Pandora have made it clear that a major part of their aim with each new collection is to reflect the trends and position themselves as a more fashion-forward brand. Today I’m going to look at some of the stylings and inspiration offered by the Pandora magazine, which is published online, and see how I can use their ideas with my own collection.
As Pandora is a more expensive jewellery brand, it’s not always easy to just go out and buy a ton of extra beads to keep up with the trends. Consequently, I’m going to look at utilising beads from my existing collection, as well as a couple of new ones, to see what I can come up with!
The trend I’m covering today is the vogue for pastel colours and themes – something that Pandora have embraced in the new Spring collections.
The Trend: Pastels
Pastels are the ‘it’ shades of the season; on the catwalks this spring, as Glamour Magazine put it, ‘a rainbow of soft springtime shades reigned throughout the collections’. Meanwhile, Pantone’s colour of the year was ‘Radiant Orchid’, a soft pastel purple.
Pandora’s Pastel Inspiration
Pandora have offered plenty of Spring 2014 inspiration in their latest edition of the online Pandora magazine, showcasing some beautiful shots of the new Spring and Mother’s Day collections.
Each shot shows how you can use the new Spring and Mother’s Day 2014 collections to create pretty pastel designs; I particularly like the blue panel, wherein the new grey Essence fabric cords set off the blue Loyalty charm very nicely.
My Stylings
For my own stylings, I’m looking to use some older pieces in combination with a couple of the new.
Pink Pastels
My favourite Pandora Spring release to date has to be the Spring 2013 cherry blossom collection; with this year’s continued focus on pastels, I couldn’t not use them again! The cherry blossoms give a beautiful soft pink sheen to a design.
However, to change it up a bit and give the soft cherry blossoms a bit more of an edge, I’ve placed them on the oxidised Pandora bracelet, and added a few more oxidised pieces, such as the white agate Forget Me Not, the Feather and the Raindrops safety chain.
I personally really love the contrast between the darker oxidised chain and the delicate pinks of the cherry blossoms; it makes for a very striking combination and offers a way of using spring pastels without being too saccharine.
Purple Pastels
If you look over their collections, Pandora do very few purple pastel murano beads – the purple Candy Stripe murano springs to mind, but unfortunately it’s retired and I don’t own it! Also, I’m aware that some Pandora collectors aren’t overly fond of including murano glass in their designs. Consequently, this is a murano-free, very simple design, utilising both older and newer Pandora charms.
I’ve created a stack with the new Circle of Love bangle and the traditional Pandora charm bracelet. Older floral charms reflect the emphasis on flowers in the new Pandora Spring 2014 collection. These include the Rose, the openworks Daisy and the Daisy safety chain – all classic Pandora pieces that fit beautifully with the themes of the new collection!
Neutrals
Neutrals aren’t exactly the easiest to do with Pandora jewellery – there aren’t exactly lots of beige or peach charms – so I’ve gone for a white theme. The whole idea with this bracelet is to show off the Viola Bloom pearl pendant, which Pandora have used themselves in their marketing images for the Spring 2014 collection.
While the vogue this year may be butterflies, birds are also a sweet evocation of the spring season and, consequently, the flowers are offset by some spring birds in this design!
From the new collection, I’ve used the Darling Daisy clip, which goes really nicely with the Viola Bloom pendant and my favourite Sparkling Forest spacers.
Blue Pastels
This styling emulates the look Pandora went for with their shoot, which featured the grey cord Essence bracelet and the blue Loyalty charm; I’ve used the silver triple wrap leather bracelet and the pastel blue Butterfly Kisses murano. If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know that I love this charm – it’s cropping up in a lot of designs at the moment! ;)
Conclusion
Generally, I think of my Pandora as jewellery I’ll want to keep and wear for a long time; I’m not necessarily thinking about making a fashion statement with it, or keeping up with each season’s trends. However, I had quite a lot of fun taking my collection apart and trying to make some new designs! I particularly loved the Cherry Blossom oxidised design, and I wore that for a good week afterwards – unusual for me, as I get very attached to my existing bracelet designs. ;)
Do you ever change up your bracelets or switch your charms around to follow the trends?
No not at all! I wear all of mine all the time – well not at the same time. Today I am wearing 3 out of my 5, I rotate them most days. I do wear certain bracelets with certain clothes if I think they match well but like you I think of it as jewellery I will wear for a long time to come. I don’t generally look at the trend of the season, I buy what I like.
I’m the same as you, really – all of my bracelets get worn, I just pick the one that will go best with what I’m wearing. I’ll admit that I get very attached to my bracelet designs and, if I mix it up like I did in this post, I’m always itching to put them back the way they were – no matter how nice the new designs look!
On the other hand, since I started this blog, I’ve found it quite fun to have a play around with different combinations, even if I just put them back again! ;)
Once my bracelet is complete I like to keep it as it is. The problem I have is stopping myself from rushing to finish a bracelet, as soon as I start one I’m looking to fill it, and have to stop and think do I REALLY want that charm!? Lol. The spring collection has been great for my current bracelet as it is mainly pink and purple, I also have a purple leather (gutted I bought a single wish I bought a double – so have just ordered another single online to turn it in to a double!). I love the blue butterfly murano so much I have just ordered the pink one to go on my leather. I have a mental list of what I still want from the collection, just waiting for payday lol.
Yes, I always used to want to fill my bracelet up straightaway… I was never content or I didn’t think it looked right and I wanted it to be finished! And then I’d be disappointed when I’d filled it all up haha. You’d think the blog would make me want even more charms, as I’m obviously writing about them all the time, but it actually helps me to excise some of my Pandora cravings. ;) Instead of buying a charm, I write a blog post!
Oh, I bet the pink butterfly murano would look amazing on the purple leather! <3 And I love multiple leathers worn together. I'm still waiting to get the Vintage Heart… roll on pay day indeed haha!
you did a wonderful job putting them into different tones and style
absolutely love all of them i personally like the purple and pink combo that’s why i went all out during the bracelet promo last month because the new collection is based on mostly those color. hahaha
Thank you! ^^ I love purple and pink… I find that they creep into my bracelet designs no matter what I originally intended them to be haha. I saw your promo haul on Instagram – you certainly did go all out but your designs look stunning as a result! Lovely use of the pinks and purples.
Thanks sweetie ?
I just find myself wearing lighter colored, spring bracelets I already own. I loved the cherry blossom theme of last spring 2103 so I made a cherry blossom bracelet then and recently changed my five station clip bracelet to all pink cherry blossom clips. (I had five winter wonderland clips on it and it was definitely time to switch.) I wear that behind my watch on my left hand and my pretty cherry blossom themed (five cherry blossom muranos) on my right hand. I REALLY like cherry blossoms. :) Happy Spring, Easter, and Passover to everyone.
The Cherry Blossom collection is one of my favourites from Pandora – a whole bracelet of them sounds gorgeous! I still don’t own the clip, but I ultimately want the whole collection. I loved Spring 2013; it had both the cherry blossoms and the fairy tale collection, two of my absolute favourite releases. It’s nice that you can switch your clip bracelet around with the seasons, too.
Happy Spring to you too! :)
Ellie