Best Friend necklaces

Fashion Synopsis

Two necklaces, two halves of a heart: a whole lotta love.

When knowing just wasn’t enough, best friend necklaces allowed you to publicize that you, too, had a best friend. In those crucial adolescent years of cliques and outcasts, owning a half-heart necklace secured you with the knowledge that you would never be the odd man out.

The two necklaces were packaged together—two separate halves of a heart with the combined inscription “Best Friend.” Each girl wore one half-heart necklace as a pledge to the friendship. Someone got to be “Be Fri,” the other “st end,” and if your friendship lasted after the argument of who got to be what side, the relationship was forever and you didn't waste your money.

Young girls started the friendship trend when they traded colorful beaded safety pins that they made for each other as a symbol of their bond. They displayed the beaded pins on the laces of their sneakers to advertise their friendship, but the heartfelt gesture soon launched a competition. The secret challenge was to acquire as many of the beaded pins as possible so that everyone else could see how popular you were just by looking at the laces of your sneakers.

Next came the friendship bracelet: a braided thread bracelet that tied around the wrist. Girls especially savvy in the art of weaving could create colorful designs, and even personalized messages. They became very popular because everyone wanted a unique and special bracelet to add to the growing collection on their arm, but their moment in the spotlight of popularity lasted only as long as their nimble fingers did. These homemade creations soon became mass produced and sold, and eventually they lost their favor too.

For those that lacked in the bracelet and bead trade, you could cheat and make them yourself, but when Best Friend necklaces became popular, there was no such luck. In order to be a best friend, you needed a friend. Best friend necklaces brought people together in solidarity. Nothing was more special then knowing that somewhere out there, you had a second half.

Best friends were all the rage, and the best way to advertise social prowess was through tokens such as necklaces and friendship beads or bracelets. Unfortunately, these items were traded with such ferocity that the beauty behind having a best friend was overshadowed by the desperation to find one. True friendship needs no publicity.