It All Started with a Pair of Earrings

Friends have sometimes asked why feathers are such a huge part of me and my work, and the simplest answer is “it all started with a great pair of earrings”.

I have always loved big and bold jewellery (maybe it’s to make up for being so small?), so four years ago I designed a pair of feather earrings as a present to myself. I thought they were beautiful (well, I would!), and it seemed my friends loved them too, and suddenly I was making more and more, and before I knew it I had started a business and the feathers became my signature style and are still one of my bestsellers.

I want to believe that there may be more to my feathers than just being a style statement in a delicate setting.

Having always been quite a spiritual person, I recently discovered that feathers are thought to be a symbol of angels watching over us and showing they are near. Having lost my parents at such a young and later my grandmother, I think it is lovely to imagine that my angels set me on this path and are somehow with me now. And when I look back, I can see that they were always there when I needed a little extra strength, and those were the days I wore my feathers. I used to think they were my lucky charms – and maybe they were as they were my angels literally whispering in my ear (or in the case of my grandmother more like shouting!).

I’ll be wearing my feathers again and again. I’ll imagine my angels whispering in my ear and smiling, scolding, encouraging, questioning, embracing and challenging me to try and go even further.

I know I’m putting a lot of pressure on what is essentially just a pair of earrings, but don’t we all have one of those pieces of jewellery or bits in our wardrobe that we always bring out when we need to be a little bit "more", or we want to connect with our past and imagine our future?