Chic Boutique
Chic Boutique: Clothing and Accessories
By: Cookie S., Lillie G., Linda D. and Shirley G.
In this gallery you will see all different types of jewelry, clothing and accessories from different people from different times. Some of these items were worn for weddings, and others were worn casually everyday. These artifacts came from our grandparents, great uncles and aunts. In this section you will see shawls, dresses, shirt pins, and jewelry. Each piece showed how a man or woman felt or who they really were. The clothes are samples of how they dressed back then, and some people would still use these clothes and accessories today.
Fashion is not just something a person wears, it shows who the person is, his or her background, what he or she likes. It shows individuality and also uniqueness. It may even reveal a person's religion. The great thing about clothing and accessories, is that they really tell a story about who the person is. The items in this section have their very own stories to tell, not only about how they were made, but about the person who wore them. We learned so much about our ancestors from their clothing and accessories.
Shawl
Syria
Violet G.
My Grandmother Regine had gotten engaged to my Grandfather Salim. Her soon to be mother-in-law, Stella made her a gorgeous golden shawl by hand. She had made it to be part of Regine's swanee gifts.
A swanee is a Sephardic-Jewish tradition where gifts are given to the bride from her in-laws. Back then, the gifts were only given to the bride, but nowadays, they are given to both bride and groom. The gifts for the swanee are then sent to the bride's home to be put on display for family and friends. Back then, the gifts were mainly only money for the bride to go to the mikveh and to prepare for the wedding. Nowadays, they are more elaborate, and include jewelry and diamonds.
Dress
New York, USA
My Grandma Shirley S.
This artifact was my Great Grandmother Adele's dress, which she wore at the wedding of her first daughter, who is my grandmother.
This is significant to my Jewish Heritage because it was worn at a Jewish wedding.This marriage was the start of a whole new generation.
Pin
Russia
Grandmother Margret G.
My great great Grandmother, Dorothy, loved to do chesed. She was actually the president of a Jewish organization called "Brooklyn Jewish Women." She got a pin that displays the name of the organization, her presidency and what the program was. She was also honored by several large Jewish organizations throughout Brooklyn. It is important to my family because it shows us what a good person she was and it teaches us that we should all learn from her.
This gold pin showed how important Judaism was to my great great grandparents. It also shows my great grandmother, Laura, how important the Jewish community was to her mother and to her family.
Gold Bracelet
Syria
My mother, Yaffa D.
My great grandfather was getting married so he bought the bracelet as a gift for my great grandmother. There were originally 7 bracelets in all. But my great grandmother passed the bracelets on to her children, one for each child. After a while my grandmother, Aliza S, gave it to my mother. She gave it to her because it was special and valuable and she knew my mother would be responsible enough to take good care of the bracelet. Now my mother gave it to me so she could continue the tradition of passing it on, and she knows I am responsible enough. When I have my kids I will be able to pass it onto them and keep this family tradition still going.
The Jewish significance of my bracelet is that, going through the middle and all around there are little stars. They look like Jewish stars that represent our nation, Israel.
Locket
USA
Grandma Madeleine M.
The locket that my grandmother gave to me is gold and shaped like a heart. When it opens there are two hearts. One has a picture of her mom and one has her dad's picture. My grandmother was an only child. In kindergarten her parents didn't want her to feel alone. They gave it to her so she'll always have a picture of them with her.
The significance in Jewish heritage is that in the Jewish tradition you should be close with your other family members. My grandmother felt very close to me when she gave it to me, because she was an only child, and I am an only girl.
Gold Bangle
Egypt
My mom, Danielle B
This beautiful gold bracelet is from Egypt. In my family, when a girl turns 16, this gold bracelet was passed down to a daughter or a granddaughter. My Grandma Faith got it from her mother Sally, and when my mom, Danielle, was 16 she passed it down to my mom. When I'm 16 my mother Danielle is going to pass it down to me.
This bracelet is part of my family's heritage and it became a tradition to pass it down to a child from the next generation.