Channel Your Inner Queen of England with This Truly Timeless Jewelry Trend

Remember the spirit animal craze? At the height of spirit animal culture, I was in college. Jenny Boully was my spirit animal. Nicki Minaj, pink-wigged and bossed up at the patriarchy, was my spirit animal. And Anne, of course. Always and forever, Anne Boleyn.

XO Strand $36 & Icicle Pendant $34,

Anne Boleyn, full of grace, the "glass of fashion in France," the bird-boned heretic. If there was ever a ghost in my heart, ambitious and brittle, it was Anna Regina. The most happy. Grudge who grudge, bitches.

In 2016, the novelty of the spirit animal exclamation has worn off. There's no sheen to it now, but I find myself — in times of crisis or consternation and, alarmingly frequently on my commute — willing Anne up out of the arrow chest her body was tucked into and into my state of mind or tone of voice of tilt of head. At any point in time, there is a version of Anne worth breathing in and exhaling. Anne, changing the world that was into the world that — in her eyes — ought to be. Anne, catching a glimpse of the glittering future she wanted and believing herself capable of possessing it, and gaining it (albeit briefly). Anne, bewitching and bejeweled. Always, bejeweled.

I struggle with trends because keeping up with them requires a certain amount of money, of dedication to homogeny, and trust in authority, all of which I lack. I do love fashion, though. I love watching the world of it spin and the woozy way that history repeats itself through the years and the seasons — same animal, different pulse. But I can't quite run with the wolves, yet. I can't giddily jumpstart my wardrobe and metamorphosize into the it girl of any given season. Anne couldn't either. She made, by all accounts — and I've read many of them — her own way.

"[Anne Boleyn] dressed with marvellous taste and devised new modes which were copied by all the fashionable ladies at court; [she] wore them all with a 'gracefulness that rivalled Venus.' Later, she would be responsible for introducing the French hood into England, a fashion that would last for sixty years." 

— The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Alison Weir 

SIXTY YEARS. She did what she wanted and then other folks did it FOR SIXTY YEARS. If she didn't have to follow trends, I don't either. In all things, I trust in Anne. Anne knew how to bed a king and play a lute and write letters in French. And Anne damn well knew how to layer a necklace.

I have always preferred statement necklaces to delicate pieces, mostly because they're just easier (one and done and out the door), but the shifting of the seasons is calling for change and if I can't be an It Girl, I can at least slip on a summer skin — something lighter than the bleak black I've worn all winter. There's also my newfound fondness of very bold headbands. You can't wear a horn crown and a huge necklace. It just doesn't track.

So, I've been dabbling in layering necklaces, taking my cues from the luminous and lustrous Anne Boleyn. Here's what Anna Regina can teach us (and where to shop for the delicate and divine):