Choker

A choker is a close-fitting necklace worn around the neck, typically 14 to 16 inches long. It's a type of necklace that sits high on the neck, often with little to no dangle, and can be made from a variety of materials like velvet, leather, metal, or beads. 

Chokers have been around for centuries, with examples found in ancient civilizations and periods like the French Revolution and the 1920s. Contemporary chokers come in a wide array of styles, including those made with pearls, chains, velvet ribbons, or even tattoo-like designs. 

Chokers can be paired with various outfits, from casual to formal, and are often seen as a versatile accessory. Chokers can carry various meanings, from fashion statements to symbols of empowerment, rebellion, or even protection, depending on the wearer and the context. 

Composition

A choker is a close-fitting necklace worn around the neck, typically 14 inch to 16 inch in length. Chokers can be made of a variety of materials, including velvet, plastic, beads, latex, leather, metal, such as silver, gold, or platinum, etc. They can be adorned in a variety of ways, including with sequins, studs, or a pendant.

The choker necklace comes in many variations. It can consist of one or more strands of strung chains or beads, or it can be a ribbon, cord, or strap, all of which may or may not be adorned with pearls, precious and semiprecious stones, rhinestones, or other decorative elements. Medallions, cameos, and pendants are commonly worn with these tight necklaces; brooches and tie -pins are best worn in those made of velvet or grosgrain.

The clasp by which this necklace is held around the neck is most often a classic jewelry clasp, more or less ornate. Connecting the two ends of the piece, it is generally closed at the nape of the neck, more rarely at the front. Textile chokers can also be attached with hook-and-loop fasteners; those of sufficient length are simply held by a knot. The leather choker is often fitted with a buckle.

History

Golden choker necklaces were crafted by Sumerian artisans around 2500 BC and according to curators from the Jewelry Museum of Fine Arts, chokers have been around for thousands of years, appearing in Ancient Egypt, in addition to the Sumerians in Mesopotamia. Often made with gold or lapis, the necklaces were thought to be protective and imbued with special powers.

Chokers were also later worn in the 1st century A.D. They are mentioned in the Talmud, book Shabbat, chapter 6 as a common women's accessory.

19th Century

Neck jewelry that is very similar to a choker was widespread in the Renaissance and the 19th century.

Ballerinas and the upper class in the late 19th century commonly wore certain types of chokers. However, at that same time, in the late 19th century, a plain, thin, red or black ribbon choker had ties to prostitution, as seen in Manet's Olympia (1861).

The 19th-century fashion for broad chokers reached its peak around 1900 in part due to Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom wearing one to hide a small scar. Chokers were popular into the 1920s and again in the '40s as colliers de chien. In particular, the term dog collars or colliers de chien caught on, and these designs – incorporating luxe diamonds, pearls, lace, and velvet – could be seen as objects of the elite because the best kinds were custom-made to fit one's neck perfectly. In 1944 Life magazine stated that "a dowager fashion of 40 years ago" was being revived by young women, illustrating the trend with photos of models wearing the now vaguely rebellious "dog collars".

In Bavaria, chokers are often worn with traditional costumes, although in this case they are called a choker and are often a velvet ribbon with pearls or brooches.

Modern fashion

In today's fashion, the choker can also be found as a stretchy collar made of mesh or braided stretchy materials in various colors. Made of leather and with an O-ring attached to the front, chokers were initially frequently seen in BDSM and Gothic culture, until corresponding models also became established in mainstream fashion. 

In the modern era, chokers have been popular with some celebrities, including Gwyneth Paltrow, who wore one to the 1999 Academy Awards. Paris Hilton wore three inches of Swarovski around her neck in 2002. Rihanna has also been featured wearing chokers.

In the 2010s, the choker became a popular fashion among transgender women, due not only to its association with femininity but also because of its potential to hide the Adam's apple without performing a tracheal shave.

Material

In earlier times, the piece of jewelry often consisted of a single row of pearls or beads of the same size, often with a large gemstone. Today, chokers are available in a variety of colors, shapes, and materials.

Manufacturing

Chokers can be bought, but it is also very simple to make them because you can easily buy ribbon in a haberdashery: the choices of materials (satin, velvet, lace mainly), colors and widths are varied.

Decorations can be sewn on, such as flat beads, which have holes that make sewing easier. Other ornaments can also be hung on them, such as a Christian cross, among other examples.

Of course, all that remains is to sew the ribbon ties: before that, you have to put the ribbon around your neck to measure it correctly, so that in the end it doesn't float or tighten too much.

The fasteners can be a simple Velcro fastener, which can also be found in haberdashery stores, or small individual fasteners, similar to corset or bra fasteners. However, it seems that this type of fastener sold individually no longer exists.

Matching clothes

This necklace is enhanced by V- necks, boat necks or even with off-the-shoulder dresses. It can possibly be accompanied by a normal collar.

In literature

The fantastic plot of an undead woman guillotined in Paris during the Terror, whose head and life are held in place by a dark choker, has been dramatized by several short story writers. Weeping at the foot of the scaffold, the beautiful stranger is discovered by a young German who "brings her home, spends the night with her, and discovers her the next day dead in her bed before learning that had been decapitated the day before; the collar unfastened, the head rolls away ."

Washington Irving (1783-1859) imagined this story in "The Adventure of the German Student" published in the collection Tales of a Traveller (1824).

Petrus Borel (1809-1859) adapted it in Gottfried Wolfgang (1839, published in 1843).

Alexandre Dumas père (1802-1870) drew inspiration from it for the short story The Woman with the Velvet Necklace (1849). He brought the German author of fantastic tales E. TA Hoffmann to Paris during the revolutionary era. One evening, at the Théâtre de l'Opéra, he fell madly in love with the beautiful ballerina Arsène. Embodying a nymph, she was curiously adorned with a "strange" velvet necklace held by a "dismal diamond clasp" in the shape of a guillotine.

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