The Iron Lady and her PEARLS

When you think of Margaret Thatcher 3 things in particular spring to mind, her will power, the phrase ‘Handbagging’ and PEARLS.
She wore her pearls everywhere! In Parliament, at home, even driving tanks!

When starting out in Politics it was very clear that she was moving into a very male dominated environment. Therefore she needed to redefine her ‘look’ in order to be taken seriously.

In the film ‘The Iron Lady’, released in 2011, starring Meryl Streep as Baroness Thatcher, we see a snap shot of how Margaret responded to being told that her hats would have to go as well as her pearls and that her voice was too high for politics. Her response was… “I may be persuaded to surrender the hat. The pearls, however, are absolutely non-negotiable!”

“…this lady’s not for turning!”

The double strand pearl necklace, given to Margaret by her late husband Denis in 1951, and her large pearl and yellow gold earrings were constant companions to her throughout her Political carrier and thereafter.

Pearls symbolise purity, wisdom, beauty and wealth. Seen as classic without being ‘flashy’, they fit into a look that spells out reliability and no-nonsense. It is hardly surprising to find that pearls have been favored down the centuries by many style leaders from Cleopatra to Anna Wintour, playing a central role in style and refinement.

‘I feel undressed if I don’t have my pearls on. My pearls are my security blanket.’ – Lady Sarah Churchill

On Thursday morning we saw another well known lady wearing ‘power’ pearls .
Spotted at the G8 Foreign Ministers’ conference, Angelina Jolie wore a simple black outfit accompanied by a classic strand of pearls and pearl studs.
She had flown over to London to back the urgent cause: ‘fighting sexual violence in military conflicts’.
Considering the symbolism of pearls – purity, wisdom, beauty etc., they were the ideal accent to wear for this conference.