The Beauty of An Heirloom Piece

Today I am so excited to team up with the Magnificent 8 once again, a group of seven bloggers and myself from across all generations, to share how we style heirloom pieces. When we decided on the theme of today’s blog post, I immediately had the perfect items and outfit in mind, so I can’t wait to finally share my look!

If you’ve missed the previous Magnificent 8 collaborations in which I’ve participated, you can explore the links below to see what our group is all about:

Healthy Living: Fitness, Self-Care, Eating Habits, and More

Pastels, Petals, and Pattern Mixing

Timeless in a White Dress

8 Ways to Style Animal Print This Fall

The heirloom pieces I decided to style today are these beautiful clip-on earrings and the matching brooch, both of which belonged to my grandmother. My grandma was the most stylish woman I’ve ever known. Not only did she rock a bold red lipstick and sassy red sweaters into her old age, but she was always dressed impeccably (and impeccably on trend, I might add) in every vintage photo I’ve seen of her. Hair done, makeup on, and a gorgeous dress or jacket to get her through her long, tough work days.

My grandma was my number one blog supporter, and almost every time I would come downstairs after getting dressed in the morning, she would give me some sort of compliment on my outfit. I loved having fashion in common with her! One of our favorite pastimes was watching “Say Yes to the Dress” and discussing what we liked and disliked about the various gowns. When I first bought my prom dress, I came home and gave her a fashion show immediately—one of several from over the years. My grandma loved the purple dress, and as she always used to say, “If you’ve got it, flaunt it!” That would make me giggle every time.

For my 20^th birthday, my grandpa decided to give me this matching set, as well as a few other pairs of clip-on earrings that belonged to my grandma. I’m the only girl out of my cousins and extended family who doesn’t have my ears pierced, so I’m the only person for which it makes sense to wear her old clip-on pieces. As it turns out, my grandma wore clip-on earrings into her 40s, which is when she decided to get her ears pierced instead. I wonder what motivated her to finally do it!

When people find out my ears aren’t pieced, they’re usually surprised. To be honest, it’s never really been something I’ve thought a lot about. My ears aren’t pierced and that’s just the way it’s always been. Funny, then, that I had finally been considering piercing my ears right before my 20^th birthday, as a sort of way to initiate the new decade of my life. As you may have suspected, after my grandpa gave me all these clip-on earrings, it made me inclined to never get my ears pierced so I could forever wear my grandma’s pieces proudly.

So that’s the beauty of heirlooms. Every time we get to wear an heirloom piece, we get to tell a story of who wore the piece before us. In this way, we keep our family members’ memories (and their style) alive from generation to generation. Should I have my own daughter one day, I hope to pass on to her all of the jewelry I own that belonged to my grandma. I will tell her what an incredible woman my grandma was and that my daughter should wear my grandma’s pieces very proudly. I know my grandma would love my outfit today and this old-fashioned style dress! And I wear her brooch and earrings (and a bright bold lipstick) in honor of her.

Do you own any heirloom pieces or any very special items someone has passed down to you? I invite you to share your story in the comments below. It’s beautiful how something so mundane like a pair of fashion jewelry clip-on earrings can suddenly become so important and meaningful. You know how people ask you, “If your house lit on fire and you had five minutes to get out, what would you take with you?” I often think that I would ignore my wallet and instead head straight for the invaluable pieces hiding in my jewelry box. What items mean the most to you?

RECREATE THIS LOOK:

To see how the other fabulous members of the Magnificent 8 styled their heirlooms, read about our group and check out the links below!

The Magnificent 8 is a collaboration among 8 stylish women from every decade of life showcasing our style one generation at a time. The mission of this collaboration is to show you just how ageless style is, how we can each dress however we’d like and in ways that make us feel fabulous. There are no age restrictions on style. So wear what you want, when you want, add a smile, and strut your style with confidence. And be sure to check out all 7 of these amazing gals!

Every quarter, we choose a theme and each create an outfit that suits our own personal tastes and fashion choices and we post them on the last Wednesday of every third month. So be sure to go check out everyone’s posts for lots of style inspiration at any age!

Let me introduce the ladies of The Magnificent 8.

Grace of Graceful Rags
Michelle of Michelle’s Pa(i)ge
Roxanne of Glass of Glam
Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge
Rena of Fine Whatever
Eugenia of Age of Grace
Lesley of Jodie’s Touch of Style
And Charlotte of Jodie’s Touch of Style

We are showing that you can’t put a number on style!

 

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday and rest of your week, and thanks so much for reading today’s post. I may not wear this dress on the blog very often, but it’s one of my very favorites off-camera! I’m so excited it paired perfectly with the earrings and brooch from this post.

 

Miles of smiles,

Grace

 

Old-Fashioned Dress: Nordstrom Rack, $40 // Beige Sparkly Flats: Nordstrom Rack, $40 // Blush Bow Clutch: StitchFix, $50