2 min read
A butterfly reads young by default. Four ways to wear one so it reads considered instead.
The butterfly has a reputation problem: done badly it reads like something from a school fete. Almost all of that comes down to two variables — scale and whether the shape is filled or drawn. A small open outline behaves completely differently from a large enamelled one, and it is the outline version that works past the age of twenty.
With a shirt
A collared shirt with the top two buttons open makes a natural frame. Keep the pendant short enough to sit inside that opening rather than below it. This is the most office-safe way to wear a motif pendant — the collar does the formalising, so the pendant is allowed to be playful.
With a kurta
Kurtas usually want length. A single small pendant on a longer chain sits well against a plain kurta, and against a printed one you want the chain longer still so the pendant clears the busiest part of the print. Skip it entirely on heavy embroidery at the neckline — the pendant loses.
With a saree
This is the hardest case, and the answer is usually contrast. A delicate outline butterfly against a heavily worked saree is a deliberately quiet choice and looks it. What does not work is a mid-scale butterfly against mid-scale zari — two things competing at the same volume.
Layered
A butterfly pendant makes a good bottom layer under a plain shorter chain, because the eye reads the plain chain first and the motif second. Reverse that order and the butterfly announces itself, which is the thing you were trying to avoid.
What to pair it with
- Small studs, never a second motif — one story per outfit
- A watch with a plain face, if you wear one
- Nothing else at the neck
- If you want to repeat the motif, do it once and at a different scale — matching butterfly earrings and pendant together is the costume version