The Summer Accessory Edit – Less Is More 

Put Some of It Back 

It is very tempting, in a season this colourful, to leave the house wearing every accessory you own at once, bangles stacked to the elbow, three necklaces fighting for the same square inch of collarbone, sunglasses that don’t match anything on purpose because chaos is a vibe too. We get it. But the sharpest Jamaican summer looks tend to do the opposite: one genuinely great piece, chosen on purpose, doing all the work by itself. 

A Material That Actually Talks Back 

Jermaine Edwards learned this from his father, who spent afternoons turning coconut shell, bamboo, and gemstone beads, materials nobody else thought twice about, into pieces “you could not look away from.” His philosophy sounds less like a technique and more like a relationship: “My father taught me something before he ever taught me a technique: that materials have a voice if you are patient enough to listen. The bamboo wants to become something. The shell already knows what it is.” 

That is the opposite of piling more on. It’s attention. His whole Lannaman Gems ethos comes down to one line borrowed from the luxury houses he studies: “Luxury is not the logo. It is the transformation.” One transformed piece will out-argue five accessories worn just to fill space. 

A Story That Fits in One Hand 

Davia Hines builds Bag&Pan Handmade around specificity rather than volume, a Papaya earring inspired by an actual road sign on the way to Negril, an Ackee and Breadfruit pair that became a bestseller purely because it’s honest. “They say something true about where we come from without needing any explanation. The people who reach for them already know.” That’s the real test for a one-piece strategy: does the object carry enough weight on its own that it doesn’t need backup dancers? 

Sha-Jay Williams of YAJAHS thinks about her beaded work in a similarly concentrated way, less accumulation, more affirmation. “I want it to land on your skin and remind you that you are already enough. That your features are beautiful. That you do not need to change a thing to be worthy of adornment.” One piece chosen for meaning beats five chosen for availability. 

The Bag Can Do the Talking 

Latoya Spence makes bags under theyellowroom_studio shaped like flowers, finished with banana leaves cut from burlap and vegan leather, in colours pulled straight from her grandmother’s tie-a-leaf recipe. “We love to stand out here. We love things that represent our stories and reflect where we come from.” A bag with that much personality doesn’t need a matching necklace competing for attention, it’s already narrating the whole outfit by itself. 

Tricia Gordon-Johnston, who melted down decades of her own collected silver in 2014 to start making jewellery under Tricia’s Handmade, applies a similarly strict filter to her own choices: “I design for myself first. If I wouldn’t wear it or live with it, I cannot fully invest in making it.” Try that test at checkout, not “does this match everything,” but “would I be completely happy wearing only this, alone, and calling it done.” 

How to Actually Pick the One 

If the whole philosophy hinges on choosing well, a real method beats guessing. Start with material, ask what the piece is actually made of, and whether that material has a story attached, before you ask how it looks on a hanger. Jermaine Edwards’ pieces work precisely because the bamboo or coconut shell genuinely earns its place instead of just being dressed up to look expensive. 

Next, ask what it’s named after or what it references. Davia Hines’ whole catalogue proves a piece tied to something as specific as a single road sign will always outperform one built off a vague seasonal moodboard. And finally, ask if you’d still want it in five years, the exact test Tricia Gordon-Johnston applies to her own collecting, choosing pieces for “something I couldn’t always name” at the time. Those tend to be the ones that hold their meaning longest. 

Even Corporate Gifting Agrees 

This logic scales up nicely if you’re shopping for more than yourself. A cluttered gift basket usually signals uncertainty, not thoughtfulness, too many small items picked to fill a price point, none of them memorable alone. One well-chosen accessory does the opposite: it says the giver actually thought about it. Sydia Sidcile has watched exactly this play out with Sidcile’s straw pieces, which travel well because they don’t need explaining. “People in London, in Toronto, in New York are already wearing Sidcile.” One heritage piece, gifted with intention, says more about the giver’s taste than an assortment of smaller items ever could. 

The Category-by-Category Cheat Sheet 

If you want a starting point rather than a philosophy lecture: one earring from Bag&Pan or YAJAHS to anchor your face, one bracelet or bangle from Lannaman Gems to anchor your hand, one bag from theyellowroom_studio to anchor everything else. Three decisions, made once, worn all summer, no spreadsheet required. We know it’s a little funny for a shop with 25 different brands under one roof to be preaching restraint, but that’s the actual point: having options isn’t the same as needing all of them at once. Handmade pieces don’t restock instantly either, so if something here catches your eye, it’s worth acting on sooner rather than later. 

Shop Things Jamaican in-store at Devon House, NMIA, and 14 Camp Road, or online at thingsjamaicanshopping.com. Wear Jamaica Fi Summa. 

Editorial Team

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