Costume jewelry

Past: This faux pearl and diamond costume jewelry is dainty and lady-like and—if I remember correctly—came from the display case of the “fancy” jewelry at Claire’s in Selinsgrove, PA. I only wore it a handful of times—mostly to sorority formals during college. Low-budget bling. But I loved it!

For 10-plus years it sat in the corner pocket of my jewelry box—a little nest of baubles and fake gold. I knew I was never going to wear it again—and I was certain there was a girly-girl out there somewhere who would enjoy wearing it to her high school prom—so up it went onto Craigslist.

Present: I was hit hard with requests for this jewelry—which surprised me. Some of the stories people sent me were quite sweet. A jobless mom who had recently moved here from the Philippines who didn’t really have much money to spend on nice jewelry to wear with her dress to the three weddings she had coming up. A daughter who wanted to give her mom something pretty for Mother’s Day. A self-proclaimed poor guy who just wanted to give his wife something pretty. Others, too. Including a couple people who wrote just to say they thought it was nice of me to be giving away something pretty, especially with prom season ahead of us. I was touched.

Because it was just costume jewelry—pretty but chintzy costume jewelry—I decided the best home for my jewelry would be to a girl who would wear it to her prom—and maybe some other dress-up occasions. Like I did.

I passed the jewelry along to a woman from Arlington whose niece was attending her high school prom this spring. The girl’s mother had found her a gently worn prom dress and now her aunt was going to complete the ensemble with some pretty second-hand jewelry so that the girl would feel like the belle of the ball. And it was that phrase—the belle of the ball—and the memories of having the excited butterfly feeling in my heart when getting all dressed up for my own prom that convinced me this was the right person to pass my costume jewelry along to.