"What's in a Name?"

As the great William Shakespeare once wrote, "What's in a name?  That which we call a rose;  By any other name would smell as sweet?," I dedicate the following post as my own interpretation of the well-known phrase, blog style, of course:

I am well certain that good ol' Shakespeare never intended for his simple and elegant poetry to ever contribute to the Carrie Bradshaw-influenced-and-over-eccentric world of style; but let's be honest, if the pun fits I'm using it, and as much as I'm seeing initialized, name-imprinted jewelry in today's trendy happenings, I can say I'm accurate when "borrowing" beautiful literature to describe a true foundational entity of Fashion.  To this day, I continue to stand firm in my belief that no matter how one wears or displays their sense of style, one's own name and initials will always surface to tell a story about that person, their heritage, their familial pride, and a natural identity.

Ashley & me

circa 1989
(PRE-Carrie Bradshaw)

The glorious memories will forever be embedded in my mind of the simple days when beach trips with my family and extended relatives were everything in the world to me.  The crashing waves roaring with might, yet a gentle sense of delicate touch, onto the grainy sand was a wonder to me, and running along the shoreline with my cousins, nothing better could rival the feeling I felt, true happiness.  Every year it was a tradition to go down the shopping "strip" and find treasures (which of course meant any of the following EVERY YEAR: a plastic snow-globe thing that "snowed" glitzy rainbow colors, sea shell necklaces that had to be pastel and similar in all aspects [for my cousin, Ashley, and I could not have anything different], and, most importantly, ridiculously over-decorated-and-over-priced nutcracker men from the Christmas Shop).  Yes, these so-called treasures were very precious to us during our young years, and while I do not remember most treasures, there is one in particular that I happened to come across recently in my dusty jewelry box that I have continued to cherish even up until now.  Yes, even before the hit television sitcom/mellow-drama "Sex and the City," when Carrie Bradshaw introduced to the world an entirely new and different level of style during the late 1990s, I, Carrie Barnes, bought my first gold name necklace at a tiny beach shop along the strip well before Miss Carrie Bradshaw was even a contemplative thought.  I cannot recall as to why I never wore the necklace growing up, perhaps because my mom always told me I broke every piece of valuable jewelry as a rough, young tomboy; nonetheless, I never wore it.  It was only until last summer, when I returned from Europe electrified and energized from seeing all the European fashions and traveling with fearless Australians (who, I should commend, will never believe that anything looks bad on if worn with confidence), that I went home and dug out my necklace.

While I know that I should not receive any credit for re-birthing the name-wearing trend back in the states, it was quite ironic to me that it became more prevalent when I returned from my Euro-whirlin' trip.  It was also quite annoying and comical to hear people actually ask me if I was wearing my necklace because I wanted to be like Carrie Bradshaw or if, ironically, my name was actually Carrie.  To that question, I would merely respond with a dumbfounded, are-you-being-dead-serious look.  Nonetheless, the necklace remains one my favorite pieces, and I will continue to don it with pride.

Initial necklaces are sure to make the perfect
gift this holiday season for girls and women of every age!