Wendy Brandes Jewelry Blog

Never Is the Next New Thing

Why I Love Queens

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Most of my jewelry is inspired by queens. By queens, I’m referring to royal ladies — not one of New York City’s five boroughs or Quentin Crisp.

Double your queenly pleasure: gay icon Quentin Crisp played Elizabeth I in the movie "Orlando." Click!

I love badass women in general and when queens are badass, they are supa dupa badass. Seventh-century Chinese ruler Empress Wu,  for instance, said she would use a whip, a hammer and a knife to train a mean, wild horse:

“First, I shall give him a lesson with the whip,” she said. “If he disobeys me, I shall blow him on the head with the hammer. If he still rebels, I shall slit his throat.”

The horse was lucky. With people, Wu usually went straight to the throat-cutting part.

Detail shot of my Empress Wu earring design. Click for more photos.

About 1400 years later, we frown upon murderous monarchs, so modern-day queens have to content themselves with throwing shade. Still, their shade is better than our shade. I was reminded of that by an article in the New York Times Style Magazine by fashion journalist Sarah Mower, who was named a Member of the British Empire — a British national honor. Writing about the challenges of dressing to meet the queen, Mower mentioned a famous insult dealt to former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher by Elizabeth II. Thatcher asked for advance notice about what the queen would be wearing to state occasions, apparently to avoid winding up in a “twins” situation. The response?

“Her Majesty does not notice what other people wear.”

And that’s how you whip, hammer AND cut a bitch without lifting a finger!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. If it were a different time, the Iron Lady would’ve ended up in an iron maiden for such an inquiry. But I’m sure it would have been messy. Thus, the invention of shade throwing.

  3. If only the current royals were as interesting as their ancestors. BTW Orlando is one of my favourite books. Loved the movie too.

  4. I’m very excited because I’m teaching a women’s history course next semester and I will get to talk about some supadupa badass queens with regularity. And I’m totally putting Orlando on my list for this winter break. I can’t believe I’ve never seen it.

  8. i was hoping it was the royals you talking about in your queen reference
    they were badass
    i am a geeky anglophile, so i love reading about all of that stuff
    Love HRH answer
    brett

  10. It would make perfect sense for a queen to be a jewellery icon, they certainly know their way around it! The Elizabeth II quote in particular is amazing!