“Put that back!” My grandma shouts at me as I place a third necklace around my neck. I am 7 and elbows deep in her jewellery box. The only reason I am in this predicament is because my grandma had declared to me that I needed to choose what jewellery I would like when she died. Cheery. But now I have earrings pinned to my school shirt, bracelets clipped around my shoelaces and a necklace wrapped around my head. I think I am the height of fashion, my grandma, however, disagrees “Simplicity is key.” she says as she begins to remove my bejewelled armour,” Try one necklace, not four.”
However, I never seemed to outgrow my flair for the over-wearing of accessories and currently, I’m not so sure that’s a bad thing. Long, layered necklaces and stacked bracelets have become the fashion girl’s current obsession. I would describe this trend as an evolution of playing in your grandma's jewellery box, replacing vanities with charity shops and vintage markets (Brick Lane is a particular favourite haunt of mine.) This trend has been seen everywhere- from the necklaces draped over models in Louis Vuitton’s Spring 25 ready-to-wear show to the ring-studded fingers and bangle-heavy arms of fashion tiktokkers. Current trends see the appropriate amount of jewellery rapidly racing away from “less is more” and quickly nearing “you can never have enough.”
Jewellery has always represented tradition, passed down from mother to daughter, but now, I feel like we are reinventing the rules surrounding jewellery. ‘ Jewellery etiquette’ was once very important, particularly for women. In the 1950’s, wearing the right jewellery was an element of presenting yourself as ‘the perfect woman.’ Etiquette commanded that no outfit was complete without at least a pair of coordinating earrings and a brooch. Without these essentials, she may risk missing an opportunity to draw attention to her dainty neck and delicate collarbone and perhaps even lose her chance at snaring a husband!
This controlling of jewellery was another way to ensure women wouldn’t think for themselves. If they had to so carefully consider what outfit to wear and what jewellery to pair with it, not out of joy and a love of fashion, but for fear of their reputation, when would they have time to realise they were being oppressed?
Of course, 70 years on, our attitudes to jewellery have transformed. Both men and women are now free to experiment without tossing away their reputations.This is why we should mix metals, wear 3 necklaces (at least), line our fingers with rings and our arms with bracelets so that jingling can be heard before we are seen. We should be proud that we can wear what we want, because generations of people before us could not.
So, I am choosing to view my escapades in my Grandma’s jewellery box not as a game of dress-up, but as a symbol of defiance. - Elodie Cockerell