Tribal Done Right

I highly recommend that readers with an interest in ethnic-style jewelry check out the Flickr photostream of Anita Quansah London, a "designer to the stars" whose work actually completely thrills me.



Her designs are exquisite; unconventional and deconstructed in their unexpected shapes, with interesting different manners of draping to adorn more than the expected parts of the body, with a beautiful use of shells and other natural/traditional materials that is both very true to the "roots" of bodily adornment and beautifully joined with more modern materials.  Her pieces combine couture and warrior looks and are just generally stunning.

Additionally, the description on the second piece, here, is a splendid example of describing this style of jewelry without being over-the-top.  She identifies what people inspired her work -- the Masai in Kenya and Nigeria -- and makes strong but not offensive connections between ethnic traditions and modern needs -- the relationship between the use of body ornament to establish identity in various folkways and the fierce, feminine draping design of the jewelry pieces themselves.  In this way she establishes "story" and makes the jewelry feel more "ethnic" or "tribal" without ever having to resort to overusing the cliche, sometimes-offensive style names.