Pearlcore - 2022’s biggest Fashion Trend

In case you haven’t heard… Pearls have been anointed as the go-to accessory for 2022. I mean they’ve never really gone out of style in my book - In fact I wrote a post about how to wear pearls and not look like your grandma a few years back. Because pearls are a classic, and the way you style them can make them feel modern or dowdy. The principles I discussed still hold true. However, the pearlcore aesthetic kind of takes wearing pearls to the next level.

In January I did a Fashion Friday segment on WKYC-TV looking at the hot fashion trends for 2022. And pearlcore was one. Although, in order to understand the trend, we have to take a step back to deconstruct what “core” really means first.

Actually, let’s take it back even further to explain what all of these “core” movements are…I’ve heard it explained as, instead of having “it” items that are “in'' for a particular season, rather, there are entire aesthetics that are deemed “in”. In other words, core movements that encompass entire aesthetics are what’s trending as opposed to individual items.

Gen Z really adopted the trend of micro-COREs and helped it gain momentum. Cores are basically an aesthetic “definition” and there are an abundance of them happening right now. It’s been suggested that the reason this is happening is that people, especially Gen Z’ers, are seeking a way to define themselves and these micro cores provide buckets for that definition. Others have theorized that there is a direct correlation between these core aesthetics and wanting to have a specific LOOK on social media. Regardless of why, cores are definitely popping up everywhere…

Some examples of core movements are: Normcore, Cottagecore, Royalcore, Fairycore, Angelcore (aka romantic), Softcore (aka cozy clothes), and even Screencore (aka what you wear from the waist up).

Pearlcore is a larger trend than just wearing a strand of pearls. Although if that’s your comfort zone for pearls, I say go for it! The concept behind pearlcore is incorporating the gem into your entire look. Because of this, we are seeing pearl embellished clothes, shoes and accessories happening everywhere and at all price points. The added bonus is that with pearlcore, all of your accessorizing is done for you, the jewels are literally built into the clothes - easy-peasy.

Pearlcore also spans style categories, making it easy to adapt to your personal style. Meaning it can skew, preppy or romantic, classic or edgy. In my opinion, that is why it’s such a huge trend this year - it’s easy for everyone to hop on the pearcore bandwagon, and personalize it to their individual taste and style.

Let’s Hear it for the Boys

Another reason pearls and therefore pearlcore have made such a resurgence this year is because male celebrities like Harry Styles, Usher and Joe Jonas have been spotted adding pearls to their looks. And the Atlanta Braves MLB player Joc Penderson got a lot of attention for wearing pearls during both the regular and postseason. His response when asked why he was wearing them was “I always thought they kind of looked good”.

1. Mix your pearls with metals, leather or beads - Pair a traditional strand of pearls with other necklaces in your jewelry box to make them feel less dressy. We saw Carrie Bradshaw do this often in AJLT, the SATC reboot. 

2. Don’t save them for special occasions - yes, you can wear pearls or pearl encrusted pieces with a dress but also with jeans or sneakers. That juxtaposition of dressy and casual is exactly what pearlcore is about.

3. The bigger the better, but not always. As a rule of thumb, the bigger the pearl, the dressier the outfit. So save the 10+ millimeter baubles for fancier outfits and pair the smaller gems with your casual duds.

4. Make it your hero - when you’re wearing a pearl embellished piece, let it shine. Allow the one with all the pearls to be the one they notice.

5. Avoid pearl overload - Do not double and triple pearl in a single outfit, meaning don’t wear a pearl sweater and pearl shoes and a pearl headband all at the same time.

I Did the Shopping for You!

Some of the best pearlcore pieces available on the world wide web…You can decide how pearly you want to be.