wrist flare for big girls

When I was at an impressionable age, I developed this obsession with an aesthetic best described as "shit all over my hands". Rings, bracelets, if it was shiny or noisy, I was an instant fan. It started with taking over my mom's costume jewelry, evolved to buying my own jewelry of questionable authenticity at Seattle import stores, and culminated sometime during college with a freakish collection of rubber tubing bracelets, slinky bracelets from San Francisco Chinatown, cuffs from fetish shops, and unearthed surfer bracelets from middle school.

Sorry about the face there.

When my life as a Professional began, I dialed it down to just the rubber bracelets and the slinkies, then just the rubber bracelets, and as those became brittle and broke off I replaced them with black + white versions. Presently I have two off-white bracelets and one black one left, all on one wrist.

And, man, let's face it. I'm approaching the end of my twenties. If I ever had any punk rock in me to begin with, all that's left now is what's reflected in my choice of accessories. I'm not in a band. I'm not some glamorously nutty Iona working in a record store, nor an artist, nor a kooky fashion designer. I'm just a normal chick and I need to come to terms with my adulthood and stop wearing children's jewelry. At the very least I need to stop wearing it to work.

However, my desire for shit all over my hands remains. My one wrist feels naked and strange without its rubber bracelets. They must be replaced. This is trickier than it sounds.

The tubing bracelets have been with me for so long not only because they shrunk after never being taken off and were stuck on my hands, but because they make the statement I'm after without interfering. I love rhinestones (™), but they snag your tights and your knitwear. Typing while wearing thick, chunky bangles is a pain in the ass. Victorian-style scrolly things and tarnished metal that should come off as steampunk are forever associated in my mind with eccentric hippie art teachers. An everyday bracelet must have a clean design, sit close to the wrist, be light enough to wear while typing for eight hours, and be completely smooth so it doesn't get caught on things. Polyvore is helping me track down this object.



My first thought was to completely cop out by upgrading from rubber to leather. Which might be ok, as it's a cleaned up version of that Hot Topic aesthetic I'm so crazy about. On the other hand it sort of makes me think of guys who play acoustic guitar and work in the mall.

If I were going to go with bangles, I'd want them to be slim and hopefully lightweight. I think both marbled black + teal and tortoiseshell would be interesting enough to look cool while conservative enough to go with most outfits.

But I really like a good cuff, because it stays on your wrist and out of the way. An enamel or wooden cuff with a geometric pattern would be really good. Then there's this (faux?) leather cameo cuff, which I totally love in theory. However, it may be a little bit cleverer than I want to go for, and as much as I think black leather cuffs are very sexy, they're kind of masculine for my own taste.

Now that I'm writing this, it's occurred to me that the ultimate in grown-up wrist flare would be some sort of edgy yet polished watch. Which is a nice thought, but I'm one of those people on whom watches inexplicably stop working. Seriously. I've never had a watch for more than a week or so. Nothing to stop me from faking it, though.

Ultimately, though, I'm just kind of excited to have a goal for my first paycheck in a year and a half.