Anna Wintour’s Layered Necklaces and Groundbreaking Spring Florals

On Thursday, Wintour attended the GQ Global Creativity Awards in New York.

She wore a custom Prada gown in green and ivory with an abstract floral print for the awards ceremony.

She accessorized with her signature sunglasses and stack of brightly-colored antique necklaces. Wintour reportedly sources at least some of these necklaces, which date to the nineteenth century, from S.J. Phillips in London. Most of the necklaces she wears have been in her personal collection for years, worn over and over again in different configurations with different outfits.

For Thursday’s awards ceremony, Anna chose two necklaces with honey-colored stones.

The shorter of the two necklaces appears to be an antique from India, or at least based on traditional Indian designs. It features an intricate design in seed pearls and gold with large citrine-hued pendants. The second necklace also features large citrine-colored stones in prong settings. The stones are large and translucent enough that, against the green fabric of her gown, they glow almost like peridots.

Here’s one more look from the awards ceremony, sans lunettes de soleil.

Interestingly, the Prada gown that Wintour chose for last week’s awards ceremony was a recent repeat. (In fact, I think all of the dresses she wears in this article are re-wears, some several years old.) She wore the Prada dress previously for the Black Carpet Awards during Milan Fashion Week in February. But on that occasion, she wore a different set of layered antique necklaces: simpler necklaces set with lavender and citrine colored stones, and a more elaborate honey-colored necklace with briolette pendants. For me, this look is a miss, because the details of the more complicated necklace are lost in the necklace layered over the top of it.

Helpfully, though, Wintour has also recently worn almost the same set of necklaces, but without that overlapping third necklace. The details of the necklace with pendants, especially that center section, are much easier to discern here, though the colors of the stones are again affected by the green fabric of her custom Marni dress.

We also recently saw Wintour wear the light purple necklace and the Indian-inspired seed pearl and citrine necklace together. She paired them with a custom Louis Vuitton coat and dress for the Fashion Scholarship Fund Gala in New York on April 3. What do you think: which of these recent necklace outings is your favorite, and which of the pieces would you add to your own collection? (I’ll arm wrestle all of you for the necklace with the briolette pendants!)