My cheap jewelry haul (picture heavy post)

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Note: Forever 21 has free shipping today only (July 4) on orders over $21. Use code FREESHIP.

The people have spoken, and you said that you would like to see the shiny things I bought from Forever 21 recently, despite the general shittiness of that company. If we're talking purely in terms of affordability, I think F21 is the way to go for cheap jewelry. Costume jewelry, I guess? Do we still call it that? Anyway, you can get things very comparable to what you would find at places like Banana Republic or Bauble Bar, etc. - i.e. base metals, plastic (ahem, sorry, acrylic or whatever word they use to avoid saying plastic), and paint (ahem, again, lacquer or enamel, etc.) - for significantly cheaper. I have seen things from shops like those, identical in every way as far as I could tell to items at F21, selling for 2-8 times the price. Some of the F21 jewelry is just plain crap, and some is way too juvenile for me, but if you take your time and look carefully, you can find some really decent items.

Note: I've bought all my F21 jewelry online. I've never had luck in the stores. I don't know if it's just picked over too quickly in the stores, but I always seem to find way better things online.

But you wanted pictures, right? There are a lot of them below the cut, beware.

Here's one of my favorites. I got lots of compliments on it when I wore it the other day - it really does look like stone. It also comes in light blue and silver, and I had a hard time deciding which one to get.

Faux marble nugget necklace, $9.80

I got this ring just because I used to have an almost identical one that I bought at the West Edmonton Mall when I was 14, only it was real silver:

Dolphin ring, $2.80

This one seems to be out of stock right now, sorry:

Colorblocked geo necklace, $5.80 (sort of similar)

These actually come in a set of 6 with 4 other colors, but these are the two I see myself wearing most often:

Carved roses earring set, $3.80 for 6 pairs

Well, this is out of stock too, damnit:

Marquis faux stone bib necklace, $6.80 (similar color)

I won't wear these all at the same time normally, but it made them easier to photograph. This is two sets of two rings:

Rhinestone ring set, $1.80 for each set of 2

This looks way more delicate and expensive than it was. Aaaaand this is also out of stock, but I linked to something that is basically identical, but only has one leaf instead of two:

Fall leaves necklace, $2.80 (similar)

This is all one set that I'll be able to use in a bunch of different configurations - and also out of stock, fuck:

Colored bangle set, $8.80 (try these)

I was least sure about these of everything I ordered, but they look really great, and I need more small earrings:

Lacquered flower studs, $3.80

I bought this one because it looks like an ancient Greek or Roman coin with an elephant on it. I already have a necklace I made with fake Roman coin pendants that I bought here, and I want to add this one to it. (DO NOT buy real ancient coins, boys and girls! It fuels the antiquities market and encourages looting of archaeological sites. Not cool.)

Elephant necklace, $3.80

For that whole haul I paid $52 plus tax. (I went to $50 to get free shipping - but there were more things I wanted, I was just limiting myself. So frugal.) Not bad, right? As you can see, there is a lot of rapid turnover in F21's stock, so even though I just got these last week, a bunch of them are already out of stock. I thought I'd show you some of my favorite other things I've bought from F21 over the last couple of years, just to give you a sense of the kind of shit you might find. But because of that quick turnover, I'm pretty sure not of these exact things are available anymore either. I hope that's not annoying, and you enjoy the colors and sparkles anyway.