Living > Fashion

  Fashion  

Style signatures

Diamond earrings, other jewelry and scarves help women make their own fashion statement

BY ICESS FERNANDEZ

The Wichita Eagle

What makes a fashion item part of someone's signature style? Is it the way that item makes them feel or look? Does it dress up a dreary outfit or make it casual chic?

We asked WichiTalk readers to tell us about the items that help to define their style when it comes to fashion or image.

These women were among those who responded, pointing to that piece of jewelry, that accessory, that certain something they must have on to make their own personal fashion statement.

Janet Studnicka, 39

In 2005, Studnicka mentioned to her husband that if she had a pair of diamond earrings she wouldn't have to worry about finding just the right pair to go with various outfits.

So for Christmas that year, her husband gave her a pair.

"It was a total surprise," she said. "I talked about wanting diamond earrings but I wasn't very serious."

Studnicka hasn't taken them off since that day. She wears them with everything. She especially appreciates them when caring for her 8-month-old son, Henry, who likes to grab her hair and might end up yanking dangling earrings if she was wearing them.

"They say it isn't proper to wear these earrings during the day," she said. "I don't care. I'm going to wear them."

The earrings make her feel classy even when wearing a pair of jeans. Her favorite part about owning them? Her earrings always match her outfit.

Studnicka is happy with the size of her diamonds -- they're each one-quarter carat -- and wouldn't want them any bigger, for now.

"I always felt like big diamonds on younger women looks ostentatious," she said.

Carla Wheley, 55

Wheley's fashion statement is inherited -- an onyx ring in a gold setting.

Her grandfather and her mother purchased the ring for her grandmother's 40th birthday in 1947. When Wheley's mother turned 40 in 1971, the ring was passed down to her. In 1992, when Wheley turned 40, she inherited it. In four years, it will be her daughter's turn.

Wheley, who is a jewelry maker and former owner of Carla's Wild at Heart, considers the ring a good-luck charm. It's among her most prized possessions.

"If I was going to be gone, I'd lock it in a safety deposit box," she said.

She describes the ring's stone as no larger than a postage stamp with a silver center, topped with a small diamond.

Wheley has the setting checked regularly to make sure that it's intact and wears the ring only when she feels like she needs a dose of good luck.

"I always begged my mom to wear it (growing up)," she said. "She said 'no'. When I was getting ready to open my shop in Old Town, my mom gave it to me. I consider it my lucky ring."

Wheley said that the ring makes her feel like she's part of an exclusive club, a "special union of the generations."

Linda Hollis, 59

As a real estate agent, Hollis always has to look her best. And for her, adding a scarf to her attire is an easy way to do just that.

"I have a large collection of rectangular scarves," she said. "I wear them every day. It just finishes off an outfit."

Hollis owns about 100 scarves in different colors and textures. She also has scarves appropriate for every season and puts the winter ones in a cedar chest. Hollis is currently looking for linen scarves to add to her summer wardrobe.

"I look for those that go with the color palette I wear," she said. "In the summer I really like the linen ones."

Hollis doesn't remember when she started collecting scarves or even how she decided that they would be her signature fashion statement. But she rarely leaves the house without one.

One of her favorites -- and she has many -- is a gray and black silk scarf that she happily wears year-round.

Pam Bugler, 48

Bugler discovered her signature fashion style when she faced the challenge one day of needing to dress up a pair of jeans. So she added a button-up shirt, pearls, earrings and viola! An outfit that could go from home to running errands to dinner with friends.

"It's become one of my favorite things to wear," Bugler said of her outfit.

She thinks she wears the combo at least once a week. She hasn't figured out a way to make it work at work (jeans aren't allowed) but if there was ever a dress-down day, she'd know what to wear. Bugler is director of development for the Orpheum Performing Arts Centre.

Bugler said the key to her outfit is a certain brand of jean--7 for All Mankind Blue Jeans.

"They make my legs look long," she said. "I can wear it with boots."

But the jean-shirt-pearl combo does get switched around, Bugler said. Some times she'll wear beads or scarves. The shirt color changes as well.

Although her outfit may be simple, it still gives her a special feeling, she said.

"It makes me feel sassy."

Reach Icess Fernandez at 316-268-6544 or ifernandez@wichitaeagle. com.