Hello beautiful, and welcome to How To Own It, where store-bought fashion meets DIY crafts. Each week I’ll be exploring an aesthetic theme, showing you some of the best ways to wear it and how to make it for yourself.

Hey there clam lovers, how do you feel about pearls? I hope your answer is somewhere on the positive feelings spectrum because this spring/summer, there’s going to be a pearl invasion, and we need to be prepared.

via street peeper

What the eff is a pearl invasion, you ask? It’s when tiny baubles leap off of the classic necklaces you associate them with and attach themselves to the most unexpected places. Sunglasses! Bobby pins! Sleeves! Collars! Piercings of all locations! Leggings! Get it now? Pearls are the new studs; a softer, more delicate look for the gradual warming of the weather. But you don’t have to be delicate about the way you wear them. In fact I hope you won’t be.

via street peeper, a pair & a spare, look book, perez hilton

The majority of the trendy new pearl-embelleshed attire is not made with real pearls, so it’s easy to find in stores and vegan-friendly to boot. Check out these cute things!

Black Dresses
Hair Accessories

DIY Multipurpose Pearl and Chain Brooch

I couldn’t decide which of the many exciting pearl accessories to try to make, so I decided to make something that would function as different things. This pearl brooch can be worn on your collar tips, sleeves, the back of a top, or whatever else your little heart dreams up.

You will need:

Pearl beads
A metal chain
Two pin backs (the kind that have two holes in them)
Bendy copper wire
Wire cutter

1. With the wire cutter, cut three different lengths of bendy wire and three different lengths of metal chain. My smallest length is 6″ and my longest is 12″. You should have a short, medium, and long length of both materials, though they shouldn’t be the exact same lengths.

2. Take your medium length bendy wire and thread it through the bottom hole of a pin back. Wrap it around once, then put a pearl on it, followed by the first loop of the shortest metal chain piece. Then firmly wrap the bendy wire around the back of the pin one more time. Now fill the rest of the bendy wire with pearls. When you have an inch left, put it through the last loop in the metal chain. Now thread it through the bottom hole of the second pin back, and attach it the same way you did with the first one.

3. Repeat, using the second hole in the pin backs. This time, we’re going to use two at once: take your shortest and longest wires and thread them through simultaneously, and put two chains on at the same time. Otherwise repeat all the same steps.

4. Now let’s talk about some ways to wear it! The first is obviously to pin each side to the tips of your collar. This is probably my favorite as I love collar accessories. You can also wear a short sleeve shirt and pin it so that it functions as a lovely sleeve. And finally, you can wear a low backed top and pin this so that it covers your open back. Unfortunately this last look isn’t pictured because I’m at my parents’ house and forgot my low back shirt. Really though you can wear this any way you want, and I’d love to hear what you come up with!

Want to know how to own a look? Email [email protected] or tweet to @Gabrielle_Korn.

Header by Rosa Middleton

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