You Don’t Do the Talking, Your Jewellery Does: The Art and History of Accessorising

Ever heard a soft chime as someone walks up to you? Perhaps a louder clink or a jingle as they enter the room? Almost creates a rhythmic sound that makes you turn your head. But as you do so, you hear yet another swish and twinkle against your ears. 

It’s not a surprise that this happens. It’s not an innate magical aura surrounding an individual; rather, it’s their jewelry that produces it for them. So, no doubt you’ve participated in creating your own sense of rhythm. Ultimately, it’s not you who announces your presence in a room, your accessories whisper that for you. So, come accessorise with me!

A Shift in Aesthetic?

Sure, there was the minimalist aesthetic, the chic style, and the clean girl look, but don’t be surprised if you see my Pinterest board moving towards jewelry stacks. Be it necklace stacks, bracelet stacks, or ring stacks, and not to forget, the all-dominating waist chains. 

In a world of social media, where you can learn how to turn your scarves into tops, there’s also the concept of jewellery tours. I’m not going to lie, some overstimulate me to the core, but some make a basic outfit look red carpet-ready. However, modern-day accessorising goes beyond matching your earrings to your current outfit. 

These days, it’s all about sound. There’s the literal sound your accessories make as you make your way through town, but it’s also the sound you, as an individual, make. The art of accessorising embodies the literal definition, but it also determines the loudness of your personality. 

With the notion of maximalism steadily making a comeback, the idea of wanting to ‘fit into’ the new standard of chunky rings and clunking bangles might be daunting at first. Still, it’s all about finding your chosen type of sound.

So, What Sound Are you making?

You could be the one with the steady, occasional ring of your bracelets against the table, or the silent bracelet and watch kinda gal. You could have your ear piercings stacked with gold hoops, jhumkas, or threaded earrings, creating a sleeker look. If you want to be more adventurous with your style, and perhaps *cough* *cough* performative, you could also go ahead and add some labubus to your waist chain. 

My personal favourite creator, who truly embodies maximalism and defines the art of accessorising, is @itskadoosh. Her ability to draw inspiration from desi traditions to create jhumka stacks that appear solely in my dreams is the epitome of owning your melody. Her numerous reels, dedicated to chiming her bangles together, captioned as the ‘top ten sounds,’ further the vision of showcasing a loud and proud personality through accessories. 

What stood out to me most was her flair in representing her culture through intricate accessory stacks, celebrated through homsegrown desi brands. In this very instance, I find it hard to describe this captivating sound with anything other than relying on the Hindi expression ‘cham-cham’. In other terms, an onomatopoeic word that literally plays out the rhythmic movement of jewellery.

Turning Up the Volume of the Past

Now, while you put on those chunky bangles each morning without a thought beyond the fact that they pull together your outfit, there’s a scream echoing in the background that roots bangles as a timeless part of South Asian traditions. Long before they entered the consumerist culture and the laid-out runways, they gave birth to traditional accessorising. 

Nowadays, used as a daily ornament, bangles in South Asia were, and still are, said to denote the onset of a special occasion. The classic red and white combination marks a woman’s step into married life. The shades of saffron signify stepping into a holy space, and blue represents infiniteness in all avenues of life. 

There are markets dedicated solely to the very art of creating a bangle stack. Watching the artisans weave their way through the arching rows of bangles to create a stack that they know would match your personality is a masterpiece in itself. 

Don’t Erase and Replace, but Honour and Uphold

However, this art has since been westernised to appeal to a larger audience, perhaps losing its intrinsic meaning along the way. But that’s a conversation for another time. 

So, your jewellery and accessories generate a presence of your own, as your bracelet and bangles clink against your laptop when you type. They also reflect your very own personality, keeping alive the tradition of creating your own sense of rhythm. However, they also stem from a long tradition and culture, echoing the past and shaping present identities. 

So, I guess the real question is: do you chime when you walk into a room? Cause if you don’t, are you really there?