Too Much of a Good Thing is Essential 

“Too much of a good thing is wonderful” – Mae West

Coco Chanel got it wrong when she suggested women should go for the ‘less is more’ approach. Watch a scene of a woman getting ready for an evening in any costume drama or classic movie, and one of the defining things she’ll put on before standing up from a dressing table is her earrings, often while having a discussion essential to the plot with her significant other in the mirror’s reflection.

That earrings are last on (unless there’s a hat too) doesn’t make them any less vital. In fact, if by some unlikely rift in the space-time continuum I forget to put mine on, I will go back home to get them. I’d rather forget to change out of my slippers and put on real shoes, which has been known to happen…in a 5-star hotel in London…twice.

Maybe for you it’s a ring or a watch. Maybe a bracelet, but odds are if you’re reading this, you too feel the importance of not feeling ‘naked’ out in the world without that thing that makes you feel like you, Even if you don’t, you might spend enough time around such objects that you understand people who do feel this way.

If something feels vitally important to wear, it’s not an afterthought; it’s essential, which is why I’m always quick to say, “I don’t make accessories.” I make functional art, wearable sculpture, and studio jewelry. ‘Accessory’ to those of us who create unique artwork that takes ages to make is a dirty word much like the word ‘illustration’ causes many to flinch if they are among the survivors of advanced drawing and painting courses in art school.

Accessory: /ăk-sĕs′ə-rē/

noun

1. One who knowingly assists someone else in committing a crime but does not actively participate in that crime.
2. An add-on attachment that adds functionality to tools or equipment

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition actually counts their version of #1 as the third meaning, but something related to a crime seems a more important definition.

The same dictionary states the #1 meaning is “ A subordinate or supplementary item; an adjunct.” Having been recently treated like one of these, I’m ready to erase that definition from my brain’s hard drive. It should never ever be used to refer to a human being. No one is add-on arm candy.

Last week my spouse and I were contemplating joining a supposedly inclusive space that offered co-working and small conference rooms attached to a decent restaurant. The salesperson greeted my husband and asked detailed questions about his work. He asked what kind of work I do, and when he tried to wrap his brain around my reply, he thanked me “for coming along.” It went downhill from there.

I’d had visions of periodically escaping the chaos of our upcoming construction by drawing and writing from the 49th floor of one of my favorite buildings. I imagined holding trunk shows and having a secure place to meet collectors and colleagues while my studio (or the house attached to it) would be a disaster zone. While the salesperson regaled Chris with how the space could benefit his work, I was told of private spaces available for birthday parties. In essence, I was treated as a tag-along accessory, and no amount of Chris’ redirecting the salesperson to talk to me changed the guy’s tactic.

Our next stop was to look at bathtub sizes and styles to replace the horrific, fiberglass tub/shower that I knew desperately needed ripping out when I bought my house in 1998. We were overwhelmed at the options, but thankfully the salesperson treated both of us like the decision makers and end-users we both are. No pressure. No, sexism. No dismissiveness.

We left the first place with Chris saying, “Not even if they paid us to join.” When we left the second, I was so thrilled with the way we were treated that I wanted to buy a bathtub from the helpful salesperson right then and there even though we’re not yet at that stage of construction.

In talking with our wonderful design-build team, I’ve tried to wrap my brain around making the door/drawer pulls for our future kitchen cabinets. The thought of making 40 of anything is nearly enough to make me lose the will to live. I wanted to quip that I don’t make accessories, but then I realized without the hardware, the cabinets and drawers would be non functional. – Yes, there can be hidden handles that are routed out of the wood, but who wants to clean all those grooves? – It might be a stretch to similarly claim that I wouldn’t be functional without earrings, but I’ll still call them essential, things that make me feel like me.

Jewelry has been around nearly as long as humans, and certainly longer than shoes (or slippers). Far from superfluous, the human desire to adorn our bodies drove humanity’s pursuit of technology. In many cultures and eras in which women have been legally prevented from owning land, our jewelery has been our portable wealth. Passed down, it forms connections to past, present, and future. Jewelry is essential. More jewelry is even better.