Light & Lovely
It’s expected for summer clothes to be light and airy, but have you noticed that jewelry typically follows suit? Just as no one likes to be weighed down in bulky layers in July, nobody is looking for the jewelry equivalent of a wool sweater in the hot season, either!
Color Merchants / Brevani
“There’s nothing worse than being outside in the heat, sweating and having your large gold medallion necklace stuck to your skin—it’s constraining!” laughs Allison Peck, creative director of Brevani. “Wearing dainty layers allows consumers to be fashionable while still being comfortable, light, and airy.”
Summer layering is darn near an art form, and some of America’s most high-profile fashionistas show us how it’s done. When the clothes come off, the layered jewels often start piling up to fill in that negative space.
At the recently held Wimbledon tennis tournament, Jessica Alba and her daughter Honor Warren twinned in matching oversize hoop earrings in a super slender width. Honor also wore two simple layered necklaces, while mom donned a stack of bracelets with beads and in silver. Layering in light styles is a perennial occurrence according to Adam Bassalali, co-founder and vice president of Lali Jewels. “With more exposed skin in summer, people have to layer to show their style,” he says.
Lali Jewels
Slender and stackable styles allow “everyone to create a unique look,” maintains Susie Wilty, director of sales for Prime Art & Jewel.
Her brand’s M by Monte Luna line is ready and waiting for seasonal appreciation. Delicate station designs, modest sizes of summery motifs, and pastel hues enable her clients to make one-of-a-kind hot weather style statements.
“It’s the definition of summer perfection!” she insists. “Lighter jewelry pieces are greatly encouraged in the warmer months for layering and versatility. From brunch to vacation, easily interchangeable dainty necklaces and bracelets are the perfect solution to staying on trend while beating the heat.”
Light looks also include anklets and demi-fine paperclip styles. Elevated birthstone jewels are another easy and lightweight way to accessorize with other layering statements like charms. Rembrandt Charms has loads to choose from and they are inherently light weight.
Rembrandt Charms
“For summer sales, we love leaning into fun, colorful, feel-good designs that capture the spirit of the season,” says John Lavelle, marketing director. “Our new painted charms are a perfect fit—bright, playful, and full of personality. Some of our summer favorites include a sweet honeybee, a cheerful garden gnome, a rainbow-colored lollipop, a classic campfire, and an ice cream cone that practically screams sunshine. We see our retailers styling and encouraging shoppers to layer light, simple, and dainty pieces all summer long. It’s the perfect way to create a personalized, effortless look that complements charm jewelry.”
Prime Art & Jewel
And while many might think stud earrings would be a go-to choice in summer, Lauren Sánchez Bezos shows us a different vision—the short drop earring. She wore several different pairs to various festivities surrounding her June 2025 wedding to Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos.
Sánchez Bezos loves her off-the-shoulders dresses; she’s worn one to most red-carpet events, so why should her nuptial celebrations be any different? With her “girls” often perched on display from the silk corseted pedestal of a strapless couture gown, she leaves short diamond drop earrings to do the bedazzled heavy lifting. Her wedding dress, however, was all buttoned up—and covered her up—but that was an anomaly in her high-fashion history. At most other festivities in Venice, where they married, she left her neckline bare and wore drop earrings.
It’s a choice that resonates with Wilty, who maintains that hoops and dangles are best sellers in the summer months. “With hair pulled back from the heat, earrings are an impactful part of any look and must be seen.”