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Next Event: July 30 - 31, 2022 10am-5pm both daysRandolph Street Market 1341 W Randolph St, Chicago
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Next Event: July 30 - 31, 2022 10am-5pm both daysRandolph Street Market 1341 W Randolph St, Chicago
Pearls Randolph Street Market

Pearls… Always Classic, Always New

FASHION TREND REPORT EXCLUSIVELY FOR RANDOLPH STREET MARKET BY NENA IVON, nenasnotes

I have always been enamored with pearls and their association with fashion but there is so much more to them…the history is fascinating…from natural pearls to cultured, from Haute Couture, to Opera, to Royalty, to Art, to Romance, and on and on….whether a single strand or a extravagant bib the pearl has so many interpretations and is probably the true meaning of Always Classic, Always New….let’s look at some of the history of pearls….

The natural pearl is harvested by mostly female pearl divers in Japan

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Natural pearls…
“Cultured pearls are real, genuine pearls that are formed inside a living oyster with human intervention. When a nucleus is surgically implanted in the oyster’s flesh, the oyster recognises it as an irritant and begins to coat it with smooth layers of nacre. Over time, the growing pearl gets completely covered with the beautiful iridescent substance we call nacre, or mother-of-pearl. All pearls sold today are cultured pearls, with the exception of vintage estate jewellery and heirloom pieces that are more than 80 years old.”

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Pearls Randolph Street Market

“Natural pearls, on the other hand, are formed naturally by free-range “wild” oysters living at sea without any encouragement from humans. When a natural irritant such as a fragment of shell, a scale or a parasite becomes lodged inside an oyster or mollusk, it gets coated with layer upon layer of nacre. Contrary to popular belief, grains of sand do not form pearls. If sand were enough of an irritant, our ocean floors would be littered with millions of natural pearls! Natural pearls are actually very rare, mostly because pearl-producing species of mollusks were nearly hunted to extinction with most natural beds of pearl-bearing oysters depleted by over-harvesting in the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, natural pearls are extremely rare. Only 1 in about 10,000 wild oysters will yield a pearl and of those, only a small percentage achieve the size, shape and colour desirable to the jewellery industry.” Source: Raw Pearls

Kokichi Mikimoto

Pearls Randolph Street Market

“Mikimoto learned that Akoya oysters produced the best pearls. He explored methods of introducing a particle into the flesh of the oyster to stimulate secretions of “nacre” that build up in hundreds of thousands of layers, creating a lustrous pearl. He overcame many failed experiments and challenges of nature, from oyster-eating octopi to a disastrous “red tide” of bacteria that threatened the survival of his oyster beds.” Be sure to go the Mikimoto website, linked here, for the extraordinary story of the originator of the cultured pearl. Source: Mikimoto Pearls

Pearls in history…

A mosaic…

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Queen Elizabeth I

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Whoopi Goldberg hosting the Oscars several years ago, gowned as Queen Elizabeth I

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Vermeer’s The Girl With The Pearl Earring

Pearls Randolph Street Market

A bejeweled Maharajah

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Georges Bizet’s Les Pecheurs de Perles, The Pearl Fishers….one of my favorite opera’s, of course the highlight, the duet, it is definitely my favorite operatic piece!! https://operaq.com.au/news/the-pearlfishers-duet/

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Marie Antoinette, the movie…gowns by Adrian, jewels by Joseff of Hollywood (he will be the subject of an upcoming RSM blog post…stay tuned !)

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Queen Victoria…

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Mata Hari probably wearing Paul Poiret…

Pearls Randolph Street Market

A couple of showgirls in costume…

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Of course, Gabrielle Chanel… always mixing real and faux

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Lagerfeld for Chanel…love these!!!

Pearls Randolph Street Market

I’m obsessed with this look from the late 1920’s early1930’s.

Pearls Randolph Street Market

The iconic Audrey Hepburn in the iconic black dress and pearls in Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Pearls Randolph Street Market

First Ladies and their “pearls”…cultured and faux…

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Diana….

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Liz with Queen Mary’s beyond exquisite La Peregrina pearl sold at auction for $11.8 million

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Marie Antoinette’s pear and diamond pendant sold at auction for $32 million

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Something in a tiara perhaps from the English Crown Jewels…

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Gloria Vanderbilt at home…

Pearls Randolph Street Market

The modernity of this classic on Rihanna…

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Masses of pearls

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Pearls Randolph Street Market

The elegant embroidery of Lasage for a Haute Couture piece…

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Nena in a treasured Adolfo jacket with wide pearl beading, by Lasage, around neck, down the front of the jacket and on the cuffs…Photo courtesy of the Nena Ivon Archives at Columbia College Chicago.

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Pearls Randolph Street Market

And a treasured photo by the iconic Victor Skrebneski, used with permission of the photographer.

A few books, one non-fiction the others fiction.

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Pearls Randolph Street Market

Pearls Randolph Street Market

All photos, unless otherwise noted, from Pinterest photo credits unknown.
THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARED ON THE nenasnotes blog…January 2019.

—–
by Nena Ivon
www.nenasnotes.com
www.facebook.com/Nena Ivon
www.instagram.com/nenasnotes

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