“A Vogue Idea”
Talk about trends and talk about accessories; I know what comes to your mind – ‘statement necklace’!
It’s the thing right now. Everybody’s wearing it, every store has it, and you can even get it in street markets throughout the world.
And it has always been there around us but seems like we just started noticing!
If I look back into my History of World Costumes class, the costume that always intrigued me was of Egypt. The women wore a sheer linen cloth draped around their body paired with the impressive jeweled collar or the Usekh collar. I guess that is the start of statement necklaces. I believe that for a woman, to demand attention and respect from her subordinates, it is very important that along with her striking personality, her outfit should also have an impact on the people, and that is exactly what the Egyptian women’s attire did!
Think about all the tribes across the world. Their clothes are pretty simple, and in some cases there are no clothes. But what seems mandatory in all of them is the use of jewelry. Every tribe is known for their style of ornamentation. And the beautiful thing is that since they are not exposed to luxurious materials, they creatively use whatever is around them to make adornments.
India has had royalties as well as tribes, which means we have a lot of styles of jewelry at our disposal. Isn’t it amazing how a necklace created almost 50 years ago in Gujrat, looks so contemporary and modern!
This beautiful necklace made in the 1920’s in Himachal Pradesh, was worn as a charm for wealth and fortune. It was made with real British Indian Silver Rupee. If that doesn’t make a statement then what does?
And far along the north east India, tribal women use natural items to beautify themselves. The neck pieces shown here one made from shells and beads and the other from the teeth of buffalo, both dating back to the 20th century. I know I would love to own these pieces because they really make a statement!
Now this was just a prologue to today’s Vogue idea, because while going through a lot of websites and blogs, I found someone from my own city with a very quirky Indian taste in clothing, who also happens to make some very fancy but head turning jewelry.
So let me introduce you to….
Polka Princess, creator of the blog “chappals vs stilletoes”
Check out her blog here - http://stripesandpolkas.blogspot.com
I really like the way she mixes up different elements of clothing together to create outfits, also the way she uses colors to brighten up an attire.
And even though she has to be formally dressed for her office, she will add some unique element to make an outfit stand out among the rest.
I think this picture best explains her quirky Indian style. The way she has teamed up an ethnic printed leggings with a casual tunic, and add to that the colorful bangles, in my opinion it is very Indian and yet has a very international appeal to it. I think the mustard, fuchsia and the cyan works very well!
Now, what really fascinated me about her blog is that she makes these amazing pieces of jewelry and the line is called Howrah Bridge!
And I'm obsessed about it.
Eccentric!
And my favorite piece! The statement necklace!
You can find more pieces here - http://shophowrahbridge.blogspot.com/
There was a day when I would take out a dress from my wardrobe and team it up with some accessory. But today, I pick up a statement necklace and pair it with a dress and I go out there and I make the statement!
Ref: - http://rabari.co.uk/index.asp
