The art of tribal jewellery

Tribal peoples the world over have made and worn jewellery for centuries. Materials used have tended to be those locally available at the time – in some cases including basic metals, coins and glass beads, but mostly using wood, paint, stones, animal skin, bone, shells, clay, seeds, bird feathers and even flowers.







Ethnic tribal jewellery is often handmade or crafted using primitive tools – resulting in chunky, unrefined necklaces, bracelets and earrings. At ShopCurious, we’ve created our own range of hand painted tribal jewellery inspired by authentic tribal arts and incorporating traditional natural materials.






Some of the pieces are made with original vintage tribal artefacts, or recycled scraps of wood and fabric, with exotic feather embellishment. The hand painting features tribal mask images and ancient ethnic symbols. One very unusual and stylish pendant is made using a real varnished leaf.







There’s a focus on tribal arts in fashion at the moment, but these individually made and unique accessories are completely timeless – in fact they’re mini works of collectable art in their own right. We think they’re curiously quirky and cool too.

Do you?

Viva vintage Versace

I imagine that avid members of the style tribe are already trotting down to Sotheby’s, curious to view the splendid spoils of Versace’s villa that are due to go under the hammer next Wednesday.

Versace wasn’t just a designer, he was a major trend-setter and a key contributor to the culture of bling. His glitzy and glamorous fashions and interiors defined the ‘loadsamoney’ luxury lifestyle of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.


We’ve some rare vintage Versace treasures in the form of perfect examples of what Gianni did best – fashion. This original vintage fluffy pink cable knit sweater appeared in Versace’s Autumn/Winter 1994-95 catalogue, both of which are now available at ShopCurious.

The stunning photographs of Versace’s iconic ‘94-5 collection were taken by Richard Avedon. Featuring a sea of supermodels, this collectable catalogue showcases peak-of career-Versace designs – including this stylish black halter dress (below left), which happens to be my favourite. One of the images shows a doe-eyed and innocent looking Carla Bruni in a hot red boucle suit (below right).
























The ultimate in look-books, this will definitely appeal to you if you’re into the cult of the body-beautiful. Of course, I’m only interested from the point of view of fashion and fashion as art.














It wasn’t that long ago, but the models’ figures appear to be rather more normal sized and wholesome than those of today … and the statuesque poses displaying bulging muscled thighs are pure neo-classical-style Versace – the phrase ‘in Versace veritas’ springs to mind.
Are you?

Matriarchs of tribal style

Now here’s a novel idea for Mothers' Day – especially if your Mum’s a fan of President Obama, or just likes to dress in a unique and individual way: ShopCurious is offering a range of stylish silk tops and dresses in Obama commemorative fabric, created by talented US-based designer, Lola Faturoti. (Click on pics to enlarge).








In case you didn’t know, Lola’s the one with the yellow hat (left) in these pictures. You can also see her face famously depicted in profile as the logo (right) of her original hand printed t-shirts.







Whether or not your 'Mom' is a matriarch of tribal style, or perhaps just one of the many followers of Barack Obama, she'd definitely make a real fashion statement by wearing one of these authentic designs. These unusual tops not only combine comfort and style, but are timeless and collectable pieces – and they’re simply perfect for passing on to future generations too:

Something of historical significance to keep in the family (or at least the human tribe).

Will you?

Natural ethnic style

I suppose the ideal of living happily together in one great big global ‘human tribe’ is a tad unrealistic – though what a fantastic idea… if only we all thought the same way. And how about ‘one world’ that lives in harmony with nature too?

We can learn quite a lot from the nomadic tribes of Africa, Native American Indians, or the Aborigines of Australia. There’s a curiously fascinating book called Mutant Message Down Under by Marlo Morgan – the fictional story of an American woman’s four month journey through the Australian outback with an Aboriginal tribe called the ‘Real People’. During the course of her travels, she learns how to live in harmony with the plants and animals of an inhospitable terrain and to show respect for the natural environment. She goes through a kind of spiritual awakening as she finds out how to trust her instinct and survive without the destructive practices of the modern world.





If you’re looking for some natural ethnic style, I’d like to recommend some of the raw and uncut statement jewellery that’s now available at ShopCurious. Using eco-friendly materials like natural rock crystal, wood, coconut, organic leather and silver, these authentic handmade items have a simple sophistication that transcends the manufactured beauty of mainstream designer accessories.







Stylish, original and timeless, these unusual pieces will never go out of fashion. What’s more, the stones that are used, including chrysoprase, amethyst and labradorite, each have their own unique healing properties.







We might not be able to heal the damage we’ve already done to our planet, but we can still try to help save the earth for future generations – as well as adopting a new and enlightened approach to retail therapy...

Are you?

The human tribe

Blogs for March are going to focus on all things tribal, as this month we’re featuring tribal arts inspired clothing, accessories, unusual gifts and curiosities for the home on our website (some of which are curiously modelled by me here).







According to the freedictionary.com, tribal means ‘relating to or characteristic of a tribe’. The word ‘tribe’ itself seems to have many denotations, the first being defined as ‘A unit of sociopolitical organization consisting of a number of families, clans, or other groups who share a common ancestry and culture and among whom leadership is typically neither formalized nor permanent’. The word has many other connotations too – some of them resulting from tribal customs (more on this subject later).





Perhaps you belong to a tribe of ethnic or ancient origin? Or maybe you consider that we’re all part of one great big global tribe? This is certainly the view of Mike Sylla, the driving force behind a creative collective called Baifall Dream and the Human Tribe, whose hand painted recycled vintage leather clothing and handbags are currently available at ShopCurious. His community of artists from all over the world stage shows called ‘slam operas’ that include fashion, music, art, dance, drama and performance poetry.





What I love about Baifall Dream’s designs is that they’re authentic, raw, edgy and handmade. Images on their stylish pieces range from traditional tribal portraits and ethnic symbols to street art and graffiti style paintings. Every item looks strikingly individual and has its own story to tell, as well as being an original work of art in its own right. Of course, each unique masterpiece is also a part of the whole collection – rather like us members of the human tribe…

Are you?

Motherly love

Not long until that special day when we can give back a little something in return for all the years of unconditional love from our mothers. I’ve come up with a few suggestions for some unique and unusual gifts from ShopCurious that you might like to consider for Mothers' Day

For the very proud parent, who’s spoiled you silly and sent you to all the right schools (and just look how you turned out!), how about a precious piece of jewellery like a pretty marcasite butterfly brooch, which can also be worn as a pendant. It’s such as shame you had to fly away from home, but there you go.



If your mother’s the natural, eco-aware type, how about a useful recycled folio. You know she’ll never get around to using a computer, so she can use this to keep all her reminder lists and pictures of you as a baby. If you do ever remember to send a postcard, she can keep it there too. For the arty Mum, how about a hand painted mother of pearl pendant? She’ll love the fact that it’s handmade and as totally individual as you.


For the country-loving, traditional type you might consider a vintage silk scarf – even better if you can find one from the year that you were born (that’ll bring a tear to her eye no doubt).

If your Mum’s always running around, something pampering and relaxing may be just what she needs. Exotic bath salts from Mad et Len smell divine and they come in a beautiful and old-fashioned style bottle too.





For the nature-lover, a stylish silk corsage is a bit more original than a bunch of tulips. We've one that's really versatile: you can wear it in on your clothing, or as a bracelet - and these make fabulous hair accessories too … plus, you never know, she might even let you borrow it.






Of course, there are some things that all mothers will appreciate – like a nice big hug in return for all those hours of story-telling… and don’t forget to put ‘lots’ of love on your Mothers' Day card. Why not add some extra kisses too…

Will you?

From greed to green

1) Greed - for those who like to feast with no shame ...

Nowhere is this more in evidence than at fashion shows. I was trying to avoid the media feeding frenzy that is London Fashion Week, but curiosity got the better of me: I was truly shocked by the astonishing greed for those front row seats (mostly nabbed by fashion students) and for luxury goody bags and freebies. Scary!






2) Gluttony - for those who want to scoff every last drop ...

Shrove Tuesday is also known as Mardi Gras, which means ‘fat Tuesday’ – hence the PR push today on anti-obesity/diabetics clogging up GPs’ surgeries? My TV has just painfully reminded me that some are as unnaturally superskinny as are supersize. Which do you err on the side of? Best eat up now, as we’re all going to have to tighten our belts soon anyway.





3) Envy - exclusively for everyone, but especially for the eternally miserable ...

Some are jealous of Kate Winslet, who received a rather valuable looking award the other day – great if she ever needs to melt it down, which might be likely sooner than any of us imagined possible.





Fashion, food, fame …

Who is paying for all of this overindulgence and are they likely to stop any time soon? And what happens when we can no longer afford to support the media? Perhaps it’s time for a re-think?


Why be green with envy for the celebrity-led, appearance-obsessed, designer-driven lifestyle. Why not simply be green? Live off your recycled belongings, wear vintage clothing, pawn your jewellery, buy handmade accessories, invest in timeless, collectable and iconic things for your wardrobe and home, learn to knit, use natural cosmetics, grow your own veg ... all very eco-friendly and what we at ShopCurious call 'style with brains'.

Once the dust of our depression has settled – probably quite a while after this Lent has come and gone, there will be a time for denial, recovery and, hopefully, change for the better. I understand that we aren’t allowed to pray any more, so I’ll make a wish instead.

Will you?