The History Behind … The Choker
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The choker necklace has a long and storied history.
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Who were the first people to wear chokers? The history of the choker dates back thousands of years, to the world’s earliest civilizations, the Sumer empire in Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt.
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1874: Ballerinas and fashionable ladies wore them too.
Some of history’s most famous chokers can be found in Degas’ ballerina paintings, of which he did many in the 1870s and 1880s.
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And Alexandra, Princess of Wales, began wearing a thick choker of pearls during the 1920s. Something of a fashion icon at the time, she started a trend, and thus, chokers became all the rage.
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Late 1920s: Royal trend
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Princess Diana was known for wearing a choker of exquisite pearls.
1944: Reviving the trend, as seen in”Life magazine.
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Dog collars are cute again — both on actual dogs and on people.
And then the ’90s happened…
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The '90s were a good decade for chokers. Cher Horowitz, portrayed by Alicia Silverstone, wore them prominently in the pop-culture touchstone, Clueless.​
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The "tattoo" necklace had a big moment in the mid- to late-'90s, when it became a nearly ubiquitous look for teenage girls.
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Some designers take a more refined route, though. Such as the one taken by Raf Simons in his final collection for Dior for spring/summer 2016.
And the Mulleavy sisters. This choker was in Rodarte's recent fall/winter 2016 show at New York Fashion Week.
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Christopher Kane's spring/summer 16 show last week saw models wearing plastic zip ties as chokers, a testament to the versatility of both the necklace and the ties. The show's attendees were given the zip ties as gifts on their seats.
And nowadays,
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It's a trend that's been creeping back thanks to an overall '90s resurgence. The choker, of the velvet, metal, rhinestone or leather variety, has been seen on the necks of models-off-duty, everyday cool girls and, of course, North West as of late. See who's setting the trend and shop the necklaces—slip dress accompaniment optional.
