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Tired of the old-school hoops and baroque pearls overpopulating your Instagram feed? It’s high time to reconsider the simple seashell. This summer, designers are thinking outside the box and looking to the beach for inspiration, churning out treasures from the deep: scallop pendants edged in gold leaf, Swarovski-studded clams, and single seawater-blue cowries dotted with coral.
A current favorite around the Vogue office, the beach-born bibelots allow deskbound editors to hit a tropical note in spite of overzealous air-conditioning or impending deadlines. “You feel like you’re always on a retreat,” says Associate Market Editor Alexandra Gurvitch, who has been wearing a light cord strung with shells—as a headband or double-looped around her ankle—as part of her 9-to-5 uniform.
Why not dive into Bahamian Rebecca de Ravenel’s most recent collection, replete with natural shell earrings capped in the same silky cord she uses for her signature Les Bonbons clip-ons? Or cast your eye on Aron & Hirsch’s impressive booty: a diamond-embellished shell set atop an opulent rainbow pavé sapphire band (though its four-digit price tag suggests it may, in fact, be better suited to a soiree than the sand).
Here, shop 20 shell trinkets that prove the season’s feel-good vibes don’t have to end with Summer Fridays.
