Accessories With History

Accessories are my favorite part of getting dressed. I love the power they have to make an outfit sing or to stand on their own as the statement piece. Sometimes I wear pieces with sentiment attached that don’t add much impact to my outfit, but they make a statement to me.

I was going through some old photo’s and realized how often I reach for pieces with history to them.

I wear these earrings a lot. My Mom bought them for herself when we went on my first trip to Ireland during college. She collected jewelry the way some people collect pottery. They were souvenirs for her and mementos from fun times.

Sadly she passed away before she could travel to many places on her bucket list so I intentionally wear them when I travel. I feel as though I am taking her with me when I’m visiting places I know she would have loved to see.

I wore them to Iceland for my 60th birthday last year and to Montana for my 61rst birthday this year. I’ve also worn them to visit the Baltics, Hawaii, Italy, the Grand Canyon, etc.

I also inherited this charm necklace from her.

She and I each started our own charm bracelets on a trip to Alaska over 30 years ago. We would both add unique charms from our travels which is what make charm bracelets so personal. My mom finally decided the charm bracelet was awkward and caught on things so she had many of her charms attached to this necklace.

 

I think of her when I wear it because we were together when she bought many of them. We were in London together when she bought the Big Ben. She bought the Sombrero charm during our trip to Mexico. We were skiing together in Squaw Valley when she bought the Ski charm. I was visiting her in New Mexico when she bought the Roadrunner charm. As I think about it now, she had a lot more charms than this so I find it interesting that she kept so many that had a history with me.

This necklace has powerful memories for me…more than I realized until I wrote this post. I seldom wear my own charm bracelet now because it catches on things so I’m going to add my most precious charms to her necklace and make it all the more special.

Many of my accessories hold memories of people, places and times I hold dear.

How about you?

Do you have special pieces with powerful memories?

Thanks for reading and have a great day!