Using Oral History to Document the Name Plate Necklace
In the past few years, name plate necklaces have surged in popularity as a fashion-forward jewelry staple that embodies a personal touch of refinement and a sense of unique identity.name plate necklace These intricately crafted pieces of jewelry are often considered an evocative statement that speaks to one’s individuality and serves as a reminder of loved ones or moments in time that have been meaningful. For many, it is also a symbol of their ethnicity and heritage.
Marcel Rosa-Salas grew up in Brooklyn, in a predominantly Puerto Rican and Italian neighborhood, and says that she has always been enamored with nameplate jewelry—typically gold necklaces that announce the wearer’s name in script.name plate necklace She and Isabel Flower, a NYU doctoral student in cultural anthropology, recently explored this fascination by starting #DocumentingTheNameplate, a public project that uses oral history to piece together the origins and evolving meanings of the style.
The duo has hosted a few events, in which people bring in their name necklaces for photography and submit written testimonies. The results have been illuminating, showing how the jewelry can be linked to global migration movements and how it is used to assert identity and take up space against the kind of cultural erasure and dislocation experienced by working-class communities in America.
In their essay and podcast, the pair further explores how race and class shape notions of taste—for example, why a name necklace can be seen as cool in some contexts but tacky in others—and how the jewelry has been used to challenge racial stereotypes, as well as the way that taste and value can change over time. The piece is available to read in full here.