We have often heard it said, diamonds are a girl’s best friend (Nicole Kidman’s Satine, in Moulin Rouge, crooned it best). Nina Garcia, in her book “The One Hundred” says that the best accessory any woman can have is a pair of diamond studs (real or faux). This may be true in other countries where every Jane manages to own a pair of diamond earrings but this is most definitely not the case in the Philippines. Nina and Nicole, I must disagree.
As far as jewelry is concerned, a pair of pearl stud earrings is a Filipino woman’s best friend.
I was reminded of this truth just a few days ago when circumstances conspired to deprive me of my trusty car. I knew well ahead of time that I would have to take advantage of Manila’s public transportation system to get myself from work to home. Girl scout that I am, I planned my outfit based on the day’s expected adventure (fingers crossed that it doesn’t turn out to be a misadventure). Pants and a good pair of flats (in case I need to walk distances that would turn out to be torture if I were in heels and a pencil skirt) and a pair of decent pearls (good enough to make me look professional and less “nene” to my patients but understated enough not to catch the attention of the urchins that ply Taft Avenue or tempt my taxi driver to insist that I add an extra Php50 to what the meter says is my fare). My day was uneventful and I would like to credit that (rightly or otherwise) to my choice of wardrobe for that day.
I personally have a long love affair with pearls. Whereas flashier gems marked the milestones in my life, a trusty pair of pearl studs was with me at every stage as I eked out my place in this world. My earliest memory of the empowering beauty of pearls was in high school where mom’s Mikimoto pearl earrings (and ring) gave me the added confidence that the pimpled, awkward teen that I was badly needed. It didn’t matter that the pearls in question were very tiny, a mere 8 millimeters in diameter. I loved those pearls so much that I wore them all the time, so much so that the chemicals we were handling in chemistry class eventually ate through the nacre of the pearl on my ring. I eventually graduated to bigger pearls as I got older, but never have I been without a pair of pearl studs in my jewelry box since those fateful 8 millimeter pearls.
How could you possibly go wrong with pearls? They can go with any outfit. They cut across social classes-the socialite has her Jewelmers but the typical working girl can have her equally large pair of cultured pearls from the Greenhills Pearl Market. They are appropriate in almost any setting (I say almost since the most superstitious among us would say that pearls are not for a bride on her wedding day as they predict a marriage full of tears). Pearls never fail to exude class and sophistication without being too flashy. I stress the not too flashy part…this characteristic is especially important in places where being too flashy could get you a pair of torn, bleeding earlobes (Alright, maybe I exaggerate…but do we really want to experiment and find out if this fear is real?).
Speaking of pearls, one classic cartoon I grew up with had an interesting take on pearl obsession. Aaaah, Daffy brings back such fond memories.
Really, pearls are a girl’s best friend. So girl, if you still don’t have one, what are you waiting for?