No fear: How to go bold with layered necklaces and brooches.
YOUR STYLIST
THIS SPRING, it's a bejeweled free-for-all where more means more, and less is unacceptable. But achieving the right look with the season's bold jewelry isn't just a matter of piling it on, so we consulted an expert: Hutton Wilkinson, caretaker of the legacy of L.A. artist, decorator and jewelry designer Tony Duquette, and co-author of "Tony Duquette." Nobody knows how to wear statement pieces better.
Duquette created jewelry for clients such as the duchess of Windsor and Elsie de Wolfe. He died in 1999, but his taste lives on in Wilkinson, his longtime business partner, who continues to design the one-of-a-kind Tony Duquette jewelry collection made from petrified palm tree bark or tiger's-eye, and sold at Saks in Beverly Hills. "The greatest compliment anyone could give me about my jewelry would be that it has no fear," Wilkinson says. "And I think ladies should have no fear when they wear jewelry. Don't listen to your husbands, don't listen to your boyfriends. They are not jewelers. They are not stylists, and they have no idea what you're trying to do." The most important thing to keep in mind, he says, is attitude.
Should the size of the piece match the size of the woman?
No. Petite women in big jewelry is terrific, if you have the right pieces. Take Diana Vreeland. She was extremely bird-like and had big jewels, and it was fantastic.
You're staring into your jewelry box, where do you start?
Don't be afraid to wear pieces in different ways. Necklaces can be twisted, the clasp can be moved to the side. Wear a necklace on your head. Why not? I think hair ornaments are the next major thing. I was out with a client in Paris, and she took a necklace, big balls of emeralds, diamonds, rubies and sapphires, and doubled it and tied it with a little brown ribbon from Fauchon. The chicest thing in the room was that little brown ribbon from Fauchon. It was so throwaway.
You have to have a lot of attitude to do that.
Joan Quinn, who's an Angeleno, has an incredible collection of jewelry. She'll wear three or four brooches at one time. It's her style, and she's dressing for her own pleasure. Most women are dressing for their girlfriends' pleasure. They're trying to impress, and that's not where it's at.
What if you don't have $90,000 for one piece?
