Men and jewelry have had a long history, going back to Ancient Egypt where men used to wear jewelry to denote their high status. Even in Ancient Greece, soldiers wore jewelry on their uniforms while going to war, believing that the jewelry would ward off evil spirits, and European royalty loved using gold jewelry as well.
Monarchs in the European world would deck themselves out in finery and load themselves up with jewelry and get portraits made of themselves. Even Indian Maharajas would drape themselves with tons of jewelry while getting portraits made, thinking it exuded a sense of nobility, royalty, wealth, status and power.
One of the reasons why jewelry is becoming popular in the modern era for men is because of the internet. The internet allows people to transmit information instantaneously. This has resulted in emergence of social media celebrities, also known as influencers, because of the large number of followers they have. These influencers are like mini-celebrities, in the sense that they can guide their followers by directing them towards trends and sometimes, even establishing trends themselves. This results in the lightning quick widespread popularity of trends throughout the world, because of the influencer network and the number of people that see and engage with the trends.
Jewelry being worn by men also has its roots in the liberalisation that has been seen lately in modern society. These days, social norms are a lot more relaxed and people have been trying to find their own individuality. This also includes experimenting with fashion and clothes, as well as accessories such as jewelry. There is also a focus lately, with Gen Z and Millennials, to look good and dress up well and be on top of fashion trends that makes it acceptable to wear jewelry.
There is also the style factor that is coming in, with regards to jewelry such as rings, earrings, chains and necklaces for men. This is being popularised on platforms such as TikTok by fashion models, which makes it acceptable and something to aspire towards for men.
Having said that, a new trend that has been popping up is wearing pearls for men. Pearls used to be popular amongst men. In ancient times, pearls were a symbol of high status, opulence and luxury. This is because pearls are one of the rarest occurring natural jewels. Pearls were expensive, and were worn by Indian Maharajas and European Monarchs as a way for them to show off their wealth.
Pearls were associated with femininity post World War 2, because of their association with feminine icons like Audrey Hepburn and Coco Chanel. Princess Diana was another icon who loved pearls, and her wedding dress actually had 10,000 pearls. However, in the modern world, pearls, despite their connection to purity, innocence, femininity and the moon, have been repurposed to be an asset to masculinity and masculine expression.
Pearls became a fashion trend for men after being spotted on many male celebrities. Celebrities such as Harry Styles, Asap Rocky and Shawn Mendes have been spotted wearing pearls, and even baseball players such as Joc Penderson were also seen wearing pearls while playing baseball.
For men, there are a variety of ways they can style pearls and include them in their daily looks, enabling them to establish their masculinity and express it in a much more stable and powerful way.
One of the ways men can wear pearls and style them is to wear multiple pearl necklaces and layer them to make a statement. You can wear multiple pearls over a basic tee and pair that with a tweed jacket and trousers. Choosing pearl necklaces of different sizes can help you execute the layering perfectly.
You can also go for the classic look of only one pearl necklace. A versatile piece, a pearl necklace can go well with almost any outfit, making it a powerful piece in your arsenal.
You can also pair a pearl necklace with other chains, such as charm chains or silver chains in order to emphasise the pearl necklace by drawing attention to it through contrast, helping you achieve an understated but powerful look.
Finally, you also use a dual pearl chain combination, with one big chain and one small chain in order to create a V shape pearl chain combination, helping you look elegant and well put together.
Image source – https://pixabay.com/photos/jewels-jewelry-necklace-broach-396441/
