They say diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but they forgot that ‘best friend’ comes with an ‘s’ at the back—yes, best friends, and that other best friend is called Pearl, and she’s just making her next supreme, Mother-of-Pearl comeback to the face of fashion. This summer, brands and individual persons flaunt their pearl-embellished possessions on the street like it’s the 1930s again. Before we skip to present-day costume-jewellery pearl, let’s head back to the past to fish out some real wild-caught pearls.

The Origin of Pearls (Or Rather, How They Were Cultivated)

If you didn’t know yet, pearls naturally grow within the cavity of oysters and mussels. They secrete nacre, or mother of pearl, a whitish cream-like composite liquid over foreign particles or over an irritant that has found its way into its cavity. Over a period of some months, nacre will continue to build layers over the foreign object/irritant until, viola, you get your long-awaited pearl. Historically, nature-found pearls are rare. Our ancestors’ desire to own more than the lot they could find in the natural waters near them, which led them to the idea of farming oysters for pearls. More specifically, Mikimoto Kikochi was named the first pearl farmer and started pearl farms in several places in Japan. Later on in the timeline of human history, pearl farming spread across the globe and everyone coveted a string for themselves. Though they coveted, pearls were considered family jewels, to be worn only by the wealthy. But today, you see them in all faux compositions. They are literally like the must-include sequins in modern day’s clothing design.

Current Fashion/Style Trends + Pearls in Them + Shopping List For You

I’ve only recently started becoming interested in pearls, though I’m a little late on the bandwagon, but for good reason. I was cleaning up some of my old jewellery from when I was younger and found this strand of pearl choker necklace amongst my old possessions. To this day I don’t know if the pearls are real, though they weighed significantly (I suppose plastic pearls don’t weigh much, but this strand of pearls definitely did). But the thing that’s special about it is that it was given to me by my aunt when she went on Hajj many years ago and came back with three strands of pearls as a souvenir from Mecca, one each for me and my two sisters.

I remember wearing it to school when I was in Primary 5 and, afraid of being found out for wearing fancy jewellery to school, I broke the strand while trying to snappily tuck it under my uniform collar, and each bead of pearl began to slip from the plastic wire. Now, my own broken strand of pearls is kept in a small mesh drawstring bag. The current still-intact strand of pearls I found while cleaning up must belong to one of my sisters, but eh, I’ll just claim it. And ever since that day, after I added it into my glass container of possessions and seeing it blend so lavishly with my other gold and gold-coloured jewellery, I knew I had to come up with some get-ups that I could wear this newly found pearls with.

Pearl Hair Clips // It’s becoming a bit of a trend these days with hair accessories like statement hair clips and wide headbands. It’s like the near future of fashion is on its final hinges and is slowly making its turn back to the past, specifically to somewhere in the 80s or 90s. And with pearls, pearl embellished hair clips and headbands are a fit right in. Because I wear the hijab, I won’t be fashioning these beautiful styles any time in the future, but I do have a suggestion for the hijab-wearing ladies: look out for pearl decorated shawls. To make it even better, the materials your shawl is made up of could boast some pearline sheen in lighter shades of pink, cream and white.

Beaded Pearl Handbag // The other factor that made me become suddenly interested in pearls is this squarish beaded pearl handbag I first came across on Ashley’s YouTube video about summer looks. While she got hers from Princess Polly, I found the Antonia bag from a British label called Shrimps which I have never heard of before from my corner of the world until I stumbled upon one of their own beaded pearl handbags online. (I’ve become a fan of Shrimps ever since, because of its eminent, dreamy old English style.) While Shrimps is an extremely expensive choice to get a pearl handbag from, I found a similar one from Forever 21 when I wandered into its 313@Somerset store one weekend. It was $40, compared to the $500+ one from Shrimps.

Pearl and Shell Earrings // Aren’t shells the cutest thing we picked up from the sands of the beach when we were little? I remembered those many weekends to the beach with a bag in my one hand and collecting washed-up shells with my other. And when you put shells and pearls together, they make a girl’s mermaid dream come true. Except, big girls typically leave behind their girlhood Disney Princess dream. To fill that void, the women’s world of sophisticated fashion has come up with a solution: gold shells and white (of course, white) pearls to satisfy that lingering childhood Disney Princess feel. Composed together, everyone knows that they were meant to be together, never apart. If you’ve been a fan of gold jewellery, you (and I) could easily switch up our gold jewellery with this pearl and shell update. They’d blend right in, but at the same time give you that shimmering white new highlight.

Transparent Handbag With Pearls On Them // Last in my list of pearl encrusted pieces is another bag, but this one intent on showing off its insides with the modern transparent trend. Maintaining its glamour is the gold clasp and chain strap. Naturally, this bag size isn’t fit for the ladies during work hours, but you could always fashion this for lunch hour with only your chosen essentials in it. I guess that’s how all clutches and tiny handbags work anyway.

Non-pearl Things That Look Cute With Them

Pink Feathered Heels // Though Marina from Marina And The Diamonds (recently renamed as just MARINA) felt that her Electra Heart Era/album was one of her most, if not most, challenging time yet (you can Google it up), I personally love the visual concept that she has brought to the album. There is no doubt that Primadonna will always be one of my favourite music videos of all time, and it’s also this reason why I’m channelling all my love for the Primadonna concept into this blog post. Hence, to move the theme of pearls along, I’ve suggested adding a dash of that feathered Primadonna look. To top it off, I’ve got the best of the best to represent this: pink feathered mules by none other than wacky Miu Miu. It’s just perfect. And with an embellished block heel, I imagine only the brave would dare pull these mules on just to feel divinely elevated. It’s a heck of a piece and may look too much for practicality, but it’s up to the wearer where they see themselves in these. Perhaps, if you’d like to lessen the fantasy princess feel, I’ve got another suggestion: these River Island feathered sandals. If anything, they’re good for special events and parties if they aren’t for the office.

Pink Dad Shoes // Pink NIKE Martine Rose Air Monarch IV & Pink FILA Disruptor II. If you want to talk practicality on the feet, let me give you a kick with trainers. It’s the buzz right now (and has been for almost two years when Dad shoes became a fashion trend) to be wearing seemingly impractical yet comfortable bulky shoes like these on your feet. Then again you might think, “How in the world am I supposed to pair pearls and dinosaur trainers together?” Don’t worry, I’ve got just the solution: see these pink trainers? They’re exactly what you need to keep the pearl vibe going even with comfortable shoes. Here we have a pair of NIKE Martine Rose Air Monarch IV and a pair of FILA Disruptor II, the former in light pink and the latter in bright neon-ish pink. If you’re an avid follower of the NIKE and FILA brands, you must know that these shoes are very quickly disappearing from the market if they aren’t already gone, and your only hope of finding another one would probably be on eBay, resold, secondhand. Not that that’s bad. (I’ve been hunting for a pair of NIKE ones myself in a size 37 EU on eBay but no luck so far…) So, how does one put pearls and pink trainers together? I’ve got some ideas: you might wear a (white) flowy dress with these trainers and don on your pearl accessories. Or you could suit up in a matching white and pink blazer and pants suit. Put on your pink Dad shoes and your Mom’s pearls on, and you’ve got a trendsetting look going on. P.S. I live for the outrageous.

Pink Trousers // As you can see, I’m head over heels for the colour pink, and trousers in darker shades of pink are my ultimate faves. I’ve got my pair from MANGO two autumns ago and I’m still in love with it because it’s honestly the only one of its kind. I’m just waiting for the day someone else or another brand would produce something similar to it so I can buy it and have my current one replaced because let’s face it, our favourite clothes don’t last long enough. That’s the sad part about fashion. Anyway, of pearls and dark pink trousers, I plan to wear them with a white top, one with balloon sleeves which I got from a ZARA sale, tuck the blouse in, add some gold jewellery to the look, and slip on a pair of 80’s Mary Jane shoes with block heels. Of course, not forgetting to wrap my head in a black mesh-organza material and secure it with gold and/or pearl brooches. The look is just perfect. Let me just finish this look off with my Maybelline matte lipstick in the same shade as the trousers and a perfectly winged eyeliner-ed eye. This look is the dream.