Yesterday Painfully Pretty released their Luminaries Collection and by all accounts it has been a great success.
The full Luminaries Collection by Painfully Pretty. Model: @bobbedbernice
Painfully Pretty is a one woman show based in Brisbane, Australia. Emma creates beautiful jewellery with a chronic illness, mental illness, and disability theme. One thing I love about her collections is that she is raising awareness about a broad range of important current and historical issues - the Luminaries Collection is an art-deco style range inspired by the Radium Girls.
Who were the Radium Girls? They were the female factory workers who during World War I had the 'prestigious' job of painting watch dials with luminous radium paint. They were actually encouraged to put the radium paint brushes in their mouths in order to 'tip' the point as it was faster and more cost effective for their employers than using a jar of water.
Radium Girl Charlotte Purcell demonstrating lip-pointing. Image: The Forgotten Story of the Radium Girls.
The women began to display a range of illnesses that continued to be dismissed by their doctors who were paid off by their employers. But when one of the girls developed an entire lower jaw of ulcers, and her jaw bone literally fell out of her mouth, the women began what would become a long legal battle led by Grace Fryer and later by Catherine Donohue that eventually led to the establishment of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration that exists today.
Grace Fryer painting a watch face with luminous radium paint. Image: Google
My Painfully Pretty package arrived beautifully wrapped and with an informative overview of the Radium Girls. I liked the use of recyclable materials - it was a nice added touch.
My parcel from Painfully Pretty.
The Flora Radiant Touch brooch is designed as a tribute to these amazing women. The hand is made from a soft light coloured matte acrylic with painted red nails. I like the use of the matte acrylic for the skin as a gloss would have had an unrealistic sheen to it. The acrylic used for symbolic radium sphere was also a perfect choice with it's seemingly luminous qualities. There is a small pearl bracelet stuck to the wrist and a double silver chain hangs from the wrist to the sphere. Hands a notoriously difficult to draw, but this one is quite realistic and the little pinkie finger sticking out is something I do when I'm trying to do something delicate, so I can totally relate to that. I did get it caught when I was playing with the chain, so it's something to be a little bit mindful of.
Flora Radiant Touch brooch by Painfully Pretty (RRP $34.95)
One of the tings I was super impressed with was the brooch pin / necklace converter that's built in! You can pin the brooch to your top, or thread a chain through the loop and wear it as a necklace!!
The amazing brooch/necklace clasp.
I decided to style the Flora Radiant Touch brooch with my Pigtails and Pirates floral dress. The brooch is a nice size, but I found the chain a bit too long and will likely shorten it before wearing it again.
Of course I also had to add one of my silver necklaces to test how the necklace clasp works too.
What do you think of the brooch and background story? I'd love to hear in the comments.
Emily x
Outfit Details
Brooch | Painfully Pretty
Dress | Pigtails & Pirates
Earrings | Revere Folie
Lipstick | Style by Divine
Bangles | Splendette via Brooch Addict Shop
Disclaimer: I was gifted this brooch, but this does not affect my opinions and all statements expressed are honest and my own.