Old jewelry

I have some items from my paternal grandmother, who always maintained high standards in her appearance. Her shoes and handbags matched, she generally carried gloves and wore a hat, and I don’t remember her wearing many pants until she was quite old. I’m sure some of her obsession with her appearance was due to her generation—she was born in 1896 and came of age during World War 1. She also came from a fairly well off family in Columbus, OH and remained impressed with her own background her entire life.

So the jewelry I’ve got from her are pretty neat. You can see one necklace in this picture—it’s really pretty in person and I wore it a couple of years ago when I was a matron of honor. I don’t have earrings to go with this necklace and don’t know if there ever were any.

I also have a triple strand of jet beads, plus a matching pair of clip-on earrings and the bracelet in the picture after this paragraph. I’ll be wearing the necklace and bracelet on Tuesday at the Gala I have to attend for work. My black and white dress isn’t as formal as some will be wearing; after all it’s just above the knee. But it looks a little mid-century modern so the jewelry both goes well with it and dresses it up. I’ll end up using the dress as a work or nice occasion dress, which is good since I don’t have the room in my closet for a one occasion dress nor do I have the lifestyle that requires more formal clothing.