Jewelry is ornamental, alluring, pretty and admired by most cultures. Jewelry adds posh and pizzazz to outfits and many times holds significant meaning to the wearer. Whether you prefer your jewelry to be gold, silver, copper, gems, jewels, pearls, beads or a blend, there’s no denying that jewelry is dazzling and decorative.
One type of jewelry that is popular and pleasing is feathered jewelry. We all know feathers as things which cover birds, helping to keep birds warm and protect them from injury. In addition, feathers help birds to fly. However, we also know that feathers make for fabulous, gorgeous jewelry (synthetic feathers look just as natural as real feathers and the birds thank you)!
Jewelry consists of small decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as pins, rings, necklaces, earrings, bracelets and anklets. For many centuries metal, often combined with gemstones, has been the normal material for jewelry, but other materials such as shells, plants and feathers may be used.
Jewelry Fun Fact: In most cultures jewelry can be understood as a status symbol, for its material properties, its patterns and for meaningful symbols. Adult women have been the most consistent wearers of jewelry, but men and children have also been known to wear exquisite jewelry.
Fabulous feathered jewelry creates a look of elegance and light fashion flair, whether worn on your body or in your hair!
Feathers look airy, summery and light. In addition to being used as earrings, bracelets and necklaces, feathers are often used to decorate hats.
Feather Fun Fact: Although feathers cover most parts of the body of birds, they arise only from certain well-defined tracts on the skin. Feathers aid in flight for the birds, thermal insulation and waterproofing. The coloration of the feathers helps in bird communication and protection. Plumology is the name for the science that is associated with the study of feathers.
Forms and Functions of Wearing Jewelry:
- Functional, generally to fix clothing or hair in place, or to tell the time (watches).
- As a marker of social status and personal status, as with a wedding ring.
- As a signifier of some form of affiliation, whether ethnic, religious or social.
- To provide protection.
- As an artistic display.
- As a carrier or symbol of personal meaning – such as love, mourning or luck.
- To add sparkle, pizzazz and flair to an already dapper outfit.
In addition to using feathers in jewelry and for decoration, people use feathers in pillows, cushions, mattresses, coats and quilts stuffed with down.
Give your outfit some top notch spice when donned in feathered jewelry. Wow, you look nice!
Feathers come in many colors that draw happiness and beauty for the wearer and the observer. However, colored feathers serve an extremely important function in birds:
- Camouflage: The colored feathers hide the birds in their natural environment, especially when the birds are stationary in their nest. Camouflage is often backed up with behavior.
- Display: Birds carry display colors when they need to be noticed by other birds. Often the male of a pair will do the display and wear its colors, while the female remains camouflaged. Display is used to attract a mate and signal and defend the birds’ territory.
Humans also use bird feathers for display purposes when they glitz and glam themselves up in glorious feathered jewelry!
Feather Fun Fact: There are two main types of bird feathers:
- Vaned Feathers – These feathers cover the exterior of the bird’s body.
- Down Feathers – Feathers that are underneath the vaned feathers.
Feather Fun Fact: Flight feathers are stiffened so as to work against the air in the bird’s downstroke, but yield in the other direction. The fibers of the feathers are better aligned in the middle of the feather and less aligned towards the tips.
Jewelry Fashion Tip: Fly sky high when adorned in fantastic feathered jewelry that truly catches the eye!
Classic, light as a feather fashion jewelry!
“Your eye catching feathered jewelry looks amazing and divine.”
“If you play your feathers right I might let you borrow it some time.”
“Your feathered earrings hang so delicate and long. Do they weigh the ear down?”
“Not at all. These earrings are as light as a feather and spruce up a night on the town.”
“Did a poor birdie suffer so you could prance colorful in feathered jewelry so rare?”
“No. These are synthetic feathers…man made…the only kind of feathers I will wear.”
Let your feathered jewelry be your fine feathered friend!
Nancy Mangano is an American fashion journalist and author of the Natalie North murder mystery book series, A Passion for Prying and Murder Can Be Messy. Visit Nancy on her author website http://www.nancymangano.com, Twitter @https://twitter.com/nancymangano, her fashion magazine Strutting in Style! at http://www.struttinginstyle.com, and her Facebook fan page Nancy Mangano https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nancy-Mangano/362187023895846
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