"ANKLE BRACELETS"

"ANKLE BRACELETS"

When I was a teenager, ankle bracelets were frowned upon--nice girls just didn't wear them at all. Never. Ever. I remember seeing some women with them on while walking on Capitol Street [the main street here in our town] and it made me wince. After all, I had been told the above and so I just knew that these women were not of the nice type at all. And an ankle bracelet was considered taboo.

The only type of ankle bracelets available then were either silver or gold. And women who wore them, wore them over their hose--the bracelet sort of hung down onto their feet. Men stared at these women and I am pretty sure that women did too:  So did I.

When the seventies hit with the hippie-type clothing and accessories, ankle bracelets appeared in all types of fabrics and metals. Did I wear one then? No. I was teaching school and again, it was frowned upon if you were a professional woman. But women from all walks of life started wearing ankle bracelets and the "taboo" sort of got lost in translation.

It would take me to the nineties to wear one and did I ever! The choices were even more than in the seventies--you name it and it was made out of it as far as fabric, metal or whatever and embellished to the hilt. Still have some made out of twisted rope, embellished ones and some are metal--one is sterling silver. When I think about wearing one, I get it out and put it on and feel no shame whatsoever! None. Ever.

For those of you who are younger than me, thought you might be interested in knowing how such a small thing as an ankle bracelet went from taboo to acceptable. If you live in another country, maybe things were different in perspective than here. All I can say is that what happened earlier here was really ridiculous if you were to stop and think about it. 

Long live ankle bracelets! If you still have yours, get them out and wear one--dare you. Make that a double dare.

Sherry Hill