Diamonds May Be a Girl’s Best Friend, But PEARLS Are the Southern Belle’s Best Friend

Of course we’ve all heard it, Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend. And I would actually agree- but there is a difference between a Southern Belle and a girl, just like there is a difference between diamonds and pearls.

Diamonds are flashy and fun and add this glitz and glamour to most anything and don’t get me wrong I love them, and I love them big and bold, small and demure subtle. But pearls, pearls have this certain je ne sais quoi that diamonds don’t. I have worn pearls both to every major, important event in my life as well as to take an ordinary outfit and make it a little more tasteful.

The really nice pearls I have worn for my high school graduation, my wedding, my brother’s graduation, all of my sorority composites, and my brother’s wedding. In fact, I have a pair of pearl and diamond earrings that belonged to my great grandmother that my mother STILL keeps put away- I have only worn them twice: high school graduation and my wedding, That’s it. My Mikimoto pearls, which were a wedding present from my parents, come out a little more often. They are what I wore to my brother’s wedding.

Then I have all of the other strings of pearl necklaces and studs of earrings that I wear to make any other outfit just a little more ladylike. For instance, the White Party last weekend: my dress was on the edge of… well… a little too short and a little too low cut. However, add a cluster of bronze pearls and bam! Instant class: more demure and ladylike.

Pearls sometimes have this stereotype among them, like something old and tired. In many ways, pearls embody everything that is Southern: we are often misunderstood and typecast. And probably even more so now, especially for Middle Georgia with Honey Boo Boo on TV. But I do not shun Honey Boo Boo, in fact, just like many other Southerners I embrace her. Just like my pearls. Every pearl is different and unique. And while they are very strong they are a delicate jewel. What I learned when working in the jewelry business is one must put them on last and take them off first- even perfume can damage them. Just like the Southerner- pearls are so misunderstood in that regard. People do not realize how delicate they are. We Southerners may not all have the drawl that is expected thanks to movies like Steel Magnolias, but we do have a spirit that cannot be found anywhere else. And pearls- pearls are a part of that spirit. Pearls can make anything, and anyone, feel just a little classier. Just like the Southern Belle.