It’s easy to tap into Lucite jewelry trend
When it comes to Lucite, this year’s hottest accessories trend, there’s nothing to hide.
Transparent trimmings spanning everything from bags and shoes, to all forms of jewelry imaginable have caught the eye of designers, retailers and taste-makers alike, making the look a clear winner this season.
Designers like Gucci and Manolo Blahnik have given women their “Cinderella moment” through translucent footwear, while Stella McCartney and CC Skye kicked off the peek-a-boo clutch trend, delighting the inner voyeur in us all with its tellall approach to fashion.
“I think Lucite is so hot right now because it’s both retro and futuristic,” says Caroline Gault, FASHION Magazine’s Alberta editor.
“There’s also this sense of playful irony to it; you start making a statement around what can and cannot be seen.”
Despite the plethora of translucent toppings now available to shoppers, the most commonly adopted form of the trend is without a doubt jewelry, with statement necklaces, clear cuffs and giant see-through rings in high demand.
“Combined with fashion’s current obsession over everything sheer, I think it’s a natural progression,” Gault says. Since Lucite is denser than plastic and can therefore be moulded, carved and coloured, costume jewelry is understandably the medium of choice. And with its ability to adopt from ultramodern esthetics to punk sensibilities and everything in between, the trend is yielding baubles as versatile as they are transparent. Yet with price points as varied as the items themselves — think upwards of $300 for a Dannijo piece — savvy shoppers are opting to bypass the middle man altogether in favour of creating their own version of the trend.
“More people are looking for unique pieces or to add their own style to a popular look,” says On The Spot Pop Ups owner Marissa Loewen.
For ideas and inspiration on recreating the look for less, Loewen says to look no further than Pinterest, PSIMadeThis.com or TipJunkie.com, while local fairs like The Royal Bison and Make It are ripe with creative solutions to your every style need. When it comes to recreating a piece of Lucite jewelry yourself — a task that would seem daunting to the best of us — it’s actually much simpler than it seems.
A great statement piece can easily be whipped up by using Shrinky Dinks, a childhood favourite for most crafters and a simple solution for style hunters looking to get the trend for less.
To begin, decide on what shape you want your pendants to take, then start tracing them onto the plastic sheets. Keep in mind that your shape will shrink and harden to about a third of its original size after heating, so considering dimensions in this first step is critical to the success of your DIY.
Next, cut out the shapes, taking care to smooth out the edges and make them as even as possible. Once that’s done, use a hole punch to create openings for later affixing your pendants to a chain.
During this step, carefully consider how you want the necklace to look and if you want the pendants to be joined together in the final product; there’s no going back after this step.
Following the directions on the Shrinky Dinks package, bake your plastic shapes individually, watching as they shrivel and shrink before your eyes. Once removed from the heat, press down on the pendants with an oven mitt to flatten them before they harden, then allow them to cool fully.
From there, you can simply attach the pendants to a chain for a minimalist take on the trend, or embellish them with pearls or rhinestones to pack more of a statement. The only limit here is your imagination, so get crafty and channel your inner creative.