What I wore with a turquoise bracelet

HOW TO WEAR TURQUOISE JEWELLERY

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…

Eternal Collection Turquoise stone and Rose Gold bracelet

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…

Whistles chambray shirt dress dyed navy blue

Whistles chambray shirt dress dyed navy blue

Whistles chambray shirt dress dyed navy blue

Whistles chambray shirt dress dyed navy blue

Eternal Collection Turquoise stone and Rose Gold bracelet | AllSaints OTK boots

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.

AllSaints zip close up of suede over the knee boots

Eternal Collection Turquoise stone and Rose Gold bracelet

Eternal Collection Turquoise stone and Rose Gold bracelet | AllSaints brown suede OTK boots

Eternal Collection Turquoise stone and Rose Gold bracelet

Turquoise Howlite, Swarovski crystal & Rose gold bracelet

c/- Eternal Collection

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


Eternal Collection collaboration with The Over 40 Collective - Midlifechic

Nikki’s necklace & earrings | Blog | Instagram

Eternal Collection collaboration with The Over 40 Collective - Not Dressed as Lamb

Catherine’s necklace & earrings | Blog | Instagram

Eternal Collection collaboration with The Over 40 Collective - The Sequinist

Lisa’s earrings | Blog | Instagram

Eternal Collection collaboration with The Over 40 Collective - What Lizzy Loves

Liz’s Bracelet | Blog | Instagram

Eternal Collection collaboration with The Over 40 Collective - Barefaced Chic

Michelle’s necklace & earrings | Blog | Instagram

Eternal Collection collaboration with The Over 40 Collective - Lady of Style

Annette’s earrings necklace & bracelet | Blog | Instagram

  • Comments ( 30 )

  • avatar
    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

    • avatar
      retrochicmama

      Ha really? Yes I did think of you when I chose this bracelet because it’s soooo sparkly šŸ˜‰
      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! šŸ˜‰
      xxx

  • avatar
    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

    • avatar
      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

      • avatar
        Wendy Kate

        It looks good over the jeans too! Thanks for the link xxx

        • avatar
          retrochicmama

          It is such a handy dress Wendy Kate which is why I wanted to keep it xxx

  • avatar
    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 šŸ˜€
    Suzy xx
    http://www.suzyturner.com

    • avatar
      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 šŸ˜‰
      xM

  • avatar
    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

    • avatar
      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

  • avatar
    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

    • avatar
      retrochicmama

      Ahem YES! Of course you should woman. Go buy a pair šŸ˜‰
      Mx

  • avatar
    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

    • avatar
      retrochicmama

      Thank you Abby, I was thinking about you the other day actually. Are you taking a blogging break? xx

  • avatar
    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 Iā€™d love for you to stop by and join in xoxo

    • avatar
      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

  • avatar
    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

    • avatar
      retrochicmama

      Thanks mate šŸ˜‰
      I do tend to gravitate to blues xxx

  • avatar
    Lana_SHON

    Excellent and impressive! Really.

    • avatar
      retrochicmama

      Why thank you so much Lana!
      Hope to see you back here again,Mx

  • avatar
    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 šŸ˜‰ 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

    • avatar
      retrochicmama

      Hahahaha Emma you cracked me up! Please let me know if the shoes turn out better than the marriage šŸ˜‰
      Mx

  • avatar
    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!

    • avatar
      retrochicmama

      Hahaha go for it girl! Let me know what you get šŸ˜‰

  • avatar
    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

    • avatar
      retrochicmama

      Awesome that’s what I like to hear! Thanks Edwige xxx

  • avatar
    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

  • avatar
    Maria

    So pretty and delicate.

  • avatar
    Daina

    Thanks for sharing your ideas.

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