You can never go wrong with a black dress, and the beauty of the black dress lies in its versatility and the fact that your black dress will be the perfect fit for you, whether you are attending a funeral, cocktail party, wedding, or on a night on the town. The key is to accessorize the dress appropriately.
Accessorizing your black dress can be a tad challenging, though, especially because there are numerous options for you to choose from. But it doesn’t have to be, and we are here to offer a smart and simple guide on how to easily accessorize a black dress as a wedding guest.
The first rule of accessorizing your black dress is to determine what look you want to pull off – would you rather have a minimalist look or are you going all out with bold pieces to show off your love of accessories, and are there rules that you must abide by when it comes to dressing appropriately for weddings if you choose to wear a black dress to a wedding?
Also, can you break some of the fashion rules as you try to attain that perfectly flawless look? Well, keep reading for practical style and accessorizing tips for your black dress.
Jewelry to wear with a black dress for wedding
Styling Tips
1. Settle on the right color
The good news is that everything goes with black dresses, and accessorizing the dress really shouldn’t be rocket science, so you get to let your imagination fly with the black dress serving as the perfect canvas for you.
That said, we have to mention that there are some rules that you must stick to. For starters, you’d have to stick to either silver or gold jewelry, not both.
After settling on a specific metal, the color of gemstones comes in next, and the good news is that whether you choose gold or silver, you will be happy to know that these pieces go well with bright and bold colors like aquamarine, yellow, red, emerald green, orange, and even black.
The bold colors for the accessories work best if you are daring and consider yourself modern and trendy. But you don’t have to worry much because you will look great, despite the color you settle on.
2. Match your necklace with your dress’ neckline
This might be the thing that you have been struggling with when it comes to accessorizing your black dress, but you don’t have to worry anymore because we break it all down with you here, in the simplest way possible.
First, be careful about the length and the shape of your necklace – what this means is that if your gown’s neckline is a turtleneck, you’d have to settle for either a long necklace or choose not to wear a necklace altogether.
If your dress has a halter neckline, go for the long pearl necklace. You could also opt for a statement neckpiece if you are brave and find statement pieces to feel more like you. Besides the halter neckline, the statement necklaces also are great accessories for the bateau and the sweetheart necklines.
If you are going for a V-neck dress, you will be happy to know that this dress is not only easy to accessorize, but you can also wear any kind of medium-sized chain or necklace with it. A choker necklace is an option, too, just as long as you are careful with the patterns of the necklace – avoid the complex designs/ patterns and focus instead on the simpler designs. A motif or a small pendant hanging from the chain would also be ideal. That said, the plunge of the V-neck will determine how long the necklace is because you essentially need longer necklaces, like a sautoir, if the neckline plunges more into your bust. And you will be happy to know that the v-neck dress and most medium-chain necklaces often make your neck appear leaner and longer, which you will agree with us is every woman’s biggest dream.
How about that gorgeous black strapless dress? Well, you will be happy to know that you can easily accessorize the strapless gown with rounded neck accessories, particularly the chunkier pieces that will give you that nice and special touch.
Finally, you should know that you could never go wrong with pearl or diamond necklaces, and you can wear such elegant pieces to the wedding effortlessly and without having to worry about the accessories being out of place. Diamond necklaces and studs would be great if you have on a strapless dress and have long flowing hair – stick to 16-18inch necklaces and add a simple tennis bracelet and a cocktail ring.
3. Rings, Bracelets, and Earrings
Now that you know what necklaces would work best for different dress styles let’s look at how you should accessorize the rest of your jewelry.
While there are no specific rules on this, we are going to make and recommend one rule which you have to stick by at all times – balance. At the end of the day, your choices of bracelets, watches, earrings, and rings could make or break that stunning black dress, and the only way to prevent that from happening while maintaining an elegant look would be by balancing out the pieces.
You must attain a certain level of equilibrium, and this is often possible when you settle on just one piece of chunky jewelry. Don’t overdo it. You will be tempted to wear that pair of stunning statement earrings, the cocktail ring, and that chunky bracelet, but you shouldn’t. You’re better off with just one bold accessory. And if you cannot choose between the necklace and the elegant long earrings, go for the long earrings.
But that is not all; you really have to invest in good jewelry if you want to look and feel great at the wedding or any other formal event for that matter. The materials that the jewelry is made of is important, and they must be of the very best quality.
Styling Options for Black Dress
- Pearls
As mentioned above, you cannot go wrong with pearls. So, if you have been trying to pull off the stunning Audrey Hepburn look for some time, we suggest that you grab some pearl necklaces.
The pearls enhance the elegant and stylish look while also completing the black dress look. And you need the pearls because they are a symbol of vanity.
The best part is that depending on the design of the dress, you could wear pearl earrings or a pearl necklace for the most comfortable look and feel. You could also throw on a pearl-studded headband.
- Colored Gemstone jewelry
You already know that gemstone jewelry makes the perfect accessory for your black strapless dress.
So, why not take this up a notch by settling on colored gemstones matching your eyes or in the color of your birthstone?
Some of the best gemstone colors for the necklace include velvet, coral, or turquoise, and you will be happy to know that these colors will always make you look vivid, fresh, and bold. The right color would also disambiguate your eye color.
And though necklaces are the most obvious choice, you may also settle on colorful gemstone bracelets.
- Matching colors
In addition to coral, velvet, and turquoise, you could also opt for pink or shades of pink or shades of yellow because these match with black perfectly.
- Tennis bracelet
If you are into minimalist jewelry options, we recommend choosing a great quality and stunning piece of a tennis bracelet.
The tennis bracelet, whether made of diamonds or cubic zirconia, is beautiful and romantic, and you will like how the piece stands out as a stunning and perfect contemporary piece that matches your black dress and pulls together your overall look with ease.
The tennis bracelet could have either sparkling white/ colorless stones or colored stones.
- Black Onyx Jewelry
If you are looking for jewelry that is both stunning and meaningful or symbolic, jewelry made of black onyx may be a great choice.
The reason for this is that the black onyx stone is believed to have the power to bring you power, positive energy and also to increase your self-control.
It’s also said to be effective in anxiety, agitation, and stress reduction, and it also gets rid of the feeling of being overly cautious and troubled at all times.
Conclusion
These are just some of the simple accessorizing ideas that would suit you if you are planning to wear a black dress to a wedding.
You could try an option that works for you, as long as you feel comfortable and maintain a balanced look.
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Stephanie is a jewelry lover when she was a teenager. Her major was fashion design when she was in college. She is a jewelry designer at SOQ Jewelry and other design companies. Now she is also a writer for our website. She writes a lot of designs&brands posts with very actionable tips.