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Favorite length for a necklace?

Circe

Ideal_Rock
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Joined
Apr 26, 2007
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Sort of a spin-off from DF's "(In)Visible Necklaces" thread - which length do you like best?

I was playing with my jewelry on this beautiful-but-miserable pollen-heavy spring day, and I realized I'm totally an all-or-nothing-at-all kind of gal (in necklaces as in everything: hey, at least I'm consistent). My favorite necklaces are either 20"+ (and by "+" I mean "all the way down to my belly-button"), or they're chokers. It's like, opera-length or choke-collar, with very little in-between. I actually just remembered how much I love my tiny .20 solitaire: I made it myself, and it hangs exactly at the hollow of my throat, so it shivers a little with my pulse. Methinks I need to wear this one more often ....

How 'bout you - any preferences?
 
I prefer 18", they hang just about an inch below the hollow of my neck, and they aren't too long so that they'll get annoying. I tend to play with jewelry, so something that's super-comfy works the best for me. I hate when a necklace is too short, it just drives me up a wall, and it's off by halfway through the day. I have a couple long necklaces too, but I tend to not wear them often, as I play and play with them, and then end up taking them off because it gets annoying.
 
it hangs exactly at the hollow of my throat,

That's a length I like too. Also like chokers. Depends on the necklace style, some need to be 18" but longer than that gets in my way.

---Laurie
 
I like 18" for open collar shirts and also for t-shirt necklines because the pendant will hang down below the neckline. I do have a tiny Roberto Coin cross that I sometimes wear at 16 because it has a jump ring. For larger pendants that go over a sweater or other top, I use a 20" or so. I think I do have a locket with a 22-24" chain but rarely wear it now that I am wearing white metals mostly.

I've been debating about what length to make my new pendant that will probably be milgrain bezel. I might do the 18 with a jump ring at 16 or just split the difference and wear it at 17 all the time!
 
While I have necklaces of all lengths and my standard go-to length used to be 18 inches, I now find myself gravitating more and more to 16" necklaces -- I'm really enjoying the look of the shorter length.
 
I like them 16 inch. I wear alot of V neck shirts and when I wear longer chains they end up in my cleavage (not a look I like---lol). I don't have alot of space between my neck and chest....I wish I had a more elegant neckline. Instead I'm just all boobs----tacky!!
 
lbbaber|1304214217|2908828 said:
I like them 16 inch. I wear alot of V neck shirts and when I wear longer chains they end up in my cleavage (not a look I like---lol). I don't have alot of space between my neck and chest....I wish I had a more elegant neckline. Instead I'm just all boobs----tacky!!
SMTBoobs... :naughty:
 
I like longer necklaces for sure. My favorite necklaces that I wear daily are about 22-24" long. My bezel diamond necklace is 18" and that's perfect for most necklines. I got it made with jump rings at 16" and 17", but I've only ever used the 17" one, and that was only one time. 18" is the shortest I like. I think shorter necklaces make my neck look big so I avoid them!
 
I like shorter necklaces - most of mine are 16", but I do have one pendant that has an 18" chain, and I wear that one often, too.

I have a longer one (I'm not sure how long it is exactly), but I find myself wearing it less and less these days.
 
Circe|1304205048|2908747 said:
Sort of a spin-off from DF's "(In)Visible Necklaces" thread - which length do you like best?

I was playing with my jewelry on this beautiful-but-miserable pollen-heavy spring day, and I realized I'm totally an all-or-nothing-at-all kind of gal (in necklaces as in everything: hey, at least I'm consistent). My favorite necklaces are either 20"+ (and by "+" I mean "all the way down to my belly-button"), or they're chokers. It's like, opera-length or choke-collar, with very little in-between. I actually just remembered how much I love my tiny .20 solitaire: I made it myself, and it hangs exactly at the hollow of my throat, so it shivers a little with my pulse. Methinks I need to wear this one more often ....

How 'bout you - any preferences?
Ditto. I restring all my pearls to fit just a hair looser than choker length... I first tried to like them at the standard 16" that most came as, then I kept taking more and more pearls out each time I restrung, until I finally realized that yes, I really did want them all strung as short as possible and just restrung every strand shorter.

I was all excited to find a short 12" or 13" actual antique chain with cool links for an antique pendant; I'd been annoyed with the 16" modern chain it was on, it's just too long. I prefer it in the hollow of my throat like you do.

I don't have many super long necklaces, but maybe I should branch out- maybe string some freshwater pearls for a long rope; I suspect I'd like a super-long necklace too.

Do you have a thread on your cute solitaire you set? It sounds lovely!
 
18'' hands down. I've been dreaming of a longer necklace for years now--when I was a little kid, I read Ella Enchanted, and the main character had inherited her mother's necklace, threads of silver studded with tiny pearls that ended at her waist. Her fairy grandmother told her to keep it under her dress, as it was very valuable and made by elves :cheeky:. Even when I was a little kid, I remember being particularly captivated by the description, and I dream about it every once in a while..its ok, you can laugh at me.
 
I don't really wear necklaces often but when I do, I like them to be 20".
 
I enjoy wearing 16"/16.5"/17" necklaces for dressing wear, and 24"/30"/32" for casual and cold weather wear, but of course I also still own everything in between!
 
I think I like 16" but can wear almost anything. I never really thought much about it. Most of my necklaces are 16" since that seems to be the default with most jewelers. They usually sit just below my collarbone but above the neckline of most outfits that way.

Trivia for you all: The hollow of your neck is technically called the sternal notch. Yup, there's a medical term for everything.
 
I like chokers as well. Neckrings are also favourites.
 
My favorite length is 17". I do wear chains of other lengths as well and have a few adjustable chains that can be 16-24".
 
Dancing Fire|1304220049|2908879 said:
lbbaber|1304214217|2908828 said:
I like them 16 inch. I wear alot of V neck shirts and when I wear longer chains they end up in my cleavage (not a look I like---lol). I don't have alot of space between my neck and chest....I wish I had a more elegant neckline. Instead I'm just all boobs----tacky!!
SMTBoobs... :naughty:

Just wanted to say I was eating a sandwich as I read this and nearly spit it across the table :D
 
17-18" is what works best for me.
 
I enjoy 15" on myself because I have short petite thin neck, or 18" for the turtleneck days and a heavy pendant on that chain. I definitely think it depends on how thick a person's neck is. My 15" may sit in the same spot as someone with a 16 or 17" chain.
 
Depends on the style of my shirt and the effect I am interested in creating. My necklaces and chains with pendants range from 16 to 48 inches (the 48 inch one usually worn tripled). In the case of pendants, I have chains in both gold and silver that are 16, 18, 20 and 24 inches so that I can switch the pendant to whatever length looks good with the particular shirt.

But my general rule is (I don't want to hear a THING from you, Dancing Fire) to make that the necklace or pendant is not calling attention to my chest area in any way that maks me uncomfortable. This means that anything that falls right where there would be cleavage or rather, sort of points to where cleavage is but covered up (when I have a V-neck on or something) is changed to a different length or I put on a heavy shirt that does not reveal any body parts that I'd rather keep to myself and my husband, because that is how I am.
 
I love 17-18". To me, unless you have a very petite frame/neck, 16" seems to be very short (almost choker- like).
 
I don't really have a lot of necklaces, I pretty much wear my 16" diamond solitaire necklace every day, and it falls about 1 inch below the hollow of my neck. You can see it with most necklines I wear.
 
jstarfireb|1304275939|2909285 said:
I think I like 16" but can wear almost anything. I never really thought much about it. Most of my necklaces are 16" since that seems to be the default with most jewelers. They usually sit just below my collarbone but above the neckline of most outfits that way.

Trivia for you all: The hollow of your neck is technically called the sternal notch. Yup, there's a medical term for everything.

A) Learning about the sternal notch is worth the price of admission for me, right there!

lbbaber said:
I like them 16 inch. I wear alot of V neck shirts and when I wear longer chains they end up in my cleavage (not a look I like---lol). I don't have alot of space between my neck and chest....I wish I had a more elegant neckline. Instead I'm just all boobs----tacky!!

B) Aw, this makes me sad - I'm a busty lady myself, and if I overthink it, I'll good-taste myself right out of anything other than a hair shirt. I am fascinated by how some figures are seen as "classier" or more elegant, while others are "tacky" or inappropriate - so many intersecting factors there! Some related to race (see, all the stereotypes about the body-types of certain ethnic groups, which tend to go hand in hand with the hypersexualization of those same ethnic groups), some to class (again, intersecting with race, but also relating to inherited national mores - Americans, for example, have a lot more Puritanism going on than their equally Caucasian relatives in Northern Europe), and all, all, all to gender (I have yet to see a man express concern over his stocky build looking less classy than his counterparts). I figure I have to live for myself first and foremost - if anybody else is so crass as to stare, that's their problem (or, will be once it comes to my attention). And since I like to look at my pendants, too ... well.

LGK said:
I was all excited to find a short 12" or 13" actual antique chain with cool links for an antique pendant; I'd been annoyed with the 16" modern chain it was on, it's just too long. I prefer it in the hollow of my throat like you do.

I don't have many super long necklaces, but maybe I should branch out- maybe string some freshwater pearls for a long rope; I suspect I'd like a super-long necklace too.

Do you have a thread on your cute solitaire you set? It sounds lovely!

C) How excellent! Do you think it might have been a watch chain originally? Whenever I find a short chain with cool links, almost invariably, it turns out to have started its life as something other than a necklace ....

And, not yet! Once I finish out the term, I need to have a massive photo session with my old but unphotographed goodies (and some of their new friends)!

IndyLady said:
18'' hands down. I've been dreaming of a longer necklace for years now--when I was a little kid, I read Ella Enchanted, and the main character had inherited her mother's necklace, threads of silver studded with tiny pearls that ended at her waist. Her fairy grandmother told her to keep it under her dress, as it was very valuable and made by elves :cheeky:. Even when I was a little kid, I remember being particularly captivated by the description, and I dream about it every once in a while..its ok, you can laugh at me.

D) Not laughing even a little bit! I always pictured it as a sort of an Art Deco sautoir ... wonder how hard it would be to recreate! I haven't read that book in ages, but you're reminding me of how much I always loved books with talismans and enchanted jewels and such-like. Now, that's a thread in the making!
 
My favorite are necklaces I can slip over my head....its all about convenience when I'm running out the door.
 
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