Does wearing your diamonds make you feel more confident?

[Black Jade]

I was just reading a book showing jewelry collections. One of the people featured was Helena Rubinstein, who founded the skin care company about 100 years ago. She made a remark to the effect that she really liked jewelry (she had some BIG jewels) even after she didn''t ''need'' it anymore because she was so successful. she said it had given her confidence to wear a lot of obviously expensive jewelry in her youth when she was struggling to start her business and was one of very few women in a man''s world.

So I was wondering, does jewelry make any of you feel more confident? I wouldn''t have thought of this, but I notice that I do put on certain kinds of jewelry when I need/want to make certain impressions. For instance, I am going to a reunion at my Ivy league university in a couple of months and although I wouldn''t say that I was not confident at my stage of life, with my achievements, I know I will wear certain KINDS of things in terms of jewelry and clothes.

 

[musey]

no

 

[tlh]

Yes and no. It makes me feel good. I''m already a confident person, but when I wear pretty things, I feel PRETTY, and i''m sure it shows.

 

[rainwood]

I''d say no about diamonds because I only have my studs and my solitaire which are lovely but not in the ''oh my God, look at those at diamonds'' kind of eye-popping size. There are times though when I definitely want to wear my nicest watch, pearls, bracelets, etc. so maybe the answer is yes, just not about diamonds specifically.

 

[Elmorton]

Date: 5/5/2009 2:25:04 PM
Author: tlh
Yes and no. It makes me feel good. I''m already a confident person, but when I wear pretty things, I feel PRETTY, and i''m sure it shows.

Perfectly said. When I''m looking down at my hand or catching my studs sparkle in the mirror, I think "Ohh, pretty!" and that''s how I feel. Wearing my diamonds doesn''t make me feel more socio-economically elevated (I don''t have big bling), but I do feel "polished" - much like the difference between wearing clothes that are cheap and flimsy vs. well constructed and fitted.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Date: 5/5/2009 2:31:42 PM
Author: Elmorton

Date: 5/5/2009 2:25:04 PM

Author: tlh

Yes and no. It makes me feel good. I''m already a confident person, but when I wear pretty things, I feel PRETTY, and i''m sure it shows.

Perfectly said. When I''m looking down at my hand or catching my studs sparkle in the mirror, I think ''Ohh, pretty!'' and that''s how I feel. Wearing my diamonds doesn''t make me feel more socio-economically elevated (I don''t have big bling), but I do feel ''polished'' - much like the difference between wearing clothes that are cheap and flimsy vs. well constructed and fitted.

Ditto to both quotes

 

[bee*]

no, not at all. I love catching a glimpse of it and it makes me happy but it doesn''t make me more confident.

 

[CNOS128]

It has actually never occurred to me to put on jewelry to feel more confident. But I almost always forget that I''m wearing it until someone looks at it or comments. Usually when I have on a power suit I wear very simple jewelry so as not to distract people from my serious demeanor.
A mentor once told me not to wear big jewelry to job interviews, because the interviewers will think you don''t need the job that badly.

Now, big heels make me feel confident. I love to be the tallest person in the room (I''m about 5''9" without shoes).

 

[Rhea]

Not diamonds, but dangly earrings, yes. I have this kick butt pair of very sparkly topaz earrings. People make comments on them and I love the feeling of them against my face when I turn my head. I used to wear them in court as my lucky earrings. They do make me feel confident, just like wearing anything I think I look good in.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

No, though I don''t think any of my jewelry is large enough to warrant any artificially-created confidence.

 

[geckodani]

Date: 5/5/2009 2:34:37 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk

Date: 5/5/2009 2:31:42 PM
Author: Elmorton

Date: 5/5/2009 2:25:04 PM

Author: tlh

Yes and no. It makes me feel good. I''m already a confident person, but when I wear pretty things, I feel PRETTY, and i''m sure it shows.

Perfectly said. When I''m looking down at my hand or catching my studs sparkle in the mirror, I think ''Ohh, pretty!'' and that''s how I feel. Wearing my diamonds doesn''t make me feel more socio-economically elevated (I don''t have big bling), but I do feel ''polished'' - much like the difference between wearing clothes that are cheap and flimsy vs. well constructed and fitted.

Ditto to both quotes

Yup yup.

 

[Steel]

Yes, they do. As do my pearls.

 

[TravelingGal]

Absolutely. If I want to make a bold comment on Pricescope, I can''t do it if I''m not wearing my jewelry.

 

[elrohwen]

Hmmm ... sometimes yes and sometimes no. When I'm in CT (where I live) or NYC then yes, it does make me feel a bit more confident. I guess I feel I fit in or something silly like that? Not growing up in this area I do still feel like an outsider at times, and having a ring that fits in with the crowd makes me feel less out of place. Now I just need the expensive clothes to go with it

When I'm traveling for work I'm in rural areas and wearing my e-ring sometimes feels a little ostentatious, which doesn't inspire confidence. I get a lot of comments about whether it's real, etc, and it sometimes draws more attention than I would like. But it's all positive attention (so far) and I looove my ring, so I wear it anyways.

ETA: After reading others' comments, I think it's funny that my ering makes me feel more confident in a part of the country where it is far from being the biggest. When I wear it in places where it is the biggest diamond some people have ever seen, I feel very awkward about it, and not at all "socially elevated" or anything.

 

[musey]

Date: 5/5/2009 3:08:28 PM
Author: TravelingGal
Absolutely. If I want to make a bold comment on Pricescope, I can't do it if I'm not wearing my jewelry.

Then if anyone voices dissent, you can just wiggle your sparkly fingers in front of the screen as a comeback

 

[Steel]

Date: 5/5/2009 3:08:28 PM
Author: TravelingGal
Absolutely. If I want to make a bold comment on Pricescope, I can''t do it if I''m not wearing my jewelry.

 

[icekid]

Date: 5/5/2009 2:35:01 PM
Author: bee*
no, not at all. I love catching a glimpse of it and it makes me happy but it doesn''t make me more confident.

Ditto! AND LOL at Tgal!

 

[Bia]

I don''t know. I know I love my ring, and I''m very proud of it. If pride in something you love ensues confidence, then yes, I guess it does make me more confident.

 

[MonkeyPie]

Mine doesn''t inspire confidence, but I still look at it and think, "I can''t believe I have something this nice!" So my happiness exudes, maybe?

 

[tigian]

Date: 5/5/2009 3:20:09 PM
Author: musey

Date: 5/5/2009 3:08:28 PM

Author: TravelingGal

Absolutely. If I want to make a bold comment on Pricescope, I can''t do it if I''m not wearing my jewelry.

Then if anyone voices dissent, you can just wiggle your sparkly fingers in front of the screen as a comeback

LOL!!!

You guys are too funny!

 

[tigian]

If you are not truly confident in yourself, diamonds are not going to do the trick.

 

[Bliss]

Date: 5/5/2009 3:20:09 PM
Author: musey

Date: 5/5/2009 3:08:28 PM

Author: TravelingGal

Absolutely. If I want to make a bold comment on Pricescope, I can''t do it if I''m not wearing my jewelry.

Then if anyone voices dissent, you can just wiggle your sparkly fingers in front of the screen as a comeback

YOU DO THAT, TOO?

LOL!!!

 

[Lilac]

I don''t think my jewelry gives me more *confidence*, although when I got engaged I did feel my engagement ring made people take me a little more seriously. It''s possible it was all in my head, but when I went to try on wedding gowns or to look at venues I always felt like they took me much more seriously after I was officially engaged and had my ring on then they did before I was engaged.

 

[Madam Bijoux]

Wearing jewelry makes me happy, but no more confident usual. Confidence comes from knowing what you''re doing rather than what you''re wearing.

 

[Black Jade]

Interesting responses, thanks.
I think Helena R. was talking about big bling, but the jewelry that makes me feel confident in certain situations isn''t large. It''s more ''right''. Like the perfect string of pearls, an e-ring that isn''t too large (too much over a carat and they start to think of you are nouveau riche) but that has a diamond that looks white and of superb quality, and either pearl studs or diamond studs, again, not too large but quality. To go with the school blazer (for men) and the understated sweater/skirts for women, and a leather handbag and shoes that don''t look too new and definitely don''t have a logo anywhere, but are superb quality. And anything that looks old enough to be inherited better than anything new.

It''s all so trivial, and I know I should wear what I want (I like some of these kinds of things, but other things too) but when I get around these people, I feel like I want to fit in, even though they are perfectly nice if you don''t, (if anything, they get a little TOO polite if you know what I mean).

I have ridiculous radar for what people do in different social strata; comes from having to switch around between different social classes and cultures (and even languages) from very young. I guess I don''t feel more confident, exactly, but sort of less vulnerable in some odd way when I''m doing the ''right'' thing for whatever place I am. When I was teaching in college, for instance, a small Catholic college, I didn''t feel like doing the ''right'' thing for there. It involved wearing big, baggy long skirts and loose blouses, and for jewelry, nothing that wasn''t highly unusual. No one would wear something that was a ''bourgeois'' as a diamond, their jewelry was all old silver from Oman and jade from Tibet, all things that allowed them to talk about their travels to these places. I have a lot of stuff like that, but didn''t want to wear the ugly (to me) clothes and play the game and no one was mean or anything, but i never quite felt like I fit in, which is uncomfortable, though I don''t know if its a matter of confidence.

 

[AGBF]

Date: 5/5/2009 5:53:07 PM
Author: Black Jade

I think Helena R. was talking about big bling, but the jewelry that makes me feel confident in certain situations isn't large. It's more 'right'. Like the perfect string of pearls, an e-ring that isn't too large (too much over a carat and they start to think of you are nouveau riche) but that has a diamond that looks white and of superb quality, and either pearl studs or diamond studs, again, not too large but quality. To go with the school blazer (for men) and the understated sweater/skirts for women, and a leather handbag and shoes that don't look too new and definitely don't have a logo anywhere, but are superb quality. And anything that looks old enough to be inherited better than anything new.

It's all so trivial, and I know I should wear what I want (I like some of these kinds of things, but other things too) but when I get around these people, I feel like I want to fit in, even though they are perfectly nice if you don't, (if anything, they get a little TOO polite if you know what I mean).

I have ridiculous radar for what people do in different social strata; comes from having to switch around between different social classes and cultures (and even languages) from very young. I guess I don't feel more confident, exactly, but sort of less vulnerable in some odd way when I'm doing the 'right' thing for whatever place I am. When I was teaching in college, for instance, a small Catholic college, I didn't feel like doing the 'right' thing for there. It involved wearing big, baggy long skirts and loose blouses, and for jewelry, nothing that wasn't highly unusual. No one would wear something that was a 'bourgeois' as a diamond, their jewelry was all old silver from Oman and jade from Tibet, all things that allowed them to talk about their travels to these places. I have a lot of stuff like that, but didn't want to wear the ugly (to me) clothes and play the game and no one was mean or anything, but i never quite felt like I fit in, which is uncomfortable, though I don't know if its a matter of confidence.

Thank you for sharing your (very interesting) perspective, Black Jade. I have to say that so far I seem to be the only woman, except maybe elrohwen, who has had to cop to wearing her diamonds for confidence! I don't do it often...because I don't wear my diamonds often for any reason. But sometimes if I have to attend a PPT (one of those nasty meetings in which a parent has to face the entire team that work with his child who has has been determined to have a disability) I do slip on my diamond solitaire! Especially if it's my first time at that school and the school is in a wealthy school district with a lot of school officials used to dealing with high-powered families. Do I feel I should be able to manage on the strength of my verbal skills alone? Yes. Do I like having my security blanket to touch? You bet! Call me shallow, but having that ring is like having my blankey!!!

Cheers!

Deb

 

[Ellen]

Date: 5/5/2009 2:16:21 PM
Author: musey
no

Ditto.

To me, confidence comes from within.

 

[Alexiszoe]

Date: 5/5/2009 2:49:02 PM
Author: TheBigT
Usually when I have on a power suit I wear very simple jewelry so as not to distract people from my serious demeanor.

ditto. at work i am a little embarrassed by my e-ring because it receives way too much attention, so i either wear it around my neck on a long chain, hidden from view, or i don''t wear it at all.

that being said, i do notice i get better treatment and faster service in very snooty retailers when i wear my bling! so to put it in another way, i feel more confident that i will get better service at these stores when i wear my jewelry.

 

[gemgirl]

My diamonds don''t make me feel more confident, but they sure do make me smile. That''s probably because if I''m wearing my diamonds, it means I''m out of the house and I''m not cleaning, cooking, washing, ironing, cleaning up after my dogs, my husband....... well, you guys know what I mean. Let''s put it this way, if I''m wearing my wedding set, that means I had time for make-up that day too and that makes me personally happy!

 

[kama_s]

Not really with my diamonds, but definitely other jewelry. Specifically, a tiny pair of pearl studs. I call them my ''confidence earrings'', even though they''re so small that they go unnoticed most of the time. They just make me feel good about myself and happy, and it obviously shows...hence, the confidence.

Just because a certain piece of jewelry/clothing can make one feel confident, it does not mean the person isn''t confident without them or otherwise. Just gives it a little nudge