What do pearls mean to you?

Recently I received a gorgeous string of pearls for my birthday from my husband, and my kids also (not knowing about my husband's gift) bought me a beautiful pearl necklace with 8 strings of pearls link together.

After that, by happenstance, I read 2 articles that mentioned pearls in a negative way. One said that only old women wear pearls; another said that when you go on a college tour, if you get a student tour guide who wears pearls (female, of course!), then you know that's not the place for you.

I love my pearls no matter what. However, am I missing something about the meaning of pearls?

I can see why they'd be viewed as "stodgy" by the younger (younger than me) generation. Women in pearls and pumps of the 50s, the June Cleaver image, is sort of iconoclastic at this point. Does that mean I would avoid wearing them? Probably not. I mean, do you really want to try to dress like a teenager?

Interestingly, today as Shu and I were in a bookstore, we found a book about famous art work with women and pearls. It said pearls are for the affluent and sophisticated...or something like that. So I feel a little better.

I've always loved pearls and so do my daughters. I've not experienced that 50s attitude, nor that attitude of the young toward pearls. My daughters wear them, and they bought one of the necklaces for me.