Nita Naldi and her madly creative relationship with pearls

Nita Naldi with long pearl strings (Pic 1)

As one of the most famous silent film actresses of 1920′s, seen in classic films such as ‘Blood and Sand’ with Rodolph Valentino, Nita Naldi defined the image of ‘femme fatale’ and pushed boundaries of femininity further than any other of her counterparts. She also had a special preference for pearls as her adornments. As the best gemstone to convoy elegance, sexiness and feminine power, pearls were used by Nita Naldi in many ‘unconventional’ ways. She doesn’t just wore pearl jewellery. She expressed herself, her characters, through her pearl jewellery.

Nita Naldi with full pearls adornments in 1922 film Anna Ascends (Pic 2)

Even if it is just a simple pearl rope, she would still be extremely creative in wearing it. Not just a simple pearl necklace, she would use it both as the necklace, and the bracelet. In the era of silent films, actors had to fully rely on the visual to capture audience attention and interpret their characters. The more Nita needed to express her character, the more pearls she would use. In her 1922 film Anna Ascends, she had the role of the Countess Rostolff. No one has ever used pearl adornments this daringly. She literally covered herself in pearls, large, black and white round pearl ropes tied to her arms, all over her arms, falling all the way to the floor, covering the full length of her long dress. She also had a complex head adornment fully embedded with pearls. There is something extremely passionate and emotional about her choice of the outfit for this film. A very powerful woman who is on top of the world, but perhaps a little bit lonely and finds it hard to form trusting relationships with people.

Nita Naldi with long pearl ropes in Blood and Sand with Valentino (Pic 3)

In her most famous film Blood and Sand (1922) with Valentino, pearls became her way to express sensuality, love and fragility. A few very long pearl ropes are used as necklace, bracelet, or simply wrapping around her shoulder. Her very low neck outfit was also extremely daring back then. As a leading Hollywood actress, she was as usual defiant to social conventions.

Nita Naldi with casual pearl rope (Pic 4)

Even just a simple classic rope pearl necklace, Nita would never wear them just like everyone else does. See how she casually wraps the pearl rope around her neck in a double strand, almost like a scarf! It is different, but not matter how different, it always happens to bring out the most charm out of her. She is simply, gorgeous.