Trend Highlight: Good as Gold
Emma Stone’s Louis Vuitton outfit for SAG awards embodies how the shimmer of gold makes a statement.
Especially in the winter time, everyone longs for a deep, honey-filled, melting golden hour - that moment of the day just after sunrise or before sunset. The glistening of the sun adds a magical quality to the Earth; whether due to gold’s association with religious objects or royalty, the golden hues of this hour of the day mask everything in its path with an ethereal quality that suspends life for just a moment in its idyllic glow.
Since the opening of The Caravans of Gold exhibit at Northwestern’s Block Museum, I have been curious about the origins of gold – as an object, a color and a feeling. The exhibit traces the cultural and economic history of the medieval trans-Saharan exchange, displaying more than 250 artifacts and artworks from West and North Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the Sahara Desert. While gold symbolizes wealth and, in turn, the divisions of socio-economic class, the exhibit focuses on how Africa’s extensive gold trade in the 8th to 16th centuries sparked an interconnectivity of cultures, according to curator Kathleen Berzock at the Opening Ceremony for the exhibit.
Gold’s rich history, no pun intended, as explained by Berzock and the many others that spoke at the lecture, reveals an unexpected truth of the metal: although primarily a method of economic transaction, gold allowed for an intersection of cultures that otherwise may not have existed. Even today, looking into its history sparks global partnerships to form as the Block Museum had to work with people from all over the world to construct the story of the trade routes.
The exhibit begs the question: why does gold so often serve only as a symbol of wealth in fiscal terms rather than wealth in terms culture and grandeur? Golden hour presents a scenario where rather than seeing the periodic table element as the metal of expensive jewelry, gold takes its virtuous form: a brilliance.
Ralph Lauren and I must have dreamt of the same beachfront golden hour; his latest show for Spring 2019 entitled Ralph’s Cafe imbued an ordinary cafe scene with gold’s brilliance. The dresses shimmered so intensely that people at the show could almost grab the glistening light particles as a souvenir while holding their oat milk lattes securely in the other hand. Sunglasses were even needed so that one can gaze at the outfit’s glimmer for hours. Dazzling against the white marble floors and walls of the cafe, the dresses manifested the breathtaking and magical quality of gold.
Although it may not help with your flight to Neverland, beyond an impression of pixie-dust, as expressed in Ralph’s Cafe, gold actually does possess a somewhat magical disposition. Scientist are perplexed by its presence on earth since its attraction to iron should have pulled it into the center of Earth’s core. When Earth cooled down 4.5 billion years ago, “denser material sank toward the center, eventually producing a core made mostly of iron,”according to National Geographic. The article further explain that “A ‘firestorm’ of meteors called the terminal bombardment added a veneer of material to Earth's surface some 650 million years after the planet's formation” and could be the answer to we have gold on Earth today.
I find it crazy to imagine gold as an element, Au, on the periodic table with atomic properties that originated from surface pressure, meteors and supernovas. Yet, its scientific attributes almost make the metal more fantastical since its natural to Earth and highlight the need for us to celebrate gold, or rather being golden, more often (even if that means just taking inspiration from the hue the metal executes).
As I went to begin writing this, I went to my friend’s Spotify account whose playlists I am dependent on for my music. I clicked on her newest playlist only to have a delayed reaction to her chosen title: Heart of Gold. If that’s not serendipity, the first song to play, “Treasure” by Sampha, most definitely is. I can’t make this stuff up.
The Dictionary defines the phrase Heart of Gold as “a very kind and good nature, as in Bill is very generous; he has a heart of gold. This expression alludes to gold in the sense of ‘something valued for its goodness.’ [Late 1500s].” Whether with an actual gold heart locket, a disposition of optimism, or a dance party with your friends to a playlist as wonderful as my friend’s, I encourage you to both have a Heart of Gold and find your Heart of Gold, the things that you value for their sincere and utter goodness. Just as gold must shine for its scientific brilliance and amazing history, not its price tag, we too can not let other people’s definition of our worth or being be a cloud that blocks our own golden hour.
And quite frankly, I find that what I wear, the cut of a dress, the fabric or the feelings induced by the color often provides me with the confidence to shine by informing a physical attitude which calibrates my mental being. What better way to radiate everything that makes you, well you, than wearing something that glitters? The way the Ralph Lauren collection conveyed the otherworldly, transcendent aura of gold yet made its incorporeal existence tangible with the cafe location underscores how golden hues in what you wear can invigorate commonplace activities and day-to-day with its magical mood.
