Are chockers ever going to be over?

If you don’t know what a choker is by now, you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple of years.

The choker necklace has been back for some time now, and people are starting to wonder when is this trend going to come to an end. Well, to be honest, it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere and even if it was, it would still come back years later. At least that’s how I feel about this. And don’t get me wrong, I’m not mad at all, I absolutely love chokers, I wear them all the time, but there seems to be quite a little hustle around the subject of the “dying choker” lately.

Now, why am I saying that the choker is never going to completely die? Well let me just set the scene for the next bit. Imagine a trend that has been going in and out of fashion for thousands and thousand of years. Yes, that’s the choker necklace. You probably wouldn’t think you can write a whole history chapter about this trend, right? But, oh my, how you could.

A brief history

First and foremost, let’s think year 3000 BC, Ancient Egypt, or even earlier, the Sumer Empire in Mesopotamia… How did the women of the earliest civilizations adorn their necks? Why, with choker necklaces, of course! Now, surely, they were not called like that back then, but they were indeed a piece of jewelry that was worn tight around the neck, sometimes paired with other types of necklaces. The purpose, on the other hand, was very different from what we know now, it being to protect the fragile neck of a woman, but also to give them special powers, since they were, you know, special power infused. This was not the only body part they were trying to protect with jewelry, but it was one of the most important, because of the throat, obviously.

In the late 1700s, the choker made its appearance again, during the French Revolution, when female expatriates tied red ribbons around their necks as tribute to those who were sentenced to death by guillotine.

But of course, the choker didn’t stop there. In the Renaissance era, the choker came back, but took a turn when Alexandra, the Princess of Wales started wearing necklaces consisting of many rows of pearls and crystals on the whole length of her neck. Rumor has it that this was her way of concealing a childhood scar, but little did she know she was actually setting trends for the next 50ish years. Being the public figure that she was, and having admirers, women started copying her style, resulting in transforming the choker into a real fashion statement among wealthy ladies in the Victorian era. In the same time period, probably because of its popularity, the choker apparently had some kind of links to prostitutes, who wore a much cheaper version, consisting of a black thin ribbon tied in a front bow, as it can be seen in Monet’s Olympia. In the 1940s, chokers made yet another comeback, this time by the name of collier de chien, or simply “dog collars” and then in the ’80s Lady Diana was often seen wearing tight necklaces as well.

And now, to the choker most of us remember as OG, the ’90s choker. Yes, I am talking about the very tacky and extremely uncomfortable elastic “tattoo” choker. The one that every 90s girl has surely owned at some point and paired, of course, with the matching bracelet. This was probably the lowest point for the trend, but at the time, many celebrities sported them, and other styles as well.

Fast forward to late 2015 and chokers are taking the spotlight again. This time more than ever. This time they came all in, with all kinds of sizes, materials, textures, patterns and colors. In the last three years we have seen ribbons, stripes, pearls, crystals, heavy chains, dainty chains, lace, velvet and event jean (ew on that though) all tied snug around the necks of women of all social statuses, from Hollywood celebrities, to the everyday working woman. The choker necklace had quite a good couple of years, but then in 2017, Asos introduces the mens choker. Yes. The choker. For men. That may be when things started to go south, but that’s disputable, I guess.

(Hàn Vi Phạm Thị, unsplash.com)

So are they ever going to be over?

Of course, anything that is extremely popular and over worn by everybody is going to become, let’s say, not that interesting for high fashion designers at some point, but with this particular item, the large audience seems to still have it. It is true that the choker necklace is going through a transition phase, where the classic wide black ribbon is transforming into 2, 3 or maybe 4 layered more delicate chain chokers, maybe even paired with a longer necklace, to give dimension. 2018 has surely been the year of layers and metallics, since everybody seemed to be doubling, tripling and so on, but where is it going to go from now? What is the choker going to become next?

(Kristina Paukshtite, pexels.com)

This trend has become what it is today because of its undoubtable diversity. From princesses to prostitutes, from Hollywood stars to streetwear, from sexy to cool and casual to glam, it has truly seen it all.

And this is why, my friends, the choker will never truly die. It will always come back in some form or another (and probably haunt you with your past fashion-wise decisions) because it has the power to adapt to every era, every style and every occasion.

The choker will never die. It will forever transform.

Credit foto: etsy.com