II : GEMS AND JEWELRY (Continued…)


        Since jewelry is used for adornment it also becomes a fashion statement. The history of fashion (apparel) is incomplete without a history of jewelry as well. As we go through time jewelry has its own fashion trends. As such the jewelry we choose to wear is as much a statement about ourselves as is the clothing we wear or the car we drive. In a sense there is a whole chain of events beginning with personal adornment and leading on to design. Starting with the notion of personal adornment a person is going to want to make his/her personal adornment consistent with his/her sense of fashion. His/her personal sense of fashion is going to lead to his/her own personal sense of style. When a person has an awareness of their own sense of style their design work will naturally tend to include certain types of designs and leave out others.


        A lot of these elements should be considered together as part of the design process. Our sense of fashion and style helps to define our personality just as our personality helps to define our sense of fashion and style. People can be bold, spirited, shy, feminine. Jewelry can be bold, spirited, shy, feminine — any of the characteristics we would like to assign to personality. Everybody has a sense of style that tells us secrets about their personality. At times we want to communicate these things about ourselves to others through physical, tangible means such as clothing or jewelry. At other times we use our sense of style to change things about our personality. Perhaps if we perceive ourselves to be too shy we might want to communicate a hidden sense of boldness through our personal adornment. Perhaps a person might perceive themselves as being too bold and might want to tone down their projected image through their sense of style.