Charm School

On the whole, I've never been a big fan of charm bracelets. I've always pictured those like my mum had when she was my age; a thick gold bracelet made up of bars with a huge padlock fastening and assorted charms in the shape of dolpins, 21s, kettles, and even a gypsy caravan that lifted up to show the interior. No thanks. But thanks to companies such as Pandora, charm bracelets are now very, very hip again, and they in no way resemble the aforementioned monstrosity these days. After deciding it was about time I jumped on this style bandwagon, I opted for Pandora, originally a Danish company whose products are now widely available in the UK, as their designs are classic yet stylish, expenisve looking yet not too big a dent on the purse. The first thing I can warn potential buyers about is not to choose a silver or gold bracelet, as they really pinch arm hairs, but instead to pick a weaved leather one, available in loads of different colours and sizes, as well as single or double strands. I chose single one in pink for £35, a limited edition Breast Cancer Care version that I had to hunt everywhere for. With the leather bracelets, you can't fill them all around with charms as they would stretch, so mine's now complete with nine. I chose a murano glass charm for the centre, a circle in a floral pattern of pale and dark pink with silver edges. Around this, I put two hanging charms (a high heeled shoe and an October birth stone), a handbag, heart, a thin band, and acircle, all with small pink gems in, and finished off with a cute frog, and an owl my mum bought me for my 2nd year exam results. They ranged between £20 and £30 ish. Overall, I've now got a classy and expensive, yet personalised, quirky and colourful, charm bracelet, which fits the trend yet screams 'ME'. I'm converted! The charm world has come a long way since the 80s. COSMOPOLITAN recently did a full page photo feature, calling them 'The lust-have keepsake bracelets that no girl can live without!' I got there first! Check out Pandora's website, where you can build your own virtual bracelet and look at all the different charms available. Then add to your xmas/birthday/23rd and a half anniversary list pronto.

http://www.pandora.net/en-GB

Lou x