Fashion v.s. Style: The Statement Necklace—an oxymoron?

Free-form macremé (statement) necklace

So that’s what they are! I’ve been making necklaces for a few years and just learned that in the fashion world, they're known as Statement Necklaces. Names and labels can affect our perceptions, even about things we’re already familiar with.

These thoughts came to mind when I realized my handmade jewelry fell into a category I’d never heard of. What if I marketed them as statement necklaces? Would that alone create demand? Would I feel I was conforming to a fashion trend rather than setting one? Would it matter?

I puzzled a bit about fashion and its relationship with style. Fashion is something you pay attention to as you are still developing your own style. Its what you spend money on hoping to be an early adopter of what later becomes standard before quickly becoming obsolete. Style has more staying power.

What is the statement that a Statement Necklace makes? A personal one, in that people choose jewelry that appeals to them, saying, “This is Me—the individual.”  But there’s a statement of conformity too—wearing bold jewelry that draws attention is currently trendy. Now the message becomes, “I belong—and identify with a larger group.”

I like to think that my days of following fashion trends are over (but I also have a clear memory of being absolutely certain I’d never wear a skirt that fell below the knees).
I’m reminded of a song by the Austin Lounge Lizards describing someone who became a non-conformist, because all his friends were non-conformists too.

Wanting to belong to a group, yet hoping to feel unique isn’t as much a struggle as a balancing act. Mood, age, experience, exposure to new ideas, art and yes, fashion can shift this balance. We settle back to our baseline, then lean out of our comfort zones—whether to cause a stir, or conform. 

Perhaps the statement necklace isn’t an oxymoron after all. Maybe it’s versatile enough to be both trendy and unique. I’m not sure I want to conform to the trend and use the term statement necklace. I’ll let the work speak to the wearer, since in life and art, the message given and the one perceived are rarely the same.

My necklaces may send mixed messages, but usually they create more conversation than confusion. Perhaps statement necklace is simply a new way of saying conversation piece.