November 24, 2012

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feven & helena

Helena wearing our mother's Eritrean gold head jewelry and Zuria (dress.)
Helena wearing our mother’s Eritrean gold head jewelry and Zuria (dress.)

When we first moved to America, we didn’t have much, but what our mother did have, she cherished.

And, like most girls growing up, we wanted to look just like our mother—our Eritrean Queen. We wanted to wear her eyeliner, paint our nails ruby red, be draped in ornate East African  jewelry and put on the most elegant waist hugging Zuria. Our mother was our Goddess and she still is!

Years later, things haven’t changed much, and during Thanksgiving vacation, we raided her closet and snapped pictures in the backyard pretending to be her.

It’s funny…though our mother has adapted to the American culture, works tireless hours as a nurse,  and wears a uniform everyday, she still hasn’t forgotten the African Queen that lives inside of her.

xoxo,

Feven & Helena #twinship

P.S. Our mother doesn’t wear 3 piece 24k gold jewelry, traditional dresses and tiaras to the grocery store – just on special Eritrean occasions.

Helena wearing our mother's Eritrean gold head jewelry and Zuria (dress.) Helena wearing our mother’s Eritrean gold head jewelry and Zuria (dress.)
Feven wearing our mother’s silver traditional Eritrean necklace and dress.
Feven wearing our mother’s gold necklace and earring set.
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28 responses to “Playing in Our Mother’s Jewelry Box”

  1. Carolyn says:

    WOW!!!! Eritrean Godesses for sure!! I LOVE this! and if I owned these pieces, i’d wear them to the supermarket!!!

    GORG!!

  2. Gregg Mitchell says:

    Helena & Feven: Your piece is a beautiful, heart-felt tribute to your mother – you’re all Eritrean Queens! Your fashion sense looks back while moving forward…so fresh, so now! Kudos on a terrific blog!

  3. Ari says:

    Thanks for sharing habisha culture with everyone. You two are gorgeous!

  4. […] more dramatic and alluring. Almay black liner is the best — it has a pointy liner that makes “drawing the line on your lid” so much easier and cleaner looking. It’s also hypoallergenic which is great for sensitive […]

  5. […] girls at Glitter Guide and after getting great responses and questions from our blog post ‘Playing in Our Mother’s Jewelery Box’ we thought this Shea Headband would be a lovely gift to give to our friends. Best part […]

  6. […] Now you know our mother had to turn it UP Eritrean style wearing her traditional dresses and jewelry.  […]

  7. […] P.S. Here’s a picture of Feven (left) our mother  and Helena (right) last Thanksgiving wearing our traditional Eritrean dresses (zuria.)  […]

  8. […] can turn up any basic top. We can attribute most of our love for statement pieces to our Eritrean culture and it’s appreciation of bold, element jewelry. Like last week’s Twinship […]

  9. […] November we wrote about  ‘Playing in our Mother’s Jewelry Box’, as a tribute to our mother and our rich Eritrean cultures love and appreciation for beautiful, […]

  10. Hugh Lauth says:

    Jewellery may be made from a wide range of materials, but gemstones, precious metals, beads, and shells have been widely used. Depending on the culture and times jewellery may be appreciated as a status symbol, for its material properties, its patterns, or for meaningful symbols. Jewellery has been made to adorn nearly every body part, from hairpins to toe rings.”::;

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  11. Isidro Flanegan says:

    These kids jewellery boxes can not be damaged quickly .It would be always considered by the kid as something more valuable than all her other possessions. Such boxes are available with music. It operates in such a manner that when a kid opens the jewel box the musical sound of the box would be played to excite her. Unlike girls the boys can not be presented with such jewellery boxes.Kids jewellery boxes usually come in attractive and eye catchy models .It can be made of shiny steel with gold coating or of wood with ethical wooden carvings on it..The size of these boxes also varies with its price.^–..

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  12. Abrihet says:

    Your zuria’s look amazing especially the one which has green stripes running down it.Do you have it transported and made in ethopia,if so please tell me i am dying to wear one of the zurias to my cousins ethopian wedding.

    • Thanks for reading! That one is from our mom’s closet. She got it made in Eritrea, but we are you can get one made in Ethiopia. Either way, w’re sure you will look beautiful.

  13. […] 1.  Playing in Our Mother’s Jewelry Box  […]

  14. […] We didn’t check the weather on our iPhone and presumed the weather would be the same as last year , but we were so wrong! By the time we landed we found ourselves at, TJ MAXX,  looking for […]

  15. meron says:

    where do you get those jewelery on your head?

  16. Zemzem says:

    Hey I was wondering where I can get a silver headpiece from? It’s doesn’t have to be real gold just cheap and fake.

  17. […] a dress that is just as stylish today. We were 10-years-old at the time and loved everything our mother wore. Our mother is independent, brave, strong, and the most hard working woman we know. When she […]

  18. […] Now you know our mother had to turn it UP Eritrean style wearing her traditional Zuria and jewelry.  […]

  19. kirteyverma says:

    Wow, these pieces are stunning! The headpiece is particularly beautiful. I love that a piece of jewellery becomes infinitely more valuable when it belongs to your mother. xoxo