Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or...

[zhuzhu]

.... at certain meetings, because others may make certain assumption about you?

I work in Academia, and I find that almost nobody else in my group wears diamond of any sorts, just plain wedding band and plain earrings, if any. I feel self-conscious sometimes about having my lovely jewelry pieces on.

When I am scheduled to meet with a new collaborator, I find myself wanting to not wear my engagement ring or the diamond eternity band, but to wear my plain trinity band instead.

Do you also find yourself feeling self-conscious about the message what your jewelry preference may send at work or elsewhere?

 

[Nashville]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

My jewelry really isn't enough to draw anyone's attention or get self conscious over. Besides, people probably have other things to focus on besides what I'm wearing.

 

[zoebartlett]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

I don't feel self-conscious at all. My engagement ring doesn't really stand out among my coworkers' rings.

 

[Madam Bijoux]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

I don't feel self-conscious about it. Whoever dislikes it or resents it is free to look at other things.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

Not really. I'm lucky in that while I work for an NPO full of electricians, fire fighters and engineers, the group I work in is predominantly women with a flair for fashion. My boss' boss is a fabulous dresser and she's got great jewelry. I often oogle her engagement ring during meetings.

 

[betty6333]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

only when people stare, or grab my hand! other wise I think most people are too busy to notice!

 

[dragonfly411]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

At this point I don't feel self conscious. My items are relatively small. That being said, I probably wouldn't let myself feel that way anyways because the jewelry that I own and wear is my business, not the rest of the world's.

 

[Autumnovember]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

I did feel self conscious at first but not anymore. I have noticed a lot of dirty looks from girls my own age....sadly.

 

[elrohwen]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

Yes. I work in a tech industry, so the majority of people are extremely dressed down and plain. Most of the people I work with are men who don't wear jewelry in general, and the women typically wear almost no jewelry, jeans, and little to no makeup - it's a very casual environment. I do wear my engagement ring and plain wedding band, but that's the only jewelry I wear on a daily basis. A few of the men in my department have even commented on my rings, so I know they stand out, since we're constantly typing and using our computers in meetings.

I would like to get a pair of studs some day, but I have long hair so I don't think those would be very obvious. I can't really imagine getting RHRs unless they were small gemstones set in plain settings, because anything halo-ed and blingy would just be so far from the norm that I probably wouldn't wear it very often.

Oh goodness, sorry that was so long!

 

[Lurchie]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

Yes. And my business meetings are often spent pointing at drawings on the table so my hands are always in view. In fact, I hardly ever wear my new spess 3-stone to work because I don't want to attract attention. It's partly due to the state of the economy. Receiving such a generous anniversary present at a time when so many people are struggling financially is touchy for me. DH happened to have had a good year when most have had very bad ones.

 

[jaysonsmom]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

I do feel self conscious for the same reasons as Lurchie. Everyone around me seems to be expriencing tough economic times, so to get a nice upgrade this year plus a trip to Paris for our ten year anniversary makes me feel totally uncomfortable. I have not shared about either of those things at work, they just know I'll be taking some time off in Sept. The ring is beginning to get noticed though. I have been staying in my office since I got it in May, but I guess I'm out and about more lately, and 2 people have grabbed my hand for a closer look in the past week.

 

[yssie]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

Nope. Noone else even likes diamonds or jewellery, so I'm already the odd one in that department - size and quantity don't matter in the least, not that I have all that much!

 

[LGK]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

DH & I had to present our appeal to the Board of Equalization today and I flipped both my rings palm side in. I hardly wanted to argue with them to lower our property taxes whilst wearing a lot of fine jewerly, lol. Indeed, though my FIL was the primary speaker, and I didn't say one word except to be sworn in, several of the board members scrutinized me the whole time and it made me very twitchy, and I was glad I'd done that and worn opaque tights to hide my tattoos, too.

At work, I don't care... but in certain situations (like above) I am aware of it and hide my jewelry or leave it off. For a meeting like you describe I might flip my ring around if it wasn't going to be obvious to everyone that I'd done that.

 

[Lula]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

I felt self-conscious when I got my upgrade a little less than a year ago. It's not that the diamond is so large (though it's large for my social setting) but my setting is ornate, and I felt like anytime someone looked at me they were noticing (and judging) my ring! That feeling lasted over six months! There were many times that I didn't wear my ring because I thought I'd offend someone, send the wrong message -- blah, blah, blah. But this summer that changed -- now I'm comfortable wearing my ring all the time and I'm much less self-conscious. Most people just don't notice - and the ones who do tend to be jewelry nuts themselves.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

Yes. And my business meetings are often spent pointing at drawings on the table so my hands are always in view. In fact, I hardly ever wear my new spess 3-stone to work because I don't want to attract attention. It's partly due to the state of the economy. Receiving such a generous anniversary present at a time when so many people are struggling financially is touchy for me. DH happened to have had a good year when most have had very bad ones.

i feel bad for ya...please send the ring to me.

 

[tigian]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

My ering set is hardly big enough for anyone to make any judgements. The people I work with on a daily basis are pretty occupied with their own issues. When I catch someone staring at my ring, I take it as a complement.

 

[Haven]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

I don't feel self conscious about my jewelry at all. I'm a teacher, and I wear my 2 ct engagement ring, eternity band wedding ring, and antique OMC three-stone ring from my grandmother every single day.

I like Madam Bijoux's post--if people don't want to see them, they are free to look elsewhere.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

All of my coworkers seem to have huge stones, so I never have to worry about it. In fact, I spend a lot of meetings ogling everybody else's rings. I'm guilty of very rarely wearing any rings, so when I did finally wear a plain band a few days ago nobody in my entire group even knew I was married, haha.

 

[katamari]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

.... at certain meetings, because others may make certain assumption about you?

I work in Academia, and I find that almost nobody else in my group wears diamond of any sorts, just plain wedding band and plain earrings, if any. I feel self-conscious sometimes about having my lovely jewelry pieces on.

When I am scheduled to meet with a new collaborator, I find myself wanting to not wear my engagement ring or the diamond eternity band, but to wear my plain trinity band instead.

Do you also find yourself feeling self-conscious about the message what your jewelry preference may send at work or elsewhere?

I am also in academia, and I feel like many academics feel like frumpiness is their cross to bear. There is a lot of judgment for putting any effort, and especially money, into appearances, so, yes, I feel self-conscious sometimes at work because I wear a (modest) diamond engagement ring. I do my best to surround myself by colleagues who are more interested in my work and/or my character, but these are few and far between.

 

[zhuzhu]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

.... at certain meetings, because others may make certain assumption about you?

I work in Academia, and I find that almost nobody else in my group wears diamond of any sorts, just plain wedding band and plain earrings, if any. I feel self-conscious sometimes about having my lovely jewelry pieces on.

When I am scheduled to meet with a new collaborator, I find myself wanting to not wear my engagement ring or the diamond eternity band, but to wear my plain trinity band instead.

Do you also find yourself feeling self-conscious about the message what your jewelry preference may send at work or elsewhere?

I am also in academia, and I feel like many academics feel like frumpiness is their cross to bear. There is a lot of judgment for putting any effort, and especially money, into appearances, so, yes, I feel self-conscious sometimes at work because I wear a (modest) diamond engagement ring. I do my best to surround myself by colleagues who are more interested in my work and/or my character, but these are few and far between.

I am so glad that my university is not the only one full of people who "acts" like they believe superficial wealth (jewelry) is evil as opposed to "intellectual wealth (?)"! Cheers to that!

 

[FrekeChild]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

Yes. But that's because I work with homeless people. I tend to hide my hands a lot and hope they think whatever it is, is fake. I'm not scared of them, I just don't want to make them feel bad, because very often these people are in very bad situations.

Edited to fix a typo.

 

[Circe]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

.... at certain meetings, because others may make certain assumption about you?

I work in Academia, and I find that almost nobody else in my group wears diamond of any sorts, just plain wedding band and plain earrings, if any. I feel self-conscious sometimes about having my lovely jewelry pieces on.

When I am scheduled to meet with a new collaborator, I find myself wanting to not wear my engagement ring or the diamond eternity band, but to wear my plain trinity band instead.

Do you also find yourself feeling self-conscious about the message what your jewelry preference may send at work or elsewhere?

I am also in academia, and I feel like many academics feel like frumpiness is their cross to bear. There is a lot of judgment for putting any effort, and especially money, into appearances, so, yes, I feel self-conscious sometimes at work because I wear a (modest) diamond engagement ring. I do my best to surround myself by colleagues who are more interested in my work and/or my character, but these are few and far between.

I am so glad that my university is not the only one full of people who "acts" like they believe superficial wealth (jewelry) is evil as opposed to "intellectual wealth (?)"! Cheers to that!

Consider me a third academic: my colleagues are incredibly nice, but I definitely feel like the odd man out. The ironic bit is that I feel weird enough about student compliments on my wedding set (I feel bad for distracting them!) that I stick to fun costume jewelry pretty much entirely for the rest. And even with that, one of my colleagues always asks if it's "real!"

Academia is an interesting environment. Between the fact that we're usually underpaid and the gender politicking that women experience, jewelry is loaded, through and through.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

I don't plan on wearing any expensive jewelry once I finish school. I will be working in mental health.

 

[Haven]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

.... at certain meetings, because others may make certain assumption about you?
I work in Academia, and I find that almost nobody else in my group wears diamond of any sorts, just plain wedding band and plain earrings, if any. I feel self-conscious sometimes about having my lovely jewelry pieces on.
When I am scheduled to meet with a new collaborator, I find myself wanting to not wear my engagement ring or the diamond eternity band, but to wear my plain trinity band instead.
Do you also find yourself feeling self-conscious about the message what your jewelry preference may send at work or elsewhere?

I am also in academia, and I feel like many academics feel like frumpiness is their cross to bear. There is a lot of judgment for putting any effort, and especially money, into appearances, so, yes, I feel self-conscious sometimes at work because I wear a (modest) diamond engagement ring. I do my best to surround myself by colleagues who are more interested in my work and/or my character, but these are few and far between.

I am so glad that my university is not the only one full of people who "acts" like they believe superficial wealth (jewelry) is evil as opposed to "intellectual wealth (?)"! Cheers to that!

Consider me a third academic: my colleagues are incredibly nice, but I definitely feel like the odd man out. The ironic bit is that I feel weird enough about student compliments on my wedding set (I feel bad for distracting them!) that I stick to fun costume jewelry pretty much entirely for the rest. And even with that, one of my colleagues always asks if it's "real!"
Academia is an interesting environment. Between the fact that we're usually underpaid and the gender politicking that women experience, jewelry is loaded, through and through.

This is very interesting. I'll be starting my new job at a CC on Monday, and now I'm wondering if it will be an environment similar to what you have all experienced in universities, or if it will be more like my experience in a high school. High school teachers are, for the most part, a pretty well-groomed bunch. Very interesting. We shall see.

 

[vbnet]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

.... at certain meetings, because others may make certain assumption about you?
I work in Academia, and I find that almost nobody else in my group wears diamond of any sorts, just plain wedding band and plain earrings, if any. I feel self-conscious sometimes about having my lovely jewelry pieces on.
When I am scheduled to meet with a new collaborator, I find myself wanting to not wear my engagement ring or the diamond eternity band, but to wear my plain trinity band instead.
Do you also find yourself feeling self-conscious about the message what your jewelry preference may send at work or elsewhere?

I am also in academia, and I feel like many academics feel like frumpiness is their cross to bear. There is a lot of judgment for putting any effort, and especially money, into appearances, so, yes, I feel self-conscious sometimes at work because I wear a (modest) diamond engagement ring. I do my best to surround myself by colleagues who are more interested in my work and/or my character, but these are few and far between.

I am so glad that my university is not the only one full of people who "acts" like they believe superficial wealth (jewelry) is evil as opposed to "intellectual wealth (?)"! Cheers to that!

Consider me a third academic: my colleagues are incredibly nice, but I definitely feel like the odd man out. The ironic bit is that I feel weird enough about student compliments on my wedding set (I feel bad for distracting them!) that I stick to fun costume jewelry pretty much entirely for the rest. And even with that, one of my colleagues always asks if it's "real!"
Academia is an interesting environment. Between the fact that we're usually underpaid and the gender politicking that women experience, jewelry is loaded, through and through.

This is very interesting. I'll be starting my new job at a CC on Monday, and now I'm wondering if it will be an environment similar to what you have all experienced in universities, or if it will be more like my experience in a high school. High school teachers are, for the most part, a pretty well-groomed bunch. Very interesting. We shall see.

I'm a hs teacher and got my substantial 5 stone upgrade this summer. I was in setting up my classroom yesterday and saw a few people staring at my hand but just ignored it. Aug 23rd is the first institute day, school starts the 24th so we'll see if I have more to add then. I'm still wearing my ring irregardless. At first it felt a bit big, but now - eh, it's a ring. I love it, but still it's just a ring -- gorgeous ring -- but still it's a ring.

 

[Autumnovember]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

I don't plan on wearing any expensive jewelry once I finish school. I will be working in mental health.

...? I'll be in mental health as well but I'm not sure how that plays a role in jewelry? Just curious as to why because it hasn't crossed my mind and I'd like to hear your thoughts.

 

[that_someone_special]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

I was in a doctors appointment tonight and the doctors eyes always wandered to my jewelry. I'm used to it, and can usually tell that they'll do it, so I cover my hands... If I'm pretty sure it will happen prior to the appt or event.. or whatever it is, I just won't wear jewelry. Makes me sad because I love my stuff!

But, I am extremely shy IRL and hate drawing attention to myself so that's probably part of it too.

 

[Lurchie]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

Yes. And my business meetings are often spent pointing at drawings on the table so my hands are always in view. In fact, I hardly ever wear my new spess 3-stone to work because I don't want to attract attention. It's partly due to the state of the economy. Receiving such a generous anniversary present at a time when so many people are struggling financially is touchy for me. DH happened to have had a good year when most have had very bad ones.

i feel bad for ya...please send the ring to me.

Hey, no problem. Just give me your full name and address and I'll send it right along. Oh, and a phone number, too!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

.... at certain meetings, because others may make certain assumption about you?

I work in Academia, and I find that almost nobody else in my group wears diamond of any sorts, just plain wedding band and plain earrings, if any. I feel self-conscious sometimes about having my lovely jewelry pieces on.

When I am scheduled to meet with a new collaborator, I find myself wanting to not wear my engagement ring or the diamond eternity band, but to wear my plain trinity band instead.

Do you also find yourself feeling self-conscious about the message what your jewelry preference may send at work or elsewhere?

I am also in academia, and I feel like many academics feel like frumpiness is their cross to bear. There is a lot of judgment for putting any effort, and especially money, into appearances, so, yes, I feel self-conscious sometimes at work because I wear a (modest) diamond engagement ring. I do my best to surround myself by colleagues who are more interested in my work and/or my character, but these are few and far between.

I am so glad that my university is not the only one full of people who "acts" like they believe superficial wealth (jewelry) is evil as opposed to "intellectual wealth (?)"! Cheers to that!

Consider me a third academic: my colleagues are incredibly nice, but I definitely feel like the odd man out. The ironic bit is that I feel weird enough about student compliments on my wedding set (I feel bad for distracting them!) that I stick to fun costume jewelry pretty much entirely for the rest. And even with that, one of my colleagues always asks if it's "real!"

Academia is an interesting environment. Between the fact that we're usually underpaid and the gender politicking that women experience, jewelry is loaded, through and through.

This is all cracking me up! My students rarely comment on my bling but I catch them looking. I teach classes on relationships so I think it is almost satirical to wear a big blingy wedding set like I do.

I think the frumpy thing is true in some fields and it is true for older profs in all departments. I my department, which has recently gone through a hiring "boom" adding about 6 younger profs in the last 4 years (out about 35), my collagues seem to be quite fashionable (for our general area, we are not talking NY here)! The married women do have modest diamond rings. I think it is the same at the international conferences I attend. A number of the successful women in my field are relatively blinged out and dress well.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Re: Do you feel self-conscious about your jewlry at work, or

To answer the original question, yes I do feel self-conscious at times. Not to the point where I don't wear my rings, but when I catch people looking and they don't say anything, I wonder what they might be thinking. And sometimes I see my ring in photos or reflected in the mirror, and I think "Gads that thing is garishly large!" and I wonder what people must think. But I love my ring and so try not to care. There is always a critic out there of something you wear/say/do, and if you try to please them, well then they will criticize that too!