Do not underestimate a tiara: it is really the Platonic ideal of jewelry. Unlike other pieces that can “wear” you rather than you wearing them–necklaces, etc.–a tiara places that issue entirely to the side. Because wearing a tiara is an event in and of itself. The entire raison d’être of a tiara is to dignify the person whose brow it rests upon. And I’ve never seen a woman (or man: Billy Porter can rock a mean tiara) who doesn’t look more dignified, more glamorous, more themselves, wearing a tiara.
Sadly, Tiara Thursdays at the Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor are a thing of the past. I so used to look forward to that day every week where for a few minutes, no matter how humdrum the task besetting me, I could click away from it into a world of beauty, history, and intrigue. A world that sparkled. Fortunately, the archive is still up, so with a little initiative, you can make your own Tiara Thursdays happen for quite a while. I highly recommend it.
PS Pictured is the Ocean Tiara, made for Princess Charlene of Monaco as a wedding gift by Van Cleef & Arpels. It converts into a necklace! Here’s a trailer for it.
The Rookery 