Yvonne de Carlo and her taste in pearl jewellery
Yvonne de Carlo with a classic choker length pearl necklace (Pic 1)
Yvonne de Carlo (1922 – 207) was one of the most famous movie stars in 1940s and 1950s, although her career spanned over 5 decades. De Carlo is most famously known as Lily Munster in the 1964-1966 slapstick horror-movie spoof “The Munsters.” Her trademark was her long hair and her curvy figures, and she also had a very good taste for pearl jewellery. Like all female celebrities of her time, pearls were a favourite choice of adornment. Yvonne uses classic single strand pearl necklaces to add to her elegant, chic lady image, accompanied with luxurious designer outfit.
Yvonne De Carlo with classic princess pearl necklace (Pic 2)
To bring out a lady’s natural beauty, simplicity in her jewellery is key. The audience’s attention is framed to her face by the pearls, but does not focus on the jewellery and end up on her visage. The pearls are only an additional touch, not the essence of her look.
Using a simple classic design single strand pearl necklace requires attention to detail. There are two classic lengths that could easily be mixed up: ‘choker‘, which is 16 inches or 40 cm, and ‘princess‘, 18 inches or 46cm. Although only 2 inches different in length, the looks that they offer are quite different. In Pic 1, Yvonne had an outfit of rich design with a luxurious fur cape, so she chose to have the shorter of the two – a choker pearl necklace to balance out the overall style. In Pic 2, she had a wide low neck silk dress, showing her beautiful collar bones and chest, so she opted for a slightly longer option of the classic pearl necklace, a ‘princess’ length at 18 inches, matched with pearl earrings of simple design. The whole outfit stays simple and elegant.
Yvonne De Carlo with pearl rope necklace (Pic 3)
De Carlo however, did not always go for the classy look. She also gets very creative with her pearl jewelry at times. In Pic 3 she wore a long pearl rope necklace in an usually creative way, while still keeping the classic style through simplicity. It’s a jewelry style that offers a little bit of surprise, without breaking too many rules. Her creativity does not stop there though. In Pic 4, Yvonne posed in a movie with loaded diamond and gold jewelry, while intertwining a long pearl rope with her hair. Now this is a very surprising move – we’ve seen many creative uses of pearl necklaces but braiding one into the hair is still a first. Yvonne does get creative with her hair style quite a lot, especially in her role in ‘Munster’ TV series, dyeing a strand of her hair white while leaving the rest its original colour – now adding pearls to her hair shows her confidence at doing things differently as well as her pride for her trademark long hair.
Yvonne De Carlo pearls in hair (Pic 4)