Jewelry can be more than just about fashion and beauty. It’s a way of expressing one’s culture, social status, heritage, marital status and even spiritual beliefs. Even the world’s oldest civilization used jewelry as adornment. Modern day men and women are no different.
A quick way to accentuate an outfit is to wear a pendant, a couple of rings, and obviously earrings. The kind of jewelry you pick for yourself says something about you as does the clothes you wear and other accessories.
So, here’s a list of different ways in which you can use jewelry to improve your style and express yourself through your appearance.
Ways In Which You Can Express Yourself With Jewelry
You can tell a lot about yourself through your appearance and jewelry is another arsenal to achieve that effect. If you want to make your jewelry choices more meaningful than ever before, here are a few different ways in which you can showcase your beliefs, preferences, and personality through jewelry.
- Showcasing Personal Style & Aesthetic Choices
Maybe you are someone who is bold or you are a minimalist. Just as your wardrobe reflects that through different color choices, silhouettes, cuts, and patterns, there is that option with jewelry too.
You can opt for traditional smaller designs to showcase your minimalist style in golden, silver, white, or black. Keeping both the colors, designs, fashion, and cut relatively neutral.
But if you see yourself as more bold, pick colorful pieces with different stones and extravagant designs. Go for statement pieces.
Your style can even be rustic, rural, and charming. Picking different vintage pieces to show an appreciation of time-tested beauty is also an option. Really, your jewelry is just an extension of your personal style. Use it to reflect that.
- Expressing Love & Sentimentality
Wearing a piece of family heirloom is a way to showcase that you feel a connection towards your family history and are proud of it. It’s paying your respect to your ancestors.
Customizing jewelry to symbolize a specific memory or in connection with a person is also a way to express your love and affinity towards them. Sort of like getting a meaningful tattoo but way less intense.
You can get a simple engraving of someone’s name, or wear charms with specific letters on them or anything that has a connection to a special place, time, or person. It’s an ode to your own personal history that can be very beautiful.
- Embracing Your Spiritual or Religious Beliefs
Wearing religious symbols like the gross or ‘Allah’ in Arabic, or an ‘Om’ is just another way to declare your religious faith. It can be comforting to have a physical reminder of the higher power you believe in.
There are also jewelries that link to different spiritual beliefs. Think of a chakra necklace that symbolizes the centers of energy in a human body or a Ying-Yang bracelet that points to the dual nature of life. Even though these spiritual beliefs stem from two different civilizations, Jewelry is a common way to express them.
People also believe that natural and precious gemstones signify healing, energy, mindfulness, and other spiritual aspects. Take for example, this tropical necklace by Sydoria with a combination of gemstones.
- Highlight Your Culture or Ethnicity
There are so many different kinds of jewelry embraced by different cultures. An earring of Indian origin looks very different from European jewelry. You can use jewelry as a nod to your culture for specific occasions or just because you feel like it.
In Africa, special jewelry is worn by people belonging to different tribes. Be it the Maasai beaded jewelry of East Africa or Zulu love letter beads of Southern Africa, they symbolize tribal identity. It also is a testament to the craftsmanship of the people in those communities.
- Moods & Emotions
While this is on the controversial side and I completely understand if you are skeptical, jewelry is used by people to even indicate their mood.
Mood rings have stones made of thermochromic elements which change color with changes in body temperature.
Even though the science behind body temperature and mood may not be completely clear, you can definitely tell through a mood ring the changes in your body temperature. This change in temperature may be a reaction to the going ons in your day to day life.
- Love For A Hobby
Maybe you love nature, trekking, hiking, camping or that sort of thing. You can wear jewelry with leaves, shells, or animal charms on them. It’s a way to hint at your outdoorsy side.
You can also make customized jewelry symbolizing your love for a sport, a specific band or music in general, photography, or art.
- Political or Ideological Stance
Feminist have taken to wearing the female gender symbol as jewelry or other slogans that symbolize their commitment to the cause of achieving gender equality. LGBTQ+ supporters sport bracelets and other pieces.
This is nothing new. People have been using symbols to feel connected to and express their allegiance to a cause or belief.
- Charity and Awareness Campaigns
Maybe you support a charity or want to spread awareness about a specific kind of cancer. Jewelry is a way to support these causes as well. You can purchase from companies that donate to charities or get pieces that are connected to a philanthropic cause. It may seem superficial but it’s one of the ways to provide funds to many good causes.
- Showing Your Craftsmanship & Creativity
If you are a naturally creative person with a good sense of design, maybe you will find handmade or DIY jewelry a great way to channel that side of yourself. Creating unique designs and looks that showcase your creativity is one of the deepest ways to express yourself through jewelry.
Final Words
Jewelry is an expression of your style, class, family history, personality, beliefs, and so much more. It has been around for so long. You can see it at its most basic level and equate it to aesthetic beauty and personal style.
But those of us who are looking for a deeper expression through jewelry, it’s something that can be directly linked to our cultural, spiritual, ideologic, or religious identity. It can be an expression of love and affection, a celebration of memories or a symbol of union.
What you choose to wear can say a lot about you whether you intend to or not. In my opinion, it’s best to be intentional.
