Jewelry Speaks: What is it saying about you?
The old saying goes,”Clothes make the man.” It seems to me that jewelry makes the woman.
Women’s clothes say only very limited and not very interesting things about the wearer. If our shoes are Manolo Blahniks, it only means we spent an exorbitant sum for them.
Every season, designers and manufacturers dictate what colors and styles we will wear, whether we shop at WalMart or Bloomingdale’s. This summer, for instance, those silly mid-calf pants are In — I couldn’t find a single pair of normal-length cotton or linen slacks anywhere. Whether we like it or not, we all end up in pretty much the same uniform. And if we don’t change our uniform when the styles change, we’ll be about as appealing as last week’s meatloaf in the back of our fridge.
Jewelry, however, is a whole other story. You buy a piece you like and you can wear it forever with impunity. New and interesting designs appear regularly and new gemstones are occasionally discovered, but nobody feels compelled to empty their jewelry box of last year’s models to make way for this year’s, as we often do with our wardrobes.
Jewelry never goes out of style and anything goes. There are no rules anymore and nobody tells you what to do. You can wear gold and silver pieces together. You can wear strings of pearls and diamond necklaces with blue jeans. You can wear rings on every finger and toe or just wear your engagement and wedding ring. You can even have alternative ones of those – different styles, gemstones and metals to suit your mood of the day. Jewelry is made out of every substance — resin, plastic, wood, rubber, leather, fabric, feathers — and it’s all just fine. Tiffany and others are now setting diamonds in sterling without apology. Classic estate jewelry and the most modern geometric designs comfortably sit side-by-side in stores. Everybody loves Southwestern turquoise and Native American motifs. The sterling and gemstone jewelry from India, Bali, Indonesia and other such places are wearable from your casual lunch with best friends to cocktail parties with A-list people.
I can tell a lot about ladies from the jewelry they select to adorn themselves with. Are you a string of pearls girl, even when you’re not dressing for the office? How many bracelets do you dare to wear at one time? Do you wear diamond studs or chandelier earrings when you shop at the supermarket? Do you prefer a simple pristine gemstone pendant, a Cleopatra-style necklace or a sterling piece resembling modern art hanging around your neck? Do you have an ankle bracelet? Would you put on a fifteen-carat topaz ring to go to Burger King or would you save it for your cruise to the Bahamas?
If I unexpectedly paid a visit to you at your house on an ordinary day, what jewelry would you have on?
– phoebe kate