Fashion icon Coco Chanel’s influence is omnipresent once again this season with a resurgence of looks borrowing her famous style of layering pearl necklaces, both real and faux.

The July 2012 issue of Elle provides “plenty of inspiration to encourage you to push your sartorial limits” including “attention-grabbing flapper pearls.” The first look pictured in the issue shows a silk evening dress from Burberry Prorsum lavishly adorned with strands and strands of cultured pearls, some of the necklaces and the bracelet accented with diamonds, all from Mikimoto. The felt cloche is from Rike Feurstein; the leather clutch accented with an ornamental fox head and front legs detail is from Burberry Prorsum.

An edgier look created in glass pearls by Chanel adorns a second look from the spread in the July issue of Elle. The model wears a silk velvet evening gown from Bottega Veneta with an embellished clutch from Dolce & Gabbana, boots from Marc Jacobs, and a hat from Chanel.

The July–August 2012 issue of More magazine dresses up a casual dress from Joe Fresh with what are described as “pearl necklaces” from R.J. Graziano. The model also wears a Swarovski Crystallized ring, and a collection of bracelets. On her left arm, she wears gemstone and gold-plated bracelets from Wimberly Inc., a resin bracelet from R.J. Graziano, a floral bracelet from Fantasy Jewelry Box and another bracelet from I Love Accessories. On her right arm she wears a resin bracelet from Coldwater Creek and a metal bracelet from I Love Accessories. The look is further accessorized with a PVC purse from Ivanka Trump Handbags, a clutch from French Connection, a hat from Scala Collezione, and pumps from Sole Society.

Here is the probable source of the inspiration, Coco Chanel, seen in Paris circa 1938 in a photo from the October 2009 issue of Elle. She is wearing matching Verdura cuffs in the photo, a style I’ll be discussing in an upcoming blog post.

JCK