IT’S ALWAYS REFRESHING to see an actress wear one of her own jewels in a film. In the early to mid 20th century, this was a common occurrence, but it hasn’t been since. But Kristen Bell wears her own Sarah Hendler necklace through eight episodes of the multi-genre miniseries The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window. The piece is the Pave Center Spear Collar Necklace, and I recognized it the minute I saw it on the poster for the film, as I have been following Hendler since she launched her collection. The yellow gold spears are inspired by Victorian jewelry and are also featured in earrings throughout the collection. But back to this particular necklace and how it wound up in a show that’s parts dark comedy, murder mystery and thriller.
The Pave Center Spear Collar Necklace from Sarah Hendler.
Hendler explains, “Kristen and I are friends. We met around five or six years ago originally through her stylist Nicole Chavez, who used to borrow jewelry from me for Kristen. But then during the pandemic, I was involved in the charity ‘No Kids Hungry’ and donated 30% of my sales to the initiative. Kristen purchased the necklace then and began wearing it every day.” She adds, “I feel we align on many aspects — charitable organizations, our love for animals — and it was easy to become friends. What I didn’t know what that she was going to wear my necklace that often on her new show, which was thrilling.”
“The cast was shooting through COVID. There was no real link to the character except that Kristen felt it was an easy-to-wear necklace you didn’t have to think about,” Hendler continues. But in watching all episodes back to back, it made sense. (I won’t give spoilers here in case you, too, want to spend four hours in front of your TV streaming this Netflix original miniseries.) What I can say is that the main character’s grief drives her to drink, pop pills, bake casseroles, hallucinate and stare out the window across the way, where she believes she witnesses a murder. However, she is an unreliable narrator (although extremely likable even in her darkest of moments). At various points during the series, she wears a bathrobe, some lower-neck shirts in which you can see the full necklace, and T-shirts and sweaters in which you can see parts of the necklace. We see these ensembles as she stares out the window, goes to the liquor store and then does some detective work on her own. The necklace is nonchalant, delicate yet visible, and it’s right at home with this wardrobe of sorts. The costume designer had nothing to do with choosing it, although she did give it her approval.
Kristen Bell wears the necklace while shooting the series
What was most exciting for Hendler was that people started finding out it was hers, perhaps after seeing on the promotional poster for the show and tracking it down on her website.
It’s a necklace I wouldn’t mind owning — it’s sexy in its simplicity and, at the same time, has some cool-girl style going on. If you want to learn more about what happens on the miniseries with the ultra-long title, head to Netflix, and if you want to purchase the necklace, click here.