There were baubles and beads of all colors. One large piece of pink, studded costume jewelry seemed like quite too much for anyone to wear but when I tried it on we were surprised that it actually had its own unique charm. Many of the earrings were ear-screws (my very favorite kind earring) and an orange pair with plenty of beaded dangles made delightful rustling noises beneath my ears as I shook my head. Some of the pieces are in need of repair, including the three-strand, black, beaded choker that fell apart in my lap as I attempted to fasten it around my neck. The old, brittle thread snapped at my touch. We made plans with Benjamin, who joined us midway through our jeweled affair, to repair a couple of pieces.
No one considers me much of a wearer of jewelry, which is fair since I’m not often seen sporting it. But I do very much enjoy costume jewelry and it always catches my eye in antique stores. My traditional favorites, the ones I always look for in local shops, are brooches. But as I slipped an extravagantly long strand of orange glass beads over my head, and wound it around my neck a time or two, I was reminded of how much my inner kid loves the weight and clinking movement of a strand of beads swinging from my neck.
Two pairs of costume earrings with emerald green and clear sparklers attracted a decent amount of our attention. One pair was round while the other was rectangular in shape. We pre-assessed them in favor of the rectangles but upon trying them on discovered that the round ones were actually a better fit for my face. Of all the items I browsed through, these are not ones that I would wear, but of course I thought of St. Patrick’s Day. It wasn’t long before my grandmother commented how perfect they would be for St. Patrick’s Day-so I hatched up an idea! What if we each wore a pair of the complimentary earrings on St. Patrick’s day and then exchanged pictures with each other?! She was game and we divvied up the green sparkling earrings accordingly.
Despite my overly casual, thrift-store, comfort-oriented style, I am now in possession of earrings (which I haven’t worn in probably 10 years) including some dangly ones! There’s also a few brooches, including some wildly sparkly ones, beads, and a bracelet befitting a mermaid. I will wear them when I dress up and when I dress down. Basically I will wear them when I feel like it, just for fun, or when I need a bit of an emotional boost. One doesn’t need to dress up or dress well to enjoy wearing great-grandmother’s jewelry.
As we finished looking at the jewelry, trying it on, and laughing together, she told me she thought there might be some more jewelry in a suitcase in the same bedroom, although she wasn’t sure where the suitcase might be or if there even was one. She suggested I go looking for it. I returned to the small room and began to look around. In a small space it didn’t seem likely that there were many places a suitcase could hide. There was one suitcase in the room and it didn’t contain any jewelry. The closet was suitcase-free. The only other spot that could hold a suitcase was in the door of a child-sized wardrobe. I opened it up and didn’t find a suitcase full of costume jewels, but a truly wonderful treasure nonetheless.
