Hairstick dilemma

[elettaria]

I'm getting my outfit ready to go to my cousin's wedding next month. For those of you who haven't met me, I've got pale skin, medium brown hair with bronzey tones to it which is long enough to sit on, brown eyes. The dress is floaty, a dark purple/indigo ground, with an insane thistly design in turquoise/teal, fuchsia, off-white and a little red. Sounds weird but looks stunning. The chiffon scarf, which is currently off getting hemmed before I go mad beading it (couldn't buy anything the right colour), is somewhere between ice blue and very pale aqua, about this colour as far as I can tell from my monitor:



The necklace which looks best is my dark lapis choker (sort of rope effect made from silver heishi with lapis tubes at the throat), I tried turquoise and while the colour worked I needed a stronger shade at my throat. Now here comes the big dilemma: which hairsticks should I go for? The hairstick maker, Kathy at Maiden's Treasures, has thrown together a few ideas for me. I'm in awe.



This is original design I'm thinking of going for, only I'd replace the orange bead with a different feature bead, for instance the teal equivalent.



I've roughly removed the coloured shadows from the vintage opaline bead at the end of the row since it looked odd as the others were all against white, but I can put them up too if people are really fussy.

Current thoughts:

1) Nice, but sapphire Swarovski is too blue, the lighter blue on my dress is somewhere between teal and turquoise. Might look nice with a different bead on top, say lapis.
2) and 3) Good pairing, still quite keen on it.
4) Ooh. Yum. Should I go for lapis (identical pair) after all? Note that lapis doesn't come any larger than this. It'll match the choker, but it probably wouldn't be as noticeable against my hair as a lighter colour.
5) Another nice one, not sure whether I'd do an identical or mismatched pair.
6) Lovely subtle design, but again blue lace agate is too blue.
7) Lovely stone, not sure yet. I think it would tone quite well with moonstone, and I imagine it would work with 2) as a pair.

cross-posted to my LJ and longhair

Comments

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

(Bear in mind that my taste is occasionally rather questionable ...)

I'm not keen on 2 - I think the facets make it look a bit twinkly - but it would probably depend on how it looks on you (and how big it is - I'm having trouble with scale, here).

I like 3, but only if it matches well. If it's too green it might be a bit peacock-y.

4, 5, and 6 are my favourites, and if 6 wasn't too blue (and if they're about the same size) I'd suggest 4 & 6 together. I'm not sure what 5 would go with if you don't get a matched set as the shape is so different.

I'd go for a pair of the lapis ones, I think - they may not be as obvious (although I would think that dark blue would show up reasonably against bronzy-brown) but they will pick up the colour from the choker so will be more noticeable without shouting.

Feel free to ignore all of that, obviously!

[elettaria.livejournal.com]

They're all double size. The second one is black onyx, so I don't think it should be too sparkly; certainly no more sparkly than the faceted lapis.

*keeps pondering*

[nonamoose.livejournal.com]

They are lovely!

I'd go for the lapis, but you know I'm obsessed with lapis!

[elettaria.livejournal.com]

I don't think it'll actually match my lapis, bear in mind. Mine is dark blue/indigo and unfaceted, nor is it shiny. This is medium-dark blue, not purpley, and shiny.

I'm currently considering getting the teal and onyx set. Though I'm starting to be tempted by the idea of getting that and the lapis, since I wear blue so much anyway. I was originally thinking of getting three sticks in total, the teal & onyx pair and then another one like the teal, but with a different feature bead (wonder if she has any banded carnelian?) that I could wear with the onyx. Ach, decisions.

[finnygan.livejournal.com]

Hmmm ...

Well, based on what you say about the colour of your hair and the colour of the dress, I'd say that you should probably be careful about picking something too blue - so I'm not sure that 1, 4, 6, and 7 would be a good idea. Black, of course, goes with practically everything, but it might disappear against all the colourful stuff you'll be wearing, so I'm not sure about that either. This leaves 3 and 5 - and I just happen to like the colour of number 3 better, so that's what I'd suggest.

But since I can't actually see it, I may have got it all very wrong. At least I tried, though. :)

[elettaria.livejournal.com]

The black one is meant to be paired with #2. It won't get lost against my hair, my hair won't be that close to the dress!

#4 is lapis, and bear in mind that my lapis choker looks lovely with the dress. I don't know if this lapis is a touch lighter, though.

Grr. Opinion is current split down the middle between getting two in lapis, and the teal glass/black onyx combination. Will have to ponder this further.

[nadyezhda.livejournal.com]

3! 3! That's my vote :) lovely!

[elettaria.livejournal.com]

Ahhh, and you even put in my favourite icon in my honour.

I'm probably going for 3 and 2 together, they're designed as a pair. I'm starting to wonder how difficult it is to make and sell hairsticks, actually. I've got a good design sense, I might take it up. The ones where you buy beads and plain wooden sticks and put them together like this seller does, I'm not planning to take up woodwork.

[nothingtoyou.livejournal.com]

I love your geranium/triffid icon! (saw it in ukvegans)
:)