I've learned the hard way that straight-leg pants with an elastic waistband can tend to look a little sloppy, but when the price got down to $2.40, I decided to give them a chance.

As I expected, the fit isn't the most flattering, but it'll do...and it's fun to have new colorful bottoms to balance out all the solid-color tops I've been investing in.

For their first wear, I decided to pair them with a coordinating pale yellow sweater and sensible black flats.

Nothing revolutionary about this outfit, but it did finally afford me the motivation to finish and wear this new green and gold pendant that I've been ignoring for over a year. I don't exactly remember why I liked it enough to buy it in the first place (1 year and 3 months will do that to you), but it proceeded to take up permanent residence in my unworn jewelry basket because I didn't like it enough to wear it.

What exactly was wrong with it? Well, partly it was the color. While I love green, that particular shade of jade doesn't go with a whole ton of my clothes, and the coppery gold metallic chips made it even harder to coordinate. Partly, of course, it was that it was not in a wearable state. It was just a chunk of glass with a hole in the top. I hadn't had the motivation to finish it into a proper piece of jewelry since I hadn't found anything worth wearing it with...and since it wasn't a wearable piece of jewelry, I hadn't had the motivation to look for stuff to wear it with. Vicious cycle, here we come!

Finally fate stepped in. Fate told me, "Valerie, have a look through that old jewelry basket and see what you can tidy up. Have a look at this ugly pendant. Are you ever going to wear this? Do you think it might be time to just sell it off?" I looked back at Fate and said, "Maybe, but let me give it another chance."

You see, in studying this pendant for the hundredth time, I finally realized that one of the other things wrong with it was its shape and size. It was just a huge chunk of glass with a miniscule hole at the top. The proportions were off. Were I just to hang it on a chain, the pendant would look awkwardly large, like an adult's head on a baby's body.  Furthermore, by itself, the pendant was too simple. Were I just to stick a jump ring through the hole and call it done, it would look decidedly unfinished. And so I realized, this pendant was crying out for some decorative findings to balance its size and do justice to its form. I had an idea that if I strung it from two gold bails rather than just one ring, it would gain stability and look regal rather than ungainly.

That sounded like a good idea. It sounded like something to think on further. I put the piece back in the basket, consigning it to another year of waiting.

Until Fate stepped in again. Fate was like, "Whooooaaa, there. I let you keep this pendant instead of selling it. You're not keeping it for nothing! You're going to wear it and you're going to love it! Hmmm, what would go good with a green and gold pendant? How about some green and yellow pants?"

And Fate pointed to the new pair of trousers hanging in the closet, and my destiny was sealed. I was going to have to finish the pendant, because there was no piece of jewelry in the world that would have been a better match for the pants.

Because I have already turned the story of this simple outfit into a winding narrative, I will go light on the details of how I made the pendant into a necklace. Here goes. One paragraph. I made my own bails out of 6 twisted strands of jewelry wire because I didn't have any suitable findings. I hot-glued them to the back of the pendant, because I wasn't sure if I wanted that to be its final form, and hot glue is easy to remove. I ran a 17-inch length of gold chain through the loops, and then I had a green and gold necklace.

 

I like the way the chain runs parallel to the top of the pendant. I think it gives it a distinctive look, and works with rather than against the pendant's unusual rectangular shape. However, I feel like the bails are still too delicate (they are hardly any thicker than the chain, and I'd prefer something a little more chunky to reflect the build of the pendant), so at some point, I might replace them with something bigger. Or, alternatively, just give up on the pendant, because now that I've worn it with the perfect pair of pants, it's probably already reached the apex of its existence.