Every week a different FADER staff member will pick a clothing item or accessory that he or she has lately been spending a lot of time with—or would like to—and write a little love letter to it. We would’ve done a column on who we’re dating but that seemed a little bit much. This week Julianne Escobedo Shepherd writes about the Return to Me Customizable Necklace.
A few years back I was obsessed with hand-sewing words and phrases onto thrifted sweaters and tops with brightly colored yarn. Some pieces, I still have—the tank branded "Hott 4 Discourse," the sweater deadpanning "Touche"—it was a fun and totally half-assed way to customize my clothing without actually having to look at a sewing machine. Mostly though it accommodated my total ADD about clothing, my compulsive desire to constantly evolve and change looks that's certainly rooted in junior high days of internal skatebetty-vs-goth-vs-vixen wardrobe dilemmas. Enter the Return to Me Customizable Necklace, a gorgeous gilded piece that's re-convertible at your every whim, whether you need it to state "I GOT THIS" like some kind of DIY Soulja Boy chain, or floss a wicked pattern based on your mom's needlepoint. Designed by art director and Central Saint Martins grad Michelle Outland, the 24k gold-plated piece is a lunar-shaped grid, and comes with three packs of embroidery floss for making your own design (or verbiage). It's the latest in a series of Return to Me pieces that emphasize mining your own creativity, an extension of Outland's philosophy that "this brand becomes what you create"—a true and gorgeous statement piece with utilitarian swag for the creatively enterprising and/or easily bored. In other words, perfect for someone like me.