Do you shop for the season, your style, or both?

I don’t know about you, but the seasons seem to run together here in Athens. Since I live in a small Five Points home, I have to make a deliberate decision to change out my clothing in the bedroom closet for each season. These days, it is becoming increasingly hard to know when to do this, as winter days seem springlike, and vice versa.

So what happens to your jewelry as the seasons shift? Do you begin to pull out shell pieces and lighter colors, do you have a metallic or color preference you wear all year, or do you find yourself doing both?

These questions reflect the larger question I ask myself pretty much daily - what am I working on next? The seasons strongly influence that decision - I find myself moving into softer spring pastels, and bright colors in bead selection and design. Since I am primarily in retail, not wholesale, this provides me with some flexibility - but I have to plan ahead if I see that customers are shopping for seasonal colors.

I have watched people shop my jewelry for over five years now, and I still see a lot of individuality in what they choose. Some are devoted to a single color palette all year long - others move in and among different color choices and metallic finishes. Some love crystals and bling added to natural stones - others prefer muted, no bling, and one metallic finish.

Now that I’ve written this, I’m asking myself where I was going with these ramblings, and I have a couple of conclusions…

1. I need to make what I want to make in a given moment - something I’ve written about before. If I start to think about selling something before it is designed, I quickly lose the joy of creating.

2. I think that I am strongly influenced by the seasons - call me a creature of habit - but I also see that colors in clothing trends seem to blur these days. We need bright in the grey of winter, and we can use a little warm grey (and even elegant black) in the middle of summer.

No right answers to the original questions, then. And no judgment for what anyone selects in jewelry colors in changing seasons. I’m still stretching myself and trying to break out of colors and styles that I prefer to find new ones that appeal to others.

Brown and blue is a timeless color combination that can work with any season...

Do these browns seem like they would be better for fall/winter? I added bone and recycled African glass in lighter shades to help this one span the seasons.