kerravonsen | SED 15: Thematic

I mentioned yesterday that a brown and turquoise colour scheme in jewellery evokes a "tribal" look. I kind of winced at using the word "tribal" (and why I put it in quotes) because, even though it is a common term used in describing jewellery, part of me says "and which tribes are you referring to?". And yet I'm also afraid of referring to specific ethnicities, in case I'm perpetuating stereotypes. And perhaps the imitation of any kind of non-local style is cultural appropriation. Arrrgh!

But I do want to talk about themes of various kinds. We'll see how I go.

1. Evening wear.

This tends to elegant simplicity; delicate rather than chunky, smooth rather than rough or uneven.
Favoured colour schemes: black & gold, silver & black, gold alone, silver alone, monochromatic.
Favoured materials: precious stones, precious metals, semi-precious stones, base metals, lead-glass (crystal), glass.

2. Make A Statement

This is the genre of the "statement necklace". I didn't want to class this under "evening wear" because, even though it can be worn as evening wear, people can wear them on other occasions where they want to "dress to impress". (Or to let everyone know that they are either a fashion model or a fashion designer). The chief characteristic of a statement necklace seems to be that it has a large surface area. Often this is because it has beads or pendants which are large and chunky, but something would also count as a statement necklace if it was full of a lot of small things that covered a large area, such as a bib-style necklace made up of hundreds of seed-beads. The important thing is that it is BIG.

3. Cheap and Cheerful

This jewellery is worn for casual wear, and is characterised by bright colours and chunky beads, often made of plastic or painted wood. It is light-hearted and fun. It can include odd and interesting things such as beads or charms made in the shape of fruit or food, or of cartoon characters etc. It isn't necessarily cheap, not if it is made by some name-brand. It doesn't have to be bright colours; pastel colours fit this theme too, especially white; so long as the beads are chunky.

4. Rustic & Natural

This is characterised by natural materials: non-painted wood, seeds, leather, mother-of-pearl, ivory, bone. This also includes things which look hand-made, such as large metal beads, pottery beads, semi-precious stone nuggets & chips, not-so-regular chunky glass beads (such as one would get from India), and carvings of any of the previously mentioned natural materials. It does not include things like painted porcelain beads, or lampwork beads, possibly because they don't feel rustic enough (carving is always rustic, even if it is delicate). It doesn't include plastic (or polymer clay) unless it looks like one of the aforementioned natural objects (e.g. plastic that looks like amber). It can include found objects such as nails or sea-glass or driftwood or shells. The favourite metal for this is copper, but steel, bronze and brass also fit, especially if they are hammered and/or have a patina.

A cross made of steel nails, wrapped with copper wire and hanging on a leather cord would fit right in to this theme.

5. Victorian

The era, not the location.
Lace, tea roses, pearls, cameos, ribbons, lockets, jet.

6. Gothic

Think "Victorian", but everything is black and red and has skeletons.

7. Steampunk

Victoriana plus Mad Science. Clockwork, wood, and brass. Valves and dials and glass vials and more clockwork. Top hats, aviator goggles, leather gloves, black lace and corsets. And clockwork.
For some reason that I don't know, this also features dragonflies, octopi, and sparrows.

8. Gypsy/Belly Dance/Indian-Wedding

Yes, strangely enough these different groups have a commonality in style.
Lots of gold and brass, or silver and pewter. Dangling coins/disks, bell-beads & jingle bells, stamped metal. Collar-style necklaces, anklets, handflowers, bangles, wide cuff bracelets made of metal. Deep coloured glass (blue, green, red, black, brown), turquoise, lapis-lazuli.

9. Modern/Mod

Smooth clean lines, sharp edges, geometric shapes, especially rectangles. Clean, flat, smooth, industrial, shiny.
Modern/Industrial materials: steel, aluminium, acrylic (especially transparent acrylic), glass, dichroic glass, catseye glass, haematite
Colours: silver, black, gunmetal-grey, grey, white, transparent, dark metallics (e.g. metallic sheens on glass, metallic glazes on pottery)

This by no means covers covers all themes, but this post, like this day, must come to an end.