Gold, silver or mixed metal jewelry- which do you wear? In 2022, there has been a lot of debate about which jewelry metal is best to wear, solely on people’s opinion of what compliments your complexion best. Typically, it has been said that combining both gold and silver jewelry is considered weird or makes you look like you are “indecisive” and that everyone is either strictly all gold or all silver. Data was gathered from students at WHS to see which metal is most popular between gold, silver, mixed metal or another material. 

According to a survey taken by Walpole High School students, the lowest percentage were from people who wear mostly gold jewelry, which came out to 40%. Next came people who admitted to mixing metals, coming out to 41%. With a close tie, the most worn jewelry at Walpole High School are people who mostly wear silver jewelry, sitting at 44%. When asking people what other type of metal they wear some popular answers were rose gold, as well as jewelry like diamond and pearls. Yet still came nowhere close to the top percentage. In an additional area of the survey, students were asked what stereotypes are associated with the type of metal you wear. Some said silver looked “cheap” while a lot of students said they liked silver because of its affordability. Some students said gold metal looks too “basic and trendy” and some comments talked about how you should not mix your metals unless it matches your “vibe” or “personality.” Several said that the only way to pull off mixed metals is if you can “style them right” and “pick the right pieces.” And a good amount of students said any metal looks fine as long as you mix it with the right fashion choices. Some way your metals can be styled is by either layering necklaces or keeping a minimal look by wearing one dainty necklace. You could stack multiple rings or keep it to one or two. Depending on how many piercings you have, you can layer lots of earrings by using some studs and some dangle earrings or keeping it simple with one or two studs. Based on what you like best, layering or keeping it very simplistic both look great. 

In another part of the survey, WHS students were asked why they chose to wear their preferred metal. Some wear their metal based on what they think looks best on them. Some base their decisions off of their vibe, outfit, occasion or the season. Others wear a certain metal due to health reasons such as skin sensitivity or allergies to certain metals. Others chose their metal for affordability as well. Some wore their metals based on symbolic meaning, like if it was preferred in their religion and or culture, or if it was valuable to their family and passed down. Lastly, some wore it based on what they believed suited their facial features, hair and skin color best. Jewelers and websites have done extensive research to help people pick the best metal to suit their face and you can easily figure it out for yourself too. 

According to Silver Rush Style, the best way to figure out which metal to wear is to first figure out if you are warm or cool toned. To do so, the website suggests that, under natural light, look at your veins to see if they are clearly blue or teal. If it is blue “then you have a cool skin tone.” If closer to teal “your skin tone is warm.” Going off of your answers you can easily figure out what suits you best. Based on research from Grazia Magazine, they have an extensive list of metals that will bring out your tones best. For example, if you have pale skin, stick to silver jewelry as it looks “very fresh” on light skin. If you are someone with tanned or olive skin, you basically have free range and any metal type looks good on you. If you have dark skin, “silver can get a bit lost in your color” so gold will bring out your tones the best. When basing what you wear on hair color, it is pretty similar to your skin tone as well. From The Latest News, if you have brunette or really dark hair, you are usually suited to all metals. If you have blonde hair you should stick to silver metals because gold may bring out the yellow in your hair. If you have red or copper colored hair, yellow gold looks great and will highlight your hair’s warm tones. With white hair, you also have pretty much free range with what you wear since all metals harmonize with the neutral tone. Lastly, if you have balayage hair, stick to gold jewelry because it will bring out the ombre in your hair. 

With all of these resources, you now know the best looking metal for you based on your facial features, skin tones and hair color. Along with other students’ insight and opinions on what they think is best metal, you should now be able to easily pick the perfect metal and type of jewelry.