How to Wear... The Body Chain

No longer confined to fetish clubs and, er, "red rooms", the body chain has become the ultimate statement necklace, with delicate gold strands and strings of pearls to adorn those who aren't into the leather harness and buckles look. Here, I scratch the surface of its surprising versatility.

The Pretty Party Dress
A delicate jewelled version adds a bit of edge to a classic girly frock without spoiling its sweetness.

Body Chain: Freedom at Topshop
Dress: Dorothy Perkins (Past Season)
Shoes: New Look (SS12)

Modern Rocker
A simple multi-strand body chain is perfect for amping up a plain vest or tee, and works especially well as part of a "rock chick" look, with metallic, leather, studded or just plain dark denim skinnies. A single ear cuff is the cherry on top, whilst a denim shirt turns the volume down a bit - a leather blazer would dress it up whilst maintaining the feel of the look.

Body Chain: Freedom at Topshop

Ear Cuff: Miss Selfridge

Jeans: Parisian at New Look (Past Season)

Boots: Primark (Past Season)

Shirt: Tammy (Past Season)

Vintage Vixen
A pearl variant adds wow factor to a little black midi (and would also look amazing with flapper style shifts, and pencil, lantern, tulip and skater shapes). I think it works particularly well with a monochrome or single-colour palette.

Body Chain: Miss Selfridge (still available in many stores, although not currently online)
Dress: eBay

A metallic fine-chained piece, like the one featured in Modern Rocker, above, gives a slightly subtler edge to a multi-coloured vintage-style ensemble, as illustrated in yesterday's post, where it ramps up the glamour and adds impact without competing for attention with the colour pop pencil skirt.

The AW12 Wear-With-Anything Super Chain
If you're yet to take your first steps into the world of body chains, you can't go far wrong with this Primark buy for £10 - it's elegant enough to wear with vintage party gowns, but edgy enough to wear with leather and studs - and the mixture of gold and silver strands means it will work with most tones of garments and accessories.

Tomorrow: How to Wear Faux Fur and Winter Warmers

See more posts featuring body chains here

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