Sentimental Items Worn for Any Day

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Sentimental items for 3 generations

Sentimental Items Worn for Any Day

Quote of the day: “Life is not a rehearsal.” message on a movie-theater marquee

I do think this quote can mean many different things to many different people. But I used it for today, because this post is a dedication to my Aunt Nancy. My aunt, who was my father’s sister, just passed away this summer. And although we talk about the fact that life is short, sometimes even I forget to enjoy it to it’s fullest!

I’m lucky to include my cousin, Joy in this post also. We are all wearing pieces that belonged to her mom, my Aunt Nancy in our everyday outfits. My aunt had accumulated quite a bit of jewelry in her 83 years of life, and Joy, was so generous to share it with all of us.

Who of you out there doesn’t have a piece or two that was handed down from some friend or family member? I think these pieces are so meaningful, and yet many times we put them away and forget about them. Whether it’s because it’s “not our style” or we don’t want to lose them, it seems a waste. Let’s pull out those sentimental items and make sure they get tons of love!

Joy (also 50+) Outfit: In Joy’s words, “This is a 70’s inspired ensemble.

My mom collected jewelry for most likely more than 60 years of her life. Collected is more of an understatement, but she was very proud of her treasures. She knew every tribe that every turquoise piece came from, the names of the designers, and their value. Her famous saying was “When I die, you will get all my jewelry.”

The necklace is an amber and sterling dessert scene with a choker chain. I never saw my mom wear it but it is definitely a favorite of mine out of the thousands of pieces she had. The sterling hoop earrings are also my moms. I’ve never been a fan of huge hoops, but I like this size and think the balls on these go great without being too matchy with the necklace.

Sentimental Items for Women

The belt is from the real 70’s, and my mom hand stamped and hand painted the flowers on the leather.

I had additional plain leather added to the belt because high waist was in then (fashion repeats itself, yes I know), and I prefer lower waist jeans.

All of the rings are my everyday wears that have been inherited. Grandmas ring, mom’s wedding ring that my dad’s father designed and patented while working at Granite Brothers in San Francisco. Dad’s signet ring grandma Siegel gave him. All of these have been resized and repaired, so they are just like new.

The bracelets are all my moms. I wear three chains all of the time, but added the coral and abalone American Indian cuff and braided leather and sterling cuff to add an eclectic vibe.

Sentimental items

The wide leg jeans Citizen of Humanity  were too long, because, all designer jeans are too long for me. Some I hem but these I thought had the 70’s feel already so I cut off the bottoms to fray.

Even the shoes were also my moms, who let me steal them a few years back. Cole Haan. Not vintage 70’s, but inspired in style with the wedge heel, ankle strap and silver gold tone peek a boo toe.”

Sentimental Items for Older Women

Jodie’s (50+) Outfit: I was able to choose quite a few pieces of jewelry from my aunt’s collection.

I didn’t wear every piece with outfit that I was given, but I did want to showcase this necklace and bracelet. The red bracelet is wood, and actually had quite a few cracks in it. But I figured I could try to fix it with superglue. I’m not sure how long it will hold up, but better to wear it out, than have it be forgotten in a drawer.

I almost think red bracelets can be as versatile as red shoes. They can add that pop of color to almost any outfit. And these are items you don’t have to spend a ton of money on to make a statement. This one adds a ton of color while this one is smaller.

sentimental items from relatives

Since the bracelet and necklace don’t go together or match in any way, I tried incorporating a neutral for the top half of my body.

I have to admit, that in the these photos, the green of the necklace isn’t as pretty against the grey top. For some reason, in my closet, it seemed to look better. But better to try and fail than not to try at all, right?

Women over 50 wearing sentimental items

I put on my red jeans for our excursion, and I even matched my shoes to the jeans. I still remember the day when I questioned if I were too old to wear red jeans? And maybe they aren’t your first thought for your outfits. But I do think that different colored jeans are fun. Maybe you’d consider burgundy or olive green ones?

Sentimental items for 50+ women

Jeans: Style & Co (similar here)~~Top: Gaviola (similar here)~~Shoes: Missguided (similar here)~~Necklace: (similar here)~~Bracelet: (similar here)~~Purse: Kate Spade-thrifted (similar here)

Nancy’s (60+) Outfit: For Nancy’s outfit using the sentimental items that used to be my aunt’s, she chose a dark poncho to show off the necklace.

The necklace that Nancy brought home is a zebra print, and shows up so nicely against the darker poncho. And if you look closely, you can see that we also used the black & pearl earrings as pins on the poncho. The poncho tends to move and show Nancy’s bra straps, so I used these post earrings to act like clips.

Sentimental items Worn with love

I love that Nancy chose this necklace in which to remember my aunt. My aunt was certainly a fun loving, social person, and that is exactly how I see this necklace. Because animal prints of any kind still give off a wild and fun vibe.

Sentimental items worn by Women over 60

This poncho has a lot of volume to it, so we went looking in Nancy’s closet for some tighter pants.

And when we found ones that were black & white, I thought it was perfect. If you don’t have a black & white pair of pants in your closet, it’s definitely a print that can work so much of the time. You could always chose a print pair that is abstract, subtle or even a little wild and crazy.

60+ Women wearing sentimental items

Pants: H&M (similar here)~~Sweater: Tasha (similar here)~~Shoes: Charles by Charles David (similar here)~~Necklace: (similar here)~~Earrings-used as clips on sweater: (similar here)

Charlotte’s (70+) Outfit: My mom not only took some jewelry items that were my Aunt Nancy’s, but also accepted this “scarf.”

This scarf had a piece of paper attached to it that read, “Mesco-Koved, Birsod megye (in Hungarian) from Mrs. Buday”. Of course, none of us know what this means, but my mom thinks it was a piano scarf. And only my mom would think to take a piece of home decor and wear it as a shawl! But it’s brilliant, because it’s such a lovely item.

Now the scarf is quite heavy, so my mom used a huge pin to hold it together in the front through the tassels. Then we folded down the neck so it would look like a collar! Heck, you could be wearing a potato sack under this, and all of the focus would still be on this lovely shawl. Not that I expect all of you to pick up your home decor items and drape them over your shoulders, but maybe being creative is a good thing.

Sentimental items for Women over 70

The other items that came from Aunt Nancy’s stash were these rings and bracelets. Since there were so many colors in the scarf, I figured we could add in a bunch of different colors with these accessories.

sentimental items for everyday

Now I have to show you what I found when I looked for an embroidered shawl.

This one is not as colorful, but it has the same kind of look. And then there’s this one that is darker, but also quite stunning. And notice how expensive both of these items were. So maybe it would behoove you to look around at your table cloths, and home decorations. Possibly you could re purpose them?

70+ Women wearing sentimental items

Jeans: Bill Blass (similar here)~~Top: Soft Surroundings (similar here)~~Shoes: Connie (similar here)~~Scarf: (similar here)~~Bracelet: (similar here)~~Rings: (similar here or here)

What really constitutes a sentimental piece or item? It really doesn’t need to be expensive or one of a kind. It can be something that reminds you of someone else or a place in time. So what do you think? Will this give you some inspiration to pull out some of the sentimental items that you’ve been given? If so, I truly would love to know what you have and the story behind it!

Thanks to one and all of you for your support. It means more than you know!

The Facts

Even if you wouldn’t consider purchasing your clothing online, it can be helpful to look through my links to see what is available! It certainly doesn’t hurt my feelings, if you click on them but don’t like them. Just so you know, one of the ways I make money from this blog is through these linked items.

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