Bridal Jewelry for the V Neck Dress

I spend a good amount of time every day advising brides on what jewelry and accessories will work with their dresses. Can I wear a necklace with this dress? Is it too much? My mom thinks it's too much. I don't know, I like it. What do you think?

Every situation is different and there is no hard and fast rule that this type of dress needs a choker and this type of dress needs no necklace, just earrings. I've found that your own personal style will dictate your accessory choices just as much as what your gown looks like. In most cases, if you love it, it will work!

That being said, I'm going to start an in depth look at how to accesserize different bridal gown styles! We're starting with one of my favorites, the deep V dress.



All of the dresses above have a lot going on, so you might be tempted to forego a necklace in favor of earrings, sparkly hair jewelry, and bracelet – which would look great. However, my job is to give you more than the obvious options. There is a vintage vibe going on with the first dress, by Claire Pettibone, one of my favorite designers. You could go in that direction with a birdcage veil and a very long strand of pearls or crystals. I could see feathers with this too, or a lace headband, no necklace, and a fine filigree bracelet. The middle gown is by Badgley Mischka. I would love to totally glam this up with a double strand crystal and pearl necklace that mimics the double band at the waist. Then I would put a sparkly brooch or hairpin in her hair. The third gown is by St Pucchi. This is one of the few instances where the dress is shown on the runway with a necklace and I really like this one. A pendant or Y style, while generally great choices for a deep V dress, might not work as well here because you have the brooch focal point at the bottom of the V and you don’t want to compete with that.



I put the first 2 dresses above next to eachother on purpose. Both are similar in that they have the band of sparlies just below the V, but they would be accessorized very differently. The first dress, by Romona Keveza, is very tailored and sophisticated. The second, by Jenny Packham, is much less structured and more flowy and breezy, if you will. The third gown, by Wtoo, is also a flowy, less formal example. I love love love the long necklace with the Jenny Packham, and I could see the same thing with the Wtoo, but I wouldn’t put it with the Romona Keveza. That gown needs something simple and more formal – a strand of pearls or a pendant? Simple stud earrings and maybe a single sparkly hair ornament under a bun.



When looking at the first dress above, by Jim Hjelm, I ask myself, what is sexier, bare skin or a necklace dripping with crystals that drops down the front almost to the dress? Perhaps because I’m a jewelry designer, I say crystal dripping necklace. The middle dress is by Reem Acra. Clearly there is a lot of sparkle at the top of this dress, and because of that, I think this dress wants a sparkly necklace. Nothing too over the top, mind you, but perhaps a fine chain with a sparkly pendant or Y drop, or a big faceted crystal. The last gown is by Pnina Tornai. To me, this dress is screaming for a multi layered pearl necklace and a tiara or hair comb. If you’re going to do it, go for it all the way!