In 2004, Ettore Sottsass, the Italian architect and designer, was asked to curate Cartier’s vaults of vintage jewels, clocks, watches, pens and other goodies and handpick items for an exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.

And in that exhibition’s catalog, Ettore Sottsass commented on the power of adornment:

“Tens of thousands of years ago, women and men already adorned their bodies with necklaces and markings of various kinds, in order to satisfy that subtle, obscure pleasure of declaring to others their ‘personal’ presence—indeed, their very identity or singularity. They adorned themselves to seduce or even terrify.”

To seduce or even terrify?

Those are two very different objectives, and high expectations, for something as simple as a necklace or a bracelet!

And yet it makes complete sense to me.

We all experience competing needs to both fit in and stand out at the same time. To both belong to our tribe and to set ourselves apart from it. To adhere to the status quo while simultaneously exploring its boundaries.

So it seems completely likely that I might want to be not just seductive or terrifying but seductively terrifying or terrifying seductive in the same exact moment.

Jewelry, of course, is just one weapon in my female arsenal used to accomplish this.

Now I must confess that I’ve worn the same pair of diamond stud earrings for over a decade.  I don’t wear rings and I seldom wear bracelets. But oh, how I adore necklaces! They are definitely my Achilles Heel.

And today’s VPOD is no exception.

This vintage 1960s bronze necklace by the talented female designer, Unn Tangerud, appeals to both my primitive and modern sides.

It a beautiful way to wield the Power of Adornment for a Vintage Crusader!

Available from Hopea.

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