Do you believe that pearls are exclusively worn on vintage red carpets or in your grandmother’s jewelry box? Think again. Everyone is wearing the trendy pearl necklace fad, from teenage TikTok users to celebrities like Harry Styles.
Harry Styles attends the BRIT Awards in a Gucci suit and statement pearls over a collared shirt. Jordan Huxhold, a TikTok star, demonstrates that pearls can be the entire outfit by layering them over other gold necklaces. Bella Hadid wears pearls with an oversized leather jacket.
You may have noticed the Vivienne Westwood Mini Bas Relief Choker necklace’s rise in popularity over the past year, worn by a number of well-known social media stars and celebrities. It features a distinctive orb logo. Westwood has established a reputation for breaking rules and creating fashion trends since the 1970s when she created punk fashion and its subsequent versions from her London store. With its space symbolism and choker fit, the orb pearl necklace was developed in the late 1980s, turning the typical upper-class pearl trend into something decidedly modern and youthful.
The popular pearl necklace has now been rescued by Gen Z, who are known for upcycling and repurposing vintage trends—from corsets to Y2K nostalgia—through a talent for thrifting. Additionally, pearls became a more widely available and affordable adornment, just as Westwood had envisioned. Pearls are no longer only used on rare occasions or as a sign of grandeur. A pearl necklace looks great with anything, including your favorite pair of sweatpants and a Gucci suit.
However, pearls are not merely a passing fad. In reality, it is a piece of jewelry that has been worn by American female political leaders for decades, including Jackie Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, and our first female vice president, Kamala Harris. Harris has worn pearls on numerous important occasions over the past year, including the inauguration and the COVID-19 vaccination. She wore a Wilfredo Rosado necklace and black Tahitian pearls, respectively. The Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman paid respect to the great poet Maya Angelou by donning a pearl ring that Oprah had given to her, and Rep. Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress, wore a pearl necklace that was worn by Barbara Lee.
Lee posted a photo on Twitter while wearing pearls.
“I’m wearing Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm’s pearls on this historic day because of her, the woman wrote. Vice President Harris is in part a result of Shirley Chisholm.”
Pearls are here to stay, from their renown among celebrities to their status in politics.
