In my work I get to see some amazing metal chains, both as premade necklaces and by the foot. During a bout of insomnia + random Google cosplay searches, it struck me that most hobby jewelers and beaders have no idea how to take chains to the next level.
These are the folks content to do a single chain necklace. They might feel unspeakably daring to do a multi-strand ‘statement’ necklace mixing several chain types and metals.
Very few designers branch out and blast completely past those safe limits. I can see why: bulk chains can add up in $$, this kind of work takes actual design and possibly engineering and/or architecture, it’s physically tricky to do (you must have a pinnable sturdy dressform!), and the results are often so time consuming they are unrealistic for hobby sellers.
However…chains and straps are sexy. They are both prison and armor, constraint and freedom, an unabashed nod to bright and dark fantasies in broad daylight. I wish more intermediate level beaders and jewelers could take time to push their limits with chains, leather strips, fiber chains, and beaded nets.
It’s worth the time and cost. (But seriously, get a good dressform in your target size first.)
I won’t steal their work to show it here, but go look at these two designers:
Laurel’s work is grandly theatrical, even insane. I adore it. Goddesses and gods would wear this stuff.
Zana’s collections are at once more demure and more subversive. She flaunts the whisper of bondage gear in the precise geometrics of pieced leather and metal meshes, yet many of her accessories can be worn with office clothes as well as evening garb. Because they’re generally more deceptively simple, they might be more approachable ideas for hobbyist crafters.
Online and art fair sellers: pay close attention to the prices of the finished goods. Those are entirely reasonable given the amount of work. You cannot sell this kind of work for under $100, not and lose money, supplies, and time.
This is ‘Green Beads for Blues Night’, an old piece of mine from almost two decades ago. I spent about three months off and on with it. I made it so badly it cannot be sold. I used the wrong thread for the #8 seed beads that make up most of it, and it’s now shredding under its own weight. It would gone much faster had I used a dressform. It was inspired by costuming on the SFF shows ‘Stargate’ and ‘Farscape’.
No, that’s not me, but the model who graciously wore it when it was featured in a craft magazine piece. Photography courtesy of Bead & Button Magazine.
So next time you score a bunch of cheap but good chains at a thrift store, look at them in new ways…is that a dozen $15 necklaces on Etsy, or one showstopping club dress or cosplay piece?