Younger’s Diana Trout, goddess divine of the fictional publishing world, is known for three things: hollering “Liza!†throughout the Empirical offices, strategically stroking Charles’s torso with the back of her hand, and wearing the hell out of her fabulous necklaces. Oh, those necklaces! Diana’s neckwear is pretty much the most important supporting character in the grand scheme of Younger — sorry, Pauline! — with the constant carousel of jewels, beads, and stones on her clavicle only getting more and more elaborate each season.
“When creating Diana, we always wanted to define her style by almost outdating her to differentiate between the millennials, but by using contemporary modern clothing to do it,†Younger’s costume designer, Jacqueline Demeterio, recently told Vulture. (Demeterio shares costuming duties with industry veteran Patricia Field.) “The big necklaces were not necessarily on trend at that time. The younger generation were wearing, and still are, a lot of the smaller, finer stackable rings and layered necklaces.â€
To give Diana’s necklaces the proper acknowledgment they so deserve, we asked Demeterio to choose her favorites among the character’s many, many iconic looks. Narrowing it down was tough, but the six greatest Diana Trout necklaces — accompanied in full GIF glory to capture their essence — practically speak for themselves.
The Flavor Flav
“In season one, Diana wore a very large Josie Natori gold hoop necklace which I believe started it all. We called it her ‘Flavor Flav’ necklace! After that, we never looked back. During season one, we were on a tight budget and I borrowed a lot of very substantial Lanvin necklaces from one of my best friends, who’s a very well-known fashion stylist.â€
The Superwoman
“During season two, I started pulling a lot of vintage pieces for her at NY Vintage. There was a very large gold medallion necklace by Kenneth Jay Lane that she wore with a Roland Mouret color-blocked dress that really represented Diana Trout. The bold power office dress accessorized with her superwoman shield! We have several hanging jewelry muslins in Diana’s costume line in the wardrobe truck. I seriously cannot even pick one of them up without using two hands. I think that one jewelry muslin must weigh 50 pounds. There are probably ten necklaces on it!â€
The Parrot Pal
“In season three, there were many necklaces that I pulled from the designer Iradj Moini. I absolutely love his necklaces for her! One of my favorite looks is when she is wearing this very chic Fendi cream dress and I paired it with one of Iradj’s necklaces that instantly became one of my all-time favorite Diana looks.â€
The Gold Armor
“Another defining necklace was the Givenchy massive raw stone pendant necklace in season four. I paired it with a Dries Van Noten silk blouse and pant that almost look like daytime pajamas. The softness of the silhouette had to be shielded with Diana’s ‘armor.’â€
The Double Reds
“There is a red Lanvin necklace from season four that I paired with red Oscar de la Renta earrings. I love the boldness of those reds together. It is a daring choice to match colors and only Diana can pull it off.â€
The Flower
“Another important choice was the very large flower during season four that Diana wears to the Pubby Awards. In Miriam’s fitting, we thought it would be great to have a large flower choker with her gown. Previous to her attending the awards, she breaks up with Richard and is feeling very vulnerable. She walks out of her apartment, looks in the mirror, and pulls the flower necklace out of her bag and puts it on. It was a very defining moment for her character in the script, as she was very stripped down during that scene. The moment she put that large flower on her neck, you knew Diana was back to being the empowered woman that we all love. That flower was custom-made by James Coviello and it was gorgeous.â€