My main frenzy for clearing out and decluttering has dropped off a little. But the tendency is still there, and I continue to purge in smaller “bites”. (That’s a weird sentence. Sorry.)
A few days ago I attacked my personal jewelry stash on my bedroom dresser. I picked out all the pieces I love and wear, and put them in my collection of vintage 1940’s jewelry boxes. The rest came down to my studio to be cleaned and sold, or stripped for parts.
I came across several pairs of large sterling silver hoop earrings. I absolutely love ’em, and I had three pairs to prove it.
But I never wear them. As I cleaned the tarnish off, I wondered why?
When I put them on, one look in the mirror reminded me. I’m convinced that my ears lie too close to my head. So when I wear hoops, they stick out and look like a second pair of ears.
I started to put them in the “sell” pile, but stopped.
Every so often I get a few people in my booth or at an open studio tell me they can’t wear a particular style of jewelry because of something odd about their body.
Their neck is too short, their ears are crooked, their shoulders are too big, their neck is too thin. Then they put that piece of jewelry on to prove it to me.
They look beautiful.
I can with perfect honesty say I have never looked at a person wearing jewelry and thought, “Her neck is too short to wear that.” I have never ever noticed that someone’s ears are crooked. (I only notice if their ears are missing…)
I rarely notice if people have big feet or not. I don’t even remember ever looking at someone’s feet–until they say they have big feet, and then, of course, we all look.
The shopper won’t believe me, of course. I might just be trying to sell her something. So I ask other customers. Sure enough, everyone chimes in with positive feedback.
Of course, we’re ALL shaped a little differently. And we’re all beautiful in different ways. I’m always taken aback to hear a woman I think is drop-dead gorgeous complain about her nails, or her ankles, or her eyebrows. My daughter, who exudes health and confidence, told me recently her hair is too thin to wear in braids.
She looks adorable in braids.
I don’t know where this comes from. I don’t know why we do it. I don’t know how to make that critical little voice go away.
But I took a deep breath, and left the hoop earrings in.
If I side-swipe someone with them today, okay, I’ll take them off.
But maybe I’ll buy some more, too. Some really, really BIG ones.
p.s. Oh, I forgot–hoops get in the way when I’m on the phone. I just tried to call someone and the earring hit the “end” button. That’s why I don’t where them at home.
And the latest p.s. I just saw an magazine ad in OPRAH magazine featuring Catherine Zeta Jones (for Elizabeth Arden’s Red Door Fragrance) and she’s wearing big hoop earrings and one is sticking straight out! And it accentuates the lovely curve of her neck….
That does it, I’m gonna wear my whoppin’ big hoops somewhere tonight!
Luann Udell 
Hahahahaha!
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That is so true. We don’t notice most of those things until that person points them out. I think society has done a lot of damage by always painting the picture perfect woman in every model that graces a magazine, billboard or movie screen. There for many women say to themselves “I don’t look like….. so this must be the worst part of my body.” Then we walk around pronouncing it to the world in hopes of sympathy or empathy to make us feel better. Or at least that is my view of the whole thing.
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I stopped wearing hoop earrings as soon as my baby almost ripped my earlobe off… š Good for you for de-cluttering…in smaller “bits” maybe? And for keeping the earrings in.
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Great post! I have some large necklaces that people always love to look at at my booth, and inevitably a larger woman will say “this is beautiful, but you need to have a long skinny neck to pull it off!” Then, 10 minutes later, a tall, thin woman will look at it and say “wow, this is too much for me, but it would look amazing on a larger woman!”
Of course, it would look fantastic on either of them š
Also, I’m glad I’m not the only one who uses my old jewelry for parts. I call it “cannibalizing.”
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