Bathroom Jewelry

Dallas bathrooms became infamous in the 1980’s and their notoriety continued into the 1990’s. These huge bathrooms were considered contemporary expressions of Texas bigness and over-the-top opulence. It wasn’t until the recent Camp: Notes on Fashion exhibit at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art that I realized Karl Lagerfeld designing for Chloe may have even had a better idea. Rather than just one opportunity to have their opulent Dallas bathroom photographed and published in a showy shelter magazine, one could have worn the Karl Lagerfeld-designed showerhead necklace and matching earrings (scroll to see image) to display a decadent opulence, inspired, I am sure, by the Dallas bathroom. The oversized 80’s and 90’s houses are now often torn down but this 1983-84 Karl Lagerfeld necklace can be prominently worn or displayed forever. It is true that some extraordinary outfits can only be worn once as they are easily remembered. I am sure the strategy for this necklace was to wear it first for a series of small dinners hosted in the owners’ personal homes in different locations and then regional parties, before the necklace and earrings were unveiled on either coast and internationally. Handled right, this jewelry could have become quite practical. Camp is, “Ideas, held in a special playful way.” Susan Sontag, 1964. *Bathroom Jewelry
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