On Saturday, I covered what I believe is a disturbing trend for gentlemen preparing to propose. I’m still outraged there are couples out there that think shelling out $45,000 to stage their proposal for YouTube fame is a good idea. Apparently, I’m not the only one concerned about recent popular expressions of the heart. My editorial partner in crime, Stephanie Schaefer, asked to take over my blog to rant about a potentially troubling jewelry trend. Check out what she has to say about “boyfriend jewelry” and let us know if you’d devote marketing resources to bring in young love struck females to your store. Just because we’re skeptical about these things, doesn’t mean jewelers can’t make some money off them!
Name-plate necklaces have been popular since Carrie Bradshaw strutted down the streets of Manhattan wearing Manolos and her signature bling.
Flash-forward a decade after HBO’s Sex and the City aired, and the name-plate trend has shifted from the wearer’s name to that of her boyfriend.
Glee star Lea Michele recently sported a gold necklace with the name “Cory” in honor of her beau, Cory Monteith.
In the spring of 2012, Kim Kardashian showed the world she and Kanye West were an item by wearing gold-and-diamond-studded “KW” earrings.
Jessica Biel has also been known to rock the boyfriend bling, displaying the name Justin around her neck for her now-husband, Justin Timberlake.
I’m all for symbolic pieces of jewelry, but where do we draw the line? To me, this trend seems to be the equivalent of doodling hearts around your boyfriend’s name in middle school—cute, but also a little tacky and immature.
Plus, the whole concept of branding yourself with your beau’s name contradicts the independence and freedom (“girl-power” as I like to call it) arising from monogramed pieces like Ms. Bradshaw’s necklace.
By all accounts, I’m not alone in my opinion:
@jckmagazine hate to break the news.. but we wouldnt.. its weird!
— Roni Blanshay (@RoniBlanshay) March 22, 2013
@jckmagazine I wouldn’t ever wear one. Unless I was 13 & dating the fastest boy in my grade w/gold colored braces-ya, that really happened.
— Cait Skjeie (@CaitSkjeie) March 22, 2013
But just because many women are anti “boyfriend jewelry,” it doesn’t mean we don’t love to spell out other statements with our accessories.
So if the boyfriend bling isn’t your thing, check out these other fashionable ways to wear words, ranging from sassy to sweet:
Wendy Brandes Jewelry sterling silver “Seriously?” necklace
Wendy Brandes Jewelry sterling silver “Laugh Out Loud” ring set
Helen Ficalora gold “Love” charm
Helen Ficalora silver “Mom” charm
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