I have had a “thing” for tiaras as far back as I can remember. Why did I want to be a princess the Halloween of 1974? To wear a tiara, of course. (And the magic wand didn’t hurt either.) I recall my talented mom making my tiara and wand out of tin foil — she even made my gown out of an old sheet and felt shapes.
I vividly recall the first tiara I made myself in 2nd grade. I carefully cut out the front of it in a thin, flexible cardboard. After I cut it out, I patiently picked out all the silver sequins from my sequin box and glued them to the cardboard in just the right pattern. I then pilfered a piece of elastic from my mom’s sewing room, stapled it to the front, and voila, I was a princess. I wore that thing until it basically crumbled.
Flash foward to 1999, and I met a well known aura reader/psychic. One of the first things she told me was that I was royalty in a past life. Ahhh….this is suddenly making so much sense!
About 4 years ago, I went with my mom, brother, and his two kids to Disneyland. My niece, Estella, around 9 at the time, told me she wanted a tiara, not Mickey ears. I think I may have done a little happy dance. (Gotta love genetics!) “Of course!” I told her, “OK, now listen. We’re not going to get some cruddy little plastic tiara. We’re going to hold out and find the good ones, OK?” She was IN! Damn, I love that girl. Finally, we found it. A Swarovski crystal store, busting with tiaras well into the 1000’s of dollars. We both selected our perfect tiara, and I don’t think we took them off the rest of the trip, aside from when we were in the pool or on a big rollercoaster. And truth be told, we still wear them.
Tiaras just make the world a better place in my mind. Cleaning my house in one makes the process SO much more enjoyable — even though my boyfriend thought I was a nut when he saw me doing it. You should try it if you haven’t done so before. Even doing accounting in a tiara makes it almost bearable.
Within the past couple months, I’ve added two new tiaras to my collection. The first one came to my attention when my friend Becky, who writes Diamonds in the Library, wrote about it. (btw, you should definitely follow her, if you don’t already.) It’s from Australia, and it’s a collaboration between JY Jewels and Lady of Leisure Millinery. I think it’s such a cool, modern take on a classic. I got mine in the rose gold tone.
When I returned from Europe this month, I was perusing C Magazine, and came across Erica Elizabeth Designs. Her website is chock full of dreamy headpieces, and I had to order this one…the Stargazer. (Remember how I’m completely crazy for all things celestial?!) And I was even able to select the color ribbon it is wrapped in so it would blend in with my hair.
Speaking of Europe, when I was visiting Kensington Palace in July, I was in awe of the tiaras in Queen Victoria’s exhibit. When the jewel room was quiet, the security guard told me about an amazing optical illusion. He pointed out exactly where to stand, and my brother took this shot of me, where it looks like I’m actually wearing the Fife Tiara. This just MAY be my new Facebook profile…perhaps.
So there it is — my confession. I love tiaras. I have always loved wearing them, and I think I always will. I wish I could wear them on a daily basis out and about. Now, I think I’ll decide which one to wear while I go prepare dinner.