A lifetime on your neck

Welcome back to school, Trojans — or, if this is your first time here, welcome to the Trojan Family. For those who are interested, I spent my summer in Minnesota working in corporate cybersecurity, specifically product security and digital forensics and incident response. That’s right, dedicated readers who have never met me: I’m a double major in public relations and intelligence and cyber operations.

Anyway, with a rental car and no fear of the Minnesota highway, I was incredibly excited about what gems and grails I would be able to find this summer. Say what you want about cities like New York or Los Angeles, but smaller towns in Minnesota like Roseville and Cambridge had some amazing finds.

One thing I didn’t expect to get so invested in, though, was antiquing; for the first time in about five years, I was more invested in jewelry and accessories than clothes. Don’t get me wrong, I did get some killer pieces, my favorites being a tiered, pleated, square neckline dress from Escada and these red kitten heels from Italy with marbled, multi-colored wood outsoles. But, this summer, I’ve been on a real jewelry kick, looking for unique statement pieces along with earrings to stack and brooches to deck out a shoulder bag à la Jane Birkin.

It started when I got my second ear piercing and decided I finally wanted to invest more in deliberate stackings of earrings instead of throwing on whatever vaguely matched my outfit or was on my table. Then, when taking a step back to look at the capsule wardrobe I brought with me to my internship, as I had to dedicate a lot of suitcase space to my blazers and slacks, I decided to work on my styling efforts. I wanted to use jewelry to do so.

Jewelry can say a lot about people: how much they’re wearing and how shiny or chunky it is, if the pieces make loud noises or stay silent when clashing into each other, if they stick to one type of metal or mix metals with gems, and the diversity of jewelry types — earrings, brooches, toe rings, etc. It tells us if someone wants to be noticed, announced or appreciated for an overall look or details. It also simply tells us what taste the wearer has.

I thought I would want to start out with expanding the one necklace I wear every day by adding charms to it. After finding a silver bell that rang in that nostalgic, first-jewelry-box-that-has-a-ballerina-and-plays-songs way, I asked the woman at the thrift store where I could find more unique pieces. She shrugged, but her co-worker behind her told me to try antiquing in the Twin Cities.

I found one place on TikTok — which is basically Google for me at this point — called Paris Apartment Antiques. So, I did what any moody girl does: popped on a playlist with Lana Del Rey, MARINA and Faye Webster and drove over to pour my heart into window shopping (and half-intent on retail therapy). To say I hit the jackpot is an understatement. There were four or five wide displays of charm bracelets, rings, brooches and my personal favorite: a rotating display of charms, pins and earrings where the shopkeeper sat.

My second favorite place to antique this summer was an antique fair in Cambridge where I met an incredibly kind woman, Lily Anne, who talked about why she liked antiquing and the idea of giving the items a second life. I had never thought about thrifting like this: I always saw shopping second-hand as a more cost-efficient and environmentally-friendly alternative to retail empires, but I couldn’t get the sentiment out of my head, especially when sifting through rings and seeing old engagement diamonds and wedding bands.

I loved thinking that the earrings I bought to bring back to L.A. could have been an anniversary gift between lovers or a grandchild’s favorite earrings she would always sneak from her grandmother’s drawer when she visited. That maybe one day, the pretzel, double-looped hoops I got from a small corner costume shop in Madrid would be a birthday present from one college student to their high school sibling or something someone buys for their newly-official partner “just because.”

I like the idea that objects can be immortalized through continued — not recycled — love and care between strangers.

From this incredibly long story, though, I have two things for you, reader, to keep in mind.

For those who are thinking about getting into the L.A. thrifting and antiquing scene, I would give this one piece of advice: It’s not about the label. Buy what you love and what makes you feel special and beautiful. My rule of thumb is try on what I like and source it after, unless the price seems unfitting of the item.

When I was first starting, I felt more obligated to buy things because of the name associated with it — some items I went above my price ceiling for ended up collecting dust in my closet. Labels also don’t necessarily equate to worth and high price points. It’s your world, your closet, your sense of style: Don’t compromise or succumb to the pressure of a brand name.

But also, like what I learned from Lily Anne, life and school is about perspective. Objects, people, situations, classes — anything can change based on how you approach each situation and obstacle. While it can feel incredibly overwhelming to keep making new decisions or get back into old routines, you are in charge of what you perceive your surroundings and situation to be.

Your internal psyche is vital in how you take charge — or don’t — in the face of difficulty and how you see yourself and the world around you. Every day is a new opportunity to meet someone new, pick up a new hobby or breathe a fresh breath of life into something.

Life is what you make it. And while the world doesn’t revolve around you or me, your life is your world.

Walt Whitman puts it perfectly in “Leaves of Grass” in his poem, Song of Myself, 51. So, I’ll leave you with it:

“Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)”

You, reader, contain multitudes. You are broad and complicated and vast and interesting and capable and infinite.

Never forget and never underestimate yourself.

Happy fall semester, Trojans. I’ll see you around.

Hadyn Phillips is a junior writing about fashion in the 21st century, specifically spotlighting new trends and popular controversy. Her column, “That’s Fashion, Sweetie,” runs every Wednesday.