What transforms an outfit from separate pieces into an ensemble? What helps personalize tried and tested basics, like a white button down with blue jeans? If your answer is jewellery, you’re correct. Bling, bling, bling!

Apart from accessories (shoes, bags, belts, hats) jewellery is the next step in curating a strong personal style. Whether you’re looking to upgrade your current wardrobe or trying out a new-year-new-me mantra, a relatively easy fix is to invest in versatile jewellery that will add extra oomph to your outfits.

Whether you’re someone who already loves accessorizing to the max or a minimalist who prefers a fuss free look, by identifying key pieces and trends, you can incorporate jewellery into your weekly wardrobe rotation with ease. A particularly easy hack, especially if you fall in the latter category of minimalism, is to opt for every day staples that you wear and can layer with other pieces when you want to dress up.

The utility of jewellery aside, it’s hard to find pieces that really resonate. Sure there’s the usual brands in malls that everyone turns to from time to time (that stock the same products imported from the far-east) but till quite recently, there was a major dearth of local, contemporary jewellery brands that were catering beyond the formal/semi-formal demand.

In the last year or two though, things have changed. There’s been a proliferation of locally made jewellery brands that are usually enterprises of young women branching out into entrepreneurial life. These brands aren’t only providing unique accessories, they also produce limited pieces which means that you’re not likely to bump into four others who have the same accessories as you do. Did we mention they’re also budget friendly, unlike designer jewellery set in precious metals or gemstones?

With Instagram serving as their marketplace, these local brands have caught our attention with their distinctive styles:

Mahlaqa Marri

Marri, a student artist based out of Lahore, tops our list of accessory brands to keep an eye out for, even though hers is not a brand per say but rather a first come, first serve boutique. Marri makes traditional Balochi jewellery with modern materials, giving a new meaning to the tribal aesthetic that has currently captivated the market (here’s looking at you Ayesha’s Accessories). Marri’s work features Balochi tokh, kangan and saharay inspired pieces that she makes herself and posts online for sale. Most of her pieces are sold even before she uploads her wares online, implying a much greater demand for her jewellery than what the supply permits. If you’re looking for an inimitable statement piece, we’d recommend dropping the artist a message and pre-booking what she’s making next.

Takhleek Handmade Jewellery

We’ve mentioned Zamzam Pervaiz earlier but didn’t really get a chance to explore her work. Takhleek is another boutique jewellery brand that operates through Instagram, making wire jewellery look cool. If you’re looking for minimal, fuss free pieces, Takhleek is a great option, allowing you to layer up or layer down, depending on your mood and style. Pervaiz keeps putting out new pieces through-out the year while also producing seasonal collections. From personalized name pendants to cool bookmarks designed to resemble cats, Takhleek’s pieces have an undeniable understated charm.

Honourable mention: Bae by Baemisaal, another upcoming wire jewellery brand that’s caught our attention and deserves to be checked out.

YDEWY

Did you know that it is possible to make extremely colourful and funky jewellery using polymer clay? We didn’t either till we were introduced to this cool new brand, YDEWY through Instagram. Young and hip, this Karachi based brand is giving a new meaning to the term wearable ear with their collections. Each piece is handmade so even among a collection, not two pieces sent out will be the same, ensuring that you remain the owner of distinctive artwork made just for you. Check out their wares online and some oomph to your outfits with their made with love jewellery.