Noelly Rodriguez - Prompt 2

 Name Plated Jewelry: From the Margins to the Mainstream

Today, nameplate jewelry can easily be found on any e-commerce site or platform for purchase and is worn by people across different cultures, races, and classes. However, there was a point in American history when nameplate jewelry was heavily associated with communities of color and people of the working class. What once was recognized as an artifact symbolizing responsibility and financial security, has become a trendy piece of jewelry that can easily be purchased with the click of a button. 

In the journal essay, Say My Name: Nameplate Jewelry and the Politics of Taste, authors Isabel Flower and Marcel Rosa-Salas dive into the history of nameplate jewelry and how its cultural significance has shifted overtime. When searching for the origins of nameplate jewelry, the authors found that they had been historically connected to many different ethnic and racial groups in the East Coast and even in Texas and California. The key characteristic that these groups shared in common was, “working-class status of the style’s early adopters,” (Flower & Rosa-Salas, 2017, p. 112). Even though the origins of nameplate jewelry is not tied exclusively to communities of color, its early adopters were a part of the working class. Nonetheless, the cultural significance of nameplate jewelry is found within communities of color. According to the authors, nameplate jewelry had become a staple part of hip-hop culture due to its customization that serves as, “an act of showing the world an exterior self that is financially secure, confident, and singular,” (Flower & Rosa-Salas, 2017, p. 119). Furthermore, the authors hosted events for nameplate jewelry owners to tell their stories about the significance that their pieces had in their lives, (Burke, 2018). For the nameplate jewelry owners in the hip-hop community, people of color, and the working class, their pieces represented something important to their identities. Whether it was coming of age, individuality, or financial security, the nameplate jewelry symbolized an important aspect of their life. Unfortunately, the works of consumption and capitalism have changed the meanings of these pieces.

In order to understand how nameplate jewelry made its way into the mainstream, one must become familiar with the concept of coolhunting. Coolhunting refers to a marketing tactic where marketing employees would go out and hunt for the next “cool” trends, and was brought to the attention of the public by journalist Malcolm Gladwell. The most notable introduction of nameplate jewelry to the mainstream market was a result of something very similar to coolhunting. While some may associate nameplate jewelry with people of color, others may associate it with the iconic white fictional character, Carrie in Sex and the City. In an interview with InStyle, the costume designer of Sex and the City stated that after seeing youth in a New York neighbourhood wearing nameplate jewelry, she was inspired to make it a part of the white female character’s identity, (Stern, 2015). Although it may not have been intentional, the costume designer followed the same steps that coolhunters would. In the book, On trend: The business of forecasting the future, the author, Devin Powers states, “When it came to matters of taste cultural influence followed a different path, from the periphery to the center and from the marginalized, oppositional groups to dominant, compliant ones,” (2019, p. 60) When looking for inspiration for a fictional white, female character who would reside in New York, the costume designer decided to look to urban youth for something trendy. By taking a trend she saw in a marginalized group and putting it on a white woman for millions of people to watch on their screens, the costume designer played a role in shifting nameplate jewelry from the margins to the mainstream. So much so, that some even began to refer to nameplate necklaces as the “Carrie necklace.” Similarly to coolhunters, and without even realizing or at least taking accountability, the costume designer had exploited an artifact of a marginalized community and turned it into a piece of mainstream culture. 

The introduction to mainstream culture has had an impact on the cultural significance that nameplate jewelry holds in the communities that have historically worn them. This is due to the concept of incorporation, the way in which capitalism incorporates trends from all different niche groups and markets until they are ultimately all a part of the same bubble of mass consumption. According to author John Fiske, “incorporation robs subordinate groups of any oppositional language they may produce: it deprives them of the means to speak their opposition and thus, ultimately, of their opposition itself.” (2010, p. 18). If we think back to the meaning of financial security that nameplate jewelry held for those in the hip-hop community, that meaning becomes diminished when the jewelry is worn by a popular white character who has never experienced any financial struggles. This is further demonstrated by the design of Carrie’s necklace, compared to the traditional style of nameplate necklaces. In the show, you can see Carrie’s necklace is thin and dainty compared to the thicker plated designs that are worn more amongst people of color. The thicker plates and exaggerated scripts are meant to be flashy and stand out to embody the financial security and individuality that the piece represents. Whereas, when it is incorporated by the mainstream, worn on characters like Carrie, and altered to be made more palatable to a general audience, it now represents something chic and fashionable. And thus, the cultural significance of nameplate jewelry for people of color or people in the working class who worked hard to afford their pieces or deem themselves responsible enough to own an expensive piece of jewelry, has deteriorated. 

Nowadays, nameplate jewelry is worn by more and more groups of people of all races and classes and can be purchased on several e-commerce shops. Although nameplate jewelry still holds importance in the communities that are notable for wearing them, their overall meaning has altered due to the way they have been incorporated into mainstream culture. 

References

Burke, S. (2018, May 23). Uncovering the cultural history of the nameplate necklace. VICE. Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://www.vice.com/en/article/3k4dmn/uncovering-a-cultural-history-of-the-nameplate-necklace 

Fiske, J. (2010). The jeaning of America Download The jeaning of America. In Understanding popular culture. Routledge, pp. 1-21.

Flower, I., & Rosa-Salas, M. (2017). Say my name: Nameplate jewelry and the politics of taste. QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking, 4(3), 109–126. https://doi.org/10.14321/qed.4.3.0109 

Powers, D. (2020). On trend: The business of forecasting the future. University of Illinois Press.

Stern, C. (2015, April 22). Patricia Field explains the origin of the carrie necklace from sex and the city. InStyle. Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://www.instyle.com/news/patricia-field-explains-origin-carrie-necklace-sex-and-city