An adornment is generally an accessory or ornament worn to enhance the beauty or status of the wearer. They are often worn to embellish, enhance, or distinguish the wearer, and to define cultural, social, or religious status within a specific community. When worn to show economic status, the items are often either rare or prohibitively expensive to others. Adornments are usually colourful, and worn to attract attention.
They have a long history, around the world, from feathers or bone, to modern accessories, such as jewellery. Items of adornment are also used by warriors, and by other members of the military to show rank or achievement.
Items of adornment
These include cosmetics, jewellery, clothing accessories, facial hair, fingernail modification, piercing, lip plates, tattooing, braiding, and headgear.
Cultures, subcultures, and institutions
Groups who practice adornment include the
Yakuza, military, religious institutions,
tribal groups, and the
punk culture.
Items of adornment can tell us about a person's rank, social status, gender role, area of origin, etc. An example would be the beaded jewelry worn by the
Maasai tribe, which is very specific to them and some related tribes.
Images
Image:Ilker Basbug.jpg, A heavily adorned general
Image:Shona witch doctor (Zimbabwe).jpg, A Shona witch doctor wearing skins and beads
Image:BentoXVI-30-10052007.jpg, Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...
Image:Daisy Tanks 20080110 Adult Entertainment Expo 2.jpg, Punk adornment
Image:Bling-bling jewelry.jpg, A modern example of adornment: Bling-bling
Image:Maasai jewelry.jpg, Maasai beaded jewelry
Image:LA2-NSRW-2-0065_trimmed.jpg, Examples of social attire, a form of adornment, from the European Renaissance through the 19th Century
See also
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Fashion accessory
*
Body modification
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Native American jewelry
References
Further reading
* Kniel, N; Wright, T:''Ribbon: The Art of Adornment'', press,
* Boucher, François:''
20,000 Years of Fashion
''20,000 Years of Fashion: The History of Costume and Personal Adornment'' is a dictionary of western fashion from ancient times up to the 1960s, edited by Francois Boucher and his longtime assistant Yvonne Deslandres.
The book is widely cited a ...
: The History of Costume and Personal Adornment'', H.N. Abrams, 1987.
* White, Carolyn L.:''American Artifacts of Personal Adornment, 1680-1820:A Guide to Identification and Interpretation'', Altamira Press, 2005, ,
* Bouchot, Henri:''The Printed Book, Its History, Illustration, and Adornment, from the Days of Gutenberg to the Present Time'', General Books, 2010, ,
*Gurel, Lois M., Beeson, Marianne S.:''Dimensions of dress and adornment: a book of readings'', Kendall/Hunt Pub. Co., 1979.
*
External links
Examples of African adornment*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adornment
Fashion
Body modification
History of clothing