I CAN'T TELL YOU WHAT IT IS, BUT I KNOW IT WHEN I SEE IT

As you go through the world of tiaras, you will find that you like some, are not moved either way by some and you hate some. Since tiaras are made for many purposes, including for one-time big doings, esthetics are often sacrificed to the calling attention to the doings. So the tiaras I am talking about are for ordinary use. Also some tiaras are de trop ; too tall so that they look ungainly, too gaudy, but there seems to be a following for that (it just does not include me).

To understand the esthetics of a tiara, you must know what she does. First you see the tiara in relation to the person wearing it. So, if it is too tall, it looks like the person will fall over. If it is too small, it is not noticeable as a tiara, If it is too tall relative to its horizontal measurement or too wide relative to its height it looks wrong. Generally speaking, it should be about 1-1/2 to 3-1/2 inches tall ant 1-3/4 to 2-1/4 its height wide.

Next, the Tiara has an outline. This should, within limits be straight from the side to the front and should not have sharp or abrupt changes. There can be bumps and depressions along the way and even VERTECES work if they follow one after the other in a proper fashion. What dose not work are abrupt changes to this outline where it drops off or jumps up too sharply, It can start at a lower angle and get steeper averageing about 45 degress but that kind of thing is within reasonable limits; you would not do well to have it start at 20 degress and then about half way in, sharpen to 60. I have never seen one that starts at one angle, say 60 degress and flatten out as it goes inward

The shape of the ELEMENTS creates in the mind of the observer a kind of motion. That meand, it starts somewhere and ends somewhere and there are points that stand out, usually these are the CENTER STONE or PRIME STONE, other stones or clusters of stones and the APEX. Butterfly Tiaras have no APEX in the center, instead there are two peaks elsewhere, this is disruptive. Another thing. is the stone size. A crystal tiara does not use stones that are larger than an inch, or about 25 milimeters in any measurement. Larger clusters are all right but a single object in an envrionment where the norm is about 10milimeters creates the disruptive phenomenon of gigantism and is unattractively bizzarre. In short, you want the motion along the tracks of th ELEMENTs to be smooth

A tiara is a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. The additional aspects are either added psychologically by the viewer or come from the way the parts fit together to form the whole. Its valude is in part determined by the user. If the tiara is for a speial purpose than that is part of the value. The user's esthetic judgement also plays a part. My first tiara was the Shirly Temple tiara. This was a TIERED tiara whose major ELEMENTS were inward rising SCROLLs with a circular center and a metal ball on the APEX. This decided to a large degree what I would like. While I like the Heart style, it has been done to death as has the TEARDROP DANGLE which I once thought was cool. I can only say what works for me and you can see if you agree or not but you will find that though the numbers for you may differ, these rules generally are true. My preference for design is one the uses scroll ELEMENTS rising inward. Another thing. Tiaras are made for GIRLS! that means wearing them with anything other than moderate to long hair and anything other than a moderately full-skirted garment is best described by one word: HIDEOUS!