Why Ashley Graham Wears Diamonds Everywhere (Including the Gym!)
Courtesy Pandora
Ashley Graham sparkles wherever she goes.
The model and mom of three loves her own diamonds so much that she wears them all the time. "I do always kind of have diamonds on," Graham tells PEOPLE exclusively while speaking about working with jewelry brand Pandora. "I even sleep in my Pandora: my necklaces and my rings and my earrings. I like to be able to have something that makes me feel a little bit fabulous."
Graham says that she isn't shy about stacking her diamond jewelry and wearing a lot of it at once, because who doesn't love wearing bling? She loves Pandora's lab-grown diamonds, which she says makes her "feel better about wearing them" because they're made with renewable energy.
Courtesy Pandora
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"It makes me feel like, 'oh, I could wear these every day.' I feel like a diamond is a diamond and you can wear it to the gym and be that person," she adds.
Graham, who welcomed twins in January, told PEOPLE earlier this year that she wants women to celebrate themselves and wear diamonds any time they want, but especially because they deserve to.
"It's interesting to think about how, as women, we just are constantly living in our lives, and we are met with hardship or we're met with obstacles or we're met with celebrations — but we rarely take a moment to say, 'I made it through that.' or 'Good job,'" Graham told PEOPLE of why women should celebrate their milestones and buy themselves jewelry.
The curve model shared with PEOPLE that one of her most treasured pieces is a necklace she bought herself after a bad breakup, before meeting her husband, Justin Ervin.
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courtesy Pandora
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"[The breakup] was nasty and took a year to get out of it," she told PEOPLE. "I remember looking at the necklace I picked — one of those spin necklaces that you hit and as it's spinning, it reads, 'I love you' — and it was such a good reminder to love myself and take control of my own destiny rather than putting it in the hands of someone else."
That necklace may not have been expensive, as Graham said she "couldn't afford a diamond" at that point in her life, but it was the message behind it of putting herself first that made it special. "Even though I don't wear it daily now, that necklace is my reminder to love myself," she added.
That reminder has stuck with Graham, especially as she's settling back into her body after having her babies earlier this year.
"Here I am in my 10th month postpartum from the twins and I'm like, 'Okay, my hormones aren't raging and I'm not crying every other day. My body is kind of settling,'" she says. "I'm okay with it because I have to keep reminding myself, I have three kids under 3. I have a full-time job and I also have to take care of myself mentally and emotionally first."
