Finally, I mean, FINALLY here is my blog. I am not going to write about the boring details that were keeping me from starting a blog, but I will let you know what made me go to blogger.com and sign up immediately, without blinking...
Cocktails..... Yes, indeed, that is the spirit!
Let me be more precise, it is the cocktail ring that got me started. You see, not long ago, I started my own business, House Of Joris Jewelry. I came upon making jewelry by accident and fell head over heals in love with this art. To my surprise, people seemed to really like what I was making, and encouraged me to keep doing it. Well, I needed a job, and so a few months later, I opened my own store on Etsy.com.
I never really pay much attention to what is in fashion, when it comes to dressing myself. I have my own personal style and I know what I like! The history of fashion, and the influence on people and society however, I find very interesting. And, because jewelry is very personal, and often has a sentimental meaning to the wearer, it's history is particularly interesting story.
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| Delilah Cocktail Ring ©2012 House Of Joris Jewelry |
I started making a collection of cocktail rings recently, and thought it was fun to name each ring after an actual cocktail, and so, the Happy Hour Collection™ of cocktail rings was born. Listing the latest ring last night, Blue Lagoon, I started wondering why cocktail rings were called just that. What do these rings, have to do with alcoholic beverages? So I googled the term, and I was again pleasantly surprised. These rings have their own wonderful little history!
The name 'cocktail ring' comes from the 1920's, the time of flapper dresses, new liberating short hair cuts for women, and of course: Prohibition. During the driest of times, the secret speakeasy cocktail parties, where illegal alcohol was flowing a-plenty, were The Place To Be (Seen)! Women, wearing their new style of fashion, were standing in line to attend these parties! The jewelry style was very glamorous, and these ladies were wearing long strands of pearls around their necks, and large eye catching rings on their fingers. They knew that everyone could see this ring, as they were holding up the wonderful and illegal cocktails. It was a way for the ladies to showcase their wealth. And so you see, the cocktail ring has everything to do with prestige and status.
At first, these large rings were set with precious and semi-precious stones, for the wealthy woman. Soon, the middle class girl would follow, wearing rings with an imitation stone, although some of them were so well made, that only a jeweler was able to tell the difference.
Later, during the glamorous times of the late forties and the fifties, it was fashionable again to wear large cocktail rings, especially while attending dinner parties. And with that, the ring was given another name: Dinner Rings.
Traditionally, cocktail rings are worn on the fourth finger of the right hand. Currently, these cocktail- or dinner rings, are back in fashion again, they are beautiful and really can make an outfit. Have fun, buy yourself a cocktail ring, or perhaps start collecting vintage cocktail rings. They are a real part of American history.
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